Author Archives: Kevin

Terex has big plans for China in 2015

The year 2014 may have not been so pleasant for many but some companies just know how to make fortune out of nothing. The overall construction segment has seen a decline in the year 2014. Right from heavy equipment manufacturing companies to the big construction houses, most of them have suffered losses. In general, it has not been the year that passed away pleasantly. It indeed gave lot of losses to big as well as small companies. Many companies saw a sharp decline in the sale of heavy equipment, something that was not experienced by many for the last many years. However, this was the year when almost all the companies have experienced the same issue and are struggling hard to get over it.

Some companies found 2014 to be more difficult because they did not foresee the issue in advance. They relied more on domestic markets giving less importance to other global emerging markets. They were of the opinion that it may be difficult for them to conduct business in other countries and they may lose their share of hold in the domestic markets. Therefore, they paid less attention on international markets where there were more opportunities and took a hit on their sales. Simultaneously, there were few companies like Terex that made a smart call and took the plunge to overseas markets. They made some real big plans for countries like China. They have planned to increase their annual revenue to $1 billion from $300 million in the next 3 to 5 years. This means that they have taken far better calculated risk which is likely to pay huge dividends to them in the future. Ron DeFeo, the chairman and the chief executive officer of Terex feels that China plays a significant role in making Terex a $10 billion revenue company by the end of 2015. The CEO sees China as an important player that has plenty of demand. Terex in return has a lot to offer to China. They see immense business opportunity in that country and also in other South East and Middle East countries.

According to the CEO, in the year 2014, China has single handedly contributed around 8 percent of the $4.4 billion revenue generation in the year 2014 and they forecast that it is expected to enhance its contribution to 20 percent. They see immense investment opportunities in China. Terex will be working on their aerial work platform and agrees that the government in China gives a lot of importance to safety and efficiency. The company will therefore pay a lot of attention to the safety and efficiency part and ensure that it abides by the rules and regulations of the country. Slowly and steadily, they may work to create a safety aerial work which will not be restricted only to the business but will be relevant to the whole society. They are in talks with the government to make something of this kind possible.

Terex sees the overseas market as the market with potential and feels confident in doing business away from home.

Managing Heavy Equipment Made Easy With Asset Management

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Being involved in the construction arena invariably means working with heavy equipment. And in this context one has to acknowledge the difficulty that construction site authorities face when it comes to managing all those heavy equipment. It is perhaps this difficulty in managing heavy equipment that has given rise to the popularity and demand of the asset management software ion the construction arena.

What Is Asset Management All About?

Now, the very first question that must be knocking your heads right now is what is the asset management software all about? Well, to begin with, as the very name must have made it clear that asset management refers to managing of those objects that are valuable, in short assets, for an organisation. Now, purchasing particular equipment, deploying it, maintaining it and keeping a note of its whereabouts is not an easy thing to do. And this is where the entire asset management deal comes in. This system not only makes the entire deal of managing assets easy, but also reduces the chances of them being misplaced or stolen or the like.

Asset Management and the Arena of Construction

If the statistics of the National Insurance Crime Bureau is taken into account, one can easily see that around 11,000 heavy equipment get stolen every year with the recovery rate being as low as 21%. Now, as heavy equipment form such a part of the entire construction industry, one could easily assess the loss that comes equipped with misplaced or stolen construction equipment. This is perhaps the biggest reason why asset management has become such an important part of the construction industry. Not only does the use of asset management software help in reducing costs, it also acts instrumental in improving information availability and customer service.

Asset management allows you to coordinate your scattered fleet geographically, thereby, reducing the cost of operation quite significantly. Operating an entire construction site is no easy a deal and when there is extensive paper work involved, you can be assured of the entire business getting as gruesome as possible. But by means of the electronic trip orders, the construction organizations can efficiently manage and organize assets, manage projects, coordinate with those involved in the business, drivers, operators and the like and thus, handle things efficiently.

With asset tracking and management tool, you can remain close to your equipment even when you are far from it. The system has been designed in a manner so as to alert you as soon as the heavy equipment leaves their designated position. This allows you to save quite a lot of time that would have otherwise gone into tracking the equipment manually.

Hence, one could easily conclude the asset management tool to be quite an asset in itself in the construction area.

Working With A Scraper- How To Go On About It?

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If you are into the mining industry, then you must be well aware of the important position that heavy equipment holds in the smooth operation of the entire business. If you are involved in the mining arena and are not aware of what a particular equipment is used for or how does it work, then you are not exactly on the route to success. The wheel tractor scraper is one of the most commonplace heavy equipment to be put to use in the arena of mining and highway construction.

