Monthly Archives: July 2015

Job Prospects and Career Guidelines of becoming A Paving Machine Operator

Want to become a paving machine operator. Read this article carefully to know more about the career opportunities and professional outlook in this field.

Education and Training required for Paving Machine Operators

Most paving machine operators start as apprentice or a trainee and work under an experienced operator. Training can also be taken from vocational schools. The best institution is The International Union of Operating Engineers which offers training to an apprentice and to those who are interested to make a career in this field. The duration of the course is up to 4 years.

Proficiency Required

An operator should possess good communication skills, as he have to take and give directions while operating the machine.

They should easily deal with large and complicated heavy equipment and also have comprehensive knowledge about them so that the machines can be maintained and repaired well and quickly.

Career Prospects

The career prospects in this sector are lucrative, bright and full of optimism. There are 54,460 posts available to the operators in a research conducted by the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2012.This sector will witness a employment growth of 20 percent by the end of the year 2022 according to the BLS.

Other Career Options Available

Apart from driving a paving machine an operator can also find jobs as Material Moving Machine Operator and Heavy Tractor Driver.

Material Moving Machine Operator

A material moving machine operator makes application of heavy construction equipment such as cranes or conveyor belts to move thing from one site to another. They can find work in different industries, or in places like a storehouse, mine or sea harbour and ports. There are no proper education qualification for becoming material moving machine operator , but a high school diploma and experience in the construction industry will stand you in a good stead as many industries prefer it.; You can start as an apprentice and there are scopes for growth. However in order to be a crane operator you will need special license for operating it.

In future the job opportunities of  material moving machine operators is  believed to remain  unaltered starting   from the year  2012-2022, with job  growth  approximately at 1%.

Heavy Tractor Driver

Becoming heavy tractor driver is another option available to the operators. A heavy tractor driver is a professional driver who complies with the rules laid by the federal regulations. A proper commercial driver’s licence is a prerequisite, as you need to drive the machines carrying hazardous materials and other perilous cargoes. The tractors are heavy and can weigh up to 26000 pounds. The operator also needs to keep in touch with the dispatcher for solving various tractor related problems. They are also responsible for maintaining mileage and also plan the long distance routes.

To sum up paving machine operation is a specialised job and the operators have to undergo extensive training to develop and gain good skills and comprehensive knowledge to operate them. They also need practical experience and exposure to drive such large and complicated equipment.

Guide to start a business of heavy equipment

The industry of repossession is growing continuously. It offers a lot of business contingencies to the people who want to start their own business of heavy equipment. This kind of business has lot of growth opportunities. It is because this constructional heavy equipment are used for forestry, construction, mining and transportation purposes. But, to start a business, it is very important to have a strong business plan so that you can easily take your business to the top. You only have to do a little hard work and calculations to build up your successful business strategy. You don’t have to search over the internet to make your business plan. Just follow the simple steps given below and you will definitely rock.

Business plan for heavy equipment

  • The first thing which matters is the budget. You should plan your budget in such a way that you won’t face any financial crisis afterwards. Create a list of all the equipment that you are planning to get. If you have a low budget, then go for buying used equipment. Your budget should include all the money that you have to pay to the marketers as well as to the employees.
  • Now, choose a proper name of your business. Then you have to file all the exact information of DBA with the local government. After that, try to get the license of your business as soon as possible.
  • Your driver’s license should contain the appropriate classification for hauling heavy equipment. Get the license checked by the motor vehicle’s local department of the state. If you are planning for driver hiring, then check their driver license too.
  • Purchase or rent a space for commercial office. The space should have large storage yard so that you can keep big and heavy equipment in that.
  • You can also employ contractors who work independently. By doing this, you can save a lot from your budget. But, the independent contractors should have a proper insurance.
  • Lease or purchase the equipment for your company. The equipment should bear the necessary info of your company like name, address, logo and contact details.
  • Develop strong marketing strategy. Contact with the companies who are involved in financing the constructional equipment purchases. Meet them face to face and try to give them every information of your company which will help you to explore your business.
  • Now, one of the most important steps towards marketing is developing a website with proper logo and company’s name. Your website should have an attractive design to draw more traffic to the website.
  • You should join the industrial agencies such as American Recovery Association. It will help you to apprize with local and national news of business referrals.

