equipmentworld.com | April 2018
®
DO-IT-ALL MACHINE BACKHOES STAND OUT FOR THEIR VERSATILITY
P.
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35 COMEBACK KID IT’S TIME TO RECONSIDER BIODIESEL P.
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FO
IN
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O SP
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Introducing the new VNX for heavy hall. page 50-51
HEROES OF THE JOBSITE.
The precision engineered, ruggedly designed Kubota machines. Built upon a single-minded truth understood by operators on jobsites all over the world. Reliability comes in just one color. Locate your dealer at KubotaUSA.com. Š Kubota Tractor Corporation, 2017.
POWER AND PERFORMANCE
JCB developed the backhoe loader concept in 1953 and is today the world’s leading backhoe loader manufacturer. JCB’s nine backhoe models range from the new 74 hp 3CX Compact, designed for maximum performance around urban construction sites, to the 109 hp 4CX-17, offering an impressive 21’6” dig depth and 16,960 lbf breakout force. To contact your local JCB dealer, visit www.jcb.com.
/JCBNA
@JCBNA
JCBNA www.jcb.com
4879
Vol. 30 Number 4 |
Cover Story
table of contents | April 2018
Machine Matters:
HOLDING FAST IN THE FLEET IN A SEA OF SPECIALTY EQUIPMENT, THE BACKHOE STANDS OUT AS A DO-IT-ALL MACHINE
P. Equipment 17
Marketplace
New products unveiled by Bobcat, Volvo, Doosan, Dynapac, Link-Belt and Thunder Creek.
46
Highway Contractor
2018 World of Asphalt smashes records for attendance and size.
20
72 Lifting Attachments Grab and hoist with these attachments for loaders and telehandlers.
EquipmentWorld.com | April 2018
5
table of contents | continued
Features 35 Maintenance
Good prices and supply, less pollution make biodiesel the comeback kid of fuels.
66 Road Technology
Building better roads from the base up.
63 Contractor of the Year Finalist
Jim Hutzel and Charity Bennett, Hutzel’s Concrete Construction, Malvern, Arkansas
®
equipmentworld.com facebook.com/EquipmentWorld twitter.com/Equipment_World Editorial Director: Marcia Gruver Doyle Executive Editor: Tom Jackson Online Editor: Wayne Grayson Senior Editor: Joy Powell Managing Editor: Don McLoud Contributing Writer: Richard Ries editorial@equipmentworld.com Media Sales Geoffrey Love: gdlove@randallreilly.com Pete Austin: paustin@randallreilly.com Drew Ingram: drewingram@randallreilly.com Patsy Adams: padams@randallreilly.com Jordan Arsenault: jordanarsenault@randallreilly.com Art Director: Tony Brock Advertising Production Manager: Leah Boyd production@equipmentworld.com
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Departments 9 On Record
Succession: Hope is not a strategy
11 Reporter
Crane groups urge operators to get certified despite OSHA rule delays.
Data 45 Quick Trenchers
55 Technology
Komatsu KomVision delivers bird’s eye view for excavators; HCSS Trucking takes aim at managing brokered trucks
75 Safety Watch
Power line lights up light tower
Word 82 Final Amazon, infrastructure and a warning For subscription information/inquiries, please email equipmentworld@halldata.com. Equipment World (ISSN 1057-7262) is published monthly by Randall-Reilly Publishing Company, LLC, 3200 Rice Mine Road N.E., Tuscaloosa, AL 35406. Periodicals Postage-Paid at Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: SEND ALL UAA TO CFS (SEE DMM 507.1.5.2). Non-postal and military facilities: send address corrections to Equipment World, P.O. Box 2187, Skokie, IL 60076-9921 or email at equipmentworld@halldata.com. Rates for non-qualified subscriptions (pre-paid US currency only): US & possessions, $48 1–year, $84 2–year; Canada/Mexico, $78 1–year, $147 2–year; Foreign, $86 1–year, $154 2–year. Single copies are available for $6 US, $9 Canada/Mexico and $12 foreign. The advertiser and/ or advertising agency will defend, indemnify and hold Randall-Reilly Publishing Company, LLC harmless from and against any loss, expenses or other liability resulting from any claims or suits for libel violations of right of privacy or publicity, plagiarisms, copyright or trademark infringement and any other claims or suits that July arise out of publication of such advertisement. Copyright ©2017 Randall-Reilly Publishing Company, LLC All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Equipment World is a trademark of Randall-Reilly Publishing Company, LLC Randall-Reilly Publishing Company, LLC neither endorses nor makes any representation or guarantee regarding the quality of goods and services advertised herein.
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April 2018 | EquipmentWorld.com
Chairman Emeritus: Mike Reilly President and CEO: Brent Reilly Chief Operations Officer: Shane Elmore Chief Financial Officer: Kim Fieldbinder Senior Vice President, Sales: Scott Miller Senior Vice President, Editorial and Research: Linda Longton Senior Vice President, Audience Data: Prescott Shibles Vice President, Events: Stacy McCants Vice President, Digital Services: Nick Reid Vice President, Marketing: Julie Arsenault Vice President, Business Analyst: Joe Donald Director of Media Sales: Scott Maldonado Vice President, Strategic Accounts: Michael Newman For change of address and other subscription inquiries, please contact: equipmentworld@halldata.com Editorial Awards: Eddie award for B-to-B Series of Articles, 2016 Highways 2.0, Folio: magazine Editorial Excellence, Original Research, Silver Award, 2016 American Society of Business Publication Editors Jesse H. Neal Award, Better Roads, 2011 American Business Media Robert F. Boger Award for Special Reports, 2006, 2007, 2008 Construction Writers Association Jesse H. Neal Award, Best Subject-Related Series of Articles, 2006 American Business Media Editorial Excellence Special Section Gold Award, 2006 Midwest-South Region, American Society of Business Publication Editors Editorial Excellence News Analysis Gold Award, 2006 Midwest-South Region, American Society of Business Publication Editors Editorial Excellence News Section Silver Award, 2005 Midwest-South Region, American Society of Business Publication Editors
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on record | by Marcia Gruver Doyle MGruver@randallreilly.com
Succession: Hope is not a strategy
T
he concern mixed with hope was evident. “My son is coming back into the company,” a contractor told me. “Maybe one way I can get him involved this time is through technology.” The desire to pass a company along to a second generation runs deep in construction. While many contractors have faced the hard fact that the incoming leadership in the company they built won’t be a family member – due to lack of interest, or even a viable candidate – others have a child/relative/employee who is willing, able and represents their bright, shining future. I’ve seen a variety of approaches, though, from contractors who have no obvious heir apparent. There are those who hope some solution – any solution – will suddenly appear and somehow ease all their worries. Many have a kinda-sorta plan; they know what they want, but the exact path to reach their goals is still unclear…and unwritten. Others search for young guns to develop within their company culture. And a few – too few – seek outside advice, outlining a detailed plan that step-transitions the company to the next phase. Those who have a second or third generation teed up realize they are the lucky ones. What they may not know yet is the future is still not quite settled. Ownership transition can be tricky. It may be challenging to get the incoming leadership to toe the company line exactly how you see it. The difficulties can be compounded by
more than one potential owner. Many companies thrive on having an inside person and an outside person; however, the second-generation skill set may not align along those lines. Then there are the complexities of structuring the actual transition itself. A few years ago, a contractor told me she and her husband met pushback when they presented their plan to split things down the middle. “Some of our children were putting in much more effort than others,” she said. “We had to step back and look at it and realize what goes on.” Their decision: a 60/40 split that compensated the higher performers. The couple also got sound advice from their financial and legal advisers on how to structure the transition. Her advice: sit down with each family member and ask them not only their expectations, but also what they bring to the table. Also learn how to bite your tongue when they handle things differently than you would. Another contractor first tried to hire his successor, a person he ended up quickly firing. He then turned to three key employees, naming one of them as the lead partner. Relying on advice from his attorney and an outside accounting firm, he structured the transition of a company that he still leads. “You really need help to structure it correctly to get the best bang for your buck, and not pay more taxes,” he told me. Then he said something that I know has echoes throughout construction: “I’ve built it, and I want to make sure it gets to the next generation.”
EquipmentWorld.com | April 2018 9
“I’VE USED THEM ALL AND KOMATSU IS THE BEST.” TAD GRIFFITHS / ROYAL T ENTERPRISES / UTAH
“Komatsu’s i-machines definitely make my operators better at what they do. I mean, we haven’t been using this technology for the past twenty years, so it’s pretty new. But this tech makes it easier to do our job–makes it so that my operators can work more efficiently, and we get a better finished product.”
komatsuamerica.com © 2018 Komatsu America Corp. All Rights Reserved
That’s why I am Komatsu
028
reporter
| staff report
Crane groups urge operators to get certified despite OSHA rule delays After five years of delays from OSHA, industry leaders are urging companies with cranes to get their operators certified voluntarily.
I
n 2013, OSHA was on the verge of requiring certification for most operators of cranes with more than 2,000 pounds of lifting capacity by November 2014. That included the operators of heavy equipment service vehicles, tire changing trucks and many material delivery trucks – practically everyone with a small crane in the construction industry. At the last minute, OSHA decided to delay the ruling until 2017. But then again, in November 2017, OSHA said it would delay the ruling until November 10, 2018. In light of the delays and uncertainty, the crane certification and training associations have started a public relations campaign titled: It’s Not Worth the Wait. The initiative lists five reasons why you’re better off getting your operators trained and certified now, rather than waiting for the 2018 deadline. 1. If you wait until the last minute you may not have time to get certified. 2. Employers still have an obligation to train, so testing and certification offers a chance to see if that training has been effective. 3. You’re probably paying higher insurance premiums if your operators aren’t certified. 4. You’re likely missing out on jobs with employers who do have certified operators. 5. And ultimately, it’s the right thing to do.
