A dramatic rise in technology that is making machinery, trucks and tools more digitally connected—at a time when operating a fleet of machines is becoming more expensive—was a recurring theme in ENR's news coverage this year.
Economics are partly driving this change. Operating a fleet of machinery is capital intensive, and significant price inflation for machinery has set in, as ENR has recently reported. “I believe a shift in machinery ownership is taking place, especially in the U.S.—a shift that will become permanent,” says industry analyst Frank Manfredi in his eponymous firm’s latest newsletter, Machinery Outlook, which discusses the rise of the sharing economy in the world of big iron.