Podcast transcript  

Matt Starnes (00:00):

All right. So, Matt Lewis and Matt Starnes.

Matt Lewis (00:04):

Here we go.

Matt Starnes (00:05):

M and M, baby.

Matt Lewis (00:05):

Yes, here we are. Two years in the making.

Matt Starnes (00:09):

Man. Yeah, we wanted to do this back at the WWETT Show in 2020, almost two years ago.

Matt Lewis (00:16):

Yeah, I've not been over here for 22 months.

Matt Starnes (00:18):

22 months.

Matt Lewis (00:19):

Yeah.

Matt Starnes (00:20):

Man, we definitely missed you. If you could, just briefly describe your role for the listeners in their cars, at their workplace-

Matt Lewis (00:29):

In their trucks.

Matt Starnes (00:29):

In their trucks.

Matt Lewis (00:33):

Driving around the country. Yeah. So, my name is Matt Lewis and I'm the Global Training and Demo Manager for Bucher Municipal.

Matt Starnes (00:39):

Awesome.

Matt Lewis (00:42):

So, I used to be a contractor.

Matt Starnes (00:44):

So, you started as a contractor. I'm sorry.

Matt Lewis (00:45):

Yeah. No, don't be sorry about it. Never be sorry. So, yeah. I started as a contractor and I was on a what wasn't a JHL machine, and I was on one of those for seven years. Yeah. Seven years give or take. And then the company asked me if I wanted to come over and start up a training section of the company because we actually didn't have any official training. So, I thought about it and made the decision that I would. So, I started in the UK, traveling up and down the UK by myself for two years. Away every week because it's not a very big island that we live on, but it's big enough when you've got one man and a thousand trucks, right now, that's multiplying all the time.

So yeah. I started like that. And before we know it, we were just too busy and I couldn't cope by myself. So I hired in George, George Ruck, he was my right hand man, great guy. And then it got bigger again. And you know, now we got Stuart Heath, who's another one of my training instructors. And now we've got a technical department as well. So, John Alvey kind of heads up the technical side of the business and he does technical training courses on sewer cleaners and the winter.

Matt Starnes (02:02):

Winter as well?

Matt Lewis (02:03):

Winter as well. Yeah. And I'm interviewing a guy when I get back for the role of technical training sweepers.

Matt Starnes (02:09):

Oh.

Matt Lewis (02:10):

So, we're going to take sweepers in house as well.

Matt Starnes (02:12):

Nice.

Matt Lewis (02:12):

And I'm also going to interview another guy who's going to come in and we're going to evolve risk assessments, manual handling, working at height and things like that. And we're also going to take in high pressure water jetting courses as well. Something I've been pushing for a long time, over five years, so that we can offer internal and external staff certification in high pressure water jetting.

Matt Starnes (02:37):

Oh, fantastic.

Matt Lewis (02:38):

So, the team's evolving all the time. So, it kind of went from me, by myself, to two of us, by the end of all this it's probably going to be, maybe, seven of us in the team.

Matt Starnes (02:47):

Good.

Matt Lewis (02:48):

And it's got to a point now where the UK is very solid in where it needs to be regarding training and demos and everything. And then I had a conversation with the previous management and it was, "Would you like to take your personal show on the bus and go around the world and do it?" So, I've worked around Europe, I've worked in Australia, New Zealand, over in Eastern Europe I've worked, and I did quite a few trips over here to the US. And now COVID hit, we don't need to go on about that, we know what happened there. But now, basically, we've got a plan and it's a multiyear plan for the US with me, I guess you could say, the driving force behind that motion in the sewer cleaner world.

So, we've adapted one of our trucks to suit the environment, they've been working in the US. So, it is a big deal. You know, it is a serious matter with not only what's happened in the last couple of years, but with everything that we want to do as a company, and the vision that we see where the sewer cleaners can be in the USA. And I'm really, really excited about the whole project, as I said, it's multiple years. It's not fly in once every six months, say hi to everybody and enjoy the country. It's a serious business and we have to make it work. Got Rodger Wynn, great guy over here. You know, we've now got Henrik from Denmark, another great guy. So, with the infrastructure in place and what we want to do, we know the goal, the goal's been set by myself, Ottmar in Denmark and everybody. So, that's where we're going to go.

