Mark Schaffer Excavating & Trucking

What Mark Schaffer Excavating & Trucking does

Mark Schaffer Excavating & Trucking, Inc. (MSE) is a privately held, family-owned heavy civil and sitework contractor headquartered in Norwalk, Ohio, operating across Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Indiana, and Michigan. Founded by Mark Schaffer as a sole proprietorship in 1977 and incorporated in 1983, the company performs site development, large-scale earthmoving, grading, utility installation, demolition, mining overburden stripping, and erosion control for both public agencies (Ohio DOT, ODNR, USACE, FAA-towered airports) and private developers, industrial firms, and aggregate producers. Project bid sizes typically range from $500,000 to over $10 million, with disclosed individual awards reaching $12 million (Erie Regional Airport runway improvements) and $7.15 million (Poet ethanol plant sitework).

MSE's core technology stack centers on GPS machine control — pioneered in Ohio in 1999 via a Trimble system and now deployed on 26 dozers and excavators — supplemented by certified in-house drone pilots for topographic and volumetric reporting. The company holds MSHA Part 46 and 48B independent contractor licenses, ODOT Certified Contractor status, and an active Beta-Sam federal registration (DUNS 041188665), qualifying it for FAA, USACE, and surface mining work. Its owned fleet of 30 excavators, 19 dozers, 18 articulated off-road dump trucks, and 15 Peterbilt/Kenworth semi tractors is the operational backbone, with 18-person-plus equipment counts forming a high capital barrier to entry for similarly sized bidders.

The business model is project-based and sales-led: revenue is generated through competitive bidding, bonding, and execution of fixed-price contracts awarded by government procurement processes or private general contractors. Pricing is not publicly disclosed; projects are bid on scope, with the company explicitly marketing itself to general contractors, developers, and public agencies seeking large sitework packages. Beyond core contracting, MSE monetizes fleet capacity through a trucking-for-hire service (aggregate, salt, grain, C&D debris hauling), equipment rental (GPS and non-GPS excavators/dozers), and mobile refueling. Customer segments are diversified across government/public works, private commercial/industrial, mining/aggregates, education, and residential development, reducing single-vertical dependency but leaving revenue lumpiness tied to the cadence of large project awards.

Name

Mark Schaffer Excavating & Trucking

Legal name

Mark Schaffer Excavating & Trucking, Inc.

Website

https://markschaffer-excavating.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1983

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Mark Schaffer Excavating & Trucking is a family-owned heavy civil and sitework contractor in Norwalk, Ohio, performing earthmoving, grading, utility installation, mining overburden stripping, and trucking for government, industrial, commercial, and mining clients across five Midwestern states.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Heavy Civil Construction & Sitework Contracting

NAICS

Site Preparation Contractors (238910), Land Subdivision (23721)

SIC

Heavy Construction Other Than Bldg Const - Contractors (1600), Construction - Special Trade Contractors (1700)

akta.pro primary industry

Excavators (IMAHAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Bulldozers & Crawler Dozers (IMAHAAAC), Surface Mining Equipment (Excavators, Shovels, Draglines, Dozers) (IMAKANAA), Backhoe Loaders (IMAHAAAB)

Keywords

• Heavy civil construction
• Sitework contracting
• Earthmoving services
• Excavation services
• Mining services

Headquarters

HQ city

Norwalk

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Heavy Civil Construction Services: Project-based revenue from heavy civil and sitework contracting. MSE typically bids, bonds, and performs projects ranging from $500k to over $10mil. Services include earthmoving, grading, utility installation, demolition, and mining services.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Mark Schaffer Excavating & Trucking is a heavy civil and sitework contractor that performs earthmoving, grading, utility installation, demolition, mining services, and trucking-for-hire for both public and private clients across Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Indiana, and Michigan. The company bids, bonds, and performs projects ranging from $500k to over $10 million, leveraging GPS machine control technology and an owned fleet of excavators, dozers, articulated dump trucks, and semi tractors.

Product overview

Mark Schaffer Excavating & Trucking is a heavy civil construction company providing sitework and earthmoving services. The company's primary offerings include full-scale site development, large earthmoving, utility installation, mining services, trucking for hire, demolition, and erosion control. Their services are supported by a fleet of owned heavy equipment including excavators, dozers, scrapers, loaders, compactors, articulated dump trucks, water trucks, and on-road trucks. The company also provides equipment rental and mobile refueling services. Government contracting capabilities encompass FAA airport, Ohio DOT/DNR, and USACE projects.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Heavy Civil & Sitework Contracting

Quantifiable outcome

• EMR rating of 0.56 in 2023 (below industry average of 1.0 indicates better safety performance)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers19 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Sitework SolutionsminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2008MSE acquired the assets of Sitework Solutions and Mr. John Landrum in 2008 to head up and manage its GPS technology and machine control program. This acquisition expanded MSE's GPS capabilities and added experienced personnel.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Kokosing Construction Company: Larger Ohio-headquartered heavy civil, industrial, and building contractor with extensive DOT, bridge, and sitework capabilities. Overlaps with MSE on Ohio sitework and infrastructure projects but operates at a broader scale with a much larger bonding capacity and union workforce.
• Granite Construction Incorporated: Large publicly traded heavy civil contractor with extensive transportation infrastructure, sitework, and mining services. Operates at national scale and competes indirectly with MSE for the largest government and infrastructure contracts in MSE's footprint.
• Sterling Construction Company: Nationally diversified heavy civil contractor (publicly traded) with significant sitework, water/wastewater, and transportation infrastructure operations. Operates at much greater scale and geographic reach than MSE but competes on overlapping heavy-civil bid opportunities in the Midwest.

Direct peers

• Great Lakes Construction Company: Heavy civil contractor serving Ohio, Kentucky, and surrounding states with sitework, grading, drainage, and transportation projects. Directly competes with MSE on Midwest DOT, commercial, and public-works sitework bid work at similar project sizes.
• Beaver Excavating Company: Ohio-based heavy civil and sitework contractor with a comparable fleet of excavators, dozers, and trucks serving government, commercial, and industrial clients across the Midwest. Directly competes with MSE on bid-based sitework, mass earthwork, and utility projects in overlapping geographies.
• Ames Construction: Heavy civil and mining contractor with significant mass earthwork, site development, and overburden stripping capabilities. Comparable fleet profile, mine-services offering, and project size range, although operating at a larger geographic and scale footprint than MSE.
• R.B. Jergens Contractors: Ohio-based heavy civil contractor offering earthmoving, site development, and utility installation. Comparable customer mix (government, commercial, industrial) and bid-based project model in an overlapping Midwest geography, making it a head-to-head competitor on similar-sized projects.

Regional players

• The Shelly Company: One of Ohio's largest aggregate producers and an MSE mine-services customer. They sit upstream (aggregate supply) but also perform sitework and paving in Ohio, creating both customer- and competitor-style overlap with MSE's mine services and civil operations.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/MarkSchafferExcavating
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mark-schaffer-excavating-trucking-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Mark Schaffer Excavating & Trucking