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Serving the Canadian rental industry for 44 years.
4
EDITORIAL
Let us not let one cruel act of hatred define what Canada stands for.
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INDUSTRY NEWS
Brandt to create jobs… ARA forecast… Cubex appointed dealer of Trombia products… coming events…
Connected equipment and tools are improving efficiencies and keeping equipment investment secure. EFFICIENT HEAT
Energy-efficient heating solutions are the need of the hour at construction sites.
12 A FLOURISHING BRAND
Flaman Rentals’ successful business model has helped it expand to over 80 stores in Canada.
32 HEAT SHOWCASE
Presenting the latest heating solutions for your customers’ jobsites.
Lying to customers is a strict no-no. By
Russ Dantu
Keep your customers hooked with the right responses to their enquiries. By
Michelle Nicol
HOPE IS NOT A PLAN
Being the small guy can work in your favour. By Adam
Snook
Humanity wins
Hateful acts can provide an opportunity for us all to show our best side.
On June 6 a very bad person drove his truck into a family out for a walk in London, Ont., killing four of them and leaving a nine-year-old boy orphaned and fighting for his life in hospital (he’s since been discharged and is expected to make a full recovery). A man has been arrested and charged with murder and terrorism. Police are confident his motive was hatred of Muslims.
This one struck rather close to home, as I’ve spent most of my life in London and live and work here now. Our whole family followed the story closely and watched at least parts of the heart-wrenching vigil and memorial service broadcasts. We made our donations to the support of the boy, Fayez Afzaal. The attack has sparked a lot of conversation with my daughters, both of whom have Muslim friends. When I heard about the attack, the first thing I thought of was how common it is in this city to see women in hijab and their families out for walks, together, as a family. Much more common than seeing families who are not identifiably Muslim. I think it speaks to the strength and importance of the family bond in that community, which is pretty nice to see in this era where tearing your teenager away from the smartphone is like pulling teeth. I sincerely hope this incident doesn’t in any way discourage them from continuing to go for their walks.
Since the magnitude of the tragedy for the family and London’s Muslim community is beyond description, I won’t try to describe it. Instead, I’ll describe the reaction and response, because there may be lessons there for all of us when faced with
ON THE WEB:
CounterTalks episode #23: Something special
There seems to come a time in the evolution of every large rental chain where it becomes interested in creating specialized rental operations focused on a specific niche. Cooper Equipment Rentals, now at 50 locations across Canada, reached that point a few years ago. Cam Dougherty helped start Cooper’s first foray into trench safety rentals and now heads the specialized rental division of the company. He joined Counter Talks to talk about Cooper’s strategy in choosing niches to focus on, the benefits it brings to the overall business and the increasing interest in safety as part of what a rental store does.
Download episodes of CounterTalks at canadianrentalservice.com > Podcasts or subscribe on your favourite podcasting service.
by Patrick Flannery
terrible events in life and work.
The outpouring of grief over the event has been unlike anything I’ve ever seen in the city. There’s a huge pile of flowers at the intersection where it happened, even though I suspect some are regularly taken away. The crowd at the vigil was huge – thousands. The leaders of every national party were on hand, as well as Ontario premier, Doug Ford and the mayor. The London Free Press contained little else for days and the attack got nightly coverage in the national news.
My first takeaway from this incident is that tragedy, no matter how horrific, can be mitigated simply by giving people a chance to come together and express their feelings about it. It often brings out the best in people, and avoiding the negative and the difficult usually creates more problems than it solves. Sometimes when bad things happen in our businesses the instinct is to withdraw, circle the wagons and say as little as possible. Legal considerations aside, it’s often better to at least say what you can to advance the healing process.
The second is that the attack was the senseless act of one person. But the reaction has exposed what lies in the hearts of most people. By and large, people are not racist monsters who want to hurt others. Canadians of all stripes can see the fundamental humanity of a family out for a walk, whatever their cultural differences. Much has been made of the bigotry that still exists in society that might have inspired this attacker and his predecessors. However much of it there is, and however pervasive it is, it is as nothing compared to the goodwill and decency of the overwhelming majority of people. There is certainly racism in Canada, but Canada is not a racist country.
And, as business leaders, I think we should acknowledge and celebrate this fact in our corporate culture. I haven’t seen a workplace yet in Canada that isn’t a hodgepodge of colours and accents and ethnicities and backgrounds. None of this is to say that challenges don’t remain. But we can point to the huge crowds at the London vigil, and the diverse faces on our own store floors and say “This is who we are. Not the other thing.”. CRS
When you need extreme durability and heavy-lift performance in a small-framed package, you can’t beat the Ditch Witch® SK800—the construction-grade mini skid steer for a variety of jobs large and small. The SK800 is built for heavy-duty operation in landscaping and other underground construction tasks, delivering maximum power and uptime while increasing your ROI. This compact powerhouse easily runs with the big dogs! You can always count on Brandt for quality Ditch Witch products and the support to help keep you productive and profitable, job after job. That’s Powerful Value. Delivered.
BRANDT ANNOUNCES PLAN TO CREATE OVER 1,000 NEW JOBS
The Brandt Group of Companies has announced plans to make a major investment in staffing and will hire more than 1,000 new employees by the end of 2021. The new positions will span the Regina-based company’s international network of over 100 locations, focusing on roles in Canada and the U.S.
“There’s no question that our people are the foundation of our success. In spite of some challenging times for the global economy, an incredible team effort has enabled us to sustain our business and weather the storm successfully,” said Shaun Semple, Brandt Group of Companies CEO. “Looking ahead, the growth trend for Brandt is strong, so the timing is ideal to make a major investment in our team.”
In the past 10 years, Brandt has expanded its employee base by 140 percent to more than 3,400, with the pace of growth continuing to accelerate steadily. The newly announced hiring initiative will see the company’s workforce grow by 30 percent overall with the largest individual gains occurring in the company’s Regina, Saskatoon, Sask., and Hudson, Ill., locations. Half of these hires will occur in the company’s Saskatchewan locations with 40 percent more spread out across Canada and the balance in the U.S. The new hires will bolster Brandt’s existing operations in industries from construction, forestry, and agriculture to rail, mining, and steel. The positions will include skilled trades, sales, finance, marketing, customer support, IT, and more as the company expands its support team to meet the needs of a rapidly growing customer base.
“As life begins to return to normal and we look ahead to economic recovery, this is very exciting news for workers and their families,” says Scott Moe, Saskatchewan Premier. “Saskatchewan has what the world needs and Brandt’s success is a testament to the resiliency of our province’s industries in some of the most challenging global economic times.”
KOBELCO WINS EQUIPMENTWATCH AWARD FOR LOWEST COST OF OWNERSHIP
Kobelco Construction Machinery has been recognized as the winner of the 2021 Lowest Cost of Ownership award for medium crawler excavators by EquipmentWatch. “Kobelco’s commitment to quality and innovation increases jobsite productivity and efficiency so that our customers can be more profitable,” said Dan Collins, product marketing manager at Kobelco USA. “Receiving the Lowest Cost of Ownership award is a great honour, and further reinforces our dedication to building excavators that are leaders in the industry.”