Matt Starnes (04:34):

Yeah, it's really exciting for us here in North America, North America with US and Canada too, now that we can cross the border. And so we're very excited about that. But yeah. And as Mr. Lewis was saying, it's not just a fly by night thing, we've got almost through Q1 planned and beyond there, as far as the visits and things like that, recurring visits to help train us up. Last week before we recorded this, the service folks were in. The service team was in for sweepers and tankers and spent the week with you and Rodger, which was really good. And then this week, actually later today, we've got the sales team coming in. So, right before the Thanksgiving holiday here in the States as we're recording. But yeah, everybody's really excited to have you back and to pick your brain, too. And I think, now that the travel restrictions are open for now, I think we can gain some steam again, so it'll be good.

Matt Lewis (05:38):

Yeah. I mean, I think before, in the past, we've just kind of gone, "Can you come here?" "Can you go there?" And I wouldn't necessarily say we overly had a name into what we wanted to do. It was, can you pop into the Northeast and wherever it was in the USA. But we've got a goal now, and that goal is obviously something we have to look at in stages, so the visits have to be planned accordingly. You know, we've got this truck now, we've got FlexLine with Hydro Ex on it.

Matt Starnes (06:06):

Yeah. Very exciting.

Matt Lewis (06:07):

And from seeing, when we were at the WWETT Show a couple of years ago, that 90% of all our customers there were running Hydro Ex. I just kind of walked around, spoke to a couple of contractors there, engaged the whole drainage industry in the USA, basically, and I did my sort of intel on it all. And it was a no-brainer, as far as I was concerned. So it was great. The company agreed, we got the machine back to Denmark, they retrofitted, it, took everything off that we didn't need, fitted the Hydro Ex on it. The machine's here now, so the goal is, in January, to start putting that truck around the USA. And as you know, for anybody who hasn't been here, it's a big country and you can't just go from A to B in half a day. A to B can take two days sometimes. So there's a lot of planning and logistic involved with getting it right. But the end goal is that we've now, as far as I'm concerned, got the machine here that will rival and challenge the competition in the USA. And we didn't have that before.

Matt Starnes (07:11):

Yeah. It really has been interesting to see the evolution of... You used to see the earth movers come in to dig and those type of things. And I don't know where people did that at all, even up north, where it gets cooler here in the States and the ground gets warmer, they're still doing hydro, they're just warming the water up and blasting away. So, it is a really big deal for us. So can you tell us a little bit about the CR120 FlexLine here? As far as what those-

Matt Lewis (07:43):

Yeah.

Matt Starnes (07:43):

Just tease a little of the capabilities. I'm not going to-

Matt Lewis (07:46):

I mean, so what we've done is, we've taken a recycler that had the same jetting pump, for example, the same P3-45 jetting pump that runs 124 gallons a minute, at 2175 psi.

Matt Starnes (07:59):

Nice. Thank you.

Matt Lewis (07:59):

You're welcome.

Matt Starnes (08:01):

I don't convert that fast. I'll be honest with you.

Matt Lewis (08:03):

See how that just flows there. I may have said that once or twice before. Yeah. So the truck is more than capable of doing what we want it to do. But with everything, the CR120 is tried and tested in Europe, tried and tested in the UK. You know, there are well over a thousand of these machines now in the UK.

Matt Starnes (08:29):

Wow. Yeah.

Matt Lewis (08:29):

So, it's probably the mainstay... There's been a kind of switch over the last few years where people have gone back home to the four wheel chassis. So we've got eight wheels running now instead of six, there's a lot of people that have switched to these things. But the vehicle we've got here, the looks, how it's set up, how the vehicles manage weight to ratio and with the chassis and everything, it's a fantastic vehicle. And there is no reason why it cannot work exactly the same as back in the UK and back in Europe. So, we've definitely got the right tool for the job.

Matt Starnes (09:04):

Good.

Matt Lewis (09:04):

Definitely. We have. Yeah.

Matt Starnes (09:07):

The other thing that might be a little bit different here, particularly the States, but also in Canada is, we're putting some more focus on the CityFlex. So, the C40 here, especially, like I said, in the States, just because we're using it as a first responder vehicle to assess things and get the blockage going, especially in the middle of the night. It's not quite the beast as one of the CR120s, so it can get into the city fairly easily in tight corners and-

Matt Lewis (09:40):

It's exactly the same as how anybody else does it, Matt. You know, there's a couple of hundred of those that you might see dotted around London, in any one day, from numerous companies. And yeah, they can get into the housing complexes, get into the housing estates and everything where you can't put a big truck. But they're only actually cleaning maybe four or six inch lines because that's the kind of domestic sewer systems you've got. And they'll punch through those blockages quite happily, but they might go out and do 10, 15 of those in one day, just pop the blockage, suck out any minor debris, move onto the next one. Obviously, if they can't do it, then you have to up the anti, and you have to bring in one-

Matt Starnes (10:20):

The big boys?

