Seeing a Machine Come to Life at Caterpillar

WASTE CUSTOMER VISITS CATERPILLAR EAST PEORIA FACILITY TO SEE THE D6T THAT WILL BE ADDED TO THE COMPANY’S FLEET.   

Most people remember the first tooth they lost, their first significant other or the first time they started a car after getting their driver’s license. This fall, Levi Higdon experienced another first – seeing a brand new Cat^® D6T on the line at the East Peoria dozer facility that he would operate (and getting to start it up right on the factory floor).

Upon turning the key, Higdon smiles and shouts from the top of the machine, “Sounds good, doesn’t it?” 

Higdon, Regional Manager for Santek Environmental (a waste, landfill design and construction company headquartered in Cleveland, Tennessee), was invited to Peoria by Matt Dillard to learn more about our manufacturing processes. Dillard, now Executive Vice President of Operations and Santek Environmental’s very first employee, remembers his first trip to Caterpillar fondly. That was more than 20 years ago and he will be the first to tell you a lot has changed since then. 

“I’m most impressed with how far the technology has come. It’s a big learning curve for us out in the field but it’s worth it. It makes our work easier,” says Dillard.

Santek is a long-time Caterpillar customer with a significant fleet of D6 tractors used in its various landfill operations across Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Ohio, Arkansas, Alabama and Texas.