The EquipmentWatch Lowest Cost of Ownership award program leverages third-party, unbiased, data to identify equipment that is projected to offer the lowest cost of ownership in the next five years. The total cost of ownership looks beyond the initial acquisition price to consider the value and profitability of the equipment over its entire life cycle. The ranking methodology for this award considers many factors over a machine’s life cycle, including anticipated equipment costs as well as operational costs like maintenance, fuel expenses and repairs. Kobelco excavators come standard with a variety of features that add value and lower the total cost of ownership for the customer. EquipmentWatch pointed to the heavy-duty boom, arm, the undercarriage for superior durability, the advanced telematics and the low fuel consumption.
“The EquipmentWatch analysts are excited to mark the fourth year of the Lowest Cost of Ownership awards,” said Jessica Carr, director of data and analytics at EquipmentWatch. “The team continues to react to market dynamics, fine-tune the analysis and expand our database.”
ONTARIO COLLEGE OF TRADES REPLACED BY SKILLED TRADES ONTARIO
The Ontario government has passed Bill 288, which replaces the Ontario College of Trades with a new Crown agency called Skilled Trades Ontario. The new agency is designed to consolidate training and certification of apprentices and certified tradespeople under one organization while leaving enforcement of compulsory trades to the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development. The Ministry press release stated: Under the proposed legislation, Skilled Trades Ontario would become the province’s industryinformed training authority to lead the promotion, research and development of the latest apprenticeship training and curriculum standards. It will also provide a seamless one-window experience for client-facing services including apprentice registration, issuance of certificates and renewals, and conduct equivalency assessments all in one place with many services offered digitally. As recommended by the Skilled Trades Panel’s first report, Ontario will streamline and simplify the apprenticeship system by establishing a new Crown agency. The Ministry will provide system oversight and be responsible for regulatory decisions, financial supports and take on responsibility for compliance and enforcement of the skilled trades, building on existing expertise, best practices and a robust inspector network that is already in place across the province.
ARA FORECAST SHOWS EQUIPMENT RENTAL MOVING FROM RELIEF TO RECOVERY
Equipment rental revenue is expected to explode past its peak totals in 2022 according to the latest forecast released by the American Rental Association. The updated forecast calls for equipment rental revenue to reach just under $47.7 billion in 2021, up 3.1 percent after a decline of 9.1 percent in 2020. However, the forecast calls for a robust 12 percent increase in construction and industrial rental revenue in 2022, taking the combined total for the two segments up to nearly $52.3 billion. The growth rate is expected to be consistent at between two and five percent for the next three years according to the forecast with combined equipment rental revenues reaching $57.5 billion in 2025. This is the first quarter that ARA has segmented the updated forecast to include just the construction, industrial and general tool segments. The new ARA forecast calls for construction and industrial rental revenue to grow three percent in 2021 to nearly $34.5 billion and then jump 12 percent to $38.5 billion in 2022. In 2023, the segment is forecast to grow another five percent to nearly $40.3 billion, followed by growth of two percent in 2024 to $41.5 billion and three percent in 2025 to $42.5 billion. For general tools, the forecast is steady, calling for a revenue increase of five percent in 2021 to $13.2 billion and then growing four percent in 2022 and three percent during the next three years to surpass $15 billion in segment revenue in 2025. Revenue for both segments is expected to surpass pre-pandemic peak levels reached in 2019 by the end of 2022. The forecast for Canada calls for double-digit equipment rental revenue growth for both the construction and industrial (11 percent) and general tool (13 percent) segments in 2021 to reach a combined total of $3.98 billion. Canada’s equipment rental revenue for the two segments also is expected to grow between five and eight percent in 2022 to reach $4.29 billion, surpassing the previous peak revenue of $4.04 billion in 2018. Growth is expected to slow down to two to three percent in the next years of the forecast to reach $4.73 billion in 2025.
CUBEX APPOINTED OFFICIAL DEALER OF TROMBIA STREET DUST SWEEPERS IN FOUR PROVINCES
European sweeper manufacturer Trombia Technologies has appointed Canadian company Cubex as the official dealer for its EUnited PM2.5certified Trombia street sweeper attachments. Cubex will handle Trombia distribution in Ontario, British Columbia, Quebec and Manitoba. Trombia attachments are mounted with wheel loaders, telescopic loaders and large agricultural tractors and enable year-round street and area maintenance. Sweepers are equipped with large 1.8- and 2.4-cubic yard hopper capacity.
“Cubex has been in business for 49 years and represents industry-leading sweeper manufacturers, which we distribute across Canada. Trombia is also an industry leader, we are very excited to partner with them and introduce this technology to our market,” said Kitch Wilson, Cubex vice-president of sales and marketing
“We have seen the specialist skills of Cubex in distributing world-leading sweeping technologies to Canadian market. We welcome Cubex with great excitement to Trombia’s global distribution network and can’t wait to kick-start Trombia now also in Ontario, Manitoba and British Columbia for the first time,” said Antti Nikkanen, CEO of Trombia Technologies.
Trombia Technologies is also currently piloting Trombia Free, a full-power autonomous street sweeper. Trombia Free will be available for purchase in Canada after the series launch.
MIKE WOOD TALKS TO FEDERAL FINANCE COMMITTEE
Mike Wood of Ottawa Special Events brought the concerns of small business owners, including event rental operators, to the attention of the federal Finance Committee when he was invited to testify in its hearings on COVID spending programs. He said:
“Small business owners took out loans before COVID-19. These loans have personal guarantees. Canadians should not lose their businesses, their homes, all of their assets through something they did not create. The Canadian response benefits have been greatly appreciated, but it’s not enough. In Ontario, $450 a week is almost 20 percent less than the minimum wage. Small businesses have had to put their lives and livelihoods on hold, and they’re not fairly being compensated for the sacrifice. I can live in a simple 1,600 square-foot home and my mortgage alone with property taxes is $1,800 a month. I’ve been on the program for a year. Again, I did not put myself in this position. The Highly Affected Sectors Credit Availability Program needs to be reassessed. There has to be contingency for extremely affected sectors. There’s a huge discrepancy between a decline of 50 percent in gross revenue and the decline of 90 percent or more in gross revenue. Small businesses cannot continue to borrow our way out of this. While the government made necessary changes to the rent program there are still gaps. There is not enough revenue to cover the 35 percent hole left in rent coverage. The sliding scale than it is currently on needs to be reassessed and we must raise that maximum coverage of 65 percent to something more meaningful for Canadian small business owners. Small business owners need CEBA debt forgiveness, as well as HST forgiveness, especially for those that are hardest it. I’ve developed relationships at all levels of government across all party lines. The uncertainty caused by delays in program development, the risk of people losing everything they’ve worked for and insufficient definite direction have led to a parallel pandemic in our country, a mental health pandemic. Let small businesses and the government finally work together to develop tangible solutions to not only save Canadian jobs, but lives as well.”
