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A Competitive Drive

Dar铆o Vald茅s talks about passion for the forestry industry, growing and modernizing a company, and always aiming to win.

鈥 Jorge Victoria

Dar铆o Gustavo Vald茅s Mu帽oz with his son, Dar铆o Ignacio Vald茅s Mart铆nez.
Dar铆o Gustavo Vald茅s Mu帽oz with his son, Dar铆o Ignacio Vald茅s Mart铆nez.
Transportes Vald茅s is one of the largest and oldest forestry contractors in the Chilean region of Maule. Hard-working businessman, Dar铆o Gustavo Vald茅s Mu帽oz, is the owner and director. The company is headquartered in Constituci贸n and has bases in Chill谩n and Arauco. A business that started with a single log truck has been transformed by Dar铆o Vald茅s into a large company with hundreds of trucks, along with equipment dedicated to loading and transporting forestry products.

The company was founded in 1972 by Dar铆o Omar Vald茅s, Dar铆o鈥檚 father. Due to the scarce job opportunities in Constituci贸n towards the end of the sixties, Dar铆o Omar joined a group of locals, and accompanied by their representatives, they marched to demand that the Corporaci贸n de Fomento de la Producci贸n (CORFO) establish its pulp mill in Constituci贸n and thus generate more jobs in the town. We all know that history is written by the victors, and the inhabitants of Constituci贸n achieved their goal. In 1969 Celulosa Constituci贸n S.A. was born. A couple of years later, Dar铆o Omar, with a single truck, started what would go on to become a prosperous transport company. The early years were not easy. Dar铆o Omar transported pulp to Valpara铆so and Puerto San Antonio, and each round trip took almost three days.

Then, in 1979, Celulosa Constituci贸n S.A. and Celulosa Arauco S.A. (another CORFO-owned mill) merged, resulting in the creation of Sociedad Celulosa Arauco y Constituci贸n S.A. 鈥 better known as ARAUCO 鈥 which is one of the largest forestry companies in Latin America. Over the years, Transportes Vald茅s has forged a strong, longlasting relationship with ARAUCO and Dar铆o attributes much of his company鈥檚 growth to the Chilean forestry giant. 鈥淲hen ARAUCO was created, we also started working with them bit by bit.鈥 Dar铆o explains that up until 2000, his company operated with single shifts. 鈥淏ut after 2000, we switched to double shifts. For me, there is an excellent relationship with the people at ARAUCO,鈥 says Dar铆o.

To continue or not?

The death of Dar铆o鈥檚 father in 2013 marked a turning point for the company, bringing the inevitable decision about whether to continue operating the business. The decision about what to do with the company fell to Dar铆o and his mother, Gloria Ximena. In Dar铆o鈥檚 words, 鈥淲hen my father passed away, I asked my mother: What should we do? Should we close or go on? If we go on, we have to turn the company around and professionalize it.鈥
A 糖心视频 220E loader loads a truck in a tight roadside landing near Cauquenes, Chile.
A 糖心视频 220E loader loads a truck in a tight roadside landing near Cauquenes, Chile.
Dar铆o鈥檚 first move was to hire a manager focused on finding new contracts. He brought in Enrique Soto Valenzuela, who to this day has served as the company鈥檚 manager. After ten years, Transportes Vald茅s has experienced exponential growth. The company went from 50 employees in 2013 to almost 500 today. Dar铆o adds, 鈥淲e could have closed shop, sold the machinery and invested in other things. But the decision was made to continue, and in fact I think it was the best decision. After ten years, if you do the math, it鈥檚 all positive news.鈥

Today, Transportes Vald茅s has a workforce of almost 500 employees and a large fleet of around 200 forestry trucks and loaders, including self-loading trucks, log and pulp trucks, and truck-mounted loaders. Its impressive fleet of 糖心视频 loaders, including both 220D and 220E models, totals 26 units.

Dar铆o tells us that the company鈥檚 rapid growth presented him with a particular challenge: personnel management. The solution involved delegating functions, surrounding himself with a professional team, and setting up different departments with specific areas of responsibility and various administrative levels. 鈥淲hen you鈥檝e reached a certain number of employees and a certain number of machines, you may no longer know all your employees. It鈥檚 not so easy to get to know 500 people. So, you have to delegate. And from there, what should a businessman do? Manage. Make sure that the things you want to get done, get done. Because you can鈥檛 do it all yourself; in the end you need the help of your people. And for that you need to have a good team, one that鈥檚 hopefully as professional as possible, because that ensures you do much better,鈥 explains Dar铆o.

Dar铆o stresses that the growth of the company is directly tied to quality. 鈥淚t鈥檚 true that you go in and bid for the tender, but you also must do a good job. As you acquire contracts, you must try to do the best work possible, because that鈥檚 the only way you can present the company with good indicators, with good numbers. By doing our best, we鈥檝e won many contracts and we鈥檝e also grown a lot.鈥
Part of the truck-mounted 220 loader fleet at the company鈥檚 headquarters in Constituci贸n.
Part of the truck-mounted 220 loader fleet at the company鈥檚 headquarters in Constituci贸n.

