Preferred Drilling Solutions News

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — Summit Drilling, LLC (“Summit”), a leading provider of environmental and geotechnical services, today announced the acquisition of Preferred Drilling Solutions, Inc. (“PDS”), a premier environmental drilling and remediation contractor headquartered in Florida. This strategic acquisition significantly expands Summit’s operational footprint across the Southeastern United States and Gulf Coast, while enhancing its ability to deliver comprehensive site investigation and remediation solutions to environmental consultants, engineers, and project stakeholders.

Founded in 2001, PDS has earned a strong reputation for delivering high-quality environmental drilling and remediation services. With multiple locations across Florida and operations extending into Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and South Carolina, PDS brings deep regional expertise and a seasoned team with more than 200 years of combined industry experience.

“The addition of PDS to the Summit family represents a major step forward in our mission to be the best-in-class environmental services company on the East Coast,” said Ron Bucca, CEO of Summit Drilling. “PDS’s commitment to safety, quality, and customer service aligns seamlessly with our culture. Their expertise, particularly in sonic drilling and remediation, strengthens our ability to support customers on complex projects across an expanded geographic area.”

Expanding Capabilities and Capacity

The acquisition enhances Summit’s already robust services platform by adding both geographic density and technical depth. Together, Summit and PDS will deliver:

• Expanded Sonic Drilling Leadership – Increased access to advanced drilling technologies.
• Greater Project Capacity – Ability to deploy multiple crews and equipment sets simultaneously on large, complex projects without compromising responsiveness to other customers.
• Broader Regional Coverage – Strengthened presence from the Mid-Atlantic through the Southeast and Gulf Coast.
• Unified Safety Culture – Integration of two organizations with strong, aligned health and safety standards.

This acquisition builds on Summit’s continued growth through strategic integrations, including SAEDACCO, SET, and TPI Environmental, further reinforcing its position as a full-service environmental and geotechnical contractor.

A Strong Cultural Fit

Leadership from both organizations emphasized the cultural alignment as a defining factor in the transaction.

“Merging our company with Summit is an exciting opportunity for our ownership, employees, and customers,” said Dillon Bale, President of Preferred Drilling Solutions. “The synergy between our service offerings and company cultures made this feel like a natural fit. Together, we can expand our capabilities, support larger and more complex projects, and provide even greater value to our customers. The future is very bright.”

Summit’s leadership also highlighted the opportunity this creates for employees across both organizations. “This is about bringing together talented teams who share the same commitment to safety, performance, and delivering an exceptional customer experience,” added Bucca. “With increased scale, more equipment, and expanded locations, we’re creating new opportunities for our people while continuing to raise the bar for our industry.”

Positioning for Continued Growth

With over 200 employees and the largest fleet of Sonic and Probe rigs on the East Coast, Summit is uniquely positioned to meet increasing demand across the environmental sector. The combined organization offers a fully integrated platform spanning geophysics, drilling, and remediation, supporting projects from initial investigation through site closure.

Preferred Drilling is proud to announce that December 2021 marks 20 years since our company drilled its first hole.  PDS was started with just two conventional drill rigs and two Geoprobe® units. By 2006 PDS had grown to over 20 employees and opened a second location, in Lakeland, FL.  Our 3^rd location, in Live Oak, was opened in 2010 in order to better serve Northern Florida.  The last decade has held several more branch openings including the purchase of Huss Drillings’ Bonifay, FL office in 2019.  PDS currently operates out of six locations with approximately 65 full time employees on staff.  None of our growth would’ve been possible without the support of our clients, vendors and employee-owners.  We want to thank everyone involved in making us the company that we are today.  THANK YOU!!

Preferred Drilling has acquired a second Geoprobe 8040 rig for our fleet.  This probe is being operated out of our Pinellas Park Branch and will serve the central and southern portions of Florida.  This rig is capable of well installation via both direct push and hollow stem auger.  It can also install double cased wells, conduct split spoon sampling and do deep DPT sampling in excess of 150ft.  For more information on this machines capability please refer to the spec sheet on our website.

Preferred Drilling expands our sonic service line with the additional of an 8150LC. This track mounted rig is being housed in our Bonifay branch and is a perfect fit for the deeper drilling depths required in the Panhandle.