Soil testing is a dirty job, but as Douglas E. Eiland knew, someone had to do it. In 1981, after 34 years as a materials engineer, Eiland retired to found his own business, Quality Assurance Testing Labs. He was joined by his son, Eddie, who left a job as an engineer for the Louisiana Department of Transportation to work with his father. The two set out with a goal: to create a company that could provide impartial and precise evaluations of soil, concrete and asphalt testing, as well as geotechnical testing, for customers in the greater Alabama region.
For many years, Quality Assurance Testing Labs did just that — provided accurate and professional soil evaluations for contractors and businesses. They launched their business with a truck-mounted drill. However, always eager to take on any soil sampling project, Eddie Eiland, now sole owner, often found himself frustrated with having to turn down potential clients due to the confined spaces in which the samples needed to be taken. He and his team were able to use hand boring for some of these jobs, but the method was difficult, slow and sometimes even nearly impossible if the soil was too rocky or hard. He hated to see these job opportunities get away and started thinking about what he could do to fix this missing component of his business.