“It’s not the first time the industry has had to come to terms with an extension of this rule, but in the minds of most safety-conscious professionals, this should not be a reason to further delay training and certification,” says Graham Brent, CEO of the National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators. “Every day that goes by without certified operators in the cab means those working around cranes – and even the general public who daily navigate construction sites in city after city across the country – are being put at greater risk of a crane incident that need not have happened.” “The safety benefits that accrue from professionally developed, accredited certification that has been available now for more than two decades are so compelling, it just doesn’t make any sense to delay embracing it a day longer,” Brent adds. For more information about the campaign, you can go to the NCCCO website: http://bit.ly/notworthwait The group also put out a series of videos from industry leaders saying why they advocate certification now. You can view those at: http://bit.ly/ncccovideos And if you want to learn more about the types of cranes under consideration and what you need to do for certification, check out our original article from the June 2013 issue of Equipment World at: http://bit.ly/cranerules –Tom Jackson EquipmentWorld.com | April 2018 11
reporter |
continued
Construction execs predict 2018 could be ‘best ever’
M
any contractors and equipment distributors anticipate increases for both residential and nonresidential construction activity for the latter half of 2018 – as well as greater profitability, according to the Construction Industry Forecast. “This is the highest optimism we have recorded in the last 20 years, so that in and of itself is really good news,” says John Crum, senior vice president and national sales manager, Construction Group, Wells Fargo Equipment Finance, which conducts the forecast. Heavy-equipment sales are expected to dramatically increase. Seventy-six percent of distributors expect their sales of new equipment to rise, and 78 percent expect the same for sales of used equipment. On the contractor side, 37 percent indicate they will buy more new equipment, and 27 percent plan to buy more used. Crum notes that “the percentage of contractors who said they would buy less new and used equipment in 2018 shrunk to the lowest levels in five years.” Distributors and rental companies also indicated their rental fleets will increase in 2018, with 55 percent planning to expand. Sixty-one percent of respondents expect an increase in profitability. “Many industry participants feel that this could be one of their best years ever,” Crum said. –Joy Powell 12 April 2018 | EquipmentWorld.com
Briefs Ritchie Bros. 2018 Orlando auction broke the annual event’s sales record set in 2012 of $200 million, by selling $278 million worth of equipment during the six-day event – now the largest in the company’s 60-year history. That figure includes $123 million in online sales, which is also the most ever generated during a Ritchie Bros. event. The U.S. construction industry added 62,000 jobs in February, the single largest monthly addition of jobs the industry has seen in the last 11 years, according to preliminary data from the U.S. Labor Department. The previous high mark for gains was set in November 2015 when 52,000 jobs were added. John Deere’s sales of $6.9 billion for the first quarter, which ended January 28, represented a 23 percent increase over the same period last year, while equipment sales increased 27 percent to $6 billion. Caterpillar North American dealers’ total machine retail sales continued their double-digit rise, with February sales increasing 30 percent compared to the previous year. December and January both saw a 23 percent year-over-year rise. H&E Equipment Services reports a 20.6 percent gain in revenues to $294.7 million for the fourth quarter of 2017. That compares to $244.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2016. Herc Holdings reports a 16.2 percent jump in equipment rental revenue for the fourth quarter of 2017, and a 10.8 percent jump for the full year, compared to prior year periods.
For more on each of these stories go to equipmentworld.com.
GIVE YOUR CREW SOME
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IMPRESSIVE IMPROVEMENTS TO AN ALREADY AWARD-WINNING MACHINE. An improved Pilot Control hydraulic system gives the 580 Super N greater feel and responsiveness for multi-function movements or precision work. An enhanced torque converter provides more pushing power under load and acceleration around the site. And new externally adjustable Extendahoe® wear pads make it easy to stop slop in the dipper. It’s the same Super N, now with more super.
Learn more at CaseCE.com/580SuperN
©2018 CNH Industrial America LLC. All rights reserved. CASE is a trademark registered in the United States and many other countries, owned by or licensed to CNH Industrial N.V., its subsidiaries or affiliates.
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Engineered to give you the edge We’re driven to make products that do more, last longer and cost less to operate and own for the long term. Your equipment is an investment in your profitability. We take that seriously. That’s why we’re always working on advances to improve jobsite efficiency. From shrinking footprints and expanding capacities to saving fuel and keeping people safer, we believe innovation should help you make the most of every opportunity. Details matter. Discover all the ways you gain with Atlas Copco. atlascopco.us
marketplace
| by Don McLoud |
BUILT FOR SPEED, POWER, EFFICIENCY
DonMcLoud@randallreilly.com
EDITO PICKR’S
The new Link-Belt 350 X4 LF long-front excavator from LBX boasts increased fuel efficiency and longer arm, boom and auxiliary spools than previous models. LBX added an Isuzu Tier 4 Final engine to the excavator, which requires no diesel particulate filter. It also features a 3-percent consumption rate of diesel exhaust fluid and a large tank to allow long work hours without DEF refill. The excavator has an operating weight of 87,634 pounds, max dig depth of 46 feet, 3 inches and reach at ground level of 60 feet, 10 inches. Along with fuel efficiency, the excavator provides cycle times of 8 percent faster than predecessors.
Boosting bucket digging force Bobcat has unveiled the latest version of its largest compact excavator, the 8.5-ton E85. Its 66-horsepower Bobcat turbo-charged diesel engine does not require a diesel particulate filter or selective catalytic reduction. The new E85 boasts a bucket digging force of 16,269 pound-feet, a 12-percent improvement over the previous generation machine. It is designed to work in tight spaces with 13 inches of tail overhang, and the boom frame stays within the width of the tracks as it swings. An optional depthcheck system allows the operator to measure depth and grade within a half-inch of accuracy without exiting the excavator. EquipmentWorld.com | April 2018 17
marketplace
| continued
Ready for the dirtiest environments
Faster cycle times, better fuel efficiency
Doosan’s new DL280-5 wheel loader is made to handle heavy-duty jobs that have lots of trash and debris, the company says. It is aimed at the general construction and scrap-handling markets. The 34,262-pound loader features a wide fin radiator, which uses larger fin spacing for more effective cooling and less clogging. The 172-gross-horsepower, 3.7-cubic-yard machine also is the first Doosan loader to use its upgraded forward-neutral-reverse joystick, so operators don’t have to take their hand off the steering wheel to change directions.
Volvo has added new transmissions and load-sensing hydraulics to its L150H, L180H, L220H and the L260H loaders. Volvo says the improvements bring faster cycle times, 20 percent better fuel efficiency and 10 percent improved productivity over the G-Series. The transmission provides shorter stops between gears, which gives faster acceleration and smoother operation. A torque converter with customizable lock-up settings enables the loaders to perform better at low speeds. The load-sensing hydraulics increase the attachment’s lifting and lowering speed.
Rolling in tight spaces
No CDL needed for bulk diesel transport Thunder Creek Equipment’s new Multi-Tank Trailers (MTT) are the first fuel and service trailers designed to legally transport bulk diesel on the road without requiring drivers to have a CDL or HAZMAT endorsement, the company says. The trailers are available in capacities of 460, 690 and 920 gallons and are aimed at the construction industry’s need to haul bulk fluids from jobsite to jobsite, while dealing with a labor shortage of certified drivers. The trailers isolate diesel in separate DOT-compliant tanks of 115 gallons, which meets the 119-gallon federal definition for non-bulk packaging. The tanks are joined by a manifold to a common pump. 18 April 2018 | EquipmentWorld.com
Dynapac’s updated small tandem Asphalt Roller CC950 is designed for tight spaces, where larger rollers can’t fit. Its specialties include small roads and pavements, bicycle paths and parking areas. The CC950 weighs 1.6 tons and has a drum width of 38 inches. It is equipped with a watercooled, 3-cylinder, four-stroke Kubota D722-E4B-KEA-2 diesel engine. The Tier 4 engine produces 20.3 horsepower. The CC950 delivers 4,200 vibrations per minute on the front drum only and has a static rear drum. The CC950 also sports the company’s switch from yellow to a new color scheme of red, white and gray.
TECHNOLOGY ROADSHOW IS COMING YOUR WAY
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The Intersection of Infrastructure and Technologyâ„¢
machine matters
| by Richard Ries
HOLDING FAST
IN THE FLEET In a sea of specialty equipment, the backhoe stands out as a do-it-all machine
A
fter years of contraction, the backhoe loader market seems to have found a sustainable level. Here’s why backhoes still fit on the jobsite: Backhoes have taken a beating with years of falling sales driving OEMs to limit their offerings. Who stole backhoes’ market share? The usual suspects. Skid steer loaders. Compact and smaller mid-size track and wheel loaders and excavators. Where these machines did tasks also
20 April 2018 | EquipmentWorld.com
done by backhoes, they did them better. It was a burgeoning age of specialization. But that age of specialization is also what saved backhoes from extinction. They don’t do specific tasks as well as the specialists, but they do everything competently. A skid steer is better at scuttling around tight quarters loading trucks and transferring materials, but it can’t trench. A crawler excavator is better at excavating, but it can’t be driven on the road between jobs at 25
JCB says the 3CX Compact is 35 percent smaller overall than a standard backhoe. It is almost 20 inches narrower than a standard machine and has a travel height of about 9 feet. Four-wheel steering further enhances the 3CX Compact’s appeal in tight spaces. Operating weight is 13,380 pounds; engine output is 74 gross horsepower and 221 pound-feet of torque.
mph. In a sea of specialty equipment, backhoes stand out for their versatility, and this versatility keeps backhoes in fleets.
“Do-it-all machine” “A backhoe’s best attributes are still trenching, excavating and loading, but the point is they can do all three,” says Diego Butzke, product manager for backhoe loaders at JCB North America. “And over the years, they’ve gotten much better with attachments. The backhoe is a do-it-all machine.” Dustin Adams, product application specialist for Caterpillar, says, “Backhoes excel when the job requires the machine to complete a variety of tasks. Quick couplers afford the ability to turn backhoes into sweepers, compactors, asphalt mills, snow pushes and more, making it even easier for operators to capitalize on the machine’s versatile nature.” Because backhoes are so versatile, operators often spend their entire shift in the cab rather than splitting
time between machines as, for example, they often do with skid steers and compact excavators. For this reason, manufacturers have made cabs larger, quieter and cleaner with more creature comforts, better ergonomics and more intuitive controls, Adams says. “Operators are spending more time in the seats, but not at the expense of occupational health and safety.” Enhanced versatility can obscure an important fact: current-model backhoe loaders are better at what backhoes have traditionally done most. “Kubota’s M62 digs deeper and reaches farther than previous models,” says Jeff Jacobsmeyer, the company’s product manager for excavators, wheel loaders and backhoes. “The 14-foot dig depth of the M62 is a 17 percent improvement over the previous generation. Similarly, the L47 boasts a 10-foot digging depth and 5,825 pounds of bucket digging force.” At 47.1 gross horsepower for the L47 and 63 gross horsepower for the M62, both machines also have more engine power than their predecessors. EquipmentWorld.com | April 2018 21
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machine matters
| continued
Case N Series backhoes, like the 580N shown above, have new pilot controls for optimal hydraulic smoothness and precision. The fuel economy package, formerly an option, is standard and includes Eco mode switches for loader and backhoe functions, as well as Auto Idle and Auto Shutdown.
A 17.7-gallon fuel tank represents up to 48 percent more capacity, allowing both models to work longer without refueling. An optional hydraulic quick coupler on the front and 540 rpm power takeoff to drive rear attachments enhance versatility at both ends of the machine.
An ideal fit Butzke says that while worksites often have multiple machines present, there’s nearly always a backhoe in the mix. While backhoes may seem to be everywhere, there are certain markets and applications where they are an ideal fit. Ed Brenton, Case brand marketing manager, says the nature 24 April 2018 | EquipmentWorld.com
of backhoes makes them especially appealing to utility contractors, municipalities, small contractors and owner-operators. “Backhoes are the right choice whenever you’re short on time or help. One machine. One operator. Roadable. And it can do almost any task.” Shawn Kuhn is the public works director for Allegheny
“
Township in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. “For the type of work we do, a backhoe is perfect. One example is pipes and inlets. With a backhoe, one machine can dig, push dirt, carry stone and place pipe and inlets. Another is storm cleanup. We can road a backhoe to wherever we have downed trees and other debris, dramatically
Daily checks, refueling and other tasks are all easier and faster with just one machine
”
– Ed Brenton, Case brand marketing manager
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machine matters
| continued
The M62 is the largest of three backhoe loaders offered by Kubota. The Kubota inline 4-cylinder engine is rated at 63 gross horsepower; the six-range hydrostatic transmission yields a top travel speed of 15.5 mph. Bucket breakout force is 5,992 pounds, and maximum backhoe digging depth is 169.8 inches (12 feet, 1.8 inches).
reducing the time required.” A grapple bucket, 4-in-1 bucket, forks and broom for the front of the backhoe loader and a hammer for the back make it the most versatile machine the township owns. Allegheny Township has two backhoes, a John Deere 310 and 410. They also have a Cat 930H wheel loader, a Champion grader and recently approved the purchase of a Deere 85G excavator. Kuhn says all these machines have their place, but the township will always have at least one backhoe in their fleet. “Big contractors and larger municipalities can afford to have multiple pieces of specialty equipment, but for small to mid-size customers like us, a backhoe is essential because of its versatility.” 26 April 2018 | EquipmentWorld.com
Butzke says that sometimes backhoes are both general and specific in what they can do. He points to the JCB 3CX Compact as an example. “With a sweeper on the skid steer coupler at the front and a patch planer at the back, the 3CX Compact is the perfect pothole patching machine. It’s versatile in that it does everything associated with the task but specific in that it’s outfitted for that one particular application.”