Starting a business of heavy equipment is not so easy. You have to be very careful of every step that you are going to take. But, this thing shouldn’t demotivate you. Be brave enough to face the challenge and explore your heavy equipment business globally.

6 Myths About the Heavy Equipment Fleet Management Software That You Need To Know About

There is no doubt about the fact that the entire construction industry heavily relies on the heavy equipment in order to finish off a construction project within the given deadline. As such, one really does not have to explain the importance that heavy equipment fleet management holds in the entire scheme of things. Though it has been shunned and criticised by a number of people, one cannot deny the fact that heavy equipment fleet management has enormous competitive advantage of its own.

Heavy Equipment Fleet Management- Myths That Need Busting

The heavy equipment fleet management software has been successful in giving rise to a number of preconceived notions in the market. Needless to say, these are quite untrue.

  • It is true that heavy equipment fleet management software allows you to have access to a number of data on the hardware of the equipment. However, if you expect the software to work of its own accord and give you returns on investments, then you are going about it in absolutely the wrong direction. You have to know the way of utilising the data s availed optimally so that you can receive huge profit.
  • People also feel that they can go for any fleet management software and the result will turn out to be the same. However, that is not the case. The heavy equipment fleet has its own set of concerns and therefore, the solution for the system, too, differs from one another. It is therefore, best to consider this aspect and go for fleet management software that caters to the individual requirements of the heavy equipment.
  • The heavy equipment fleet management software allows the concerned authorities to monitor the behaviour of the equipment operators and put a stop to misuse of the equipment along with tracking them. This allows them to cut down on fuel consumption, thereby, cutting down on the overall expense of the company. Hence, one could easily conclude that this heavy equipment fleet management software in no way intrudes on the privacy of the workers.
  • Contrary to the common preconceived notion, the heavy equipment fleet management software cannot be said to be an expensive deal in the long run. The initial purchase and installation charges might prove to be a pocket pinch, but the subsequent benefits more than makes up for it.
  • A lot of people consider operating the heavy equipment fleet management software to be an exhaustive procedure. On the contrary, operating the entire thing is quite easy only if the concerned authority have a commendable system administrator at their disposal.
  • A lot of smaller heavy equipment fleet management companies tend to think that they do not require fleet management software because of the small size of the company. However, this is a myth as small fleet management companies can make use of this system to improve things.

The heavy equipment fleet management software is quite a lucrative deal if one manages to get past the myths existing in the field.

Don’t run after money – Give some time for business to grow

It is pretty obvious that we all do business for money. The very reason why we end up doing a business is that we can make more money than what we could have by working with a public or private concern and of course for the very fact that we will our own bosses and no one will be there to monitor or control or work. This all sounds to be so nice and sweet as long as you are able to generate money from your business. However, the bitter fact is that for the first few years you have to struggle like anything and you get nowhere near of making any profits. On the contrary, there are high chances that you will be incurring losses and still need to pour in more money in order to sustain your business.

It is a known truth that construction business can give you so much money in a shorter span that no other industry can probably give and due to this very reason more and more people are getting into this industry. It is not so difficult to start a construction business but it is quite tough to sustain if you have one. The main hurdle is to get projects and if you succeed in getting projects, the next problem will be if you can complete the work on time. You may need different kind of heavy equipment for which you need enough reserves in hand or else you have to end up taking loan from a financial institution paying them high interest. Other than that, you need to employ able staff and construction workers and need to ensure that you pay them on time.

All this will take a lot of time to fall in place. So if you do not have the patience and if you start running after money, you will not achieve what you wanted to. If you keep earning money as your only motto then things might not go your way and you may have to wind up your business sooner or later.

Take some time to know your business:-

Every kind of business has certain tricks of the trade which one needs to be aware of. Without knowing them, you should not straight away jump into forming a company and employing people. This may back-fire you in some way or the other. So it would be important that you first take time to learn a bit about your business and once you feel that you are ready to take the plunge then start making preparations like accumulation of funds, looking out for employees, conducting interviews and stuff.

Keep reserves for the first 2-3 years:-

You business will not start generating profits from the word “GO”. For the first few years, you may experience a lot of hiccups which will gradually settle down. It is important that you give time for issues to settle as it will definitely take time and will not disappear in no time. It ideally takes 2-3 years of struggle to take a business from a toddling phase to the next level.  Once you are out of the initial phase, things will start becoming better for you.