INDUSTRY NEWS
WORLD OF CONCRETE 2021 REIGNITES COMMERCIAL OPPORTUNITY AND CONNECTION
World of Concrete 2021 concluded its 46th edition with a very strong event for the concrete and masonry industries. This annual event drew tens of thousands of industry professionals, featuring more than 650 exhibiting companies across just under 300,000 net square feet of exhibit space. This postponed edition of WOC from January, was the first large-scale event to take place in Las Vegas and reignite the tradeshow industry. The arrival of World of Concrete signals the return of meetings and conventions to Las Vegas.
“We are thrilled to be returning to the live event format, especially in the home of the exhibitions industry in the U.S., Las Vegas,” said Nan Walsh, president for North America at Informa Markets. “There is an unparalleled magic about in-person connection – from sharing laughs
with old friends, creating new ones, learning from industry experts, and seeing and feeling the latest products and innovations.”
“World of Concrete is grateful for the support of all the participating exhibitors and attendees who braved the heat of a June event and paved the way for an even larger and stronger return in January 2022,” said Jackie James, group director at World of Concrete. “We would like to thank them along with our cosponsoring associations and media partners who supported this endeavor throughout a very challenging 15 months leading up to this important industry event.”
The Concrete Industry Management program held its 16th annual unreserved silent and live auctions at World of Concrete 2021 and simultaneously online as a hybrid auction event. The silent
and live auctions raised just over $1.175 million, with a total of over $13 million to the CIM program in the past 16 years. The CIM program is a business program that has been developed specifically for the concrete industry to provide students with a four-year Bachelor of Science degrees in Concrete Industry Management. The program gives students entering the concrete work force industry experience early in their careers.
Twenty of the best masons and tenders in the world came together at World of Concrete at the Las Vegas Convention Center to test their skill, speed and stamina by battling to determine who can build the largest and best 26-foot-long brick wall, with the least amount of errors, in one hour. It was an actionpacked competition featuring some of the most decorated craftsmen in North America. With over $125,000 in cash and prizes to be earned, masons from across North America were invited to Las Vegas to compete in the Spec Mix Bricklayer 500 after winning a regional series qualifying event. With workforce development being the primary battle cry for the skilled trades, the Spec Mix Bricklayer 500 is a tool designed to create interest from a new generation of masons in the rewards and opportunity possible in masonry and construction. World of Concrete 2022 will be held Jan. 18 to 20 in 2022 back at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
COMING EVENTS
Reconnected World of Concrete
Aug. 17 to 19 Online
The Utility Expo
Sept. 28 to 30
Louisville, Kty.
The ARA Show
Oct. 18 to 20
Las Vegas, Nev.
2022
World of Concrete
Jan. 18 to 20
Las Vegas, Nev.
Canadian Concrete Expo
Feb. 17 to 18
Mississauga, Ont.
World of Asphalt
March 29 to 31
Nashville, Tenn.
National Heavy Equipment Show
March 31 to April 01
Mississauga, Ont.
by James Hong
WHAT WENT HONG
Preventive care
First aid kits in the workplace are essential. Many people might not know what to do in a situation where more than a bandaid is necessary. It might surprise you to learn the level of complexity involved for why the kit is there, what dictates the contents and who is responsible for administering care for an injury. The short answer to all these questions is this: first aid in the workplace is legislated as a federal and provincial matter. Every detail is specified, from the size and number of bandages to the kit location and who is responsible for injury care. Additional to the kit itself, depending on the work environment and number of workers, a certified first aid attendant would be indicated. So, let’s cover self-care precautions for first aid attendants and those providing initial injury and wound care, zeroing in on a couple of options that are not generally covered in standard first aid training, safety training or worker orientations. Workplace accidents, whether minor or major are a reality. Those providing care for incidents are exposed to an extra layer of susceptibility when considering personal contamination.
If your work activities have the potential for causing major or minor wounds, seriously consider getting a tetanus shot. Tetanus infection, commonly termed “lockjaw,” is caused by a bacterium called “Clostridium tetani.” Tetanus bacteria are everywhere in the environment, including soil, dust and manure.
Stepping on nails, scratching yourself with work blades, scraping your hands on rough surfaces – all activities causing broken skin – potentially “allow tetanus-causing bacteria to enter the body.” An infection can interfere with your ability to breathe and, in the worst-case scenario, threaten life.
Seek medical attention as soon as possible following a wound, even if not immediately. The tetanus incubation period is quite variable. Most cases occur within eight days, the incubation period can be as short as three days or as long as 21 days. If your tetanus vaccine has lapsed beyond the recommended 10-year interval, receiving a shot one week after an injury will likely not protect you. If you’ve never been vaccinated, a tetanus shot should be given up to 21 days
following injury, for full protection.
If you are a first aid attendant or attending minor and major injuries, you could be exposed to blood and bodily fluids. Hepatitis B is a liver infection – “a short-term illness or a long-term chronic infection leading to serious, even lifethreatening health issues such as cirrhosis or liver cancer.” Exposure to blood or bodily fluids during the treatment of a bleeding wound has the unpredictable possibility of causing Hepatitis B infection. This is possible by blood making contact with broken skin. Many of you responsible for administering first aid at work are generally also working at the location. Working with tools and equipment on unfinished surfaces in less than hygienic environments is a perfect storm for causing wounds that can lead to direct contact infections.
Always wear new, non-latex disposable medical gloves when treating minor or major wounds. Wear a face shield and medical disposable coveralls where appropriate. Most importantly, familiarize yourself with the proper steps for the removal and disposal of medical gloves to prevent self-contamination. And finally, speak to your doctor about your high-risk factor for exposure to qualify for a free Hepatitis B vaccine.
For those of you responsible for the first aid kit, keep an inventory sheet and restock frequently. Familiarize yourself with what’s required in your kit and read any associated instructions for care. Did you know the first thing to do in the case of a bleeding wound is to elevate the source of the bleeding? Did you know that a minor wound can turn into a major infection if a latex bandage is applied to someone who has a latex allergy? Did you know that how fast you treat an eye injury with eyewash can make the difference between burning sensations in the eye to a full-blown cornea scratch? Have a look at tutorials for wound care and practice on co-workers. Keep your first aid certificate in your wallet to remind you of when it expires. As they say in Scouts Canada, “Be prepared!” CRS
James Hong is chief of OHS for the construction industry.
The truth shall set you free
by Russ Dantu
We recently had a leaky garage roof. We have a metal roof and there is only one company allowed to work on them or you void your lifetime warranty.
There are several issues I have with companies that have a monopoly on an industry. First, as mentioned above, you have to use them or you void your warranty. Secondly, service can quite often be an issue when there is only one supplier because they develop the “where else are they going to go” mentality. This usually bites them hard somewhere along the way because word gets out about their service and people become more hesitant to purchase that type of product or service or someone develops a similar alternative that can be used and they are happy to do the service calls as well.
