Ready to roll

READY TO WORK

HASTINGS DEERING, HAVE CREATED ‘GO-TO-WORK’ PACKS TO SERVICE THE ESSENTIAL ROAD CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY AND ENSURE THAT PROJECTS CONTINUE AS NORMAL. ACCESS TO ITS MACHINERY IS BEING SUPPORTED BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT’S INSTANT ASSET WRITE-OFF SCHEME.

The road construction industry is one of few sectors still in operation across Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic.

To support economic development in industries such as construction, the Federal Government has increased the instant asset write-off threshold to $150,000. This will allow many of the industry’s small to medium businesses to claim a tax deduction and help drive their business and the economy forward.

For this reason, Hastings Deering, as the primary Cat supplier for Queensland and Northern Territory, are creating ‘go-to-work’ packs for their equipment and machinery to allow for quick delivery and turnaround.

Ryan Van Den Broek, Sales Manager of Road Construction and Infrastructure at Hastings Deering, says the company are ordering in machines in a business as usual fashion to keep up with demand.

“Hastings Deering is actually getting an increase in engagement and interest from the road construction sector during this time, especially after governments are indicating that road and infrastructure projects will continue,” Mr. Van Den Broek says.

As the instant asset write-off increase is helping the industry to access quality equipment, Hastings Deering are communicating with customers to ensure they select the right machinery for the job. The company places high importance on features such as machine versatility, simplicity of operation, and machine uptime to build, repair and maintain road infrastructure.

To that end, Cat compactors are designed for all compaction operations. Often working in tandem, the CW12 and the CB7 compactors are centric to the asphalt industry.

Mr. Van Den Broek says that while these

machines are designed for compaction efficiency, the biggest benefit to these compactors is the operating position and safety features.

“The way Cat have designed the operator station is so that operators have better visibility by always working in the forward position, which reduces any potential blind spots.”

“The big feature for both of these compactors, is that they are on the same platform and offer a 358-degree seat which allows the operator to always be working in the forward direction. No matter what direction you sit in, the machine controls change accordingly,” he says.

“If the pavers are always moving in a forward direction it reduces two sets of beeping signals from the construction site, making other reversing machines more noticeable and further increasing safety.”

During the design process for the CB7 and CW12, Cat wanted to have minimal modifications to the frames on both machines. This resulted in both compactors having an identical operator console, including the 358-degree seat.

“When you go from the CW12 to the CB7 the only difference is the CB7 has a vibration button. This way, operators can move between the two machines with ease,” Mr. Van Den Broek says.

While the two operating stations are the same, the features of the compactors are tailored to each machine’s primary function.

“The CW12 compactor is a seven wheel pneumatic compactor, weighing 8.8 tonnes. It has the bigger square profile tyres suited to asphalt. Its 2.09 metre compaction width excels on asphalt and granular materials with a higher overlap between the tyres,” he said.

“Having the oscillation between each tyre gives better contact to the ground, and therefore better compaction as a result of the contact.”

The square tyres are important for asphalt applications as Mr. Van Den Broek says normal rounded tyres can create ridges in the asphalt as the compactor progresses over the surface. The square tyres aid in ensuring the asphalt holds a flat profile.

“The CB7 has a lot of features that go above and beyond. At Hastings Deering we offer some great service features for this one, including a pod-style vibration system on the drum with 3000-hour service intervals.”

Another key element to the CB7 is speed control, which allows the operator to set a speed limit. Mr. Van Den Broek says this is great to ensure compaction crews achieve consistent impact spacing and therefore smoother surfaces.

Mr. Van Den Broek stated one of the key benefits of owning these machines is having the support of the Cat service network across Australia.

“These compaction machines are being used heavily in many road and infrastructure projects around the country. The Cat product and extended offerings around the service network can help control owner operator costs over the long term. The Cat service network is a huge advantage.”

While road construction businesses are facing challenges around continued job certainty, the Queensland Government announced a stimulus package in March to help the economy withstand and recover from the impact of COVID-19. The package

Hastings Deering has a number of machines in stock built to its ‘go to work’ pack.

will help ease the pressure on business owners in the road construction industry.

Part of the $4 million package includes two months’ worth of payroll tax refunds for businesses impacted by COVID-19, three month paryroll tax holidays for small and medium businesses and a further six month payroll tax deferral for these Queensland businesses.

“Even though it’s a difficult time right now, the one thing that will always be a constant is that roads will always need to be fixed, we will always have infrastructure growing,” Mr. Van Den Broek says.

“The stimulus will help increase the amount of roadworks, repairs and maintenance to infrastructure. Having this

stimulus is going to support our customers to get the machines they need in order to keep up with the demand that will be coming,” he says.

He says that everything about Hastings Deering is business as usual.

“We have got a big line up of things like rollers and small equipment to ensure we can best service the industry,” Mr. Van Den Broek says.

The new Hastings Deering CW12 pneumatic roller and the CB7 tandem vibratory rollers fall within the increase in the instant asset write-off, which is up from $30,000 to $150,000. “We have a bunch of machines in stock built to the ‘go to work’ pack,” Mr. Van Den Broek says.

“This ‘go to work’ pack includes all the pre-delivery, fire extinguisher, rotating beacon, registration, seat cover and all the bits and pieces customers need; without the being put through the workshop.”

“The machines are prepared, they are ready! All that is needed is quick detail and paid registration and they’ll be out the door.”

The higher threshold provides cash flow benefits for businesses that will be able to immediately deduct purchases of eligible assets each costing less than $150,000.

The threshold applies on a per asset basis, so eligible businesses can immediately write-off multiple assets.

This proposal applies until 30 June 2020, for new or second-hand assets purchased and delivered within this timeframe.