FREDERICKTOWN, OH - As the largest contractor in Ohio, Kokosing Construction has been growing and prospering since 1951.  The company is about as diverse as it gets with operations in 10 states, in 25 different fields - from asphalt paving and bridge building to laying sub aqueous pipeline and building water treatment plants.

"In a down economy, it helps to be diversified," said Wayne Queen, trucking manager for Kokosing. "It also helps to have a well-run equipment operation to control costs, which allows us to be ultra competitive on bids. It's another thing we feel separates us from the competition."

Running nearly 2,000 pieces of heavy equipment, which includes Class 7 and 8 trucks, dozers, excavators, cranes and a litany of other equipment, the company has won numerous local and national awards for its projects, the quality of its work, and the management of its operations.

"Safety and quality are at the core of Kokosing's ideology," said Queen. "While it may cost more up front for better equipment and investing in people to do a better job, it pays out in the end.  As an example, we've been buying Kenworths as our primary truck for 10 years now and we can document their payback in lower operating costs and higher residual value."

The company runs 42 Kenworth T800s and a number of T370 medium duty trucks as lowboys, fuel and lube vehicles, boom trucks, flatbeds and water trucks. The company also uses a T370 and T800 as jet trucks -vehicles equipped with a tank and power sprayer (up to 65 gallons per minute at 2500 psi) to clean out sanitary lines.