Easier, faster, cheaper Having one versatile machine and one operator is more cost-effective than trailering multiple specialty machines to a site and servicing them throughout the job. “Daily checks, refueling and other tasks
are all easier and faster with just one machine,” says Brenton. Kuhn notes that storm sewer inlets weigh around 2,000 pounds. “A skid steer with that lifting capacity is going to be $60,000 to $70,000. A backhoe loader is $90,000 but is much more versatile and so has a much higher utilization rate.” That makes the backhoe more cost-effective despite the higher initial investment. Brenton says Case offers a TCO (total cost of ownership) app where customers can plug in variables of their actual costs of owning and operating a machine. “Idle time and utilization rate are still the big determiners, but other factors play a role.” As an example, he says, Case’s Eco mode can save 10 to 15
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QUARTIX VEHICLE TRACKING
How does vehicle tracking benefit construction?
T
he challenges of running a construction company come at you from every angle. You need to juggle jobs across distant locations, properly allocate your staff and equipment, and keep your sites and employees safe. To stay competitive, you must do it all on time and within budget. Luckily, technologies such as real-time vehicle tracking can help. At its core, vehicle tracking pinpoints vehicles on online maps in real-time or over a defined period, freeing employees to focus on their work without distraction from office staff inquiring where they are and how long they’ve been there. Some solutions also offer functionality such as online timesheets, route reports, driving-safety analysis, and maintenance-tracking tools, leading to a safer and more efficient work environment.
Improved Site and Staff Management Your equipment and staff are your livelihood. By knowing where they are, at any given moment, you can keep your business running smoothly. Vehicletracking can help with:
More Accurate Accounting With several jobs running at the same time, accounting can be a challenge. You want to ensure your employees are paid fairly and your customers are billed accurately. Some vehicle-tracking solutions can help you do this by automatically collecting data such as shift time, driving time, time at a work site, mileage, and fuel usage (see Figure 1). Automatic data collection frees your employees to focus on the job, not on filling out paperwork; it helps you ensure: • Fair fuel and overtime pay - data can confirm whether claims align with miles travelled and time at job sites, reducing false claims while also reassuring employees that they will receive the pay due to them without having to fight for it • More accurate billing – data on how long your employees have been at various job sites can help ensure accurate billing and help resolve billing disputes
• Staff allocation – when employees call in sick or a job needs extra hands on board, see exactly where your staff are and reallocate as needed • Maintenance reminders – avoid downtime due to unexpected repairs by tracking vehicle usage and ensuring maintenance is performed according to warranty and rental agreements • Vehicle recovery – quickly locate lost or stolen vehicles using GPS-tracking
Figure 1: Data from vehicle-tracking solutions can provide actionable insight on vehicle movements, engine usage, driver behavior, and fuel consumption.
Safer Job Sites and Travel
Smarter Bidding
Many vehicle-tracking solutions also offer tools for digging down into the details of a vehicle’s routes travelled and driving metrics (speed, acceleration, braking, idling)—key factors influencing both safety and costs.
Over time, tracking data provides a better picture of how long certain types of jobs typically take and cost. Not only can this help you optimize staff and equipment allocation, but it can also help you bid smarter on new projects, keeping your business competitive without underquoting.
If your employees travel long distances to work sites, tracking data can help confirm they are getting proper rest before resuming work. If they are meant to stay within a defined work zone or onsite overnight, geofencing functionality can help ensure the proper guidelines are followed. Using vehicle data, driving can be scored and training programs can be established to track, or even incentivize, better driving. Safer driving will not only reflect well on your brand within the local community, but it can also help reduce costs. For example, insurance costs may be reduced due to fewer violations and accidents, while fuel costs may be reduced through improved driving habits, such as less speeding or unnecessary idling. Route and speed data can even be used to exonerate employees who may be subject to false claims. Imagine an employee is accused of speeding down a narrow lane or clipping a parked car’s mirror, when in fact the vehicle wasn’t even on the road at that time. Location pinpointing can also provide peace of mind to employees as they venture into new, and sometimes dangerous, locations. For example, if an employee doesn’t turn up when expected, the vehicle can be located and assistance sent in case of accident or illness.
Finding the Solution for Your Needs Despite its benefits, adopting vehicle-tracking technology may still seem daunting to an overworked business owner. Luckily, solutions are available that are both easy-to-use and reasonably priced. One provider—Quartix—has delivered real-time vehicle-tracking and telematics solutions for over 17 years. Nearly 10,000 businesses have chosen Quartix because it offers: ✔ Tiered pricing options that let them select the level of functionality they need ✔ Shorter contracts that don’t require multi-year commitment ✔ Contracts that do not auto-renew ✔ Customer service by experts invested in their success To learn how Quartix can help you better serve your business, your employees, and your customers, visit www.quartix.com or email sales@quartix.com.
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machine matters
| continued
The mechanical front-wheel drive and standard limited-slip front differential provide true four-wheel drive on the John Deere 31SL HL. Pilot towers have been redesigned for more legroom and easier transitioning between loader and backhoe operations. Craning capacity (rear backhoe lift) is up 25 percent over the 310SK. percent in fuel usage. Brian Hennings, backhoe loader product marketing manager with John Deere, says many customers can calculate their own cost analyses but should make the most of current technology. One example is telematics, which provide exact utilization rates, idle times and more. He says customers should view their dealers as partners in the cost analysis process. “The dealer can also provide guidance on whether to own, lease or rent.” Hennings also recommends customers give more consideration to backhoe replacement cycle times, which can be much less distinct than for other types of equipment, such as skid steers. 30 April 2018 | EquipmentWorld.com
Adams also emphasizes the role of the dealer and manufacturer as partners with customers. “We [OEMs] need to provide features that add value and then explain the processes and technology behind the advertised benefits. If customers and operators don’t have proof or believe in the feature, they will not take advantage of it, thus leaving machine potential and performance on the table.”
Advanced technology “You still see 2007 model backhoes on the jobsite still working well,” says Hennings, “but as with all machines, backhoes have seen significant improvements due to advances in electronics, engines and
“
Big contractors and larger municipalities can afford to have multiple pieces of specialty equipment, but for small to mid-size customers like us, a backhoe is essential because of its versatility.
”
– Shawn Kuhn, public works director, Allegheny Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania
POWER LIFTERS
GET MORE PLATFORM CAPACITY WITH JLG® 600 SERIES BOOM LIFTS. The 600S can lift up to 20% more than comparable models with an impressive dual lift capacity of 600/1,000 lb—nearly double that of other machines in its size class. The 660SJ has a dual lift capacity of 550/750 lb. Both models boast faster function speeds and come standard with SkyGuard® enhanced control panel protection. The 600S is also easy to transport because two can fit on one truck without an overweight permit. See the full specs at jlg.com/600-series
machine matters
| continued
A power shuttle transmission comes standard on the Cat 420F2. An available autoshift transmission can be equipped with a lock-up torque converter to yield a 20 percent increase in fuel efficiency over the stock six-speed autoshift. Optional four-wheel drive improves mobility and loader performance in poor ground conditions and can be engaged on the fly.
hydraulics.” Technology is better integrated, meaning systems work better together. Telematics, such as JDLink, continue to offer more features to improve monitoring, reporting and security. Pilot controls and autoshift transmissions enhance productivity. Hennings says the biggest effect on daily operating costs may be the better fuel efficiency the technological advances achieve. “Some advances are built-in and require no operator interaction,” says Brenton. “Others are user-settable, requiring the use of a switch or setting.” He says examples include Eco and Power modes and the timing of auto-idle and autoshutdown functions. Butzke lists standard features on JCB backhoes. They include Auto-Check, which daily checks things like fluid levels and air filter obstructions; AutoStabilizersUp, which raises the outriggers at the 32 April 2018 | EquipmentWorld.com
touch of a button; AutoBoomLock to lock and unlock the boom through the joysticks and whether the seat is tipped forward; and AutoDrive, which maintains a constant engine speed while on the road and is disabled when the brakes are applied. Butzke says the key to deriving the most value from these advances is training, even for experienced operators. “It used to be that operators started on backhoes and then migrated to other equipment. Now they typically start on other equipment and move to backhoes later, often without backhoe-specific training.” Even long-time backhoe operators may have to relearn their habits to obtain the full benefit of new features such as work modes, boost options, automated processes and pressure-compensated, loadsensing hydraulics.
Brenton says training should extend to service personnel, too. He says there have been a lot of changes during the typical backhoe replacement cycle, which tends to be longer than for some other types of equipment. “PM intervals, procedures and fluid requirements have changed in recent years along with operating procedures,” he says. With so many advances and with long replacement cycle times, customers can’t always rely on their existing backhoe loaders as foundations for spec’ing new machines. Here again, the dealer has a role, says Adams. “Dealers will help customers buy the right machine. A backhoe with more capability than an application requires leads to trade-offs in performance. Bigger is not always better. Work with the dealer to understand the full value and potential of the machine being considered.”
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Progressive Casualty Ins. Co. & affiliates. All coverage subject to policy terms.
maintenance
| by Tom Jackson |
TJackson@randallreilly.com
THE COMEBACK KID OF FUELS
Good prices, supply, less pollution make it time to reconsider biodiesel
B
iodiesel is enjoying a resurgence. This is due in part to new industry quality standards, tax credits and other incentives that bring the price of biodiesel blends at the pump equal to or slightly lower than regular diesel. Some states such as Texas, California, Iowa, Illinois and North Dakota offer additional tax incentives. But perhaps the biggest reason biodiesel is gaining traction is the fact that its environmental benefits are substantial. That is driving a lot of interest from government and corporate fleets that want to project an environmentally conscious image. In 2016, refiners produced about 2.9 billion gallons of biodiesel, repre-
Today’s biodiesel is made in refineries that adhere to strict quality regulations. senting almost 5 percent of the diesel market in the United States. “I’ve been in biodiesel since 2007, and we’ve seen exponential growth,” says Jon Scharingson, executive director of sales and marketing at REG (Renewable Energy Group). “It’s a mainstream fuel at this point and no longer a niche.” Biodiesel is typically sold to end users as a blend of biodiesel and petroleum-based diesel. The nomenclature includes a capital “B” (for biodiesel) followed by a number that indicates the percentage of biodiesel versus petro-diesel. So B5 is 5 percent biodiesel and 95 percent petro-diesel. B20, a common blend for commercial purposes, is 20 percent biodiesel/80 percent petro-diesel.
