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September/October 2021
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THE DAVEY BULLETIN
SPRAY TRAIN EXPANDS U.S. RAIL OPERATIONS
Davey's U.S. Rail division of Eastern Utility services was
recently awarded a 5-year contract with Canadian Pacific
Railway (CP Rail). Davey will now provide herbicide and
mechanical trimming on 4,600 total miles of CP Rail property
running from east to west across the U.S.-Canada border
states and reaching as far south as Kansas City. That total
also includes roughly 1,000 miles of CP properties, said
Geoff Willis, operations manager, U.S. Rail.
To complete the work, Davey purchased a new spray train
consisting of six cars (four water tankers capable of holding
125,000 gallons of water, one mechanical car and one
pump car containing more than a dozen different herbicides).
The whole system is operated by two employees.
The U.S. spray train's new injection technology allows the
Davey crew to avoid manual process of mixing the herbicides
with water, instead relying on a remote direct injection
Left: Brent Repenning, executive vice president, U.S. Utility and
Davey Resource Group, operates the spray train's herbicide computer
system during a visit to the operation. Mechanical work is done
year-round, but herbicide spraying is only done during the growing
season, which runs from March through September.
Right: Davey's U.S rail division also added seven new trucks,
mulchers, sky trimmers with Giraffe booms, grapple trucks and
chippers, all to complement the train itself.
system controlled by computer. No contact with chemicals
means a safer work environment by minimizing the exposure
risk, Willis said. The computer also identifies no-spray
zones and sensitive areas like water sources, so that spray
operations can be turned off before the train approaches.
"It's amazing to see this train in action," Willis said. "We plug
in our route maps and the on-board computers control the
flow rate of the herbicide based on the speed of the train
through GPS (Global Positioning System) and radar."
AERIAL RESCUE TRAINING IN NEW ENGLAND
In June, three Davey employees
participated in aerial rescue training
scenarios with multiple first responder
agencies from Vermont, New
Hampshire and Massachusetts. Travis
Vickerson, assistant district manager,
Chippers, Inc., a Davey company,
Enfield Residential/Commercial
services office, and Scott Davis,
production manager, were joined by
Emmet Shutts, supervisor, arborist
Travis Vickerson participated in a
multi-agency aerial rescue training
session in New Hampshire for
local fire departments.
skills trainer, Davey Institute, at
the session. The three trained with
Vector Rescue, an organization that
teaches technical rescue classes,
including how to conduct aerial
rescues of arborists.
"Before I was an arborist I spent
15 years as a firefighter, so I bring
practical advice for these first
responders as someone who has
worked in both worlds," Vickerson
said. "These skills can save lives,
especially in our industry."
EXPERTISE
