Meet the Team
Shawn Sitterud
Owner
Raised in Huntington, Utah, I started working full time around equipment when I was only 10 years old. My dad had a company that served the local coal industry with equipment machining, fabrication and repairs. I would generally work each evening after school, Saturday’s, and summers. This was basically my lifestyle throughout my childhood and teenage years. So I became acquainted with heavy equipment operation, inspection, maintenance, repair, and fabrication at a young age.
When I turned 19 years old I left the small community of my childhood and I moved to the inner city and suburbs of Atlanta, GA to serve as a missionary for my church. This provided me with another type of “real world education” that I never would have had in my small community. This was an important time of my life because I spent 2 years focusing on the needs of other people. This experience has served me well in business as I’ve learned to always try to serve my customers and meet their needs.
After returning home I moved to Salt Lake City and I attended college earning a degree in Diesel Systems Technology and a Diploma in Heavy Duty Mechanics from Salt Lake Community College.
After college I returned back to the area where I was raised.
I worked for years transporting heavy construction and mining equipment with a fleet of heavy haul tractors and trailers. I enjoyed the challenges that go along with moving oversized loads around the mountainous highways and roads of Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming. I was responsible not only for the operation of the heavy haul fleet, but also, the inspection, maintenance, and repairs.
I worked for years as a crane operator of a fleet of 40 and 80 ton capacity hydraulic cranes. As with heavy hauling, I enjoyed the challenges of safely lifting and moving large equipment. I was also responsible for the inspection, maintenance, and repairs of these cranes.
On January 2nd, 2006 there was a coal mine disaster in Sago, West Virginia, that killed 12 underground coal miners. This disaster inspired me and the other owners of a company that I owned to develop a large, steel, submarine like chamber, to be placed underground in coal mines, to provide a safe place for miners to go in case of an unfortunate disaster, and to serve as a safe place for them to await rescue. We achieved State approval on these units for them to keep 26 miners alive for 96 hours. I managed and oversaw the manufacturing, sales, training, and in field inspections for this company and for those who’ve had its products.
Through the years I’ve worked to obtain additional certifications for equipment inspections. Some of these include being a certified welder, certified overhead crane inspector, certified mobile crane inspector, certified forklift inspector, ALI certified vehicle lift inspector, and certified forklift trainer.
I currently live in Cleveland, Utah. I am married to my bride of 26 years and we have 5 children. My oldest daughter is moved out and married, my next oldest is leaving soon for college, my next two are boys and can usually be found on local trails riding their dirt bikes, and I still have a little girl at home.
I enjoy riding dirt bikes, fishing, watching college football and basketball, and cheering on the Atlanta Braves.