If Spring Fever has you ready get out in your yard and install a garden shed, or head to the lake and erect a getaway cabin, thank the team at Watco Terminal & Port Services for hauling the core components used to build what you need: steel, siding, roofing, flooring panels, trim, and occasionally lumber used in Tuff Sheds.
Tuff Shed is a privately-held company headquartered in Denver, Colorado, with 47 manufacturing plants across the nation. The company, founded much like Watco by one man in 1981, now fabricates and installs 75,000 structures each year, including sheds, barns, garages, and cabin shells — from a 10×12-footer for your lawnmower to a twostory, 3,000-square foot vacation property.
The company keeps about three weeks worth of inventory at 1,400 Home Depots, which send requests to the national purchasing department for more. Those requests are forwarded to Watco, which sends between one and three trucks per week from St. Louis, under the direction of Commercial Manager Ryan Krull, to each one of the participating stores.
“The way we operate, every building we build is custom designed by each customer, and everything is fabricated just a day or two before we install,” said Ben Grimes, vice president of production at Tuff Sheds. “If one truck doesn’t get out on time, it could impact 10 customers not getting their install at the correct time, so tight turn-around is vital.”
“(Watco) definitely keeps us in business,” Grimes said. “We rely on you.”
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