Matt Lewis (10:20):

... of the big boys, which can be interesting, getting it in around houses and parked cars and everything. But if there's an issue with sewage, then you need to get on it as soon as possible, before it starts going somewhere else.

Matt Starnes (10:34):

And I haven't seen one lately, but you and your team have had some pretty awesome videos of daisy-chaining the hoses.

Matt Lewis (10:44):

Oh, yeah.

Matt Starnes (10:45):

It's already a very long hose anyway, but just to get around different obstacles, through buildings, through windows. I've seen some really wild stuff. Obviously, that's not the everyday use of it, but it does show you what is possible-

Matt Lewis (11:02):

That's right.

Matt Starnes (11:03):

... With this unit.

Matt Lewis (11:03):

These vehicles are probably running at 25, 30% on a daily basis because nine times out of 10, they drive over the manhole they're going to work on, and they just drop it straight down into the manhole there. The [crosstalk 00:11:15] goes in there with the jetting nozzle, they clean it. It might not be very deep, or even if it is, it doesn't really matter, but they do that bit, pack it all away and drive off. But yeah. Then we've got some specific contractors, and a friend of mine is one of those contractors back in England, and he will go out with a CR120 FlexLine, but he will set up three, we call them donkey reels, you guys call them the easement reel. But he'll set three of those up, so he'll have all the length of the hose on the vehicle, plus three easement reels going across a field, and the truck is still cleaning out the sewer.

It's mightily impressive what these vehicles can do, but it all kind of shifts back over to me and my guys in my department. We are all ex-contractors, the guys that work for me, so they've all ran these machines and not just any machines, but they've ran Bucher machines. So we all know the capabilities of it, how far we can push them, what we can and can't do, which makes it great for us, because when these people ring us and say, look, we're thinking about doing this, we've got this, can it? And you know, 9 times out of 10 the answer is pretty straightforward over the telephone and we'll say, "Yeah, no problem at all, it'll do that."

Or we'll just say, "Let me know when you're doing it, and we'll come out and assist, and we'll give onsite technical assistance while we're there." Which is great connections with the customers because we don't just want them to buy the vehicle and disappear, we always want them to come back. But even if it's that one man that's only just got that one vehicle, we cherish him just the same, and anything that guy needs, if we can help, be it on the phone, on the email, or in person stood next to his guys getting dirty, then we'll do it.

Matt Starnes (13:01):

I think that's what I admire a lot too, is that, I see you when you're here, the times when you're training folks, but then you're not just letting it go to voicemail, you'll step away, you'll take the call, do what you have to do and then come back. It's really good. I mean, you probably don't rest too much, personally too, a little bit, so it's-

Matt Lewis (13:28):

I think, the thing is, when I was a contractor in the old company, JHO and that, there was engineers for that. If I had a problem, it was two o'clock in the morning, one of the couple of guys who worked then, one of them may answer the phone for you, which helps out a lot. So, we give out business cards to every single person that we train. Once they've been certified, after the training, they get one of our business cards and we'll say, "Look, if you get a problem, call me, my phone might be on if it is on, I'll answer it."

Because there is nothing worse than being out on one of these machines, it's a daunting thought being out in the middle of nowhere, you and just your friend who works on the truck with you, the other operator, and you're stuck. And it could be something simple. Nine times out 10 it is simple. And if one phone call, if that gets you moving, then that's great. I mean, we have a sort of saying in the contracting world, "Sewers run 24/7, the vehicles run 24/7. We need to be available as much as we can on that 24,/7 spectrum to try and help our customers out." And I think, when that all comes together as one, you get the great sales, you get the great training, the great service, and having somebody on the telephone puts the kind of umbrella over everybody. And I think that is so important.

Matt Starnes (14:47):

Yeah. And I think, what you talked about earlier with Rodger. Rodger Wynn's been a big part of the team here in the States for a while and you guys are really close personally, too. You've kept those communications open with video when you couldn't travel, which I think is good. And you and I will kind of tease each other on LinkedIn here and there as well, also I think that's good. But yeah. I think, finally, what's happening is, we're building more of an infrastructure here for that, like you said, long term plan here, for North America, which like you said, is really crucial. You go from reacting and waiting for the phone call to be more proactive and letting know people you're out there who can support you. So I think that's really powerful.