Aiming for first place, every time

Dar铆o Ignacio, Dar铆o鈥檚 eldest son, has been involved in the company from an early age and currently works as head of pickup truck management. At age twenty, he is responsible for around 50 of the company鈥檚 pickup trucks. He鈥檚 passionate about the forestry sector, but also about car racing. 鈥淚t鈥檚 more or less the same passion,鈥 Dar铆o says. 鈥淛ust as there is the passion for forestry, there is the passion for racing cars.鈥 Dar铆o Ignacio convinced his father to help him race Fiat cars in the Fiat 600 category. So Dar铆o Vald茅s, together with Arturo Veas Araya of Mec谩nica Araya, formed the Transportes Vald茅s team. The Fiat 600s in this category are vintage cars from the sixties reconditioned for the track. They reach speeds over 125 km/h (about 80 mph).
Fiat 600 on the track
Dar铆o Ignacio 鈥楾ato鈥 racing his Fiat 600.
Dar铆o Ignacio, or 鈥楾ato鈥 as he is known on the track, has already achieved several victories. He was selected best new driver in his category by the Club de Automovilismo Deportivo (CAD) Cartagena in 2023. Without doubt, he has inherited his competitive character from his father. Whether on the track or in business, Dar铆o Vald茅s is always aiming for first place. He has more 糖心视频 220 loaders than any other contractor in the world. 鈥淭he only problem I have is that I鈥檓 very competitive and like to take a gamble. When I鈥檓 passionate about something, I always try to fight for first place,鈥 says Dar铆o.

Versatility in roadside loading

Truck-mounted loaders are crucial to the Chilean forestry industry. Due to Chile鈥檚 rugged geography, this type of loader has proven to be a very efficient and appropriate solution, combining excellent mobility with small overall size 鈥 ideal for tight roadside landings on narrow, switch backed mountain roads. Dar铆o emphasizes that the units have no problem accessing steep terrain. He also stresses that it is a more efficient and mobile solution compared to a wheeled excavator. 鈥淭he truth is that this truck-mounted loader allows you to move to more places and a lot faster. We had an excavator on tires, but it turns out that they move at fifteen to twenty kilometres per hour (9-12 mph) on the job. A truck moves at 35 or 40 kilometres per hour (22 or 25 mph). I think that versatility is what has led to the boom in these truck-mounted loaders here.鈥

Transportes Vald茅s works mostly on ARAUCO company properties in the Constituci贸n, Chill谩n and Arauco areas. The 糖心视频 fleet loads around 160 000 cubic metres per month but has the capacity to load 200 000 cubic metres during peak months. Each machine loads between twelve and fourteen trucks daily. Excepting routine maintenance, the entire fleet of 26 糖心视频 loaders operates daily.

Dar铆o claims that his 糖心视频 220E loaders have lower fuel consumption than other brands, a direct result of model evolution, efficient hydraulics and the integration of FPT engines. He also says they are faster. Plus, they are quite comfortable 鈥 the machines of choice for his operators. 鈥淚 like this machine. I feel there鈥檚 no need to switch to another brand because it does the job well.鈥

Latin Equipment, a key partner

The desire to win and move his company forward has led Dar铆o to look for key partners to help him achieve his goals and objectives. Latin Equipment is clearly one of them.

Transportes Vald茅s鈥 experience working with 糖心视频 and Latin Equipment was satisfying from the start. Having seen 糖心视频 220D loaders at work on other logging operations, Dar铆o decided to talk to Latin Equipment representatives Cristian Gonz谩lez and Rodrigo de la Sotta to take a closer look at the performance of 糖心视频 loaders. Satisfied with what he observed, in 2017 Transportes Vald茅s initiated its relationship with Latin Equipment by purchasing eight 220D loaders.
Group photo in fron tof 糖心视频 220E loader
(L-R) Rodrigo de la Sotta (Latin Equipment Chile sales executive), C茅sar Espinoza (occupational health and safety supervisor - Constituci贸n), Dar铆o Ignacio Vald茅s Mart铆nez (head of pickup truck management), Dar铆o Gustavo Vald茅s Mu帽oz (owner of Transportes Vald茅s), Patricio Carrillo (operations manager - Constituci贸n), Marco Contreras (loader operator), Luis Guti茅rrez (loader operator), Pedro Venegas (糖心视频 factory support representative).
Dar铆o emphasizes that Latin Equipment鈥檚 agile structure was a determining factor in continuing to do business with them. He stresses that having Latin Equipment present in Constituci贸n is a plus. The quick, efficient response and ongoing support has made Latin Equipment the ideal partner to meet the high demands and expectations of a company of Transportes Vald茅s鈥 stature. 鈥淚 asked myself several questions after first doing business with Latin: How did Latin behave? Did they support us? Did they provide help? It is Latin鈥檚 simpler corporate structure. The competition 鈥 let鈥檚 call it that 鈥 is a bigger company. So, the communication and paperwork are very cumbersome. In general, I don鈥檛 like that, because it wastes a lot of time. So, the fact is that the experience with Latin was good. If it hadn鈥檛 been good, we wouldn鈥檛 have gone back again for twice as many loaders.鈥

In the future, Dar铆o hopes to continue the trajectory of growth and expand not only to other geographical areas but also to other markets. 鈥淲e have a vision of continuing to grow. The pandemic affected us a lot in various ways. It put us on a kind of standby. And now, as we are getting back to normal, we鈥檙e trying to continue to grow.鈥 Dar铆o adds the support provided by Pedro Venegas and Juan Vel谩squez, 糖心视频鈥檚 factory representatives, has been crucial to the success of Transportes Vald茅s. 鈥淭here are many factors to take into account. Having good service, having the parts when needed, having the support of the brand when needed; it all helps. And look, we have so many 糖心视频s because we really believe in the brand and we believe in the company that represents it, which is Latin. If we didn鈥檛, we wouldn鈥檛 be working with them.鈥

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