Costs Pure B100 biodiesel by itself is more expensive to make than petro-diesel. But thanks to the Renewable Fuels Act of 2007, credits generated by renewable fuel production brought the price down to $2.68 a gallon for B20 last fall (see chart next page). What’s important to remember is that 80 percent of a B20 blend is diesel, so the price of the biodiesel is actually much lower than diesel. For example, if the credit’s total value was $1.20 a gallon, the B100 price would be $2.18. It’s the diesel that brings the B20 price back up to $2.68, which is still lower than the straight diesel cost of $2.76. EquipmentWorld.com | April 2018 35
maintenance
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National average price between October 1 and October 31, 2017 Fuel
Price
Biodiesel (B20)
$2.68/gallon
Biodiesel (B99-B100)
$3.38/gallon (before credits)
Gasoline
$2.49/gallon
Diesel
$2.76/gallon
Source: Alternative Fuel Price Report, October 2017 and U.S. Energy Information Administration
As the chart shows, B20 was actually less expensive than regular petro-diesel. The price equation gets even better for end users when state and/or local tax credits and incentives are factored in. If you are buying fuel in bulk, your provider may also share the incentives and rebates. For a list of the current state tax incentives go here: http:// bit.ly/biodieseltax In addition to state incentives and the credit created by the 2007 law, in years when the biodiesel blenders tax credit is in place, an additional $1-per-gallon of value is created to reduce the price of B100 even further. Most biodiesel gallons are sold with an agreement that if the credit is in effect or is reinstated retroactively, as commonly happens, the seller will keep half the credit and the purchaser will get the other half. “In most cases the $1-per-gallon credit would be represented in the price to the fleet,” says Scharingson. “But it’s not unusual for large fleets, including municipal fleets, with their own fueling sites to blend their own fuel. In that case, the blender files a claim with the federal government to collect the credit, and they can do that once a year to claim everything at once. Even for non-blenders, it’s common for a contract between parties to have language that shares the credit between the person who is eligible for it and the person they’re selling it to.” 36 April 2018 | EquipmentWorld.com
Environmental benefits With the real price of biodiesel below petro-diesel, the other big driver of its use is its environmental benefits. As the chart below illustrates, B100 and B20 substantially reduce particulate matter, total hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide. Additionally, biodiesel is nontoxic, biodegradable and has none of the aromatics found in traditional diesel, which are considered carcinogenic. Total Hydrocarbons (THC)
Particulate Matter (PM)
% Reduction from ULSD
% Reduction from ULSD
69%
70%
70%
60%
60%
50%
50%
40%
40%
30%
30%
20% 10%
20%
11%
18%
10% 0%
0%
Particulate Matter (PM) % Reduction from ULSD 25%
20.6%
20% 15% 10% 5%
60%
3.6%
0%
Get the specs In an engine, biodiesel blends up to B20 perform as well as petro-diesel. And they can be used in most existing diesel engines without modifications. But to avoid possible problems or warranty issues with your engine OEM, make sure the biodiesel conforms to the new industry specs and standards. The ASTM standard for diesel fuels is ASTM D975. For biodiesel, the spec is ASTM D6751. Diesel fuel sold in the pipeline
B20
B100
Note: All emissions data taken from 2006 Cummins ISM 370 on Federal Test Procedure driving cycle, as reported in Durbin, Thomas D., et al, “CARB Assessment of the Emissions from the Use of Biodiesel Characterization and NOx Mitigation Study,” California Air Resources Board: Sacramento, CA (2011). Comparisons with Federal ULSD were conducted based on a linear comparison with CARB ULSD data. All biodiesel data shown are taken as an average of the means of high and low cloud point biodiesel emissions results, where available.
and terminal system of the United States must meet the D975 spec and contain no more than 5 percent biodiesel, says David Forester, global product development, Fuel Quality Services. That relatively small quantity of biodiesel seldom has any significant effect on the properties of D975 diesel fuel, except for lubricity improvement, as long as the biodiesel blendstock that makes up that 5 percent meets all the specs of D6751. So normal storage and handling recommendations can be used.
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If the diesel fuel contains between 6 and 20 percent biodiesel, it should meet the product specifications of D7467 Diesel Fuel Oil, B6 to B20 blends, which are more rigorous than D975, especially for stability, says Forester. Also, meeting all the specs of D6751, especially residual metals (sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium) and glycerin/glycerides, becomes increasingly important when blends of 10 to 20 percent biodiesel are purchased and used. Another industry value to look for is an accreditation known as BQ-9000, a voluntary program that promotes high-quality processes for the manufacturing and blending of the fuel, as established by the National Biodiesel Board Accreditation Program.
Any biodiesel you use should adhere to both the ASTM specs and BQ-9000.
Cold weather concerns In the case of higher blends of biodiesel, storage and handling become increasingly important to keep water out of your tank and to make sure your fuel is properly blended and treated for winter use, says Forester. Equipment tanks containing B100 should never be stored outside from October to March, except in far southern climates where the temperatures stay above freezing year-round, he says. B100 biodiesel has a higher cloud point than No. 2 ULSD or winter-grade diesel fuel and will gel at 25 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit. But B5 typically does not gel until
With the proper cold-temperature additives, biodiesel blends can be used to power equipment in winter.
38 April 2018 | EquipmentWorld.com
the temperature gets well below zero (untreated) and minus-30 degrees (treated). “What people need to remember is that cold-weather use and additives are important with all diesel fuels,” says Scharingson. “So is having a dry tank – if water has a way into a tank, it will be there no matter the fuel. The proper storage and handling coupled with good winter additives allow fleets to use biodiesel blends year-round.”
Engine warranties According to the National Biodiesel Board, most engine manufacturers have approved the use of biodiesel in levels up to B20. Several statements from the engine companies are available on the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) website: http://nbb.org.
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2017 WINNER D
oug Wirt, the owner of D&P Construction has been selected as the winner of the 2017 Contractor’s Dream Package. Based in Wooster Ohio, Doug is involved in tunneling, boring and drilling work in the Mid-West area of the country. Doug registered for the Contractor’s Dream Package while attending the CONEXPO-CON/AGG show in Las Vegas. The awards presentation was hosted by Pallotta Ford in Wooster, OH. The event was attended by representatives from Ford Commercial Trucks, Ditch Witch, Landoll Trailers and other vendors in the area.
Sponsors for the 2017 Contractor’s Dream Package:
maintenance
| continued
Before using biodiesel, check with your engine OEM about compatibility, as not every OEM has approved it for all models. B100 biodiesel as a fuel is not warranted by equipment manufacturers except some farm implement companies such as International Harvester, Forester says. But by law, gas stations and truck stops in Minnesota have been selling B5 in the winter and B10 in the summer. Starting in May 2018, the warm-weather requirement will increase to B20. So far, no major issues or complaints have surfaced. Most engine OEMs specify that the biodiesel must meet ASTM D6751 to guarantee warranties, while others are still adopting D6751 within their companies or have their own guidelines for biodiesel use that were developed before the approval of D6751. It is anticipated that the entire industry will incorporate the ASTM biodiesel standard into owner’s manuals over time.
Tariffs and credits Recent items in the news could affect biodiesel prices in the future, although the industry says the impact will be minimal. The biodiesel tax credit was recently approved retroactively for 2017 but not for 2018, although the industry is operating as if the credit will eventually be passed retroactively for this year, too. The United States also imposed tariffs on biodiesel imported from Indonesia and Argentina last year. Scharingson predicts the tariffs on imported biodiesel will have little effect on prices. “It’s pretty clear the domestic producers can more than offset that,” he says. “We haven’t seen any change in our prices nor have our customers at the pump.”
40 April 2018 | EquipmentWorld.com
Is paraffinic renewable diesel the perfect fuel? With rare exceptions for certain types of agricultural equipment, no fleets are using biodiesel in blends stronger than B20. However, refiners in recent years have developed a different process to make a diesel-like fuel out of the same raw materials as biodiesel (plant and animal fats). The industry is calling it several names: renewable diesel, renewable hydrocarbon diesel or paraffinic renewable diesel. For our purposes here, we’ll call it paraffinic renewable diesel. Last year, Cummins approved paraffinic renewable diesel fuels as a 100 percent substitute for petroleum derived ULSD in its B4.5, B6.7 and L9 engine platforms, both on and off highway and all year models. In its statement on this, Cummins said no additional engine maintenance is required, and the same fuel filters can be used. The report also noted that paraffinic diesel can be easily blended with standard diesel at varying percentages, including winter-grade fuels, and has the same stability and cold properties as conventional diesel, which means it can be used and stored in the same ways. Cummins spent 18 months running 100 percent paraffinic diesel fuel in its engines to validate these claims. The report noted that engine performance remained stable and consistent. The only difference Cummins’ tests found was a zero to 6 percent fuel-economy detriment because of the lower density of paraffinic fuel. This, however, was duty-cycle dependent. The company says it is continuing to evaluate and validate the use of 100 percent paraffinic fuels, like RHD, in its other high horsepower and heavy-duty platforms.
Paraffinic renewable diesel is basically pure hydrocarbon with high cetane and no aromatics, says Forester: “It is as close to running a diesel engine on the perfect fuel hexadecane that you can get. As such, the engine companies can’t help but accept it at 100 percent for their engines. If you can buy 100 percent paraffinic renewable diesel, I would expect it to function in terms of storage and handling very similarly to ULSD with no biodiesel added.” By comparison, B100 biodiesel contains a lot of byproducts. All of these byproducts and potential contaminants give the engine companies major heartburn, which is why so many do not warranty their equipment for greater than B20 blends, Forester says. Scharingson says paraffinic renewable diesel produced by his company has a lower sulfur spec – 5 parts per million compared with petro-diesel’s 15 ppm. That’s better for your engine since sulfur contributes to sulfuric acid inside the engine and is one of the factors that eventually compromises the effectiveness of your lube oil. He also says the fuel has a minimum cetane number of 65, compared to the minimum spec for petro-diesel of 40 and a cetane spec of 47 for biodiesel. Fuels with a higher cetane number have a shorter ignition delay, meaning they are easier to ignite inside a compression (diesel) engine. Still, paraffinic renewable diesel isn’t likely to replace biodiesel anytime soon. The large demand for paraffinic diesel on the West Coast makes it challenging for fleets and retail outlets to get enough supply. And biodiesel’s price, supply levels and its smaller carbon footprint will make it an easy choice for some time to come.
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WHY JOIN?
A peer group is a community of leaders committed to building their businesses toward excellence.
There is no better investment you can make in the growth of your business than leveraging the experience of other trusted, successful people who do the same thing you do.
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Interact with fellow group members at bi-annual, in-person meetings.
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THE ULTIMATE MACHINES FOR ULTIMATE CHALLENGES.
These images were captured using specialized photography equipment and are not intended to replace, modify or contradict warnings and instructions for Ditch Witch equipment. All such warnings and instructions must be followed during operation.
Long hours on the jobsite mean operator comfort is key. So we engineered a more spacious cab on our RT105, RT125 and RT125 Quad trenchers. Now the best-in-class machines have best-in-class comfort. Learn more at ditchwitch.com Š2018 The Charles Machine Works, Inc.
A Charles Machine Works Company
| by Marcia Gruver Doyle |
quick data
Trenchers
MGruver@randallreilly.com
A snapshot of new and used sales trends from Randall-Reilly’s Equipment Data Associates and TopBid auction price service.