I called first thing on a Tuesday to see when they could look at our roof and had to leave a message. I called again on Wednesday and left a message. I then went to the website late Wednesday afternoon and sent an email as I hadn’t heard back yet. Their national sales guy was quick to reply and said someone would contact me shortly. On Friday, I emailed him back asking how soon because our roof was leaking and more rain was forecast so I wanted to keep damages to a minimum. He replied right away and copied the regional manager on this and said the office manager would be calling me shortly. On Monday, I called the Calgary office as I found a business card from a few years before when we had them out. A lady answered. When I shared the frustration of trying to get a response and that my situation as urgent, she didn’t apologize for the delay. She simply said, “I was away on holidays. I am allowed to take holidays, you know.”
I replied, “Definitely but is there no one in your office answering or monitoring your messages while you are away?”
“We’re really short-staffed right now due to COVID. Anyway, what’s the problem with your roof?”
No empathy and a little bit ticked that I had a problem with them taking almost a week to get back to me! I told her what was going on and she said there was nothing they could do until I had signed off on a contract she would have to send
and making the labour charge payment to have a guy look at it.
She sent the contract at the end of the day. I quickly filled out the form and sent it back with my credit card info and asked her to confirm receiving it and how soon I could expect someone out. The next day she replied and said she had it and hopefully someone would be out before the end of the week. On Friday, I called in the morning to see what was going on. The office was closed for the long weekend even though Friday wasn’t the official long weekend.
So, I have to wait until Tuesday and when I do reach her, I get the same un-empathetic answer again and the excuse on technician shortage. By this point, I am livid. I email her and the national manager to let them know how unimpressed I am with her and their service.
The next day, I got a call from the technician, Dave. He was professional, friendly and told me exactly when he would be there…and he showed up on time. When I asked him about them being short of technicians due to COVID, he just shook his head. He explained that he had been working for them since 2018 and was the only technician. His territory is Alberta. So, they won’t let him come to Calgary to service one home.
After Dave left, I emailed the lady and the national manager commending Dave’s excellent service. I didn’t bring up the lying…yet. But I fully intend to once things are fixed. If she would have shown some empathy and been honest with me about only having one technician working right now, it would have been easier to understand. By lying, she has removed all trust I have with anything she says and has left a very poor taste in my mouth.
When we tell the truth, we never have to backtrack, and most of the time, your customers will be more understandable. Please take the time to make sure your employees are always telling the truth. When we get caught in lies, it never ends well. CRS
Russ Dantu is a 30-year veteran of the rental industry and has been delivering workshops, seminars and keynotes on customer service for over 15 years. Visit russdantu.com.
boma g.com/us-en
A FLOURISHING BRAND
Flaman Rentals’ franchise-type system works very well.
For nearly three decades, Flaman Rentals has been offering its services and equipment to agricultural concerns across Western Canada. The company was born in 1993 but its roots go many years back to the establishment of its parent group.
by SUKANYA RAY GHOSH
As the division lead for Flaman Rentals in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, Carter Flaman supports all of the company’s rental dealers in the area in their everyday operations.
The Flaman Group started its operations in the Flaman family farm near Southey, Saskatchewan in the year 1959. Frank Flaman, the group’s founder, bought a brand-new baler and swather with his initial investment of $3,000. He used the equipment to do custom harvesting in his area. Frank was in fact renting out his equipment as well as his expertise during this phase of his business. He also set up a feedlot on his farm. However, not one to dream small, he decided to move on to agricultural sales. He started with grain bins and proceeded to add more products and locations
as the business expanded. With a 10-store, three-province farm supply store chain that would see him serve customers through seven decades, Frank made Flaman Group highly successful in Western Canada.
RENTAL
NEEDS
When Flaman Sales was primarily selling grain bins and aeration equipment, Frank took on heavy disks and grain vacs as additional products. However, these pieces of equipment were expensive to purchase. Therefore, Frank would often receive requests to rent them.
Thinking that it would be mostly of interest to locals, he rented them out when needed.
Interestingly, the demand did not stay local, with requests to rent equipment coming in from further and further away. Frank realized that there was a great need for rentable farm equipment in rural areas. There were hardly any options to rent short line farm equipment in the prairies during this time. Thus, Flaman Rentals came into being in 1994.
With the rental demand coming in from far and wide, one hurdle that had come up initially was how to provide equipment to farmers far away from Flaman stores. Frank decided that if the farmers could not come to the equipment, he would take the equipment to the farmers.
Understanding the needs of the farmers, the company currently offers a wide range of equipment on rent. On the agricultural equipment side, the company offers field prep items such as field discs, field tillage equipment, harrows, rock pickers, landscapers, dozers, and land rollers. Water pumps, mowers and grass seeders are also available. The company also rents out a full line of trailers from utilities, dumps, flat decks, enclosed and even cattle trailers.
Equipment for grain cleaning and handling; hay and livestock equipment as well as lawn, garden and acreage equipment are rented out. Besides the different types of farm equipment Flaman Rentals also offers construction tools and even some event rental equipment.
THE FAMILY
What was started by Frank was taken forward by the next generations in his family and all the people who came on board to further the group’s success.
Carter Flaman, the rental division lead in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, says that the group now is in the transition phase between the second and third generation of the family. Carter, who is 27 years old, stepped out of his high school and stepped right into Flaman Rentals. He has been with the company for nine years now. The story is similar with most Flaman family members who wished to join the group.
Carter has been a part of the farming industry his whole life. He grew up on a farm and his father still farms. This, he says, gives him the additional advantage to understand his customers’ needs.
The Flaman Rentals network works on a franchise-type system. However, Carter notes that Flaman Rentals is
Every authorized Flaman Rentals dealer invests in equipment rather than just the brand name when joining the network.
COVER STORY
still family owned and operated.
“We still operate the company on family values. Really, Flaman is just the name that is being used on the signage. The actual family consists of all the employees that work here,” he explains.
AN EXPANDING DEALER NETWORK
The Flaman Rentals segment has been set up as a franchise-type system where the owners of the stores are known as authorized Flaman Rental dealers. The rental dealers work under the Flaman Rental umbrella and rent out farm equipment that is only occasionally used.
In the first year of its inception, around nine to 10 such dealers had joined up to become a part of the Flaman Rentals network. Today, there are more than 80 rental dealers across Western Canada, in the provinces of Saskatchewan, Manitoba, British Columbia and Alberta. The company’s
success in expanding its operations has even allowed it to cross the border into the U.S. Three territory managers oversee the rental operations. Flaman’s rental segment also receives support from the company’s marketing, administrative and information technology departments.
Flaman Rentals differs from a typical franchise system as it is not the brand name that the dealers invest their money in. Carter explains that they actually invest in the equipment itself, which is actually tangible. At present, for rental equipment, the investment is $200,000. As the rental segment is part of the larger Flaman Group, the dealers are able to purchase the equipment from Flaman Sales at a discounted price that is not available to outside customers. The discount can be as high as 25 percent. Carter explains that this is possible due to the well-established relationships with several equipment manufacturers. When a rental dealer is
interested in joining the Flaman network, the following example is given to explain the difference in pricing – a rental fleet consisting of a land roller, harrow, flatdeck trailer, post pounder, heavy disk, enclosed trailer and grain vac would cost $213,020 for a Flaman Rentals dealer. The same fleet would cost a private dealer $258,930 when purchasing from Flaman Sales.
