COVER STORY
Damian Higgins, Hastings Deering’s Rental Account Manager for Brisbane and Gold Coast.
THE CAT
RENTAL LUXURY
THE CAT RENTAL TEAM AT HASTINGS DEERING HAS WORKED CLOSELY WITH THE GEMLIFE GROUP TO TAILOR A UNIQUE RENTAL SOLUTION. GEMLIFE CIVIL PROJECT MANAGER BRETT STEHBENS AND HASTINGS DEERING’S RENTAL ACCOUNT MANAGER DAMIAN HIGGINS SHARE THEIR EXPERIENCE.
A
day at a civil construction job can take unexpected turns. That’s why, Brett Stehbens, Gemlife’s Civil Project Manager, likes to know that he always has backup. As a major developer of premium over50s lifestyle resorts and luxury homes across the Australian Eastern Seaboard, from Woodend, Victoria all the way up to the Sunshine Coast, Gemlife handles all aspects of project development, from civil works to design and construction in-house. For the past two years, Gemlife has been working closely with Hastings Deering, both for purchase of new Caterpillar equipment and to benefit from Hastings Deering’s extensive rental fleet.
At present, Gemlife has two complete Caterpillar excavation and earthmoving fleets, while also renting equipment from the Hastings Deering Cat Rental team. “We also use the rental gear where we have to fast-track a project and Hastings Deering can come to the party with extra equipment for us to rent,” says Stehbens. The advantages for Gemlife, as Stehbens explains, is to have a “one-stop-shop” through Hastings Deering for both new and rental gear. “I don’t have time to shop around, so I can just ring up my local rep, tell him I need a specific piece of equipment and by the end of the day, I’ll have a phone call that it’s here, it’s coming on a truck to you,” he says.
But where Stehbens sees most value in the relationship is when something out of the ordinary happens, which requires a proactive response. “It’s those relationships that help our business to profit as well, because we’ve got someone there that’s got our back,” says Stehbens. In one recent example, when working on a major project in Toowoomba, the Gemlife team had a crusher unexpectedly pulled out of their site, leaving them in a limbo. One phone call later, the Hastings Deering team in Brisbane had identified a Cat 349F 3D excavator that could replace the crusher if reconfigured with a suitable rock breaker attachment. Within the day, the reconfigured excavator was on its way roadsonline.com.au
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