About Heavy Duty Specialists

Heavy Duty Specialists has been serving the diesel and industrial equipment industry for over 35 years. We began by serving the Omaha area in 1976. Since that time, HDS has grown to be a distributor of industrial parts across United States and Canada.

We know how important dependable equipment and parts are to your business and we make it our business to provide that to you. We stock a full inventory of both common and hard to find items from high quality manufacturers such as Donaldson, and will expedite your delivery. That means less down time and more productivity for you.

All our employees are experienced and extremely knowledgeable about every item we supply. Our reps are out in the field. They understand your business, your needs, and your expectations. They speak your language and are there to help you.

Our Staff

Robert Horner -- President

Robert is the 2nd generation of Horner to run Heavy Duty Specialists. He started working for his father, Walt, in his teens back in the 70s. Now, he is the President and responsible for guiding the company.

He often is on the road, wanting to talk face-to-face with his customers, the manufacturers, and equipment OEMs and in order to know what their needs are and how Heavy Duty Specialists can assist. In fact, he can be seen more often climbing over equipment in the field and talking with the mechanics personally than he can be seen at his desk. He truly knows the equipment that he provides the parts for. His goal, then, is to take his knowledge of the customer, his knowledge of the machinery and his knowledge of heavy duty parts and turn them into a quality combination that is the best solution available to fit that customer's needs.

Bob Thomas -- Warehouse Operations Manager

If you are placing an order - or simply trying figure out what it is that you need in the first place - you are likely to be talking to Bob Thomas. He is often the man who is working with your order from the moment you call or fax to the moment your shipment goes out the door.

Bob was a mechanic for many years prior to becoming a territorial salesman. Because of that, he has a "hands-on" knowledge of the equipment and the heavy duty parts needed to keep that equipment running. Despite being surrounded by thousands of parts in the warehouse, Bob manages to keep a staggering amount of information about all of them in his head... and if he doesn't know something that you need to find out, then he will be the first to do the research for you and make sure you are getting exactly what you need. Truly, Bob is what keeps HDS moving at any given moment.

Travis Roche -- Rail PM Program Manager

Carey McGarvey -- Rail Gang Coordinator & Expediter

Walt Horner -- Founder and CEO