A SUPPORTIVE SYSTEM
Carter notes that at Flaman Rentals, all dealers enjoy a support system.
“My role as a division leader is to support our frontline employees. I am there to see that they have whatever they need to make their day to day job easier,” he explains.
This is the support system offered to all Flaman dealers. A contact is provided to every dealer so that they can call for anything they need anytime they need it. All Flaman Rentals staff are given full access to the rental business
and are therefore able to answer all queries. In fact, several dealers often direct questions regarding rates, policies, and procedures to their rental representative. These representatives are in place to enable the dealers in establishing and maintaining customer relationships and even resolve any conflicts that come up.
When a dealer joins the Flaman Rentals network, they have to pay a $10,000 advertising and set-up fee. This fee allows the company to provide initial advertising support such as SEM and SEO advertising on Google and Facebook, print advertising, mail outs as well as phone calling. The goal for the company is to ensure that the dealers are successful from the first year of business. Further advertising support is also provided every year such as signs, business cards, flyers and all rental contracts.
Under the Flaman rental system, when dealers rent out their own equipment, they receive 85 percent of the pay and 15 percent goes to Flaman Rentals. Since the dealers have access to the entire rental network of the company, they can even earn by renting out the equipment of another Flaman dealer. On this, they are able to earn 15 percent of the payment. Conversely, if they wish to rent out
ELECTRIC POWER
The SR5719E is the electric version of the SR5719E rough terrain telehandler - an industry first. Its full-time 4-wheel drive is powered by lithium-ion batteries for long-lasting durable performance. Built compact, the SR5719E is highly maneuverable with reduced noise and zero emissions that is suitable for indoor
Flaman Rentals has several support mechanisms in place to further the success of its dealers in the rental industry.
their equipment from another dealer’s location, they receive 70 percent of the payment, with 15 percent going to the other dealer and 15 percent going to Flaman. Carter explains that this allows the dealers to expand their equipment base as well as location range without further investment.
OVERCOMING CHALLENGES
In recent times, one of the biggest challenges in the industry has been COVID-19. However, with agriculture being an essential sector, Flaman Rentals has been fortunate on that count.
“We are very thankful to have a diverse product offering. The agricultural side being deemed essential helped float us through and keep our doors open. We did have to close our doors to the public for a couple of months at the start of the pandemic and do curbside pickups and drop off,” explains Carter.
He further adds that the company’s trailer business dropped about 30 percent in the first couple of months but later picked back up to where it should be.
Construction equipment rentals came to a halt in the that initial phase when construction processes had stopped.
Carter notes that the company’s HR team has been instrumental in ensuring the health and safety of employees and customers. Extra cleaning measures and sanitary practices are in place. Any construction equipment that has a cab is fully disinfected.
“We even added some disinfecting mister equipment to our rental fleet so that customers can rent them when needed,” says Carter.
With a successful system in place, Flaman Rentals has no intension of stopping its expansion to broader geographic areas as well as increasing its rental product lines. CRS
MILWAUKEE TOOL IS SHAPING THE FUTURE OF THE CORDLESS JOBSITE.
The company leads the industry in developing innovative solutions that deliver increased productivity, unmatched durability, and an unwavering commitment to its users.
The acceptance of cordless power tools on construction sites is quickly evolving. With the continuous evolution of lithium-ion battery technologies, contractors are more willing than ever to say goodbye to their traditional corded power tools. Cutting the cord on traditional power tools has been made possible by manufacturers that have been willing to embrace lithium-ion battery technology for contractors’ cordless solutions.
Techtronic Industries (TTi), the parent company for Milwaukee Tool, has been leading the pack when it comes to lithium-ion battery technology. Headquartered in Hong Kong, the company owns a wide variety of quality brands in addition to Milwaukee Tool, including RYOBI, Empire, Stiletto, Hoover and Dirt Devil.
Becoming the world leader in cordless power tools fuelled by lithium-ion battery technology came at a shockingly feverish pace for TTi, as the company had zero market share of the cordless power tool market back in 2007.
One reason for TTi’s success in Canada was the appointment of Craig Baxter as President of Techtronic Industries Canada Inc. Baxter had been immersed in the power tool industry for more than 25 years, working to build a variety of power tool brands in the Canadian marketplace, including DeWalt, Irwin and Lenox prior to joining TTi.
Baxter joined Milwaukee Tool in 2007 and recalls the amazing transformation of the company’s cordless tool division.
“It’s been a real journey. The company’s overall market share was small single digits when we got started, and now we will reach close to 45% this year,” Baxter says.
He says it was very advantageous that Milwaukee Tool had such a small share of the power tool market when he came on board.
“That was fortunate because, back then, nickel-cadmium was 90 per cent of the market,” he says. “We had competitors tied
to antiquated technologies. We saw the future driven by lithium-ion so we wrote off our 3% per cent market share and focused on lithium-ion. We were able to see and create a future that was far superior in the performance of cordless tools.”
Milwaukee was first to market exclusively with lithium-ion battery technology. Their first cordless platform was M12 and today M12 leads the market as the largest sub-compact tool platform with over 100 tools. M12 focuses on providing portable productivity for the most demanding trades.
Following the success of M12, Milwaukee launched M18 which focuses on performance driven solutions, truly aimed at cutting the cord on jobsites. Today, M18 has over 175 trade focused solutions. The company recently rolled out its latest line of cordless technology with the introduction the MX FUEL Equipment system, a groundbreaking cordless line up that revolutionizes the light equipment market by delivering the performance, run-time, and durability demanded by the trades without the hazards associated with emissions, noise, vibration, and the frustrations of gas maintenance. Each of the solutions on the MX FUEL System go beyond the limitations of gasoline and the inconvenience of cords and operate off one completely compatible system all on the same battery.
This latest innovation in cordless tools and technologies shares the same successful approach as its predecessors: Milwaukee Tool’s unwavering dedication to its end users.
“We obsess with end user engagement,” Baxter says. “Our core trades share pain points that result in the forward-thinking solutions that we bring to market. Back in 2007, we focused on plumbing, electrical and mechanical contractors. Since then, we have adopted some additional verticals, including transportation, automotive and the residential contractor. We speak to hundreds of users within those verticals and develop solutions that are very tailored
to those individuals and their needs.”
For example, Milwaukee is launching a number of new products designed for residential contractors, and we’re seeing immediate success in our solutions for them,” Baxter says, adding that Milwaukee Tool has entered the laser-measurement market, as well as recently launching a rear-handle circ saw, a framing nailer and several other tools designed with residential contractors in mind. “There’s more to come in terms of tools we’re launching for residential and general construction.”
Baxter says the do-it-yourself or retail segment of the power tool market has never been a focus for Milwaukee Tool.
“We are focused on our core trades. That has allowed us to focus on professional grade products—everything from the battery through to the software that enables the battery to speak to the operating end of the tool,” Baxter says.
Developing hundreds of successful product solutions for users over the past 15 years has been made possible by listening to our core trades’ frustrations, needs and limitations. Milwaukee invests tremendous time with their users in order to understand the demands on the jobsite, ultimately providing solutions leading to a more productive and safer jobsite. Simply put, Milwaukee Tool is not a manufacturer, they are a progressive problem solver.