Year-over-year change* NEW: UP 7%
Auctions
USED: DOWN 11%
Trencher auction prices, Feb. 17-Feb. 18 $30,000 $29,500
*Comparison of number of trenchers financed Feb. 1, 2017 to Jan. 31, 2018, and Feb. 1, 2016 to Jan. 31, 2017. Source: EDA, edadata.com
In February, the average price for the top 10 models of trenchers sold at auction were 23 percent below the average price for these machines sold in February 2017, and 9 percent below the one-year average of $21,010. Data include all Orlando-area auctions held in February.
$28,000 $27,000 $26,000 $25,000
Current: $19,167
$24,000
Top three states for skid steer buyers*
February 2018
$23,000 $22,000 $21,000 $20,000 $19,000 $18,000
High: $24,851
$17,000
February 2017
1-year average: $
21,010
$16,000 $15,000
Low: $18,869
$14,000
January 2018
1
Texas: 292 buyers
2
Florida: 79 buyers
3
California: 63 buyers
$13,000
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
Jun.
Jul.
Aug.
Sep.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Jan.
Feb.
PRICE
Top financed new trencher*
2017 2018 Trend prices for the top 10 models of trenchers and cable plows sold at auction, not seasonally adjusted.
70,000 OTHER $63,000 TOP BID: $
Top auction price paid for a 130-horsepower-and-under trencher: 2013 Ditch Witch RT120 with 58 hours at a Ritchie Bros. sale in Fort Worth, Texas, on May 17, 2017.
Vermeer RTX1250, 709 hours, Ritchie Bros., Apr. 19, 2017, in Houston, Texas.
0
0 3 9 , $21
HIGH
0 $5 , 0
AVERAGE
Mar. 1, 2017 – Feb. 28, 2018; prices for trenchers 5 years old and newer, 130-horsepower-and-under, U.S. sales only. Only includes bids $5,000 and above. Source: TopBid, topbid.com
LOW
Final bids unit count: 22
0 0 0 , $70 New
Trencher new, used financed sales trends, 2008-2017*
Ditch Witch C16X, 170 units
Other top selling new machine: Used
2,000 1,800
Used high: 2008, 1,344 units
1,600 1,400
New high: 2017, 1,016 units
Top financed used trencher* Ditch Witch RT45, 59 units
1,200 1,000 800 600 400
Used low: 2017, 810 units
New low: 2010, 301 units
200 0
UNITS
Toro TRX-20, 34 units
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
*Financed equipment, 2008 - 2017, number of units sold by sale or lease. Source: EDA, edadata.com
2015
2016
2017
*In terms of number of new and used financed units sold Feb. 1, 2017 to Jan. 31, 2018. Source: EDA, edadata.com (Note: EDA reports are continually updated.) EquipmentWorld.com | April 2018 45
highway contractor
| by Joy Powell and Wayne Grayson
2018 World of Asphalt smashes records for attendance, size
T
he 2018 World of Asphalt Show & Conference and AGG1 Academy & Expo broke records March 6-8 with more than 8,300 attendees and a sold-out show floor. More than 460 exhibitors displayed their latest products and technologies at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston for the aggregates, asphalt, pavement-maintenance and trafficsafety sectors. The combined show floor hosted by World of Asphalt
and AGG1 spanned 174,000 net square feet of exhibits. The booths were busy, and the mood was upbeat. “This was one of our best events ever, that delivered it all for industry professionals – product innovations, focused education and quality networking,” says Kevin Kelly, president of Walsh & Kelly and World of Asphalt 2018 chair. Among those with a presence was the Women of Asphalt Council, which held its debut during the show with a forum
and roundtable discussion. The council began forming in 2017 when Asphalt Pavement Alliance National Director Amy Miller reached out to other women in the industry. The council wants to encourage women to consider a career in the asphalt industry and to collaborate to make the industry better. The cause drew support at the show. Here’s a sampling of our coverage. Most stories first appeared on equipmentworld.com, where they were reported in more detail.
Case roller delivers high forces, frequencies Case Construction Equipment showed its new DV45CC combination vibratory roller. The DV45CC is powered by a 40.8-horsepower Tier 4 Interim engine delivering high centrifugal forces and frequencies at low rpms, Case says. The machine features standard dual amplitudes of 0.01 and 0.21 inches and dual frequencies of 2,700 and 3,420 vibrations per minute.
Cat unveils compact cold planers Caterpillar launched three new compact cold planer models designed for use in urban areas and other small to medium-size jobsites. They are available in rotor and chamber widths of 39.4 inches on the PM310, 48.2 inches on the PM312 and 51.2 inches on the PM313. The machines are powered by a 325-horsepower Cat C9 engine – hence the 3 in the nomenclature. 46 April 2018 | EquipmentWorld.com
Volvo wheel loader boosts fuel efficiency
Volvo Construction Equipment unveiled its updated L90H wheel loader. The H-Series 2.0 machine offers improved fuel efficiency, productivity, serviceability and greater ease of use, Volvo says. “The L90H wheel loader features updates to its transmission and torque converter that shorten cycle times and provide up to 20 percent greater fuel efficiency,” says Chris Connolly, product manager, wheel loaders. “It also has a higher tipping load and dump height.” Some of the new features include delayed engine shutdown, electro-servo hydraulic controls and torque convertor lockup with selectable modes. Also included is smart control, which improves engine and hydraulic harmony, boosts fuel efficiency and lowers driveline duty.
Hamm intros hybrid drive to North America
Hamm’s new PH hybrid power train system for tandem asphalt compactors is billed as a new concept that will save owners on fuel, costs and maintenance. The company introduced the hybrid power train system in the HD+ 90i PH tandem roller. The hybrid system underwent field trials in selected markets during 2016 and 2017 and is expected to be available this year in North America with double vibration (VV), vibration-oscillation (VO) and smooth drum-pneumatic “combi” rollers (VT) as options.
Vögele pavers feature latest operating system Vögele’s 10-foot tracked Super 2000-3i and 8-foot wheeled Super 1703-3i pavers are designed for power and productivity in roadbuilding. These pavers for the North American market are used in both highway and road construction, as well as for large-scale commercial applications. They boast the latest version of the Vögele operating system – the ErgoPlus 3 – which has been enhanced with new ergonomic and functional features.
BOMAG debuts Economizer on BW 124-5
BOMAG exhibited several machines from its compaction, milling and paving lines. The BW 206 ADO-5 roller, while not new, was shown for the first time in North America. Bert Erdmann, compaction product manager, highlighted the Economizer, an option that’s just been introduced to the BW 124-5 Series rollers. The Economizer is available for plate compactors, single drum rollers and tandem rollers. In an interview, Erdmann explained that the Economizer – which the company originally introduced on plate compactors – alerts operators of compaction progress, reducing passes and saving time and money. It requires no calibration to deliver real-time compaction progress and operating it is intuitive. As the degree of compaction increases, LED lights illuminate and indicate when optimum compaction is achieved. Erdmann says the system warns of potential overcompaction and helps to identify “soft” spots. It features “a simple light-up display, which shows increasing stiffness, meaning you’re picking up densities either in the soil or asphalt,” he explains. Increasing numbers on the display indicate to the operator to keep compacting. If there are no increasing numbers, it indicates that the operator should stop rolling and move to the next spot. EquipmentWorld.com | April 2018 47
highway contractor
| continued
Volvo combines compaction methods with new rollers
Mid-sized LiuGong 856H goes high-tech
Powered by a 225-horsepower Tier 4 Final Cummins engine, the LiuGong 856H wheel loader ensures high productivity through advanced technologies, including a power-shift transmission and an advanced load-sensing hydraulic system. A new bucket design carries more and spills less when traveling over rough ground. Well-positioned lift arms, a standard rearview camera and a 360-degree, panoramic view from the cab give operators a clear view of the jobsite with line-of-sight to the bucket edge at ground level. The pressurized cab is FOPS- and ROPS-certified and features sound-reduction.
Volvo Construction Equipment has expanded its small compaction line with the CR30B and CR35B combination rollers. These versatile, next-generation machines can be used in a variety of applications including driveways, small paths, patchworks or road shoulders. The CR30B and CR35B deliver a dense, high-quality mat surface, thanks to the combination of two compaction methods. The machines use the high-frequency vibration of the front drum to achieve density targets. Four pneumatic rear tires manipulate the compacted material, ensuring impermeability and smoothness.
Case boasts ‘most climbing power in industry’ Adjust for obstacles with ease
Roadtec debuted their Auto Cut technology at the show, which comes standard on the company’s RX-600 cold planer. Auto Cut allows milling operators to raise the mill, walk over obstacles, walk back into the cut and resume milling at the same depth without reprogramming or delay. Paired with Roadtec’s ACE grade and slope sensor, Auto Cut uses averaging skis and end gate sensors. Each leg of the machine is controlled by a different sensor, gathering four data points. The data is continuously updated and displayed. Roadtec says the product requires no additional training or hardware and uses heavy-duty smart cylinders. 48 April 2018 | EquipmentWorld.com
Case Construction Equipment displayed one of two of its new rollers, the SV212D. The single drum vibratory rollers – which includes the SV216D – are powered by a new 154-horsepower Tier 4 Final engine that delivers more torque than previous models. The rollers can climb grades of up to 65 percent. They have an axle-free design with a low center of gravity and a high-traction hydrostatic drive system that provides constant power to the wheels and drum with an electronic self-adjusting torque control system. For even more traction, automatic traction control is an available option, as is a more powerful HX drive designed for extreme conditions with increased torque and speed over the machines’ standard hydrostatic system.
0% APR for 12 months
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highway contractor
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Dynapac debuts oscillation to Gen VI lineup Dynapac has introduced a new roller model to its Generation VI lineup. The new CO4200 is a double drum model and the first Gen VI roller with oscillation. Operators can select between vibration and oscillation compaction systems on the CO4200, allowing them to choose the most suitable system for the task. Oscillation comes in handy in areas where vibration needs to be reduced, such as bridge decks or areas adjacent to foundations, and in thin asphalt overlay applications, Dynapac says.
Cat’s adaptable tandem rollers Caterpillar unveiled the 13-ton CB13, the first of three new tandem vibratory roller models. Expected to be available mid-year, a 15-ton model, the CB15, and a 16-ton model, the CB16, will join the CB13 that was introduced at the show. The major feature to these models is the option of an oscillatory vibration system on the rear drum. While the front drum compacts with vertical vibration, the rear drum’s vibratory motion is created by a rotational movement of the drum.
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EquipmentWorld.com | April 2018 53
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technology
| by Tom Jackson |
TJackson@randallreilly.com
Komatsu KomVision delivers bird’s eye view for excavators Four wide-angle cameras eliminate blind spots.
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ith the boom to the right and the engine/ pump compartment behind the cab, excavators have limited lines of sight behind and to the right rear of the machine. Komatsu’s solution – a multi-camera system with bird’s eye view around their excavators. The company has made rear-vision cameras standard on its excavators for the last 10 years and also offered a second optional camera that provided a camera view to the right rear area. But recently, the company decided to add a three-camera option on small excavators and a four-camera option on the bigger models. The multi-camera views are digitally stitched together to give you a complete look around the machine in real time. It’s called KomVision. The cameras pick up 300 degrees for standard excavators and 240 degrees with short-tail excavators. Those viewing angles combined with the operator’s sight lines from the cab yield a 360-degree field of vision. “A lot of excavators work in urban environments,
On the monitor in the cab, the operator can see both the bird’s eye view and select views from each of the cameras.