Caterpillar Jacket

Jackets are not only required to protect you from cold winds but it is got to do more than what we presume. Jackets that have reflective stripes in the front and the back are there to protect workers working in industrial and construction sites. Times are gone when people worked only during the day. In this generation, where people want everything to happen at the click of a button, you have to build things faster and for that you have to deploy people who are ready to work at night. So for those resources, you have to provide them with reflective stripes jackets so that people from far can make out someone working in the site.

There are several companies who excel in producing excellent apparels but there is one name that lies above the rest of them. Caterpillar is termed to be the best when it comes to producing quality produces. Though Caterpillar is never into production of any merchandise, they have companies working for them who produce different kinds of merchandise for the end users. Once it is produced, it is emblazoned with the CAT logo. This is just one part of the story. The primary part is CAT selects the company that promises to produce the best before getting emblazoned with the CAT logo. Several companies send their products for inspection to CAT officials who on the other hand take due care to inspect the product very minutely. Only if they find the product is worthy to be inscribed with a CAT logo that they collaborate with the company and give them business.

In the same manner, jackets that have CAT logo on it are not produced by Caterpillar but before they put their logo on the merchandise, they ensure that the product is worthy to have their logo. They believe that people have faith on their logo which is why they do not bother if it is produced by them or by some other company, they just buy it seeing CAT’s name.

Caterpillar’s jackets are available in all major merchandise stores so that people do not have the trouble to buy their products. As of now, CAT has not opened its own merchandise store and puts up its products in big malls and marts all around the country. So getting a CAT jacket will not be a difficult task and one also need not worry much about its price. They are well within the budget of a common man. This means that CAT does not manufacture merchandises for the elite class but pays more attention to the wants of everybody.

CAT does not want to limit itself to heavy equipment and has spread its horizons into various zones benefitting the entire mass. One can also buy Caterpillar jackets from online store. Internet has helped the end users to be able to buy products by staying at home. Gone are the days when we had to go to a mart to buy things. Now transactions can happen at the click of a button. You like something, you pay for it and it gets delivered to your place. This is how simple buying things have become.

Becoming an expert mechanic of heavy equipment can ensure lucrative career

It takes ages for a person to establish his career in any sector and top of it is abundantly painful as you have to strive for every inch that you make of yourself. In today’s time when time is money, it becomes difficult for people to wait this long. However, patience always bears fruit and thus the one who works harder can expect good returns. Same goes for becoming heavy equipment mechanic. A person who aspires for this profession as his career may have to go through lot of troubles and hardships and then he can expect to start getting some returns. Nevertheless, the one who is able to stick his foot to the ground and take all the struggle with a smile can make it to the top. Becoming an expert mechanic of heavy equipment is not a joke. One has to invest a lot of his time and energy studying about different kinds of machines, know the in and out of the machine and only after gaining enough experience can expect a lucrative career in this profession.

One thing is for sure that the guy who knows the most of a machine has huge demand in the construction sector and sky is definitely not a limit for him to grow. We will be discussing on few pointers that one should keep in mind if he has decided to make it big as a heavy equipment mechanic.

Getting basic education on heavy equipment is a must:-

Basic education on heavy equipment is a priority for any aspiring person. You need to know certain terminologies that can only be explained in a classroom session. Therefore a classroom training of approximately 1-2 years is essential. Once the classroom training is cleared, then the basic practical training begins and it is from here that one can pull it off.  Classroom training helps an individual to understand the basic principles which becomes very important when the person goes for practical training. He gets to know the jargons which otherwise is never taught in a practical class. There you are expected to know those jargons and if a person is not aware of it, he will have a hard time knowing things.

Always ask questions:-

Asking questions is something that we basically like to avoid. We get the feeling that our question is a stupid one and everyone knows what could be its answers. However, the reality is not many know the answer and you should not think if it is indeed a stupid one or a sensible one. A question is a question and if it has come to your mind, you need an answer for it.

Work under an expert:-

If you ever get the opportunity to work under an expert heavy equipment mechanic, stick to him for as long as you have gathered enough knowledge from him. Please understand that everybody wants to have good mechanic who can get their machines fixed in no time. Therefore, working under an expert will give you all the knowledge that you require to establish yourself as an expert heavy equipment mechanic.