Getting back to, I don't want to make this all about the products, but about the easement reels or about remote reel here. The thing we tell people too is, Hey, if you don't have a Bucher machine yet, but you need the [inaudible 00:15:52], it works with that, it works with any competitor. Of course, we want you to buy all Bucher and have a Bucher shirt and Bucher hat, we'll give you those. But if you just kind of get started, you need that little extra length to get into those remote areas, give it a shot. I mean, we've had a lot of people... We've had a hard time actually keeping them in stock lately, we've had such a demand, which we're very happy about.

Matt Lewis (16:16):

Yeah. Definitely.

Matt Starnes (16:20):

I appreciate you mentioning those because they definitely can solve some problems.

Matt Lewis (16:23):

Oh, yeah. I mean, I-

Matt Starnes (16:23):

Some challenges.

Matt Lewis (16:25):

I have got some pictures from... I've got some drone footage, actually, and I'll get that over to you. And it is of this setup of a CR120 in a field, and you just see this yellow hose going across there to an easement reel, and another 600 feet of hose, and another easement reel, and then another easement reel, and then they're actually still working at the far end. You know, it's mightily impressive. You speak to any of the experts, it shouldn't work, and in theory, it probably shouldn't work because of how far you've gone away from-

Matt Starnes (16:25):

The distance? Yeah.

Matt Lewis (16:58):

... The source of the power and the water to, obviously, the business end. But it does. And he used to do it on a monthly basis. He would work like that because of the remoteness of the work that he used to do.

Matt Starnes (17:10):

Yeah.

Matt Lewis (17:10):

So, yeah.

Matt Starnes (17:11):

And I really love the units. You know, when they're in stock and I always try to get some time to drive around and play around here. We're kind of in a rural setting here in North Carolina, but it's basically like a little mini tank tread and a reel, a hose reel, and you're kind of off to the races.

Matt Lewis (17:31):

Yeah, it's such a simple setup. Such a simple setup and ease of use. You know, we give training on those as well because, obviously, it's an engine, it's got tracks on it, there is a health and safety aspect to that.

Matt Starnes (17:31):

Oh, sure.

Matt Lewis (17:46):

So, if somebody wanted training on that, we could provide all these sorts of things.

Matt Starnes (17:51):

That's a good point because, I mean, the hose reel, you always have to watch out for those and know what you're doing, so a little training's always fantastic on that. I think the market's kind of swayed back and forth here, we found this particularly in the United States with the recyclers, with the CR60 and the CR120. But really, not just a marketing guy speaking here, but I really see we're having a lot of drought issues that are not just seasonal now, out west. They're becoming just a way of life out there and it's creeping further and further eastern now. I mean, it's kind of a slow march, but even up in a state like Michigan where we've had a famous water problem up there, I think the recycling of water and just the amount of water you can save with these machines, it's not a fad, I think this is needed. And you know where you are, you've seen it-

Matt Lewis (19:00):

That's right.

Matt Starnes (19:01):

It's unfortunately a way of life now and it doesn't look... Whether you believe in the climate change or not, it's just the situation we're living in right now.

Matt Lewis (19:11):

Oh, yeah.

Matt Starnes (19:11):

And if you can save that much water, could you just touch upon the power of those quickly?

Matt Lewis (19:16):

Yeah.

Matt Starnes (19:16):

Because that's what you really-

Matt Lewis (19:18):

I mean, I ran a recycler from the time that I stated earlier and you kind of struggle at the beginning to realize that, you can just sit in a sewer and just constantly suck that water out of there, and the truck will actually process it and then, send it back down the jetting hose again. And you suddenly think, well, usually after 20 minutes, half an hour, this truck will be empty. I'm then packing everything up and then I'm going to waste man-hours, diesel, wear and tear on the vehicle. And then I'm going to take water from the grid, that water needs to be paid for. You know, certainly back in the UK, it's not free. You have to pay for the source.

But to think you can go to work first thing in the morning at six o'clock with a full tank of water, and use that all day long with never rushing into a hydrant again. And some of the jobs that I've done personally, and some of the jobs I've been on with our customers, some of these trucks haven't moved in two weeks, they've been fed diesel, but they've just sat on manholes for two weeks-

Matt Starnes (20:19):

Just working.