EquipmentWorld.com | April 2018 55
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The cameras show you everything that could potentially be in the swing radius of the bucket or the counterweight.
around people, right of ways, telephone poles, cars and congested areas,” says Kurt Moncini, special projects manager for tracked products. “You might have six or seven machines operating in an area that’s not much bigger than a baseball field. KomVision gives you significantly better situational awareness.” In addition to the wrap-around views, the system shows you via a series of lines the location and path of the machine’s counterweight, says Moncini. These work just like the backup cameras in today’s cars, showing you where the rear bumper is headed and how close it is to the nearest object. “One line shows you the counterweight swing radius,” says Moncini. “Anything inside of it could potentially come in contact with the counterweight. We put the other line 2 meters out from the counterweight.” The cameras are located on the top left, rear and right sides of the rear compartment and provide a broad field of view. The cab monitor displays the bird’s eye view on the left and a selectable single camera view on the right. If desired, the operator can change to a full screen image of any individual camera. In the United States, KomVision will be offered on the Komatsu PC138USLC-11, PC170LC-11, PC238USLC-11, HB365LC-11 and PC650LC-11 excavators. 56 April 2018 | EquipmentWorld.com
As with rear-vision cameras in cars, the KomVision system puts lines on the screen to show objects potentially in the path of the machine.
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The Intersection of Infrastructure and Technologyâ„¢
technology |
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HCSS Trucking eliminates paperwork, fraud for jobsite trucks HCSS has developed a simple, low-cost software-plus-hardware system for tracking brokered trucks running to and from asphalt plants and other heavy-haul situations. Photo: Washington State DOT.
matically uploads this data to the cloud, giving drivers and dispatchers real-time status reports. At the end of the day, instead of a bunch of paper tickets, you have a digital record of every trip that every truck made to your jobsite.
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ew processes in construction produce more paper (and sometimes fraud) than contract trucking and truck tickets. And while many construction companies rig their own trucks with GPS and telematics to monitor cycle times, fuel use and the rest, GPS is not a viable solution for contractors using brokered trucks to haul asphalt and other materials. At its annual Users Group Meeting in February, HCSS showed attendees a new solution to the problem – a simple, low-cost software-plushardware system for trucks running to and from asphalt plants and other heavy-haul situations. Called “HCSS Trucking,” the system eliminates the paper ticketing process with two simple pieces of hardware and cloud-based software apps, explains Josh McDonald, R&D product manager for HCSS. “In paving operations, the vast majority of the truck-
58 April 2018 | EquipmentWorld.com
ing activity is brokered, so the goal of this system was to eliminate the stacks of paperwork and sometimes conflicting claims about that paperwork,” he says.
Simple hardware The hardware consists of a Bluetooth-enabled iBeacon Proximity broadcaster, which is about the size of four quarters stacked together, and a larger “black box” iBeacon receiver. The small iBeacon broadcasters are put in each truck and send out a ping to the receiver every two minutes. The receiver has cellular and GPS functionality and is placed near the entry and exit points for the trucks. It logs the time and identity of the truck as it enters the jobsite, disconnects when the truck gets out of range and reconnects with the truck when it comes back to the site with a full load. The receiver auto-
Shared information The information on trucks entering and leaving the worksite is relayed via the system’s Ticket Writer app to any designated mobile device, tablet or phone. The Manager app allows you to set up jobs’ and dump sites’ cost codes, materials and drivers, and can set schedules for company and brokered drivers. The Drivers app keeps drivers informed about their status and cycles during the day. To set up the iBeacon broadcaster, you simply scan the QR code on the device with a tablet or phone, enter the truck ID and other info on the web page that pops up, and you’re ready to work. A piece of doublesided tape can adhere the iBeacon to the dashboard, windshield or other surface inside the cab. HCSS is giving the iBeacon broadcasters away free and charging $3 per truck per day for the service. But you don’t pay the $3 until the truck comes within range of the iBeacon receiver, so your broker’s trucks can move on to other jobs and keep the iBroadcaster in the cab ready for any future jobs you may call them to. The batteries that send out the pings from the broadcaster last about two years. The receiver with its GPS and cellular functionality
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has an average battery life of about 80 days and costs about $1,000. The receiver batteries are rechargeable, and HCSS even has a solar charger you can connect to the device and keep it fully charged at the jobsite. HCSS had several of its beta testers in the first session describing its trucking app to customers. The big question from the audience was what kind of response the beta testers were getting from their trucking brokers. The beta testers said pushback was minimal, especially after they told their trucking brokers to either accept the iBeacons in their trucks or lose the business. The system also allows you to notate other types of information, as well. If the broker still wants to issue paper tickets, you can take a photo of the ticket and electroni-
cally upload it to the website, says Mike Bordelon, HCSS vice president of product management. “If you really don’t trust the ticket writer and think he is colluding with the truck driver, make him take a picture of the truck for validation. That’s how airtight this system is. You can have a picture of the truck, a picture of
the ticket, longitude, latitude, time stamp and then all this other data. No broker is going to be able to argue with you on that.” “Once you get to that level of transparency, the fraud just melts away,” adds McDonald. “Everything is out there in real time all the time.”
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Josh McDonald, HCSS R&D product manager, shows the iBeacon transmitter, a Bluetooth-enabled device that pings the iBeacon receiver (the large black box). The transmitter and receiver together record the coming and going of the trucks on your jobs and send that data to the cloud for sharing via the web. 60 April 2018 | EquipmentWorld.com Untitled-2 1
3/1/18 9:38 AM
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CONGRATULATIONS
to the 2017 Contractor of the Year winner and finalists IN
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Roy Chipley
Raymond de Vre’
Carl Jones
Hiram DuRousseau, II
Chipley Company Florence, South Carolina
Blacktop Paving Homewood, California
Carl R Jones Excavating & Hauling Fredricktown, Missouri
HD Truck & Tractor Lake Charles, Louisiana
Jim Hutzel & Charity Bennett
Leo Livengood
Matthew Whaley
KAT Excavation & Construction Hutzel’s Concrete Construction Sour Lake, Texas Malvern, Arkansas
Livengood Excavators Walnutport, Pennsylvania
Whaley and Sons Kodak, Tennessee
Richard Preston & Claudia Preston McCord
Joseph Palmer
Tom Sawyer
Marshall Flowers
McKinnley Excavating Chattanooga, Tennessee
Sawyer Construction Fremont, Nebraska
Sun Construction Darlington, South Carolina
Preston Construction Johnson City, Tennessee
Kerry & Belinda Trest
Sponsored by:
contractor of the year finalist
| by Marcia Gruver Doyle |
MGruver@randallreilly.com
Jim Hutzel and Charity Bennett Hutzel’s Concrete Construction City, State: Malvern, Arkansas Year Started: 1978 Number of 20 employees: Annual revenue: $3 million to $5 million Markets served: Multi-family and commercial concrete construction
Family teamwork keeps Arkansas firm on steady course
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general contractor on a housing project started Jim Hutzel on his path. Jim worked for him, and the GC liked what he saw in the young man. “Why don’t you pour my concrete?” he asked him. So, Jim began pouring footings in the 1970s, during a residential boom that lasted about four years. He followed clients from Illinois to Arkansas. Then the 1980s recession hit, and Jim was scrambling. By that time, though, several large companies were familiar with his high-quality work. They asked him to travel, and he did. “On every
job,” Jim says, “you meet the people who head up the job, and soon I was doing apartment complexes.” It’s that kind of networking that has not only sustained Hutzel Concrete Construction, but made it thrive. For example, by January of 2017, the $3-million-to-$5 million firm had all of its work lined up for the full year. Although their 2018 pace hasn’t kept up – this spring has been wet – clients want to make sure that Hutzel’s is on their team. This includes Greg Stadler with general contractor Wolgast Corporation. “They are just an allaround excellent contractor,” he
says. “They are one of my favorite contractors to work with.”
Have concrete, will travel From the start, Jim has had no hesitation to as he puts it, “load up and go.” Their crews stay mobile. As Jim explains it: “We like to get in and get the concrete done and get out.” Their mobility does create complications when retaining crew members, Jim admits. “Not everyone wants to travel,” he says. And then there’s that little matter of hard work. “You’d better be willing to work,” Jim emphasizes, adding that it’s the same with him. EquipmentWorld.com | April 2018 63
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A Hutzel commercial concrete job in nearby Little Rock. “No matter where I am, I’m out working.” This past year, that hard work has enabled the company to build new office facilities on the family farm, about 50 miles southwest of Little Rock, Arkansas. Along with the office upgrade, they added the ability to print blueprints and a few other technological features.
Fleet matters Skid steers and compact excavators make up the core of Hutzel’s fleet; it’s important that the transport weight is under 10 tons since their crews are so mobile. “Most jobs require a skid steer, and then we may add an excavator,” Jim says. Some jobs will require a 5-ton, zero-turn compact excavator to work in confined areas. And an 8-ton compact excavator with a blade comes in handy when compaction is required. “We work around a lot of plumbing 64 April 2018 | EquipmentWorld.com
pipes and you have to know where your bucket is,” Jim adds. Jim usually trades in his compact fleet every three years. “They have to be running all the time, so we use the brief time between jobs to service them,” he explains. This upkeep also ensures that he gets book value for his used equipment at trade-in.
The family core Jim’s wife, Carol, has been the lead person in Hutzel Concrete’s office from the beginning. Carol has had a front-row seat to all the regulation, licensing and tax changes through the years, but says, “in general, it’s the same job. Job costs are the most important.” And now Jim and Carol have been joined by their daughter, Charity Bennett. Charity began as the firm’s safety director and is now also vice president. Her husband, Ky, is a company superintendent.
“Construction is what my parents have done my whole life,” Charity says, “and when you know what they’ve done to create this company … well, I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.” After joining the company fulltime in 2005, she got her undergraduate degree in smallbusiness entrepreneurship and an MBA. Says Jim: “She’s our technical go-to person.” “Even though we each have different jobs, as a team is how we get this done,” Carol adds. And at the advanced age of 7, Charity’s younger son Sy seems ready to sign on for a third generation of the family firm, pestering his local dealer rep for Cat hats and keys, and running what equipment he can in his grandfather’s yard. “If someone’s around the equipment, he’s there and he wants to know how it operates,” Charity says. “He just loves it.”
The family core: Jim and Carol Hutzel and their daughter Charity Bennett.
Riding the recession “Student housing saved us during the recession,” Charity says. Funding and demand slowed construction work during the downturn. So, Hutzel’s transitioned to working for developers focused on student housing. “Dad always finds a way to keep things going,” she says. And the company seems to relish each challenge. “The most challenging and rewarding thing about what we do is that no pour is the same,” Charity says. “We don’t know how the job is going to go, each job is different, but we get it done.” Adds Carol with a chuckle: “And every time we end a job, we get fired. It takes a risk taker to do this.”
The company has continued its student housing work, just completing a private complex in Oxford, Mississippi. It also continues to work on commercial projects.