How to be successful salesman selling heavy equipment

We all know to sell and as a matter of fact we do various things in our daily lives but some are good in selling things and some are simply great. It depends on what exactly you are trying to sell. Not everybody can sell everything except for few exceptions. Selling heavy equipment is quite a difficult job and the one who can sell heavy equipment can definitely see a bright career as a successful salesman in the heavy equipment industry. So if you are good in selling investment avenues, you may find it difficult to sell heavy equipment as they are not at all related to each other in any fashion. In order to become a successful salesman, one needs to understand few very basic principle of selling and then practice those principles on a daily basis. Slowly and steadily, he will find himself getting groomed into a better salesman and then sky is the limit for him.

Having thorough product knowledge:-

This is the first and one of the most important criteria one needs to possess in order to become a successful salesman. Firstly, you need to understand the kind of heavy equipment you got to be selling and only after that you sharpen your skill by learning more about the product. Knowing the intricacies will always help you in dealing with a tough guy who knows almost everything about the machine. You will not see yourself walking out with your tail between your legs feeling embarrassed with your performance. Having good product knowledge is an essential criteria when it comes to becoming a successful salesman. It actually boosts your confidence as you know that you will be able to answer anything that’s put across to you.

Work on grooming up yourself:-

No one likes to talk to a lousy person. So if you are the guy who is least bothered about grooming yourself up, that will go against you. You may be quite knowledgeable about your stuff, confident enough to speak without fumbling or stammering but your personality speaks louder than you. If you are not able to carry a good personality and look like a lousy lad, things will not go your way. So wear formal when you go for the meeting. Make sure that your shirt in tucked in, shoes polished, hair properly combed and face clean shaved. Sport a good perfume and do not wear anything that is flashy.

Know about your competitor’s products:-

Just limiting your product knowledge to your company will not help. You also need to know the features of the products manufactured by your competitors. Do not criticize their products but you can definitely speak well about yours. So knowing a bit about them will always help you in the long run.

Understand the need of your customer:-

A good salesman is not the one who can sell anything to anybody but he is the one who sells his product after understanding the need of the customer and linking it with his product. So you got to hear him first, understand his requirements and then try to associate it with the product. This will convince the buyer and he may go for the stuff.

Principal Questions to Be Asked When Financing Your Heavy Equipment

Established contractors prefer to finance their bulky apparatus instead of procuring it with a huge amount of money. This financing technique brings the benefits of cash flow in their trades. If the contractors want their procured equipment to be disbursed for itself as it is being employed, then the process of financing can be a development engine for their businesses. When the suppliers desire to differentiate the asset purchase with the appointing of an employee, they crave for both so as to produce their keep at the end of the day. An excellent analogy assists the employers to get the salary of the entire year on first day.

If you take the direction of financing, it is necessary to know that all the apparatus finance contracts are applicable for agreeable tariff treatment according to the benefit of Section 179 hastened depreciation. In most of the cases, the contractors can deflate the total amount of the paraphernalia in a year as opposed to lettering it off over a five year term period. The sum of write off differs from time to time. Most of the weighty apparatus companies have more than one financial organisation to vend their equipments in profitable price. Here in the article, you will get to know the most important questions that usually determine the performance of your selected finance firm.

Is the funding company a key lender?

Many kinds of money mongers are available on the souk so it is important for you to know which type of lender is suitable for your business. Usually, brokers collect money from other loan companies to run their process of business deal. Their interest rates are higher and the contracts are unsecured. The publicly-traded and bank-possessed investment organisations are mostly preferred by the construction industry.

Current Rate in the Financial Heavy Equipment Market

Generally, every moneylender in the construction paraphernalia offers fairly same rates. Be cautious of the shortest rates because the money mongers may take other charges and fees to cover up this gap. It is essential for the contractors to find out those organisations that maintain a valuable relationship with their end clients.

To enquire about the disbursement options

It is good process to verify the authenticity of the financing concerns. The reputed funding organisations proffer flexible payment alternatives for instance 12, 24, 36, 48 or 60 months. It is sensible for the contractors to choose the long term so as to decrease the amount of monthly imbursement.

Is the financing organization proffers tax benefits?

The construction business contractors should examine that whether their desired funding organisations offer any tariff benefits or not. Most of the finance deals are based on balance sheets and depreciation. It is advisable to the suppliers to discuss the matter with the tax consultants so as to select the best financial company.