Matt Lewis (20:20):

Just working. Recycling, recycling, recycling, jetting back in, so that is where we are with these machines. But no, you're right, the global shift in seasons, these machines now almost fall into their own, but they have to be used in the right environment, they cannot just be used anywhere. And I think that the education is so important of what I strive for, what I ask my guys to strive for in the team is that, education always be one step ahead of what potentially you are going to get asked by a customer. You know, it's important to know, so that when somebody's talking to you. Well that recycler, let's just say it's 50,000 pounds more, or a 100,000 dollars more, where is the justification in that, because these machines are expensive?

So, to have that knowledge and say, well, it's going to save you A, B, C, D, E, F. And on average, a recycler can save you up to a million liters of water a year. We've got probably six, 700 recyclers in the UK. Now you imagine six, 700 recyclers, each of them saving a million liters of water a year, it adds up to a staggering amount, and if you were to put that into that proverbial place in the ground, that the world could see it, it would be a lot of water. But there are challenges with that, you have to be very clued up on what you can and can't do with a recycler. You just can't empty that water anywhere because it's recycled water. It's what we class as gray water. So there's a lot of things that go with it. But personally, that truck in the right environment, cleaning sewers, there's nothing else like it, there's not.

Matt Starnes (22:07):

Yeah, no. You know, I was struck last week, I got to go in and out of some different training that you were doing with the service guys, and Rodger was leading some of the training, and I was always curious about... I've heard, I've never experienced this thank goodness, of toilet that's being blown because of not paying attention to the water or the way the water was flowing. And it just fascinated me, honestly. And I'm here, I just love it because I'm around street sweepers, I'm around tankers and all the fun toys and I still geek out about this. I geek out about, so people's homes aren't growing, they're about to-

Matt Lewis (22:49):

Oh, yeah.

Matt Starnes (22:52):

But really, it's an art, a science to it, isn't it?

Matt Lewis (22:54):

It is. Sewer cleaning is not just something that you can just go out and do. You know, everybody, like any job in life, you have to start somewhere, but you're usually shadowed or mentored by somebody to say, don't do it this way, we do it this way. And it was the same for me when I first became a contractor, and I'd be lying if I said that I didn't blow up some toilets when I was working because I did, I blew up numerous people's toilets. Obviously, certainly, not by choice, that's for sure. But you kind of learn the depth of a sewer close to ground level, close to people's houses. It's all, do I use the large hose? Do I use the small hose? What jet should I put on the end? Do I lift somebody's manhole over there to vent the air pressure to stop it going up the lateral? There's so much involved. And then you've got running the vehicle at the same time.

So, I know a lot of people kind of look at sewer men and think, "Ugh." But if they actually broke it all down, they're highly skilled individual people that then work in highly skilled team environments. Because it's not just two men stood behind the truck on the back of a manhole. Some of these huge drainage jobs that these contractors do, that are worth tens of millions of pounds, and they've got multiple vehicles there doing X, Y, and Z. Yeah. So, I think people just look at us as being, what's that godawful smell, when they come out their houses, when you're working on the roads and stuff like that. But if you break down the science to it, that guy has got to know pretty much everything about his vehicle, what's above the ground before he even lifts the manhole, what's underground, and then using the right tools of the trade on the vehicle, and his experience to ensure he does his job right, without causing anybody problems in the process. So, when you put it all together, a highly skilled job, it is.

Matt Starnes (24:47):

And I think it's more of an example of why what you do is so important, and what your team does, globally and then-

Matt Lewis (24:54):

That's right. We just try and we never push anybody. We don't ram anything down anybody's throat or anything. We're just there that if we can help your business in any way and be as safe as possible so that everybody goes home in the evening, that's all we are here for. We're here to ensure the great history and nature of our company, fly the flag and ensure that anybody who buys, whatever product they buy from us, but obviously, I specialize in the sewer cleaners, that from the moment they buy it to the very end, when they buy the next one, that whole transformation is all covered under the sections that we all strive to achieve.

Matt Starnes (25:33):

You know, thinking about... I found our machine control panel easy to use, but like you're saying, it's the knowledge behind that, to know what to press when, the water pressure, obviously, like we're talking about the blown toilets and those type of things. But the other thing that fascinates me, we've got a pretty good video that's quite popular. We try to post it once a month, it's the computer animation of the recycler going, starting above ground, above the manhole, going in. And one of the things that always fascinates me too is, I think there's kind of an art to the knowing, okay, which nozzle do I put down there, underground? And I mean, that's something you've got to learn. Definitely, the mentor helps a lot, right?