“We continuously rework prototypes until the users tells us we got it right and, that’s why so few of our products fail. We will simply not launch a product until it’s right,” Baxter says.
INTELLIGENT AND VERSATILE TOOLS
Milwaukee Tool’s new MX FUEL Equipment System also features the company’s REDLITHIUM and REDLINK Plus Intelligence technologies. These innovations allow the user to optimize their tool performance and overload protection using total system communication between the tool,
battery, and charger.
Another user benefit of Milwaukee Tool’s battery platform is the 100% compatibility of their lithium-ion batteries, with any tool they have ever launched within their M12 and M18 platforms. Their tool/battery interfaces have never changed.
“Being able to put the same battery into all of the tools in your crib is very compelling to our user base,” Baxter says.
Power tools tend to go missing on jobsites for a variety of reasons, so keeping track of them was another factor Milwaukee Tool considered when developing its MX FUEL line of product solutions. As part of the company’s intelligent solutions strategy for contractors, Milwaukee Tool developed the ONE-KEY app that allows for the remote tracking and inventory management of the user’s power tools.
“Contractors want to keep track of when that tool leaves a crib. They want to know it’s coming back at the end of the day,” Baxter says.
Another advantage of using Milwaukee Tool’s line of intelligent tools is the ability to measure the productivity that a tool has delivered during a workday or shift.
“It’s important to understand that the technology involved in cordless tools today allows us to maximize each tool’s performance,” Baxter says. “The software for the
battery and the operating end of tool speak to each other. We have figured out how to build intelligence into the tools, and maximize productivity by doing so. Contractors can download and understand a tool’s real-world performance. That is an advancement that’s really only taken place in the last five years. We blazed a trail there. We’re on our fourth version of the software in our products, and our competitors are just trying to figure it out now.”
THE PERFECT RENTAL SOLUTION
Milwaukee Tool’s MX FUEL Equipment System featuring REDLITHIUM and REDLINK PLUS Intelligence technologies is an ideal solution for rental houses.
“MX FUEL and rental houses are a marriage made in heaven,” Baxter says. “A customer may not want to purchase an MX solution right out of the gate. We love rental houses because they allow the user to rent our products. Rental houses have continued to support Milwaukee Tool through broadening their product selection.”
Baxter says that rental house showrooms across the country are growing their Milwaukee Tool offerings because of the great experience users have after renting a
cordless solution.
“We think the future of MX FUEL in the rental space is incredibly bright,” Baxter says.
WHERE IS THE FUTURE HEADED?
Milwaukee continues to forge the path as the leader in lithium-ion battery technology and is working with its end users on creating solutions that will continue to allow their contractor base to complete more work in less time.
Yet, despite Milwaukee Tool’s popularity among contractors for producing world-leading power tools, the company does not consider itself a power tool company.
“We look at ourselves as a solutions and productivity company,” Baxter says. “That changes the way you approach your research with the user. What has really separated Milwaukee is our obsession with disruptive innovation—new-to-world solutions so compelling to our core trades that we’ve built enormous equity with them by launching one solution after another.”
“There are solutions today that we are working on that will bend your mind,” Baxter says.
To learn more about Milwaukee Tool’s solutions and products, visit www.milwaukeetool.ca
TRAINING
TOOLEMATICS
Telematics
keeps your equipment fully functional and safe.
by ANDREW SNOOK
Of course, the larger a fleet and crib of tools grows, and the more jobsites a company works on simultaneously, keeping track of that equipment can become extremely challenging. To counter these challenges, manufacturers, equipment dealers and rental houses are starting to adopt various types of tracking tools to assist them in their day-to-day operations.
Being able to track equipment in real time offers rental stores the ability to know where their vehicles are located on a jobsite, how efficiently they are being used and deter theft, as well as a variety of other advantages.
“Some contractors have multiple divisions within them and will have smaller child companies that will use all the assets [from the parent company] but will get billed for them. For example, the excavation division has an asset right now for X amount of time and will be billed X for that asset,” explains Peter Gibbons, regional technology manager for Finning Canada in Surrey, B.C., adding that he has one customer with 16 different companies under one parent company. “Part of using it is just keeping track of where all these different types of assets are.”
Equipment can be tagged with locators that can be tracked via cellular network or satellite. Gibbons says it typically takes three to five minutes to ping the location of a piece of equipment, depending on the reception in a geographic area.
No matter the number of pieces of equipment in one’s fleet, a rental store – and its customers – want to know where it all is at all times.
“They can ping their location to know where those devices are at,” he says, adding that being able to track equipment can aid in its recovery. “If they can’t find it when they ping it and find out it’s in a far-off area, they can contact the RCMP, send them over that data and they can go have a look and investigate.”
CONNECTED MONITORING
Gibbons says insurance considerations are another important aspect of being
able to track equipment use, especially in the case of a rental house.
“If an accident happens while in possession of a company, it goes on their insurance,” he says.
At Finning Canada, customers can set up telematics subscriptions at various levels for reporting purposes.
“You can have reports every 10 minutes, every hour, every week… we can change a subscription and see every 10 minutes and track a machine as it goes down the highway,” Gibbons says, adding that customers can start with very basic telematics packages and add on various reports as they need them so they do not get bogged down in unnecessary data.
“Contractors will set up their job sites and have all sorts of different devices on that site, and we can geofence them. There’s lots of applications for geofencing these days. I can tell when a machine leaves one geofence to go into another geofence. It’s important because they’ll have different groups running the different parts off the site, so when one machine goes to another part of a site, it’s under the responsibility of someone else. It’s basically
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!
Canadian Rental Service would like to thank all of our Rental Mart exhibitors for helping to make our BIG ASS Rental Show and Rental Mart 2.0 a success.
Special Shout Out to our event sponsors – Skyjack, Point of Rental, Alert Rental and Open Door Technologies for helping to make our virtual platform possible.
We hope to see everyone in person in 2022!
TECH TIPS
With telematics, there is no more need to crawl under dirty equipment to check for issues.
taking paperwork and turning it into digital and making it much faster.”
Tracking the operation of heavy equipment can be especially handy for preventative maintenance purposes.
“We don’t have to call the customer to know the hours. We know your service is coming up,” Gibbons says. “We can call and say, ‘Are you okay with us coming to do the service?” Before we had to call or drop by, it just wasn’t very productive – and this helps customers stay on top of it.”
Just don’t expect older equipment to offer the same level of quality data as the newer gear.
“An older generator from the ‘90s or ‘80s, we’re really only
going to get hours and location, but when you get into newer machines, you can see engine codes, fuel burns, machines telling you transmission temperatures, the operator running the machine,” Gibbons says.
EMISSIONS TARGETS
Gibbons says that by tracking utilization and fuel burn, Finning has been able to establish the emissions being produced by vehicles in a customer’s fleets and help them understand the sustainability targets they are trying to meet.
“Sustainability is a big part of the construction industry. A lot of contractor clients want to be a part of the solution,” Gibbons says.
