Hughes Brothers in Seward, Nebraska, is a family-owned company forged out of hard work and reliability. Three brothers turned their carpentry skill – handed down from their father – into what is now Hughes Brothers, known for creating wood, steel and fiberglass components that are manufactured to hold-up electric power lines.
Shortly after forming in the early 1920s, the brothers’ hometown was faced with a crippling ice storm, leaving the city in the dark and residents without power. Hughes Brothers (HB) was called in to help replace the town’s crossarms, a necessary structure that support’s the power lines, and a critical piece used to restore the town’s power. This milestone was a major moment for the brothers and their business – not only did they help restore the town’s power – but they also became known for crafting the best wooden crossarms available.
HB is now a 3rd generation family-owned company that honors hard work, reliability and resilience. Forklifts are critical to HB’s operation as they are used daily in an indoor/outdoor application to move material weighing up to 4,000 lbs.
“A lot of things we handle are very large, so having a real reliable material-handling fleet and material-handling operators is a pretty big deal for us,” says Matt Stryson, HB’s maintenance supervisor and plant engineer.
Previous forklift brands were not meeting the needs and values of HB, so they reached out to their local MCFA forklift dealer, NMC, to re-evaluate their operation’s forklift usage and needs.
“Since we moved over to Cat (forklifts) we just haven’t had a problem with them,” says Stryson.
“They’re reliable; they’re easy to work on,” maintenance mechanic Bob Tempel adds. “I would recommend Cat forklifts…they’re just a good all-around truck.”
Reliability and serviceability were a huge part of the purchase decision, and HB landed on Cat forklifts to replace its existing fleet.