Matt Lewis (26:28):

It's kind of going back to what I was saying, you've got the truck to worry about, what's happening around you, then what's happening below you. And then, what do I put on the end of this hose to actually go and do the job properly? And not everybody has the luxury of CCTV cameras going in there before you to investigate what the problem is. So yeah. You kind of think, well, there's no water coming towards me, there's a good chance this is blocked. It smells disgusting. So, something's down there that shouldn't be down there. So, you then choose your weapon of choice to put on, which nozzle? Shall I go for this? Shall I go for that? And just over experience, you know that I need to put that one down first, and then I'll put this down.

And obviously, the bigger the sewer gets, the wider the diameter it is. And then it comes into, there could be one ton of debris down there. If this pipe is a mile long, there could be a hundred tons of debris down there, so you have to, when you start bringing it back towards you and you start hearing the noise, when it's hitting the bottom of the can on the snorkel, you kind of think, well, that's silt or... It is funny to say, but you can actually identify what actual stones are hitting the cassette suction and then you can deduce what is down there. You know, if it's larger stones like hardcore, there's a very good chance the pipe has broke and now you're actually taking the hardcore out of the ground that used to surround the pipe.

Matt Starnes (27:58):

Right. Wow. Yeah.

Matt Lewis (27:59):

Yeah, yeah. You know, it sounds, obviously, a lot more volatile when it's hitting the snorkel. If it's just a high pitched ting-ting, then that's probably just road silt that's been washed in there, because it could be a combined sewer that deals with sewer water and rain water. So, as you can see there, you get the main crux of the job, but then it fires off somewhere else in a different direction again, and you've got to go. Right. Hang on. So, now it's that, so that must be that. And then you start working out road systems, you look at the road and you can see the road's got a belly in it and you think, well, that road's collapsed there. So, if that road's collapsed, this is why I'm bringing back this from here. And you kind of go, hang on a minute, I can't do anything at the moment. We need to call the next people because they need to investigate this. So, it evolves all the time. It really does.

Matt Starnes (28:47):

It's really like detective work. And based on your experience, of course, as well. You know those sounds-

Matt Lewis (28:53):

You're doing it blind. The only thing you've got is this 300 mill access down into this manhole and you're looking down in it. If it's past five meters, 20, 30 feet, it's going to be dark down there. So, you might only have the work lights off the vehicle, or a head torch, and you're looking down there and of course, there's torrents of water, but you can just hear the sound and you, oh, that's so and so down there, that's what that is. And yeah, you just get used to those different kind of frequencies of noise and everything and air displacement. And it's the sounds that it all makes, and when you put all that together, you've got a highly skilled individual.

Matt Starnes (29:32):

Yeah. You know, I think it all starts with what you're doing, your team does with the training.

Matt Lewis (29:38):

With the training. The training is-

Matt Starnes (29:39):

You have to have that, at this point.

Matt Lewis (29:42):

It's free. You buy a truck, you can have four operators trained for nothing. You'll be certified at the end of it to use the vehicle, all our testing's online now.

Matt Starnes (29:53):

There you go.

Matt Lewis (29:56):

Yeah. Way to go on that one. Yeah. So, they get a certificate emailed to them. I also get a copy for my records to say in case there's any future events. They get an operator's card that looks like a credit card, and written on there is the day they took the test, what vehicle they were tested on, but that only covers them for that vehicle. So, if they want to go out and then go onto a smaller, larger vehicle, they will have to do the same course again. And then they get a second card.

Matt Starnes (30:22):

Oh, sure.

Matt Lewis (30:22):

And some of these guys that have multiple different vehicles will end up with four or five cards in their back pocket, so to speak, but it means they're certified on each of those. And moving forward, I want to get to a point where we run a two year cycle. So, every two years we will start going back to customers, one day refresh because, obviously, we've got the new operating system coming out, which is out now in the UK and Europe, the M20 system, which is something I'm very proud of. I worked alongside a couple of my great friends in Denmark on this and with an outside source that we used. So, between four or five of us we stripped back the M19, put the M20 together, and the failure rate is almost nothing. It's a game changer, it's a complete game changer-

Matt Starnes (31:11):

Nice.