“Tracking the operation of heavy equipment can be especially handy for preventative maintenance purposes.”
TOOL TRACKING
A few years ago, Milwaukee Tool introduced a solution for tracking smaller tools across multiple jobsites called One-Key, an inventory management, security and smart tool solution. Currently, the technology is offered on more than 40 Milwaukee Tools products.
“This targets the whole construction industry, provides inventory management and tool theft solu-
One-Key is a Bluetooth-based technology with customizable settings that allows the user to track the performance of their tools and keep track of where they are on various jobsites for assistance with inventory management.
“What makes this so cool is that you can be as custom and granular as you like, or as generic as you like. It has the ability to tailor to the needs
TECH TIPS
of whoever that user is. It’s not just a user with a crib full of Milwaukee Tool products, it can be anyone in the construction space,” Roberts says. “In the rental industry you can manage excavators, compressors –they can be incorporated into this software, not just Milwaukee Tools.”
While a contractor or rental house can use the app on their phone to input all of their tools into the OneKey inventory management software, Milwaukee Tool products equipped with the One-Key Bluetooth solution come with additional advantages. For example, with a drill, the user can program through the app whether they want to ramp up the RPMs or ramp them down.
“It can get the performance of the tool, provide reports, accuracy of your work… you can actually go in and make sure it reads full hydraulic pressure,” Roberts says.
Telematics transmitters are made to be small and easily hidden in equipment.
When a tool goes missing, One-Key takes advantage of its network made up of hundreds of thousands of tools to help locate it. Signals from devices in range of your tool pings you its
location, even if its battery has been removed. Bluetoothenabled tool and equipment trackers offer updates of the most recent date, time and location for a tool in your network when it comes within 100 feet of the network.
“It’s constantly pinging looking for a tower or app and gives updates to where a tool is within about a 100-foot range inside buildings and up to around 200 feet outdoors,” Roberts says. “With One-Key technology there’s a little bit of a premium cost in the cost of the tool, but nothing more than that.”
The One-Key system also acts as a theft deterrent, as the user can lock out their tools making them useless for the thieves.
“This makes it a lot less attractive to steal the tool,” Roberts says. CRS
The Easy Rooter
Toughness begins with our exclusive Flexicore® cables. Heavy gauge wire is wrapped tightly around a wire rope center to give you unequaled strength for the right amount of flexibility.
The Easy Rooter gets a lot of rentals with little maintenance. Just hose it down and it’s ready to go out again. Count on it to take on the toughest jobs with the least hassle to you or your customers.
From the rugged steel frame, to big 10" wheels, to the tough Flexicore cable, the Easy Rooter adds up to lower maintenance costs, higher profits and happier customers.
To learn more, call the Drain Brains at 800-245-6200, or visit www.drainbrain.com/rental
Equipped with Flexicore wire rope center cable.
EVENTOLOGY Say goodbye to ghosting
by Michelle Nicol, CERP
The term from the dating scene, “ghosting,” has crept its way into the business world and unfortunately happens more often than we realize. With platforms such as WeddingWire and The Knot where customers can mass message multiple companies at once, chances are you are receiving an automated message that has been sent to more than 50 other companies. These websites take away the opportunity for clients to educate themselves on your company and offerings prior to reaching out to you. Instead, it offers a way to get as many quotes in the least amount of time, whether your company is a good fit for them or not.
What can you do to set yourself apart from the competition once you receive that request? You will be replying alongside many other companies and will need to stand out to get a reply and spark a conversation that will hopefully lead to a sale. Many sales experts will offer advice on how and when to offer the pricing and how to string them along to get every last detail before giving them what they are looking for. In my opinion, it is far more beneficial to spend the time creating an authentic relationship, finding common ground and truly helping them put together an amazing event. You want the client to realize you are a real and genuine person, who has their best interests in mind.
Reply as soon as possible. If you are able to acknowledge receipt of their request before anyone else, it will show that you are attentive and care about their possible business. Many companies choose not to respond, ever, to these kinds of requests. At the end of the day, the early bird gets the worm… and you want all the worms! Respond intentionally and thoughtfully. When you are ready to respond with your pitch, spend time to carefully craft your response, ensuring there is the right amount of information mixed with questions to keep them engaged. End your email with a low commitment question which requires a quick reply. If you ask them a million questions that require long and detailed answers right off the bat, they may delay responding until they find a convenient time to reply. In the meantime, another rental company will have swooped in
with quick and attractive preliminary pricing before you even got a chance to quote.
Don’t forget about your subject line. Before they even open your email, this is the first thing they see! Make it captivating and get rid of the standard reply “Re: Quote request received from your website”. My personal favorite which seems to work is “You’re getting married! We can’t wait to be part of your big day!”. Keep it light and exciting and clear that it is coming from a real person.
Relate. Clients feel most comfortable speaking to someone they can relate to and who understands their event from a personal standpoint, as opposed to just from a sales perspective. Are they getting married and you are too? Let them know! Is it their husband’s 70th birthday and you just threw a party for your uncle’s 60th? Chat about what you did and share some tips. People want to buy from and work with real people, not robots with templates.
Know the different type of leads you receive as each will require a different response. If someone takes the time to either call your company or send a personalized email, they have already vetted a lot of other companies and have put you on their short list. The hard part is done. Now it’s your time to shine with your company’s amazing service and what makes you so great. Take the focus off the cost and make them see the value they are receiving by working with you. Actions speak louder than words.
We all know that we won’t win over every couple, corporate event or festival. There is competition in our industry and each company offers different services, price points and customer support levels. If you are not receiving a reply, don’t be afraid to ask them if they are not interested. Chances are they will respond instantly that they have gone elsewhere, or apologize for the delay as things often come up for all of us. If they have booked elsewhere, brush it off and move on to the next. CRS
Michelle is an award-winning account manager and festival specialist with Higgins Event Rentals in Toronto. She is an active member in industry associations and enjoys serving on a variety of boards and committees.
EFFICIENT HEAT
The latest on energy-efficient construction heating solutions.
Like any other powered piece of rental equipment, heating solutions for construction sites are now more energy efficient than ever. “The industry has been steadily increasing its focus on becoming more environmentally responsible,” says Ryan Grey, North American sales manager at Manitoba-based Tamarack Industries.
by TREENA HEIN
Indirect-fired units are placed outside the building or structure being constructed. They generate heated air that is moved inside through ductwork. While the equipment is generally not moved during the project, the ductwork can be moved around as necessary.
“You see it displayed on every jobsite with contractors using more and more battery-powered equipment, propane generators and Tier 4 Final diesel engines, to name a few. Heat has been an area where there has been significant improvement environmentally.”
Construction site heating systems come in three formats: electric, direct-fired and indirect-fired. Electric heaters can provide radiant heat or have a heating coil and fan. They certainly have their place in some applications, offering no emissions, good safety and simple use. However, they can be expensive depending on the electricity rate, model and space to be heated. They also aren’t an easy option at
building sites in the early stages where electricity is not yet hooked up.
