How the Volatile Oil and Gas Industry Demands a Steady Commitment from Dealers for Superior Quality and Service

Originally published in John Deere's, "The Leader" July 2021 publication.

 Although West Virginia has long been known as coal country, it also is helping lead the way with clean, abundant energy for the future. “There is less and less oil production in this area, but what has grown exponentially is the natural gas industry,” says Adam Boyers, president of Middletown Tractor Sales in Fairmont, West Virginia. “The gas that is produced in this area is piped all over the East Coast.” The oil and gas industry is a profitable, although sometimes volatile, market niche for Middletown Tractor. The dealership was founded in 1952 in the small town of Mannington, West Virginia, and has expanded to two locations in West Virginia and two in Pennsylvania.

Although the equipment needs of the petroleum industry are different from those of agriculture, John Deere products fit well during several production stages. 

“Some of the first units on the ground and the last to leave are  John Deere Gators,” he says. “The utility vehicles are used to run people and materials all over the drilling pad and also run pipeline rights of way.” 

During the drilling and fracking stage, John Deere OEM diesel engines are used to power the light plants, generators and water pumps. 

“They will run 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Boyers says. “There can be no downtime on these machines. If one of them goes down, it is costing the gas company thousands of dollars per minute. Once they start drilling or prepping  to drill, they do not stop. Most of this equipment literally runs 24 hours a day, every day. Rain, snow, heat or mud does not stop them. They truly try to manage down to the minute. Knowing this, they want to partner with a dealer that can keep them up and going. We can do that by providing them with superior service.” 

On the back side of the drilling process is reclamation. 

“John Deere 5, 6, and 7 Series Tractors are used to reclaim disturbed land,” he says. “They use these tractors to seed, fertilize and blow mulch. Finally, one other nice benefit of the oil and gas business is for the landowners. Once these gas wells start producing, the landowners start receiving royalty checks every month, and oftentimes John Deere equipment is on their wish list.” 

Simply put, natural gas production is a high-risk, high-reward industry. With so much at stake, reliable equipment and responsive service are essential—and both are strengths of John Deere and Middletown Tractor. 

“John Deere’s world-renowned parts distribution and product quality play a huge part in the customer’s decision to use them,” Boyers says. “Price is less of an issue  to many of these customers. It is all about uptime and production. They need high-quality equipment that lasts and a support team to handle anything that does go wrong. Our factory-trained technicians have become experts on the equipment that we service, and we have learned what parts to stock to keep them up and going.”

A dealership’s reputation is everything in the tight-knit industry. “We are a part of the Gas and Oil Association of West Virginia, which helps get our name out, but it is difficult to market to these businesses,” he says. “Word of mouth and reputation are the best forms of advertising to this industry.” 

Petroleum production can be a profitable market for dealers in certain geographies, but Boyers cautions against putting too many eggs in such an unpredictable basket. 

“The oil and gas industry is a boom-or-bust one, and there really isn’t anything you can do to change that,” he says. “It is driven nationally and internationally. You must remain diversified for the down years and be ready to tackle the up ones. 

“Truly understanding how important downtime is to them will be extremely helpful to you in building that relationship. If you can show them you understand that, appreciate it and are ready to partner with them to keep them up and going, then you can really win that customer over.”

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To learn more about how Middletown Tractor Sales serves the Oil and Gas industry, visit our main website here.