Quality Performance & Competitive Pricing, Fargo, North Dakota
That’s the Pro Sweep message to commercial and industrial consumers in the Fargo pavement sweeping market. It’s in an unassuming font plastered just below the masthead of the Pro Sweep website. But it doesn’t appear that it’s meant to be a catchy branding feature. It’s just an upfront statement of the driving principle of the indomitable Pro Sweep, Inc. Operations Manager, Bruce Christianson and his dauntless team in North Dakota.
The team of tough workers runs trucks 24 hours per day in the far north U.S. climate. They’re so good at it that they’ve grown to serve the entire region of the Dakotas and surrounding states. The group’s success under Christianson’s leadership has proven who they are. They know what they bring.
Traversing the Northern Terrain to Serve
The above-mentioned plain but potent blurb on the Pro Sweep home further declares:
Our trained personnel and late model equipment are a combination that can’t be surpassed when you want quality sweeping at a competitive price.
That’s the full point that Christianson, who always gets directly to the point, offers the business community of Fargo and greater central-northwestern America. But, it actually appears to understate the quality of the experience that the region’s commercial community has had with Pro Sweep over the years.
It’s safe to assume that the business owners who use Pro Sweep across the vast land area of the company’s service radius strongly agree with the organization’s value claim. After all, Bruce Christianson’s team now services around 70 cities, including about 4,000 parking lots. It’s also telling that the company still has its first customer from the startup 25 years ago.
Preferred Sweeper Truck Brand at Pro Sweep, Fargo ND
Today, Pro Sweep has 10 sweeper trucks. Over recent years, Bruce has switched to buying all ODRA sweeper trucks, a brand he finds versatile enough to tackle parking lots and construction zones alike. The trucks easily fit the Pro Sweep company’s service model – which is streets and parking lots. So, they just bought two more new ODRAs in January.
We asked what Bruce looks for when he’s purchasing sweeper trucks. He explained, "The reasons we’ve bought the ODRAs are many fold.
- We can accommodate heavy-duty workloads without CDL licensing, enabling us to be very competitive in our market.
- We want trucks that don’t require a CDL license. That expands our pool of available candidates for jobs as drivers and allows us to work interstate without issues.
- We want trucks that are the best suited for the kinds of sweeping work we’re doing, whether it’s parking lots or city streets.
- We also want to work with a truck manufacturer that can get parts to us quickly, as needed. ODRA has proven to be very reliable in sending us any parts we need directly.
- We appreciate good customer service and prioritize it in our own company. The ODRA customer service reps we work with do a wonderful job."
The Pro Sweep Competitive Edge
Asked about his chosen approach(es) to growing the business, Bruce explained, "We don’t advertise. We believe in belonging to the Chambers of Commerce in other cities that we sweep in. We belong to a number of those." This unique subscription methodology is a large part of the Pro Sweep strategic marketing program.
Bruce further emphasized the importance of having the best, most practical street sweeping equipment as part of his approach to growth. That makes sense in any market and especially in the North Dakota/Minnesota service area with such great distances between the many cities his company services.
Reflecting on the state of the competitive market around him, Bruce commented, "There’s competition all around us, but not for what we can do with the ODRAs. We can take the heavy-duty workloads with just a regular driver’s license. Plus, the sweeper truck price makes a big difference in profitability when you’re looking at other commercial sweepers that are $300,000 to $400,000 each.”
Trained Personnel at Pro Sweep, Dakota Region
After 25 years since Bruce started the Pro Sweep company, he still has one employee who’s been with him for 24 years. Some other workers have been with the company 5 years, 10 years, and 12 years. We asked what’s special about the internal business culture that accounts for the great longevity of employees on the team.
He said with his usual plain honesty, "I don’t know why I’m able to keep them. They like the equipment we run; they like that the ODRAs are simple to operate. And they like the ability to work with other well-trained, self-motivated people that understand our operational needs as a company."
We also have a strong safety culture. We have daily meetings, whether at 6:00 in the morning or at night with the night crew, to provide various safety reminders. Bruce went on to share that in 2010, he joined the Associated General Contractors of North Dakota. "They give safety awards every year. We received that award for our record of 0 at-fault accidents in over 9,000 work hours and the past 15 years of accident-free operations.”
He also mentioned that Pro Sweep received the Sweeper Contractor of the Year Award in 2022. It’s inscribed, "This award is bestowed only to those whose extraordinary commitment and dedication have served to create a positive improvement in the entire American sweeping industry."
Ultra-Modern Technology at Pro Sweep
The high-tech tracking device Pro Sweep uses in its sweeper trucks is an advanced GPS system that monitors vehicle speed and driver behaviors in real time (within 3 seconds). Along with that performance supervision equipment is a forward-facing camera system. He recommends it for all pavement sweeping companies, "I think that it has helped with a lot of driver issues because I can see what they’re doing.
At the end of each shift, I can look at a parking lot and know how much they’ve covered. It shows each pass. It’s like watching a farmer in a field going back and forth in rows. With this system, we get very few callbacks for service quality problems. It also generates fuel reports, maintenance and state-by-state mileage reports, which helps with more accurate expense planning.”
Pavement Sweeper Truck Maintenance at Pro Sweep
Everything from oil changes to major repairs are done in-house at Pro Sweep. The company’s long-time sweeper truck operators are also mechanics. The shop is fully stocked with bulk oil, various types of oil filters, and parts for many kinds of repairs. Bruce mentioned that sometimes a local dealer calls his shop for parts.
Pro Sweep, Inc. has added a set of rolling truck post hoists to lift trucks in the air for service, greatly reducing the need to get on the floor for oil changes and service. This is also a safety item that allows full visibility of a vehicle and eases the process for employees servicing vehicles.
We asked how it all works to keep drivers on the road and not out on downtime for lengthy repairs. Bruce explained that in 25 years, he’s only dealt with one rear engine failure. That was before he started buying the ODRA trucks. He said, "We put a lot of miles on the trucks. For example, the trucks bought in January already have 25,000 miles on them. We expect to put 60,000 miles on them this year. We trade trucks before they reach 200,000 miles."
Advice for Industry Newcomers from Bruce Christianson, Pro Sweep, Fargo North Dakota
"You must be honest and do what you say you’re going to do. You should do what the customers want you to do. You can’t say I’m not going to do it if you can help them. You must be hands-on 24 hours a day, and you need to be ready for all the changes in weather, or different management at the businesses you serve. Do what you’re told. Respect the management at the customer’s site. When a customer calls me, my first response is, “How can I help you today?”
Apparently, this comprehensive policy of integrity, cooperation, preparedness, and customer-centric focus on service is working. It’s a management philosophy to which many business operators in all industries subscribe, yet in practice, fewer walk the walk. It’s easy to separate those who do from those who don’t by their comparative degrees of success in consistently practicing this set of higher business principles.
Walking the Walk
Bruce Christianson and his Pro Sweep staff prove 24/7 that they are walking the walk, up north, across 70 cities in multiple states, on 4,000 commercial properties and untold linear miles of city streets. And, they’re doing it in the coldest climate region of the 48 contiguous states of the country.
Bruce simply says, "God willing, we’ll be here for many more years." Talking with Bruce, learning about his astounding operation, we’re significantly more impressed with his success than he seems to be. (We want to add multiple exclamation points here and to the top of Pro Sweep’s homepage, though that’s not what Bruce is about.)
Anyway, we very much look forward to watching the progress of this impressive organization under Bruce Christianson’s leadership through the years to come.
For more information about Pro Sweep, Inc. in Fargo, ND, you can call (701) 640-3256 or visit prosweepinc.com.