You’d be hard pressed to meet a heavy equipment owner who doesn’t understand the need to extend machine life and minimize down time. Getting the most from a fleet is a priority for owners and managers, but not their only one. Budgets and time constraints have left more than one piece of equipment waiting for repair until it became critical. PARKER Whether cutting costs or simply ignoring equipment, consequences can be exponentially expensive if overlooked. Consider the following maintenance tips: Follow Manufacturer Guidelines How often do you check the torque on your bed articulation hitches? When did you last look at
Most businesses struggle with a shortage of cash at some point. For contractors it�s nearly a way of life. GUAJARDO What some contractors overlook is a way to raise cash other industries don’t have. This is provided by equipment through sale-leaseback agreements. Sale-leaseback agreements essentially work this way: A contractor sells its equipment to a finance company and leases it back. The contractor raises capital while retaining use of the equipment. For tax purposes, FASB Statement 13 generally treats a sale-leaseback as a single transaction in which any profit or loss is deferred and amortized by the seller, who becomes
Cost efficiency is foremost on everyone’s mind in this economy, but one thing is certain: No firm can afford to skimp on safety. HARVEY A focus on project and worker safety is a cost-saving move. An incident or injury can have short- and long-term repercussions on your firm’s bottom line. Injuries are no longer considered “the cost of doing business.” Firms must view a quality safety program as a part of doing business. With the change in focus from “compliance requirement” to “value-based,” safety becomes an inseparable indicator of excellence as much as productivity and quality. By “doing it right,”
Featured Product September 2009 World's First Hybrid Bulldozer Keeps Up With the Bigger Cats The world’s first hybrid dozer will cost about $100,000 more, or 20%, than a comparable non-hybrid of the same size but will do more work and pay for itself in about two and a half years, says Caterpillar Inc. Performance is tracking well in field trials, said Cat managers on June 23, as Cat rolled out the machine for press evaluation at the firm’s training facility in Edwards, Ill. The D7E starts production in October and carries a list price of $600,000, says David E. Nicoll,
Texas A&M Breaks Ground on New HQ, Visitors Center 09/01/2009 Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary celebrates the ribbon cutting and opening of the John and Nancy Anderson House, the fi rst phase of a master plan completed by O�Connell Robertson. Skanska USA Building Inc. team members celebrate the groundbreaking of the Texas A&M University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Texas AgriLife Agricultural Headquarters Building and Visitor Center. The 166,000-sq-ft-building is seeking LEED- silver certifi cation. Frisco city officials and Chamber of Commerce representatives gather at the new Post Sierra at Frisco Bridges development to celebrate the opening. Breaking ground
Featured Product August 2009 E80 Excavator Bobcat Co. of North Dakota recently introduced the new E80 excavator, designed to enhance operator comfort, increase service intervals and add durability. The E80 offers a spacious cab with an operator seat that adjusts six ways and a heating and air conditioning system that has true automobile-style controls. These features have been designed to keep operators who spend many hours in their machines comfortable and productive. Each E80 is delivered clamp ready, and the optional pin-coupler system allows operators to quickly change attachments. Bobcat's 442 excavator attachments can be used on the E80. Bobcat's new
When non-compliant or defective work issues arise on a project, payment is often disrupted. If only partial payments are made to a contractor, some subcontractors may not be fully paid and litigation results. Savvy legal counsel may pursue a misapplication of trust funds claim as a means of recovering unpaid amounts. If one is pursuing the claim or defending against it, a claim for misapplication of trust funds can be a powerful weapon or an aggravating, although serious, nuisance. FISK Under Chapter 162 of the Texas Property Code, payments made under a construction contract are generally considered trust funds. The
Featured Products August 2009 Commercial CNG Mixer McNeilus Truck and Manufacturing, an Oshkosh Corp. company based in Minnesota, recently unveiled its fi rst commercially manufactured compressed-natural gas concrete mixer. The McNeilus CNG-powered mixer meets the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's 2010 heavy-duty engine emission standards for nitrogen oxides and particulate matter, offering clean-fuel technology to the heavy-duty truck market. When compared to their diesel engine counterparts, CNG-powered mixers offer lower fuel costs and reduced noise pollution. They are six times cleaner, making them more economical to run and more environmentally friendly than diesel-powered mixers. The company has applied for a grant with
Featured Product July 2009 Bobcat's New Excavator Line The new M-Series compact excavators bring additional power in a smaller machine. The new E32 is a tailswing excavator with a redesigned house for less overhang, while the E35 is a zero-tailswing excavator able to operate in confined spaces. Both excavators are in the 3 to 4-ton weight class and have an arm breakout force 10% greater than on previous models. The Auto-Shift travel feature shifts the machine out of high range and back automatically, providing extra power when pushing into piles. A load-sensing piston pump and closed center-valve grant the excavators smoother