Tim Harty, The Business Times

Rochelle Salikie knows she is being biased when she says it, but she’s darn sure this is true about her husband, Adam Salikie: “The man is truly amazing at what he does. He is like a surgeon, but for big rigs.”

She made the comment a day after Adam Salikie on Jan. 14 hopped in his truck with tools in tow and drove from Fruita to the Love’s Travel Stop in Parachute. There, he repaired a seized A/C compressor that had caught fire on a 2020 Freightliner Cascadia and also burnt the fan belt and the A/C belt.

It took him an hour to do the repair, which included replacing the tensioner along with the compressor and the other two belts.

And keep in mind it’s cold in January in Colorado.

Rochelle Salikie said the driver of the big rig mentioned how fast and accurate Adam was, and he was happy enough to give Adam a tip, which he then used to take Rochelle to lunch.

This has been what Adam Salikie has been doing since August, when he and Rochelle started A&R Mechanical LLC Diesel Repair. Adam’s the mechanic and road warrior, and Rachel does all of the office work while also looking after their infant daughter, Maizee Grace, who is now 10 months old.

But Adam got so busy and had so much demand for his skill set, he had to add another element to his business. Instead of being solely mobile, he leased space for a repair shop at 864 20 Road in Fruita and took up residence there in mid-December.

“I got busy enough with locals around here, we had to get the shop,” said Adam, who has more than 20 years of experience as a diesel mechanic.

Soon after, he took on his first job in the shop, and it was a doozy: an out-of-frame rebuild of an engine in which he took two generations of a Caterpillar motor and made one.

“The customer was over the moon about this,” Rochelle said. “In the mechanic world, this is really a huge deal.”

It was the kind of job that compels a wife to call her husband “truly amazing.”

She clearly is not the only person of that mind. Adam worked eight years for Helsinki Customs until it closed, and Rochelle said a lot of Helsinki customers knew Adam and followed him to his new business.

There’s good reason for the loyalty as Rochelle explained: “We’re not the kind of shop, you know, where we’re just gonna throw parts at it. We like to diagnose, get it right and get people out the door.”

A&R Mechanical was busy enough before adding the repair shop, but now things have kicked into overdrive, and the Salikies may have to add another diesel mechanic. Or, hire a tow-truck driver.

Adam said A&R Mechanical is purchasing a towing company, it soon will have two 25-ton units and an off-road wrecker.

“It’s growing so fast,” Adam said. “It’s been seven days a week the last four weeks. … I’m going to have to hire some help.”

MORE ABOUT A&R MECHANICAL

CONTACT INFORMATION

A&R Mechanical LLC Diesel Repair is located at 864 20 Road, Unit F, in Fruita.

Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and call the office phone at  970-858-2055. 

For 24-hour roadside service on diesel trucks, call 970-730-7964.

GOT ANYTHING TO WELD?

Rochelle Salikie is doing the administrative work, bookkeeping and marketing for A&R Mechanical, but she has another handy skill. “If anything needs welded on, I’m a welder by trade,” she said.