Wheel Tractor Scraper- What Is It?

Shifting earth from one place and dumping it to another is one of the most significant aspect of the mining industry, as it is on this that the rest of the work depends. The wheel tractor scraper or the scraper is among the many earth moving equipment that rules the mining and highway construction industry. Consisting of a wagon with provision of a bladed bottom, the scraper is primarily used for scraping away the earth into the hydraulically run hopper. Once the hopper is filled with earth and cannot be loaded anymore, the gate is closed and carried away for dumping. The scraper is generally used for scraping the earth over smaller distances, usually about two miles.

Running A Scraper- How Is It Done?

Operating a scraper is not that difficult a deal, provided one deals with the entire affair a bit skilfully. However, having a basic idea of how the equipment operates wouldn’t hurt. So, let us take a look at the basic tenets of operating a scraper.

  • The ripper shanks of the scraper have to be elevated to the maximum position before driving the scraper forward. Before the scraper is again lowered to the ground level, operators should ensure that there is nothing there that could be damaged or cause damage.
  • It is better not to drive the scrapper too fast, or else the purpose of the equipment will not be served. As the operator proceeds with the scraper, the part of the earth that is scraped gets accumulated inside the box like structure. In case of greater contact with the earth, it is wise to let down the shanks one at a time, taking care to not to let the entire thing fall too low as that would bring the entire scraper to a halt.
  • While emptying the scraper of the accumulated dirt, make sure that you raise the shanks slowly and gradually. This will allow all the dirt to fall off. In the event of the scraper filling up too fast, you might consider elevating the shank further.

There is absolutely no doubt about the fact that wheel tractor scraper forms an important part of the mining and highway construction industry. It is, therefore, quite obvious that one faulty step on your part in the operation of this heavy equipment might lead to untoward consequences. It is, therefore, best if only the skilled hands of the industry are hired for the job. Having information on the basic aspects of the entire functioning of the scraper is also a good thing.

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Best Options for Leasing Heavy Equipment for Construction Industry

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With the increase in construction projects the demand for leasing construction equipment has also increased tremendously. Construction industry is labour intensive as well as capital intensive. The contractors also need to use complex and diverse equipment such as Tractors, Excavators, and Loaders etc. Construction activities are numerous and diverse. Contractors have to manage and bring all the factors of production together such as land, labor, capital etc. Cost of all construction projects is an important factor .The contractors nave to control the budget and coordinate competent project supervision. Construction equipment are costly and the maintenance and repairing costs are also high. Specific heavy equipment requires qualified and skilled operators. Smaller contractors face financial constraints to buy heavy equipment since their budget is fixed. Bigger contractors lease or rent heavy equipments to be cost effective and also get the appropriate equipment for construction purposes.

Leasing is a lucrative option for both large and small contractors to cut down their expenses in construction projects. But there are several factors to consider before leasing heavy equipment.

 

Capital: When a contractor, project manager purchases new heavy equipment, they need to find out what are the best options available to them. The heavy equipment tend to decrease in value with daily wear and tear. So instead of making huge investments in buying them it is the best option to lease the heavy equipments to conserve money for unforeseen needs.

Equipment Supervision: Another factor to consider before leasing heavy equipment is equipment supervision. Heavy equipment such as scraper, cranes, excavators, loaders, rigging equipment are very costly. You need proper maintenance as well as dexterous operators to run them well. You may also require utilizing the professional operators to supervise the equipments and legalize their use.

Government Strategy: Government policies are important to consider before leasing heavy construction equipment. The government has laid down certain safety and security instructions regarding the superiority of the machines to be used in the construction site.

In the case of leasing, a contractor can ask for subtraction for the full price of the heavy equipment from the taxable earnings. Capital grants can be asked for the total price of the assets if you are leasing it for a time period of more than 5 years. In certain cases time period of 7 years is mandatory.

Wrap Lease: This leasing contract allows the contractors to merge some lease payments into a single, usual payment. This is an appropriate option for those building contractors who need to lease heavy equipment all of a sudden. Leasing combines their outstanding expenses and they can use it to invest in leasing new heavy equipment. This is extremely useful for those building contractors who are undertaking colossal and complex construction projects with volatile requirements and difficulties.

Fair Market Value Lease: Fair Market Value Lease is an extremely vital factor when you are considering leasing heavy building equipment. This option is beneficial in that case where there will be a fast decline in the value of the equipment due to usual wear and tear as a result of constant daily use. The repairing costs can be high too. These days a number of leasing companies are supplying services of expert workforce at no cost for performing maintenance and repairing work.

