Secondary roads will add 2 new tandem dump trucks to fleet by next winter

Following the supervisors-approved purchase of two dump bodies earlier this week and the two cab chassis bought back in November, the secondary roads department will be up two whole tandem dump trucks next year. It is expected the tandem dump trucks will be delivered before the 2025-2026 winter season.

Jasper County Engineer Michael Frietsch said the county solicited bids for two dump body packages. Henderson Products provided the low bid of $105,914 per cab chassis, which is a total of $211,828. Hawkeye Truck Equipment and Truck Equipment, Inc. were also contacted for bids but did not respond.

According to county documents, the county’s tandem axle dump T-27 is more than 10 years old and is in poor condition, and a newer spare tandem axle dump was needed. The T-27 has more than 300,000 miles on it. Back in November, the supervisors approved the purchase of two cab chassis from GATR Truck Center.

As part of that deal, the secondary roads department traded in the T-27 and T-28 and then began soliciting bids for the dump bodies or dump beds. When attached to the cabs, the dump bodies can haul away loose materials. Combined with the cab chassis purchases, the total cost to the county is $427,470 in FY26.Which gives the county two completed tandem dump trucks.

Frietsch said the last time the county solicited bids for dumb bodies back in June 2022 the prices were significantly less expense. Back then he said the price was $88,000 per package. The county engineer said FY26 dump truck purchases locks up his new equipment budget for that year unless more is allotted.

“The good news is we will have these trucks in November 2025,” Frietsch said. “So the good news is lead times are back to where they should be.”

Supervisor Doug Cupples asked Frietsch if there is anything else that will pop up in the near future. Frietsch said when he looks at the secondary roads equipment there are some “nice-to-haves” and some “good-to-haves,” but he is not seeing any dire need for another specific set of equipment right now.

While Supervisor Brandon Talsma certainly wasn’t thrilled to see the price for these sets of equipment to increase by more than $17,000 in two-and-a-half years, he didn’t hold it against his county engineer. Frietsch said the new dump bodies will be made of stainless steel to last longer and not have the inherent issues of metal bodies.

Supervisor Thad Nearmyer asked if the county engineer was comfortable looking up all of his new equipment budget for FY26. Frietsch said he was fine with it. To him, the secondary roads department needs to keep modernizing its fleet of trucks. They generate a lot of miles and they’re critical in the winter and summer.

“They are a critical piece of equipment to our operations,” Frietsch said.

Talsma wondered just how many miles one truck could put on in a year. Frietsch reminded him the T-27 and T-28 had over 300,000 miles on them.

“So you’re probably talking 20,000-30,000 miles a year you’re putting on those trucks,” Frietsch said. “Or more.”