Ensure the Longevity of Your Fleet with this Special Maintenance Guide
With today’s recovering economy, many savvy contractors are holding onto equipment longer in an effort to maximize the value of their investment. Inevitably, with their extended hours of operation, these machines will wear down quicker and need extra attention to continue to drive your construction, landscape, ag or rental outfit. In Compact Equipment’s first ever Maintenance Manual specialty guide, we’re putting a renewed focus on rejuvenating the life of your machinery in this tough economic cycle.
With budgets in constant flux, operators, owners and fleet managers are going to need to focus on balancing new purchases with maintaining aging machines, and they’ll need a little mechanical counseling to keep up with the latest technologies that are making their equipment — like Tier 4 Final engines — so complicated. To help, we’ve tapped some of the most gifted equipment minds in the industry from marquee brands like Case Construction Equipment and top-of-their game dealers like Southeast Equipment Co. to talented technical journalists like CE contributors Giles Lambertson and William Atkinson.
This magazine sticks to the nuts and bolts of maintenance. How do you maintain a compact wheel loader in snow applications (page 32)? How are Tier 4 engines affecting mini excavators (page 26)? What tires best fit your skid steer applications (page 16)? We don’t mention much in this issue about telematics and fleet management software, which can have a huge impact to the bottom line of your company. We’ll have a special focus specifically on telematics in upcoming issues, but we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention a few things here.
Telematics has already changed the way contractors construct projects and build their businesses. It’s an umbrella term that (among other things) refers to the integrated telecommunications and information technologies becoming popular on machinery. Wireless maintenance monitoring systems, geofencing security technologies, precision grading operations — all of these digital tools are evolving the way professionals are conquering the tight margins of today’s projects. In general, maintenance, fuel consumption and security will always be the three biggest fleet operating expenses, and fleet management technologies can help manage and prioritize those activities.
Unfortunately, acceptance has been slow. Our story “Fleet Mechanics” on page 18 is a perfect example. According to service/operations manager Dan Vale, telematics are not yet a “game-changer” at Southeastern Equipment Co. (a dealer with 18 locations from Ohio to Michigan). “We probably have 10 machines that have telematics equipment on them, maybe 50 or 60 machines at all locations,” the Brunswick, Ohio, service manager said. All of the telematics-equipped machines are monitored from a company shop in Mansfield, Ohio. “It is going to have to be a game-changer in the sales department first,” said Vale.
One day, telematics will be a game-changer — as the industry becomes more standardized — addressing the big issues of mixed fleets and competing software and brands not communicating information and services with each other. We’ll keep you updated on the evolution of telematics technologies in upcoming issues, but until then, enjoy this exclusive Maintenance Manual issue of Compact Equipment. In this specialty guide, we address the parts, systems, problems and applications that you can keep your compact fleet running for decades.
Keith Gribbins,
Managing Editor
kgribbins@benjaminmedia.com
