From sea level to 14,000-foot high mountaintops, PTI Group provides the best quality of life facilities for people working in remote areas
PTI Group’s business is turning remote possibilities into reality. Its rapid-response team has dispatched and installed 500-person camps — serving steak dinners to forest firefighters — in less than 24 hours.
Q. When was the company founded, who founded it and what was its original name?
A. PTI Group (formerly Peace Trailer Industries) was a family-run business founded in 1977 in Peace River, Alberta. The company originally built and rented trailers for the oil and gas industry working in the region. Today, PTI is a subsidiary of Oil States International (NYSE: OIS).
Q. Where is your company located? More than one location?
A. PTI Group is headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta Canada. PTI also has a number of satellite offices located in Canada and the U.S. to support sales and operations. That said, the company delivers services to customers operating in markets around the world.
Q. Who heads up your company and who is on its senior management team?
A. PTI Group is owned by Oil States International, Inc., based in Houston, Texas. Oil States International is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol OIS.
PTI Group Inc.’s executive team is led by President and CEO Ron Green. Other members of the executive team and their photographs are available at www.ptigroup.com/executive_team.php.
Q. What is the company’s primary business sector? What services does the company offer?
A. PTI Group’s core services can be defined as “industrial workforce accommodations, catering and support services.” Each segment is described here:
Modular Facilities: PTI offers design, production, transportation and installation of modular structures for resource-based industries operating in isolated and harsh locations. PTI’s camps can accommodate from 25 to 5,000 people.
Open Camp Properties: PTI maintains the largest chain of permanent base camps in the industry, strategically located in remote areas where many companies need to house staff at a common location. From shared rooms to private suites, PTI has a complete range of accommodation options to house personnel for any length of time. As needs grow, so do our services. Depending on the camp location, we offer everything from satellite and Internet access to confectionery items and fuel sales.
Fleet Rentals: As a cost-effective alternative for shorter term requirements, PTI has over 2,000 camp units specifically designed for the oil patch, mining and remote area logging. These modular self-contained accommodations vary in size to suit the needs of a project.
Environmental Services: PTI offers highly portable water and wastewater treatment plants to service the needs of facilities operating in remote areas where municipal services are not available.
Facility Management & Support Services: As part of its turnkey service offering, PTI Group handles the day-to-day operations of any facility — making sure there’s food, power, water, communications, housekeeping, proper security, snow removal — whatever is required to keep the camp running smoothly and guests happy.
Facility Maintenance and Mobile Services: PTI’s fleet of fully stocked service vehicles is strategically positioned to respond at a moment’s notice to address maintenance issues in the field. These trucks are staffed by fully qualified journeymen and apprentices capable of handling anything from generator servicing to full camp installations.
Q. Who are PTI Group’s main clients?
A. Our core business is typically positioned to service the oil and gas, mining, forestry, military and humanitarian aid industries.
Q. How many employees does your company have?
A. PTI Group currently employs approximately 2,900 during our peak operating periods of the year, November through March.
Q. Does PTI Group have subsidiaries?
A. PTI has a number of operating divisions. An overview of each can be found online at www.ptigroup.com/divisions.php.
Q. Describe your essential equipment in general terms.
A. Aside from the fleet and open camp properties, we have two manufacturing plants in Alberta where we manufacture modular facilities for our own operations and for customers looking to purchase facilities outright. The business relies on skilled labor for our manufacturing side, and field staff for our camp, catering and facility management side.
Q. What is your company’s main strength, i.e., its edge over the competition?
A. Essentially, PTI is a “turnkey” service provider offering a full complement of services needed to set up and operate a camp in remote areas. While other companies provide a very narrow suite of services (i.e. facilities-only, catering-only, etc.), PTI provides it all. Our new generation of facilities is becoming well-known for providing the best quality of life for our guests, giving us a competitive advantage. Thirty years in the business and a proven track record in some of the earth’s harshest environments have made PTI an industry leader.
Q. What new markets, clients and/or projects did your company attract in the last year?
A. PTI has had a fantastic year expanding its three flagship facilities in the Alberta oil sands. PTI Beaver River Executive Lodge (730 private executive suites) and PTI Athabasca Lodge (1,950 private rooms) sit on the same property north of Fort McMurray to service the growing number of oil sands projects in the area, and PTI Wapasu Creek Lodge near Fort McMurray, Alberta. This lodge has approximately 344 rooms and will expand to 1,353 rooms.
PTI also received all necessary land lease approvals to begin the construction of PTI Conklin Lodge, its fourth major lodge in the oil sands region of northern Alberta, Canada. Conklin Lodge will open with 376 rooms providing PTI’s full suite of first-class accommodations and services including catering, internet service, conference rooms and leisure facilities for fitness, entertainment and relaxation.
Q. What is the most challenging job you have undertaken?
A. Each project has its unique challenges. PTI has built and installed a mining camp on a 14,000 foot mountaintop in Kyrgyzstan. We have also manufactured and installed three 1,500-person facilities for an oil sands client in a 12-month period. Our rapid response team has dispatched and installed 500-person camps serving steak dinners for forest firefighters in less than 24 hours. Our business is turning remote possibilities into reality.
Q. What are the biggest obstacles to completing work the company undertakes?
A. The biggest obstacles are logistics (how services and facilities are deployed into the field), weather (impacts access to sites, ice roads, etc.) and availability of skilled labor.
Q. What do you see as your company’s biggest challenge in the next five years?
A. Attraction and retention of skilled labor is key. PTI’s business is dependent on the people in our manufacturing facilities and in the field who deliver our services. With the growing shortage of skilled labor available, PTI will need to continue positioning itself as an employer of choice.
Q. What is your company’s safety record?
A. The health and safety of our customers and our employees is the most important part of our operating philosophy. We don’t do anything without first considering how we can provide the safest possible workplace for everyone involved in a project, from our employees to those of our clients. We’ve made safety a part of our culture company-wide, ensuring we exceed best practices and government regulations. Our safety program has been recognized by industry associations as one of the best.
Q. Does your company or its partners or subsidiaries maintain Web sites?
A. www.ptigroup.com.