Long relationships Clients hope the Hutzel line is long running. “They go above and beyond any time we’ve asked them to do anything,” says Rick McReynolds with multifamily builder Ridge Construction. “They are just an allaround excellent contractor.” With a relationship that has been going strong for more than 10 years, Hutzel’s performs a variety of concrete work for Ridge Construction, including flatwork, post-tensioned slabs, pier and beam slabs,
curb and gutters, sidewalks and poured concrete retaining walls. “We build 1,000 apartments a year and they do 90 percent of our concrete work,” McReynolds says. It’s a pace that Charity wants to continue as she gradually takes on more responsibility. You feel the deep respect she has for her parents … and mentors. “There’s a certain degree of technology,” she says, “and then there are the old ways that have gotten us to this point. I listen and watch what they do and what it takes to run this company. Even though I may question it, it’s usually the best. It’s not just the new that makes it better; it’s the old and the new together.” EquipmentWorld.com | April 2018 65
road technology
| by Joy Powell |
JoyPowell@randallreilly.com
At the National Center for Asphalt Technology at Auburn University in Alabama, a track section has been milled to remove three asphalt layers.
Building better roads from the base up
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hen it comes to building roads, base layers are just as important as the paved surface. That’s because roads built with a substandard foundation will fail prematurely. From experts’ recommendations on best practices to investing in tools such as intelligent compaction, there are ways to ensure 66 April 2018 | EquipmentWorld.com
consistency and high performance in the base course. “If we don’t have a good base structure to start with, we’re not going to have a good, sturdy surface material,” says Tim Kowalski, an Photos and graphic illustration courtesy of National Center for Asphalt Technology at Auburn University in Alabama.
application support manager for Hamm, a Wirtgen America brand. “It’s very critical you have the right moisture content in the material so that you can compact all the material in a manner that is going to have a good, stable base and good loadbearing capacity,” Kowalski adds. “A properly designed and installed base is an important component in achieving optimal
Stiff subgrade is being placed on the Test Track at NCAT. Each test section has a different sponsor or sponsors who are testing out their materials and methods on the track. The signs provide the test section number and sponsoring state or organization.
performance of the pavement structure,” agrees Brett Williams, director of engineering and technical support for the National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA). “As with any construction, the strength and stability of the foundation – in this case, the road base – provides a solid platform for what is built above it.” Williams recommends three best practices: • Make safety a core value and ensure good safety practices in all facets of the business. • Incorporate continuous quality improvement principles and practices into a robust quality program. • Provide efficient communication internally, with customers and with the public. Michael Heitzman, assistant director at the National Center for Asphalt Technology at Auburn University in Alabama, defines the base layer as the material typically just beneath
Soft subgrade is being removed from a previous Test Track cycle.
Slabs have been cut into Test Track section S06 to investigate rutting.
EquipmentWorld.com | April 2018 67
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the pavement before you get to the subgrade. Most U.S. roads are already in place, and that determines how much you can do with the base, he says. “We have to recognize the characteristics of the existing base as we do the renovation or rehabilitation of the pavement, because we simply can’t lift the pavement up, change the base and put the pavement back down,” he explains. That can mean living with the limitations caused by the existing base. “If the base and drainage are the primary factors that are causing the damage to the pavement, we have to address those, and there are some techniques for that,” Heitzman says. “That’s part of doing the forensic studies – when we’re going back out to try to im-
68 April 2018 | EquipmentWorld.com
prove an existing pavement.” From the contractor’s perspective, best practices begin with meeting criteria and specifications from the agency or owner, he says. “Depending on what state you’re in, and to some degree, what county or city you’re in, those criteria are probably going to be different. The contractor is bound to what the agency is requiring for the base,” Heitzman says. Agencies use base courses in a variety of ways. He notes that agencies in the Southwest, for example, typically use a lot of aggregate and place a fairly thin asphalt pavement. Other states may use little base aggregate with a thicker asphalt pavement on top. Another critical factor is that, depending upon the characteristics of the subgrade, “we want that base to be able to carry water away from the subgrade, because
if our subgrade gets soft, then we lose part of our pavement structure,” Heitzman says. If the agency is specifying a drainable base, the amount of dust or fine material in the base aggregate will be relatively small. Other agencies without a drainage problem may use more of a crushed, full gradation base that’s tighter, because it has much more fine material in it, Heitzman explains. Agencies desiring a more drainable base may use a treated base, which means they’ll add a low amount of cement paste or asphalt binder in the aggregate to help hold that aggregate base together. This gives more structural value while maintaining drainage characteristics. A best practice in some areas is using crushed aggregate rather than river-run gravel as base material for strength and drain-
age, Heitzman says. “It provides a better platform for the pavement to sit on; because of its angularity, it’s much stronger.” Heitzman says another best practice focuses on adequate drainage. The cross slope on the subgrade becomes critical, because if you do plan to use the base to carry water away, then you’ve got to have a reasonable slope on the subgrade so the water will travel. Contractors use equipment to trim the subgrade to a specific line and grade and put a proper cross slope on the subgrade before the base rock is placed on top. “That way, you know that you have the cross slope, which might be in the 2 to 4 percent range as far as the amount of slope,” Heitzman says. The greater the slope, the better, but then you’ve got to put in more crushed base, he notes.
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Is the industry consistently using best practices? How much the industry actually uses “best practices” is an issue of increasing importance, especially given our nation’s crumbling infrastructure. “Best practices are used when the owner or agency requires them. They may or may not be used if the industry is left on their own to apply them,” Heitzman says. “If, in fact, their practices are reducing the strength of the base, or reducing the strength of the subgrade, then in theory the pavement will not last as long.” At the roadbuilding firm Colas, Technical Director Jean-Paul Fort works to ensure quality, which he defines as meeting specifications consistently at the best cost. “The big challenge is to stay within those limits and be as ef-
ficient as possible to achieve profitability,” says Fort, who is based in Cincinnati. “Best practices allow you to control production costs and achieve quality in the most efficient way.” Jeff Wunderlich, a paving contractor with North Valley Incorporated in the northern Twin Cities metro area, notes that while it’s critical to get the base right, quality takes time. “You’re making the road 60 percent better every time you go over it. So, if you can make the bottom right, the top will be better,” Wunderlich says. “We build everything in our company from the ground up. I pave the bottom just the same as I do the top. I use the skis. I roll it the same. We try to make the bottom as smooth as the top we want. It just keeps getting better.” Whether a contractor uses best
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practices will show in the top layer, Wunderlich says. He hears from some inspectors about contractors who won low bids and “are going to go really fast.” That’s versus a company that goes slower to maintain quality, Wunderlich says. The upshot is that agencies looking for the lowest bids might not get a contractor using best practices, he says. The problem is, there are some customers who don’t want to pay for the extra time to ensure the base is put down with best practices, contractors say. “I always say the low bid isn’t always the best bid, but that’s the system we have today,” says Tim Kowalksi, application support manager for Hamm, a Wirtgen America company. He doesn’t like the term “best practices” because it is vague and differs from firm to firm. He prefers the term “suggested procedures.” “In some specifications there are penalties if people don’t do at least what the specs ask them to do,” Kowalski says. “Some people get penalized more because they want to do something different to either get done in a faster way, or whatever. That’s just the nature of the business.”
Using IC as a best practice for the base course Kowalksi instructs contractors on intelligent compaction (IC), one of his “suggested procedures” for base courses. His presentations include one recently on “How to Use Compaction” at 2018 World of Asphalt and Aggregates Academy & Expo in Houston, where he spoke with Equipment World. Base can be simple to deal with, but the processes become more complicated when you have time and temperature affecting compaction results while building asphalt roads, Kowalski says. If the base has too much moisture, it’s tilled and recompacted. If it’s too dry, it’s tilled up, moisture is added, and it’s recompacted. So, if you have a soft spot or other anomaly in base layers, address it. “Fix it before you put asphalt over the top of it,” Kowalski advises. Intelligent compaction helps to identify those soft areas. Sometimes, you can drive over new pavement and get a little bump over a culvert. “That’s because the base isn’t constructed right,” he says, “and asphalt isn’t going to bridge it.”
70 April 2018 | EquipmentWorld.com
Using IC technology for a better base As the use of intelligent compaction grows, all major roller manufacturers have invested in the technology. Here are a few examples: BOMAG BOMAG offers a compaction measurement system for its vibratory plate, soil and asphalt compactors called Economizer, which alerts operators of material compaction progress in real-time. As the The BOMAG BW124-5 series compactor degree of compaction with Economizer display increases, the more LED lights on the light strip illuminate. It also allows for weak spots in the base to be detected and addressed, as the display shows when the stiffness reading drops.
Volvo Co-Pilot Display with Compact Assist
Volvo Construction Equipment Volvo CE offers the Compact Assist Co-Pilot for soil compactors to help contractors build road layers from the base course up. It displays the number of passes and Compaction Meter Value with a range of colors that can alert an operator to an inconsistency. The Compact Assist for soil can help map the road’s layers for longer life.
Caterpillar Caterpillar offers an IC option on most smooth drum and padfoot soil compactors through various scalable systems. With Cat’s MDP color screen comes with a the company’s GPS mapping option. Machine Drive Power (MDP) system, rolling resistance is used to calculate an indication of soil stiffness on all soil types, cohesive and noncohesive. An optional mapping system with color display helps operators visually monitor uniformity and identify problem areas for remediation while the ground is still open.
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lifting attachments
| by Don McLoud |
Lifting with wireless remote Vacuworx is offering a wireless remote option for its SL 2 Vacuum Lifting System, eliminating the need to route hoses and a controller to the cab of the host machine. This gives the system a greater range of motion and easy attachment to not
DonMcLoud@randallreilly.com
only skid steers but backhoes, forklifts and cranes, the company says. The all-aluminum SL 2 features a hydraulic vacuum pump and has a lifting capacity of 2,700 pounds. The company says it is a safer lifting alternative than hooks and chains and increases work speed.
Multiple gates for easier platform access Save your back while adjusting tines Pemberton’s Bac-Savr Forks for loaders are designed for easy, safe tine adjustment that won’t leave the operator with an aching back, the company says. A lever that fits into a series of notches gives the operator leverage when adjusting the tines to the task. The forks are available on frames that are 60 to 96 inches wide and feature a non-swinging heavy-duty carriage frame. They are available for pin-on or quick coupler hook-ups. Tines are 60, 72, 84 and 96 inches long. 72 April 2018 | EquipmentWorld.com
Genie’s platform baskets make it easier for operators to enter and exit the platforms on the company’s boom lifts. The baskets feature side swing gates for walk-on access when operators are wearing a tool belt, carrying a tool box or need to load materials onto the platform. Sliding mid-rails offer alternative access points. The baskets come in two sizes: an 8-foot basket with three entry points and a 6-foot basket with two entry points for compact booms. The baskets provide eight lanyard attachment points and can be used on any Genie boom equipped with a 6- or 8-foot basket.
Transforming a telehandler into a forklift The JLG Dual Fork Positioning Carriage turns a JLG or SkyTrak telehandler into a forklift. The operator can adjust the forks’ positions from the cab for a variety of load sizes, including those beyond standard pallet dimensions. The attachment has a 12,000-pound capacity. The carriage is 50 inches wide, and the forks come in lengths of 48 or 60 inches.
