RMS’ First Controller Focused on Helping RMS Make Informed Decisions for Strategic Growth Ryan Ressler started at Road Machinery & Supplies Co. as Controller in June. While the move into the heavy equipment industry is new for him, he didn’t need any directions to his new employer on his first day. “My wife and I moved to Savage in 2016, and I drove past RMS every day. It was like two blocks from our house,” said Ressler. “Unfortunately, we moved (about 20 minutes away) to Carver, Minn., in March, so now I have a commute.” Aside from a familiar location, once Ressler began the interview process with RMS, he knew it would be a good fit. “In talking with (CFO) Troy Johnson and (CEO) Mike Sill II, it was clear that it is a very exciting time here at RMS with all the growth it was experiencing,” said Ressler. “Once I started meeting the people here, I knew this was where I wanted to be." “The size of the company was another factor. My previous employer was acquired by a large, pub...

Road Machinery & Supplies Co. is committed to providing industry leading service to its customers. In order to do that consistently and effectively, RMS has been making investments in its service departments with the addition of service techs across the company, improving training, and adding new state-of-the-art facilities, most recently in Des Moines and Cedar Rapids. This latest step in this initiative was to upgrade trucks for service technicians as RMS added five new trucks in June with four more to come in 2021. “These new trucks are going to be a huge benefit to our service capabilities,” said General Service Manager Matt Tapper. “By upgrading these trucks, those service techs are a going to be better-suited to handle whatever they come across at a customer’s jobsite.” The trucks feature Peterbilt chassis on Stellar aluminum bodies. They also boast 12,000-pound cranes, Miller diesel welders, oil recovery systems, and LED strobes and lighting. “When a customer has a machine t...

Building a successful team starts with people that are not only dedicated to their craft, but also truly care about their customers. In short, it starts with people like RMS Rentals Shop Foreman Dave Oldenburg. “I really love troubleshooting and working on problems. Knowing that I helped a customer and seeing them come back again and again is what makes it all worthwhile for me,” said Dave. For 27 years, Dave has been honing his craft. His career began at Lull Industries in 1994 and worked his way from the assembly line to quality control and then to service. When Lull moved its operation out of the Twin Cities area, he started Highlift Equipment Company, Inc., with Jim Hoogervorst, Mark Tieben, and Dean Oseby. “We start in 2002 and focused on forklift repair, parts and service,” recalled Dave. “There was nobody in the metro area that really took care of the little guy, so we felt like there was an opportunity to do that and be successful.” And they were. For four years, the operation ...

Road Machinery & Supplies Co. (RMS) and Komatsu are celebrating monumental milestones in 2021. Road Machinery & Supplies Co. is celebrating its 95th anniversary of serving and supporting customers while Komatsu notches its 100th birthday. Together, RMS and Komatsu bring 195 years of combined experience to their customers. Michael M. Sill opened RMS in 1926 in Duluth, Minn., and focused on selling motor graders and supplies to municipalities. For the next 95 years RMS continued to grow and expand to meet its customers’ needs. Today, RMS has eight branches in Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan, and Illinois in addition to affiliate companies throughout Minnesota and Texas, and serves customers in many heavy equipment industries. Komatsu got its start as founder Meitaro Takeuchi evaluated the waning lifespan of his copper mine near Komatsu City, Japan, and decided to form a manufacturing company to support the community. From there, Komatsu Ltd. grew from 120 employees in a small community...

At the Minnesota Asphalt Pavement Association (MAPA) Quality Paving Training in Medina this April, BOMAG debuted its new BOMAP Connect software at the Medina Entertainment Center. The event served as a North American launch for the program. “The BOMAP Connect system has been in operation, but mainly in European countries. This was the first time BOMAG has presented it to a North American audience. It’s a very useful tool and we are excited for the advantages it holds for customers,” said Road Machinery & Supplies Co. (RMS) Marketing Manager Josh Sandin. “We were very excited to have the opportunity to team with BOMAG and MAPA to make this presentation happen.” BOMAP Connect allows users to track a myriad of performance data, including passes and compaction offers network control and documentation for an entire paving fleet, regardless of manufacturer. It automatically tracks a myriad of project data, including passes, machine position, and degree of compaction. The software also se...

Road Machinery & Supplies Co. (RMS) and RMS Rentals took part in the inaugural Minnesota Asphalt Pavement Association (MAPA) Quality Paving Training program in April at the Medina Entertainment Center in Medina, Minn. The three-day event was designed as a creative and interactive training program that blended classroom training and machine demonstration to help train new and younger paving employees. Nearly 100 people attended the event. As one of five Minneapolis-area equipment distributors that participated in the event, RMS and RMS Rentals showcased a nine-machine display that featured equipment from LeeBoy, BOMAG, Roadtec, Wacker Neuson, Broce, and Komatsu in addition to an indoor informational booth. “Events like this are great opportunities for us and our manufacturers to help with the greater good of the industry. The focus of the event was education, not sales. We were very happy to be a part of this program and have the opportunity to work with customers,” said RMS Marketi...

When Matt Baty started his career as a technician, he was typically surrounded by a staff of people in their 60s who were less-than-eager to help a young tech learn the ropes. It was a common situation that repeated itself at most of his early jobs. Today, Matt finds himself as the Cedar Rapids branch’s requisite elder – despite being just 46 – and he is doing what he can to avoid being the “cranky old guy.” “When I started in the industry, the older guys in the shops I worked in weren’t the most welcoming,” recalled Matt. “It wasn’t very fun. Now that I’m in that same position, I don’t want to be that way. A lot of the techs here are in their 20s, and I want to mentor them and help them enjoy this job. I don’t want them to feel like I did.” Matt’s position as Shop Foreman provides him ample opportunities to take on interesting projects and work with the technicians at the Cedar Rapids branch. “Working primarily in the shop, I get the chance to work on some of the bigger and the weirde...