ABOUT US
I began my involvement with earth moving in 2002 when I obtained my class A commercial license. It opened the opportunity for my first driving job operating a 10 wheel dump truck and transporting heavy equipment to different job locations for a company out of Irvine, CA called Reliable Contractors. Reliable Contractors specialized in mass grading and finish grade for major home builders, land developers and general contractors in the public and private sector.
Being married and blessed with 3 beautiful children to support was more than enough motivation to do the best to excel and work up the ranks aggressively. Without having any type of major education, I felt proud of my rapid growth as a leader for Reliable Contractors, in less than 2 years I took on the responsibility of managing a fleet of 15 dump trucks and 8 low bed equipment movers. My position also included the responsibility to locate dirt, disposal sites and scheduling the transportation for our surplus soil from our rough and finish grading projects to developers and contractors in need of dirt. Before I knew it, I was quickly becoming a dirt-broker. The dirt exchange gig was becoming so profitable for Reliable Contractors, the owner relieved me of all my other duties and had me focus strictly on import
and export to companies in need of this type of service. I was determined to learn all the tricks of the trade and apply myself in order to gain as much knowledge not only to compete, but to start landing the large and more complex type of jobs that the high-profile brokers were being awarded.
Sadly, Reliable Contractors was hit hard by the bad economy and was forced to close their doors in 2006, I was then left jobless. I quickly jumped on board with some of the big dirt brokers in the industry for the next 2 years, observing every operation, every trick to the game, problems and their solutions, after yet another layoff. We prayed and hoped that the economy would turn around for the best, unfortunately things continued to spiral downward, so I have no bad feelings towards my employers for having to lay me off, thus began Dirt Patrol.
Dirt Patrol started patrolling the streets in 2008, I was forced into starting my own company after experiencing 3 layoffs in a two-year period due to the recession at the time. I could not put my family through the stress of having to put our future in hands of another company. I began dropping my business cards and started contacting customers that knew me through the years. I started practicing all the experience I collected through the years and I felt ready to compete against these high-profile brokers. I was relentless and super aggressive, I knew that my overhead was small verses my competitor and I can beat them on their pricing. Loosing time and time again only made me more determined to land the type and amount of work that would put Dirt Patrol on the map.
Along the way I met Rudy Navarrete and became a good friend/mentor who took me under his wing. He believed that no person was better, smarter and more deserving than me, and that Dirt Patrol would be a forced to be reckoned with. Rudy Navarrete has been in the earth moving business for over 25 years, during this time Rudy was exposed to a multitude of variables that come with the industry, through trial and error he has directed me with the right questions and the right answers to resolve my own job situations. Rudy has instilled in me the most important rules in business: integrity, customer satisfaction is key, honesty, don't promise what you can't deliver and treat people the way you want to be treated. I have applied these simple rules in my business and thank God they have worked. I would also like to thank Ruben and Monica with Garcia Trucking for all their support they have contribute to help Dirt Patrol succeed in this interesting roller coaster, of course all the owner operators that gave us credit and waited patiently to get paid.
We hope that we can give your organization an edge during the bidding process with our experience and competitive pricing.
I appreciate your time,
Hector Leon