So leasing heavy equipment can be can be tricky task. Several factors have to be kept in mind before you make your decision to lease it. The article will give you all the information you need before leasing.

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Keep Away from Compact Heavy Equipment Interval with Industrious Precautionary Sustenance

As a construction business possessor, you know it very well that during the situation of downtime, the income generation graph suddenly stops rising. The poor performance of the heavy equipment makes you frustrated and at time if there is no technician to repair the heavy construction equipment, the matter becomes the worst. To curb out the construction firm owners from this crisis situation, application of defensive maintenance plan is considered to be the best method.

The ability to protect the bulky construction paraphernalia and its durability completely counts on the effective preventive sustenance plan. This maintenance scheme comprises of three chief factors that are increasing the awareness of sustenance trends, ensuing the suggested downtimes and foreseeing wear and evaluate the business requirements appropriately with equipment competences. If the heavy equipment owners give their entire focus on these above-mentioned three elements, then their equipment will never have to face the problem of troubleshooting. Read the following discussion thoroughly and get to know the importance of industrious precautionary maintenance plan for your heavy construction equipment.

Consider Aptitudes

The heavy construction equipment industry connoisseurs consider that the initial step to enhance the proactive introduction to sustenance is examining how you will utilize the loader or compact excavator and scrutinising particular ability ranges. For instance, if you want to use an excavator for digging the ground, first it is important for you to determine the depth of the dig and have to understand the quality of the ground. On the other hand, when you want to accomplish your construction job with loader, you are required to know the weight of the lifting material. When the equipment is owed to task, the operators sometimes have to face an underperforming mechanism which may require recurrent repair.

Predict Wear

It is sensible for the operators to be acquainted with the sustenance section of the equipment’s function and maintenance instruction booklet. If any machinist has no manual with him/her, she/he gets the chance to read the digital format of that guidebook by ordering it online. This e-instruction booklet informs the drivers of the heavy equipment about the sustenance intervals. In majority of the instruction booklets, the operators can see that the maximum time duration is 8 to 10 hours. This routine maintenance plan helps the operators to keep the features of the equipment in proper conditions like filters, lubricants and fluids. Usually, wear happens on field-engaging pieces and the technician should change it with the new ones when productivity begins to decrease.

Improve Knowledge

The owners of the heavy construction equipment should attain knowledge about emission policies and the allied maintenance needs. Nowadays, most of the bulky construction apparatuses are equipped with varied echelons of emission acquiescent machines. Therefore, it is very much significant for the equipment possessors and operators to know about the provisional Tier 4 and Tier4 tools. The need of lubricant in the modern heavy equipment is different from the old versions. The other components that vary from the outdated heavy construction equipment are diesel particulate filters, diesel oxidation catalysts, high pressure common rail fuel injection method etc.

Finally, it can be said that prevention is better than cure. The more effort the heavy construction equipment owners give for evaluating the capability of the apparatuses, pursuing suggested sustenance downtimes, foreseeing wear charges and grabbing modern trends directly, the more business productivity they will experience.

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Advice for young people starting their career in construction industry

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Construction industry is like any other industry where people do not want competition. It is only because if you have more people getting into this industry, the chances of the people getting projects becomes slimmer and therefore when you see a new guy making his way in, he will be welcomed with many obstacles. Creation of obstacles is obvious as others see him as another competitor and therefore tries to make things difficult for him. However, if he decides to keep his foot firm on the ground, then he may get someone who would be ready to help him with advices on how he can establish his business in the volatile market.

Few pointers one must keep in mind before he decides to set his foot in the construction domain.

Overall knowledge about the industry:-

It is absolutely not advisable to enter an industry without knowing anything about it. It is almost like entering inside a dark cave without a torch in your hand. You never know what will apprehend you next. Therefore, it will be prudent if a person works his way out and understand how the industry works and few tricks of the trade if not all. Other than this, it is very difficult to determine when you are ready for the job. You may have not know much about the domain but with the available knowledge you may feel that you have learned a lot and are now ready to take the plunge. But when you indeed take the plunge, you may find yourself in the middle of nowhere. Hence, it is very important to take time and learn things patiently. Get to know as many things as possible and ask people questions. Not everybody will be in a position to answer all your questions but you should not stop till you get your questions answered.

Try to gain some experience by working with a construction company:-

Sons and daughters of construction company owners who want to make a career in the same industry and like to carry on with the legacy that their father has left for them, they prefer working in their company and gain some experience out of it. But not everyone can be so fortunate to have born with a golden spoon in his/her mouth. Most of us have to make our own way in setting up our own business. For them, it is advisable to give few years of their life working in some construction company and learning the tricks of the trade. It takes time to learn things for which people have to patient enough. If you spend enough time and learn most of the things needed to open a company of your own, you have cleared the most difficult level.