Forks made for heavy lifting
Doosan pallet forks for wheel loaders are designed for heavy construction. They are built for use with tine static load ratings that are beyond the loader’s lift capacities, the company says. They feature an open carriage design, which gives the operator a better view when lifting and placing materials. Doosan also offers an optional wheel loader quick coupler, allowing the pallet fork to be attached quickly on multiple carriers. They come in a variety of carriage widths and tine lengths. Tines can be adjusted manually to the desired width.
Switch easily from pallet to planting
With Case’s Hydraulic Pallet Forks with Nursery Sleeves, operators can transition easily between standard pallet configurations to handling landscaping duties, such as planting trees. The company says the forks are ideal for municipalities and contractors that deal with both materials on pallets and live plants and trees. The forks can be positioned to protect the root ball during transport. The tines are hydraulically driven and can be widened from 10 inches to 44 inches from the cab.
Designed for better cab access, visibility Bobcat’s pallet fork frame provides operators with easier access to the cab with its walk-through design, as well as better visibility while working. The frame is compatible with all Bobcat skid-steer and compact track loaders, Toolcat utility work machines and the V519 VersaHANDLERS telescopic tool carrier. It also can use the Bob-Tach and Power Bob-Tach mounting systems. The frame comes in three capacities: 2,500, 4,000 and 5,500 pounds. Pallet forks are available in lengths of 42 and 48 inches, and bale forks are 40.8 inches.
EquipmentWorld.com | April 2018 73
lifting attachments
Gain 5 feet of reach
| continued
Automatically adjustable grips
After turning your skid steer into a backhoe with Eterra’s backhoe attachment, Kenco says its Multilift works on any you can further transform your machine machine with lifting capabilities. With the with the company’s Mini Boom, which flip of a lever, the attachment’s sliding grips adds 5 more feet of reach for lifting and adjust to widths of 3 to 68 inches. With other tasks. The company designed the another lever shift, the legs automatically Mini Boom for its E60 and E70 Backhoe grab concrete walls, blocks and slabs. The Attachments and says it is ideal for lifting Multilift attaches to the host machine with materials over walls, setting trusses, tree a sling and shackle assembly and requires placement and unloading trucks. The no additional hydraulics. Models come in boom gives the attachment a total reach 3,000- and 8,000-pound capacities. The of 10 feet. It has a load-bearing design legs’ orientation can also be switched to for strength, and safety, the 1 3/7/2018 allow to grab objects such as VMACdurability EquipWorld_April18_DTM70H.pdf 3:43:51 operators PM company says. culvert boxes from inside out.
Add lifting versatility to loaders The Edge Boom Lift/Tree Boom from Manitou is designed to pick up and carry a variety of materials. Its 3,500-pound capacity allows it to be used for such tasks as loading and unloading attachments or construction materials from hard-to-reach places, placing and removing concrete forms and moving and transporting trees, the company says. The attachment weighs 182 pounds and is 59.25 inches wide. It is compatible with a variety of Gehl and Mustang skid steers, track loaders and articulated loaders.
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Untitled-20 1 2018 | EquipmentWorld.com 74 April
3/8/18 3:21 PM
safety watch
| by Tom Jackson |
TJackson@randallreilly.com
Power line lights up light tower
Date of safety talk: Attending:
Illustration by Don Lomax
I
t was a simple enough job, if a little boring. A 47-year-old maintenance mechanic at a paving company was tasked with taking down 10 mobile light towers and transporting them back to the rental company, one at a time, in his pickup. The mechanic was working by himself, although other employees were working nearby at a staging site. He had already returned three of the light towers and had begun working on the fourth. Perhaps because the routine nature of the job, the mechanic became careless about his surroundings. Instead of lowering the telescoping mast on the fourth light tower, he extended it upward, causing it to contact a 7,620-volt powerline 24 feet overhead. When the mast touched the powerline, the mechanic, who was manually cranking the winch that elevated the mast, was instantly electrocuted. The electric current also ignited the diesel in the light tower’s fuel tank, causing a massive fireball. The other workers heard the explosion and rushed to the scene, but could do nothing because of the danger. The police and fire departments responded in minutes, but likewise could do nothing until the power company turned off the electricity. Once the power was off, the fire department spent nearly an hour extinguishing the
flames. The mechanic was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators noted that the victim was not trained on jobsite hazards and controls and that he may not have been familiar with the controls on the light tower. The company’s jobsite survey also failed to identify the electrocution hazard of the overhead power line.
How this accident could have been prevented • Employers must conduct a complete hazard analysis of all jobsites, create a written plan to avoid these hazards, communicate this plan to employees through safety briefings and implement appropriate control measures. • Employers should assign additional personnel as spotters to observe and maintain clearances on equipment anytime it oper-
Leader:
ates below powerlines or other overhead dangers. • Employers should train and encourage workers to take a moment on their own to study their worksites for potential hazards, communicate these observations to supervisors and take steps to mitigate the danger. • Rental companies and manufacturers of light towers and other tall or masted equipment should provide clear warnings about overhead hazards and powerlines in their instruction manuals. • General contractors should require all subcontractors to create and implement appropriate jobsite hazard analysis and safety plans regarding overhead hazards and power lines. For more on this accident see: www.cdc.gov/niosh/face/ pdfs/12NY018.pdf
_____________________ EquipmentWorld.com | April 2018 75
alerta de seguridad
| por Tom Jackson |
TJackson@randallreilly.com
Cable de alta tensión prende fuego a torre de iluminación
Fecha de la charla de seguridad: Asistentes: 76 April 2018 | EquipmentWorld.com
Líder:
Illustration por Don Lomax
E
ra una tarea sencilla, quizá hasta algo aburrida. Un mecánico de mantenimiento de 47 años, que trabajaba para una compañía de pavimentación, tenía asignada la tarea de hacer descender 10 torres móviles de iluminación y transportarlas de regreso a la compañía de alquiler, una a una, en su camioneta pick-up. El mecánico estaba trabajando solo aunque otros empleados estaban todavía trabajando cerca, en el sitio de operaciones. Ya había devuelto tres de las torres de iluminación y empezó a trabajar en la cuarta. Quizá debido a la naturaleza rutinaria del trabajo, el mecánico se descuidó de su entorno. Y en vez de hacer descender el mástil telescópico de la cuarta torre de iluminación, lo extendió hacia arriba, haciendo que toque un cable de alta tensión de 7,620-voltios que corría a una altura de 24 pies. Cuando el mástil tocó el cable de alta tensión, el mecánico, que estaba girando la manizuela que elevaba el mástil de forma manual, fue electrocutado de forma inmediata. La corriente eléctrica también prendió fuego al diesel en el tanque de combustible de la torre de luz, causando una masiva bola de fuego. Los otros trabajadores escucharon la explosión y corrieron al lugar, pero no pudieron hacer nada debido a lo peligroso de la situación. La policía y los bomberos respondieron en cuestión de minutos pero tampoco pudieron hacer nada hasta que la compañía de electricidad no desconectó la electricidad. Una vez sin corriente, al departamento de bomberos le tomó casi una hora apagar las llamas. El mecánico fue pronunciado muerto en la escena. Los investigadores remarcaron que la víctima no había sido capacitada en riesgos del área de trabajo y que quizá no estaba familiarizado con los controles de la torre de la iluminación. La inspección del área de trabajo de la compañía falló en identificar el riesgo de electrocución del cable de alta tensión que corría por lo alto.
Cómo pudo haberse prevenido este accidente • Los empleadores deben conducir un análisis completo de riesgos de todas las áreas de trabajo, crear un plan para evitar esos riesgos, comunicar este plan a los empleados en reuniones de seguridad e implementar medidas de control apropiadas. • Los empleadores deberían asignar personal adicional como vigías para observar y mantener distancia de los equipos en todo momento en el que estos operen debajo de cables de alta tensión u otros riesgos en las partes altas. • Los empleadores deberían capacitar y animar a los trabajadores a que ellos mismos analicen sus sitios de trabajo en busca de riesgos potenciales, comuniquen esas observaciones a sus supervisores y tomen medidas para mitigar el peligro. • Las compañías de alquiler y los fabricantes de torres de iluminación y otros equipos telescópicos o de altura, deberían advertir claramente acerca de los riesgos en las partes altas y las líneas de alta tensión en sus manuales de instrucción. • Los contratistas generales deberían requerir que todos los subcontratistas creen e implementen análisis de riesgos del área de trabajo y planes de seguridad relativos a los riesgos de las zonas altas y a los cables de alta tensión. Para más sobre este accidente, revisa: www.cdc.gov/ niosh/face/pdfs/12NY018.pdf
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EquipmentWorld.com | April 2018 81
final word | by Tom Jackson
TJackson@randallreilly.com
L
Amazon, infrastructure and a warning
ate last year, Amazon made a splash in the press by announcing a competition for cities to submit proposals for the online retailer’s second headquarters (HQ2). Three cities I know fairly well made it into the top 20: Washington, D.C., Austin, Texas, and Nashville, Tennessee. All three are popular urban destinations. But I have to wonder, how much weight is Amazon putting on the quality of transportation infrastructure in those cities? The company has said HQ2 would employ up to 50,000 folks. Unless we get flying cars pretty soon, those 50,000 employees are going to have to drive to work. Factor in families and you could reasonably expect HQ2 to add 80,000 cars and trucks to whatever city it lands in. If HQ2 includes warehouses and a delivery hub, factor in the 24/7 tractor-trailer traffic, as well. How well are those cities prepared for this? Washington, D.C. The roads here are already so congested that even a relatively minor weather event can turn a one- or twohour commute into a three- or four-hour – or longer – drive. As a result, the whole federal workforce in D.C. is told to stay home anytime there’s more than an inch of rain or the potential for a little snow or ice. I have sources in that city who have enjoyed at least six stay-at-home weather days in the past year or so. Nashville. Sitting on the intersections of I-65, I-24 and I-40, one would think that the nation’s country music capital is well provisioned for transportation infrastructure. But like so many older cities, Nashville’s interstates were designed and built 50 years ago to handle half the traffic they get now – and traf-
82 April 2018 | EquipmentWorld.com
fic that was going 20 to 30 mph slower. At today’s 80 mph standard, coming into Nashville is a nightmare of sharp turns, bad signage, abrupt level changes and potholes. Austin. In many ways, it’s the textbook example of what not to do with your city’s infrastructure. Hippies took over the Austin city council in the ’70s and ’80s to stop almost all roadbuilding. Unfortunately, they didn’t stop people from coming there, and today, despite a manic attempt to correct the deficit, Austin is one of the country’s leading commuter nightmares. In two days of driving there recently, I spent $10 in gas and $24 in tolls. The point of all this is that for many cities in the United States, it’s too late to change. You’ve heard the parable about the frog in the pot of slowly heating water? By the time the frog realizes he’s boiling, he’s too far gone to save himself. For D.C., Nashville and Austin, your frog is cooked, well done in fact. Your cities and many like them will never be able to land the big corporate campuses because you sat on your hands for 20 or 30 years and failed to prepare your infrastructure, zoning and land use for the future. Amazon might as well forget about Boston, Houston, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and Los Angeles, as well. If the same weather that sets me back 20 or 30 minutes in our little town of 100,000 can cause the entire federal workforce to stop for a day, Amazon or any large corporation would be unwise to consider such a city for a headquarters or a hub. Sorry big cities. I’ve seen the future – and having failed to plan, having starved your citizens for the infrastructure they need – you’re not it.
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