Matt Lewis (31:11):

... The M20 system, from what we had with the M19. So, I'm looking forward to that coming over here now, that's all going to be retrofitted onto these vehicles. So, all the bugs and issues that we've had will be eliminated as soon as that package is installed. So with that, moving forward with the new operating system and the future and drive that we have with the new vehicle here, it's going to be a long time, 2, 3, 4, 5 years. In steps. We achieve the goals. We talk. What's next. We carry on. We go in this direction. But the future's looking really great for the USA and Canada, North America in whole, with the sewer cleaning side of the business.

Matt Starnes (31:49):

We're just really thrilled. And I know Henrik, across the yard here, that's working on those M20s coming in, he's prepping all the vehicles for that now with some of our other folks. So, it's a type of investment we really are excited about.

Matt Lewis (32:06):

Oh, yeah.

Matt Starnes (32:09):

It's like you said, a complete game changer-

Matt Lewis (32:09):

Yeah. It is.

Matt Starnes (32:10):

... From some of the tests I've seen across pond.

Matt Lewis (32:14):

So, if we look at that, Matt, we've now got a completely different truck here, with the CR120 FlexLine, that we were now able to put anything we want in the back. Plus, it's got Hydro Ex on it, married up to a brand new operating system, it's almost like that, it's a new truck. So, when we get into the new year, next year, and we hit the road, it's going to be a brand new message going out to existing and, potentially, new customers that this is what we've got now, this is where we're going. And of course, the recyclers are never too far away from my mind because we all know how important they are in the ecosystem. And I used to run one for a long time, so I know how fond of them I am.

The way we look at it is that, the people that weren't interested in Bucher before on the recycling path, will hopefully be interested in us in the FlexLine Hydro Ex path. But then the recyclers are only sat in the background. So, the way I see it, and the vision that I have in my mind of pushing it is, once they're happy to see one of them, we can then mention the other. And with the other one, having the brand new operating system on it and being that reliable, we will entice them into having a demo with a recycler as well. And then it's just going to blossom from there. You know, that's the vision that I see, personally. And with the thanks from everybody in Denmark and Switzerland, and having that kind of push as well, I'm just really pleased that I'm back. I really am.

Matt Starnes (33:50):

Yeah. You know, I know being a marketer, a lot of times, some of my competitors and contemporaries they'll say new and improved a little too much, but in this case, this really is the new and improved model for these machines. And then, like you said, in the case of the Hydro Ex, I mean, FlexLine, come on. Come on. Let's go.

Matt Lewis (34:13):

That's right. And that's all, we just-

Matt Starnes (34:16):

Coming to a town near you. Definitely. You know what I mean?

Matt Lewis (34:18):

Yeah. You know, that's basically what we're looking for, for the new year. We'll all have a great Christmas with our families and everything, and then, as soon as that's finished, we switch back on to let's go at it again. You know, we have to get that truck from A to B, we show these people, it's going to take time. It's going to take a lot of effort. And for me, and for people like Rodger as well, and other guys working alongside us, it's going to be away from home. But this is the job that we do. This is the job that we love doing. So, we all know about that. But yeah, I think, let's sit down again in 12 months time, Matt, I think this conversation's going to be completely different.

Matt Starnes (34:59):

Yeah, absolutely. I think you're right. I think you're-

Matt Lewis (35:03):

I'm not being positive. And then, once we get out there and the first people have shown interest... Well, I've got a few contacts in America now that I've built up over the last five years. I will be speaking to them before I leave next weekend, and just putting the feelers out there for January. And one of them is a huge company in North America, so if we can get this in there and get those guys to look at it and go out and do some jobs, it's all we can do, and the rest will follow.

Matt Starnes (35:31):

Nice. Well, I really appreciate it. And as Matt said, we're going to be out and about with these machines. We're not just going to test them in the HQ, we're going to be out on the road so look for us. We're big on LinkedIn of course, and different places. But go ahead and you can go to our website and we've got it right there, you can request a demo and-

Matt Lewis (35:55):

Yeah. No problem.

Matt Starnes (35:55):

If you want to see it, we'll head towards you. No matter your climate we'll be there.

Matt Lewis (36:01):

Yeah, no problem, I look forward to it.

Matt Starnes (36:03):

Thank you so much.

Matt Lewis (36:03):

No, thank you, Matt. Pleasure. Thank you.