Check your financial stability:-

While you are establishing your business in the construction industry, you just can’t ignore your financial stability. Setting up a new business requires lot of money to be invoked into it. Therefore, knowing your financial position is another important criteria that you can’t afford to miss.

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Boost Your Career with Heavy Equipment Operating Jobs

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Are you looking for a heavy equipment operating job? Have you done any course on weighty equipment function? If the answer to all these questions is ‘yes’, then here in the following the readers will get to know the detailed information about the responsibilities of a heavy equipment machinist. Heavy construction paraphernalia operators utilize hefty machineries for instance cranes, forklifts and bulldozers on the construction site.

Due to the augmentation in the number of construction and mining industries, the recruitment of the heavy equipment machinists has increased a lot. It is an excellent opportunity for the youngsters who have just completed their training course on heavy equipment operation. The mining and construction firms always want to hire that applicant who has the capability to run the mechanism effectively and safely.

Opportunities for the Heavy Equipment Operators

The heavy equipment machinists get various types of mechanisms to exhibit their aptitude like snow blowers, compactors, graders, dozers, front-end loaders, trucks etc. They should have not only the capacity to employ a mechanism safely, but also have to sustain, unsoiled and secure all paraphernalia as fixed by the strides, legislation and guiding principles of the heavy equipment manufacturers. The drivers must have the talent to handle the residents and the members of the public in a reverential and chivalrous style. This also involved tackling the grievances about agendas and levels and quality of the amenity. In this type of situation, the operant should note the complaints properly and respond to the customers in a respectful manner.

Educational Qualification Required in Heavy Equipment Driving Jobs

The heavy equipment drivers ought to take lessons on motorized drawing, science, automobile mechanics, and high school computer knowledge so as to prepare for the task they might have to perform on the site. In the apprenticeship course, they get to know the procedures of operating specific machineries. Furthermore, there are some automobile mechanical engineering institutions where associate degrees or certificate programs are proffered to the trainees. This certificate helps the candidates a lot in their interview sessions. In United States and Canada, loads of engineering colleges provide official classroom teaching to the heavy equipment drivers. Besides offering training, they also give knowledge to the apprentices about the safety and precaution guidelines.

Responsibilities of a Heavy Equipment Operator

The job of the heavy equipment operator is challenging and physically arduous. Their duty has to control, pull and elevate the parts of the heavy equipment. It is essential for them to have the capability to work in any climatic condition. Here are some of the responsibilities that an operator must inherit in him/her.

  • The equipment driver should maintain and check the machine regularly.
  • He/she should counsel the Public Works Foreman in repairing any parts of the bulky apparatus.
  • The drivers should carry out maintenance service of the equipments in pre-winter, winter, spring and summer season.

Furthermore, the heavy machinists should have knowledge about the snow removal devices. They must employ equipments that are used for levelling roads and ensuring apposite drainage. Stress management, time management and problem solving skills are some of the qualities that the interviewers want to see in a heavy equipment operator. So why waiting? If you have all these qualities, then immediately apply for the heavy equipment operator jobs.

Use equipment tracking system to protect your site

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Are you going to start your own company? If yes, then you must be aware with useful strategies that help you to run your business. Without following the important as well as essential strategies you cannot get success. Well, in case of construction sites, it is really important to give your full attention on your site. You should always be very careful about your machines, workers and other related things of your site. It is your responsibility to take care of your heavy equipment. It is not easy to work with such heavy machines. It takes huge time as well as money. So, you should know all those things that can reduce your profit margin. If you cannot maintain these machines properly then the machines can face many problems. These small damages can turn small issues into major fault. Therefore, check the machines properly and remember wrong billing, unnecessary idling can make you huge fuel cost.

Well, when you are going to do business then you should always be aware with your profit and loss. It is very important to manage profit for business to establish it properly and take it to the next level. There are many easier way that can help you to increase your productivity and help you to get more profits. If you can manage to give you 100% attention and full concentration on your job then it is not so difficult to choose the right equipment tracking system for your business. It is your responsibility to find out the proper devices that can help to track down and monitor solution for the business. If you are going to work with forklift then it is very important to know how to work with it and efficiently it can work for you.

You need to track the usages of useful equipment. As you work with a number of machines then may be for sometimes you do not use one of them and keep it aside. Then it becomes very difficult to track for how many days the equipment is not in use. However, by following a continuous monitoring over equipment give an idea of such things. It also allows you to reduce the fuel costs and assure that the proper and prolonged maintenance is not missed for a single day. You can get the information on fluid levels, error codes and temperatures by using the equipment tracking system.