Financing is an extremely effectual method of attaining new heavy equipment while controlling the monetary budget and capital flow. Knowing, with which financial company you are working, enquiring the important queries and reassessing your contract will assist you to avert unpleasant bombshells in future.

Heavy Equipment Surplus Auction

When we produce something in abundance and do not find many buyers to buy them. It is better that we get the stuff auctioned. It is not that people are not ready to take but it is just that they are not ready to take it at the price you are willing to sell. Ideally, people like to put a price to it. So if they know that you have the stuff in surplus and are still charging more for it, they might simply not show any interest for it but that does not mean they do not want it. They only want you to bring the price down. You either bring it down or you put it in auction so that people determine the price of it on their own and the one who makes the highest bid goes away with the item.

When we talk about heavy equipment, the heavy equipment manufacturing companies also produces machines in bulk and at times they find that there are not much takers. They do not mind reducing the price of the machines but if they still do not find any buyers, then the best option available with them is to auction the surplus heavy equipment. One should not see the heavy equipment that are there for auction as inferior piece of metal. They are as good as any other heavy equipment that is sold at high price.

One may simply wonder why heavy equipment manufacturing companies have to produce in abundant and then later sell it in auction. Well, they do not produce machines in surplus. They go as per the orders they receive from their clients. However, at times some orders go kaput and the clients back off from the order. They do not do this intentionally but they must have their own reasons behind doing this. Now, when there are no takers for the heavy equipment produced by the companies, they are compelled to sell it in an auction at a dirt cheap price. It is primarily these items that goes as surplus and have to be dealt with by getting them auctioned. In this way, the companies that produce machines get saved from booking huge losses and in the same way few lucky chaps get away with a good bargain.

Auctions can happen in many ways. They can put it up in a local newspaper so that people get to know about it or can just spread the word within their existing clients. They probably do not want to involve good chunk of people in the auction and want this to be a kind of hidden sale. They do this for 2 reasons. The first one is they do not want a large population to know that one of their client has backed off. This has have serious implication on their brand image and the second reason is they want their existing clients to have a good piece of the meat by auctioning the equipment at a much lesser price.

No point in buying new equipment when one can get it on rent

Construction industry falls in that category of industries that has huge requirement of finances for some reason or the other. They need money to take care of the operating and non-operating expenses, pay the workers their wages etc. They also have to check on the kind of heavy equipment available with them so that in case there is a need to get a new machine they should have the funds to go and get it. Heavy equipment are quite an expensive stuff and one got to be ready in advance and keep the funds available to ensure that the need of the business is fulfilled. Having said this, there is one point that the owner of a construction company can ponder. In case, if they can get the same machine that they are looking for on rent rather than having to buy them, it may save a lot of money of the company and simultaneously they can make use of the funds that were parked to buy the machines to take care of some other business needs.

There is however one very important point that you should keep into consideration before you rent a machine. Since you would be using somebody else’s equipment, you should ensure that the machine has all the features that you would be requiring for the project and the machine is in good shape. You should probably take an expert with you who will examine the machine before go ahead with the deal. You should not end up taking equipment for which you have to repent in the future.

Few other pointers that you should know before you sign on the dotted line.

A brief history of the machine:-

To know a few things about the machine will always be beneficial as it will help you to negotiate with the giver. For instance, if the machine has some cases of accidents then it puts you in a position from where you can demand for a deduction in the rentals. Negotiations like these are always open and the taker must be ready to take chances wherever and whenever it is applicable. Knowing the history of the machine will also give you the idea of how old the machine is and is it at par with the construction equipment that comes with the latest technology gadgets. This will help you to decide if you should be eventually going for the deal as it makes no point in renting something that is technologically backward.

Knowing the tentative duration of the project:-

You should at least be aware of how soon you can complete the project. On the basis of that, you would be renting the stuff. Always rent the machine for an additional 2 months from the tentative date of completion. You never know if things may get delayed and you have to prolong the use of the equipment. Often the giver rents the machine keeping into consideration that he may not need the machine for a specific time and if he rents it to you he may ask you to hand it over once the terms completes. So if the work is left incomplete and he asks you for the machine, you will be left in a murkier situation. To avoid this, you should rent it for 2 extra months and keep things in your control.