A Salute to a Komatsu Customer
Morgan Asphalt Inc. builds success by taking control of schedules and doing bigger jobs each year in the Salt Lake City area
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Matt Morgan grew up around asphalt, but if things had worked out the way his father, Thom, originally planned, that probably would not have been the case.
Matt Morgan, President
Brice Butler, Equipment Manager
“Dad worked for an asphalt company during summers to make money while he was attending the University of Utah, and he hated the job,” Matt explained. “He wanted nothing to do with it after he graduated. He went into commercial real estate in Phoenix. Over the course of time, things changed in that realm, and he decided to move back to the Salt Lake area.”
When Thom moved, he took on a 50% stake in an asphalt contracting company that performed both paving and maintenance. Matt emphasized that those two services didn’t work well together. “There are unique skills sets with each that involve different demands for equipment,
Foreman Cesar Montes digs base material with a Komatsu PC138USLC-10 tight tail swing excavator on a parking lot repair project. “The excavator has good power for its size; it will dig out hard materials fairly easily,” said Montes. “It’s fast and smooth.”
time and people,” he pointed out. “Dad and his partner at the time decided it was best to split the company up and each go their separate ways. My dad took the paving side, and that was the start of Morgan Asphalt in 1996.” Based in Magna, Utah, Morgan Asphalt Inc. started out doing small patching and driveway paving jobs with Thom and a small group of workers. During the past 20-plus years, Thom, Matt and a staff of dedicated individuals steadily built the company into one of the Beehive State’s most notable contractors. Today, it has more than 200 employees during peak season and numerous crews focused on mainline paving, milling, grading, excavating, utilities and site concrete.
Improved schedule control
Matt estimated that about 70% of Morgan Asphalt’s work is done as a subcontractor within a 75-mile radius of Magna. Projects range in size from a $100,000 base and pave to multimillion-dollar site packages that include site preparation and paving, mainly in the commercial sector.
“Each year we take on a little larger paving project than the one before, and that model has worked very well for Morgan Asphalt,” said Matt. “Many of our employees have been with the company for a decade or more, and their experience and expertise helped us grow. Their skill level is a big reason that we are able to complete paving jobs efficiently with the highest quality.”
Matt added that initially the staff’s ability to work quickly posed a problem for Morgan Asphalt. “We got to a point where the dirt guys were having a hard time staying ahead of us,” Matt said. “In order to better control the schedule, we took on excavation and site prep. Now, we do everything from stripping, to utility installation, to finish grading in preparation for paving. We now have multiple grading, excavation and utility crews. Adding excavation sped things up considerably.”
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While adding earthmoving solved Morgan Asphalt’s site preparation situation, the company still faced another dilemma. It had grown into the largest asphalt paver in the market that didn’t supply its own material. The