As many workers work in a construction site, so there are high risks of theft and other similar things. If you stop using a machine for a while then you can lost it as well. Therefore, if you can use the equipment tracking system then it can track down the records of all your machines. Equipment tracking helps to track down the detail of the equipment that is in use and not in use. To protect your site you should definitely take help of such system

Winters may cause immense health hazards to construction workers

Places where it snows are not conducive for construction industry to flourish. But it does not mean that the construction industry will not flourish at all at such places. If it snows throughout the year then it is a grave concern for this industry to set its foot in. However, if it is only during the winters that it snows and for the rest of the year, it becomes conducive for the industry to thrive then that will really help. We all know how immensely difficult it is to take care of heavy equipment and also to work on a project during the cold weather but less care has been given to the fact that it also takes a toll on the construction workers who find it all the more difficult to work in a rough weather and with very limited help from machines.

During winters, heavy equipment tend to stop working which means that the construction workers will have to put their efforts and try to get the work done. At times, it may not be possible for them to finish a job without the use of equipment. In such case, it becomes a loss to the company. In situations like these, companies tend to risk the life of the workers by pressuring them to work overtime in difficult work conditions. The workers have to work on snow or ice and have high risk of slipping while working. They may cause severe damage to themselves. It is therefore very important for the construction companies as well as the workers to follow the correct safety parameters while working in snow. By following these parameters, they will only save their as well as their colleagues lives.

Check if the brakes and other vital parts of the equipment are in order:-

Before you start with your day, it is very important to check if the brakes, horn and other important parts of the equipment are in order. Once the operator is sure that everything is in place, he should carry on with the work. In case if he finds any issues, it is advisable that he get that sorted first and then starts off with the day’s work. Any negligence on his part can cost the company as well as the worker dearly.

Ensure that all the workers wear their safety accessories:-

In many of the occasions, workers skip wearing their safety accessories assuming that they will be safe and wearing those stuffs will be time consuming. Calamity does not knock the door before arriving. It just strikes you and workers should understand this important part. More importantly, the supervisor on the construction site should take the responsibility that all the workers are equipped with complete safety accessories and that there is an emergency team active at the site. Just in case, if there is an emergency situation, the team will be able to deal with it.

Report anything that you find to be dangerous:-

Construction workers should report anything that they find to be dangerous. This will help to save the life of many other workers who may not know about the danger on the site.

Forums on Heavy equipment can turn out to be very helpful

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Heavy equipment in itself sound to be a heavy word and is more complex if one gets into the skin of it. It is not that one will not be able to understand it completely but it requires good deal of patience and determination to understand the subject completely. It is therefore people take up just one subject out of the ocean of knowledge and master it. They have simply come to know that it is not practically possible for them to go through all the stuffs and know them all. As a result of this, they choose to take a leaf from the tree and study it all. It has been often seen that individuals have to go through an entire blog just to understand some simple concept. They may not require reading the entire article but having to do so in order to search the answer they are looking for. What may come handy in such a situation is to put their question in a forum and wait for someone who knows about the subject to answer it. Instead of going through the entire blog or article, just putting the question on the forum can give you as many answers that you may have not even imagined to get.

What kind of people can make use to these forums? Well, it seems we all are imperfect in some way or the other and though we may master in a subject but practically we still may not know everything about it. Hence, we all need forums and especially for a complex subject like heavy equipments we definitely need one. However, the magnitude of help may differ from individual to individual. For instance, a person with zero knowledge of heavy equipment may ask all sorts of questions under the sun to quench his/her thirst for learning. Simultaneously, a person who may look for specific answer also will find it immensely helpful.

Let’s talk about how forums can turn out to be helpful to newbie. People who have the zeal to learn about heavy equipment should ideally explore the internet to know few basic things. No one likes to answer basic questions. People ideally have the belief that forums are meant for amalgamation of views from people possessing specific knowledge about the subject. In other words, they want to answer complex questions which cannot be easily found on the internet. Though forums are not meant to answer complex questions and readers have the right to ask any question that they seek an answer to. So people with little or no knowledge can also join a forum and check number of questions posed by different readers and upgrade their knowledge.

Forum is also a medium to connect people across the industry. Right from a heavy equipment operator to an engineer everybody gets the opportunity to come under one roof and talk on a given subject. They can all share their ideas and views pertaining to the question. Forums can make life really simple for everybody who is related to whatever fields.