Direct-fired heaters burn propane or natural gas from portable tanks. They must be secured properly inside a building, caged and placed away from combustible materials. They also must be moved around within the building as needed. Indirect-fired units (also called central heating units or CHU) are placed outside and generate heated air that is moved inside through ductwork that can be moved as needed. They are typically not moved or moved very little during the life of a project. They can come in larger capacity format and use one or more fuels.
Dan Dimock, national sales manager at Alberta-based Cavalier Industries, notes that the use of propane and natural gas provides reduced emissions compared to diesel-fuelled heaters.
“Respectively, this translates into a 10 to 20 percent CO2 reduction simply by changing fuel source,” he explains. “Unfortunately, diesel-fuelled equipment is still quite common.”
Having much more efficient heat exchangers and fans, however, maximizes fuel efficiency no matter what fuel is used, reducing emissions and operating costs for customers.
Cavalier’s Eco Power Equipment provides high-efficiency multi-pass heat exchangers, which are more expensive, says Dimock, but he adds that “over 10 percent efficiency increases over the machine’s life can be translated into enormous fuel and emissions savings.”
The most efficient heaters, he says, can have output adjusted to match application requirements.
For the environment-conscious user, propane and natural gas are the go-to fuel choices for heaters instead of diesel as they cut down emissions.
To reduce their emissions, Tamarack customers are taking advantage of the firm’s natural gas/liquefied petroleum equipment where it’s available and practical. “Where it isn’t feasible to use
those fuels, proper maintenance and installation is helping to keep the oil burners running as efficiently as possible,” Grey says.
In Wade Wilken’s view, when it comes
TECH TIPS
to a construction site heating system that minimizes fuel consumption and carbon emissions, hydronic heat checks all the boxes. “Once the space is up to temperature, the hydronic system doesn’t have to consume as much energy because it only has to re-heat already warm inside air compared to other types of heaters that are always heating outside cold air,” explains the vice president of sales and marketing at Manitoba-based
DryAir. “Pumping heated fluid from the CHU outside to thermostatically-controlled exchangers inside the structure allows for further gains in fuel efficiency. Once the space is up to temperature, the thermostats on each heat exchanger will turn the fans off. The fluid returns to the central heating unit hot and the CHU burner drops to a low fire, or cycles off completely until the demand for heat returns.”
Wilken also notes that systems that have warm air travelling through uninsulated ducts into a building have much more surface area exposed (and therefore more heat lost) to the ambient air before heated air arrives inside the building. DryAir uses rubber hoses which are much smaller and can be easily covered and insulated.
TIER 4 FINAL
In Grey’s view, transitioning to Tier 4 Final tech hasn’t been easy for the rental industry, with many manufacturers, rental operators and contractors having had difficulties with the new standard. “It isn’t going away, so now it adds new challenges for rental operators,” he says. “Generators, pumps and heaters have to be properly sized for the application or wet stacking can occur (when unburned fuel passes into the exhaust system and can cause a loss of performance, efficiency and in extreme cases, premature engine failure). Under our Thawzall brand, we currently manufacture a flameless air heater as well as a flameless glycol and air heater. Our design team has developed a state-of-the-art control system that properly manages the load on the engine to eliminate wet stacking.”
While these models are currently mostly used on oil and gas sites, with the increasing amount of “green’”initiatives popping up these days, Grey doesn’t think it’s a stretch to predict Tier 4 Final engines will be the future for general construction heat. This might take the form of a flameless air heater, a glycol heater or a Tier 4 Final generator powering electric heaters. “The industry isn’t quite at that point yet,” says Grey, “so currently we recommend proper sizing, installation and maintenance to help our equipment be as fuel efficient as possible.”
While the rental industry finds it challenging to adapt to Tier 4 Final technology, experts suggest that it is the future of heating technology and is here to stay.
Wilken also encourages rental companies to discuss total operating cost of construction heat systems with their customers. He notes that because fuel is always the most significant expense when it comes to temporary heating, instead of presenting a contractor customer with just a quote on rental rates for the equipment, provide a proposal that shows BTUs required by heater type, fuel costs and rental rates for each type of heater. “With all of that information,” he says, “the contractor can make a fully-informed decision on the best solution.” DryAir dealers have access to the firm’s “temporary heating calculator,” which shows BTUs required by heater type (direct, indirect, hydronic and electric) and fuel estimates for each application.
CURRENT AND FUTURE TECHNOLO GIES
Telematics (remote monitoring/control) is becoming more common with jobsite equipment and heaters are no exception. “The demand for telematics is increasing every year,” says Grey. “It has value to the rental operator as well as the contractor to be able to determine if their equipment is operating properly. A rental store can track and efficiently maintain their equipment that may have been out on rent for extended periods of time. Without proper maintenance, equipment reliability will suffer.”
Telematics can also be a fantastic tool for contractors to monitor their projects and log data,” says Dimock. “This data is imperative when using modern construction materials and ensuring that they are given the proper curing environment. This is especially key when dealing with warrantable failures.” Wilken echoes these thoughts. “In most applications, our equipment continues to run in the evenings and weekends when most jobsites are empty. The ability for site superintendents to check in on how the heating system is performing, or to receive low temperature alerts in real time, is critical. The technology has been around for a while, but it came at a significant cost and was not always reliable. Telematics systems are more reliable and economical today than ever.”
CONSTRUCTION HEAT
RESPONDING TO CUSTOMERS
allmand.com
Allmand has listened to customers and incorporated many innovations into a redesigned, self-contained heating solution for demanding environmental conditions. The Maxi Heat one-million-BTU, indirect-fired heater is auto-calibrated with increased efficiency, external operator controls and easier operation, providing the versatility job sites require. Applications include concrete curing; site and equipment warming; disaster-relief drying; and special event HVAC requirements. Enhancements in the new design include air recirculation, returning
heated air back to the burner intake for less fuel consumption and increased efficiency. The fluid containment system capacity is 200 percent in single-tank models and 150 percent in multitank, meeting all CSA and Transport Canada compliance regulations. The control system features an iQ touchscreen controller with a seven-inch external screen, eliminating the need to open the heater to access the controls. The system allows control of both heaters on a single screen with a clear view of the operating parameters on a colour display. The controls provide proper damper setting for the most efficient air/fuel mixture based on the job site’s ambient
temperature and barometric pressure. The display also shows efficiency, target and actual outlet temperatures. The Maxi Heat operates at a 65-decibel noise level (measured sound pressure at seven meters): a 22 percent decrease from previous models.
STAY ON SCHEDULE
wackerneuson.com Wacker Neuson offers
surface heaters to keep projects on schedule and within budget with hydronic technology. Hydronic surface heaters are designed to quickly and economically thaw frozen ground, cure concrete, prevent frost and provide temporary heat during cold weather conditions. Wacker Neuson’s heaters have proven to effectively manage cold weather projects by significantly reducing project costs, delivering high quality and maintaining tight project schedules. The most popular model is the E3000. Engineered for reliable performance and troublefree starts, the E3000 will provide a maximum flow and ensure consistent heat delivery for thawing and curing applications. The E3000 thaws or cures up to 6,000 square feet and
with accessories can manage up to 18,000 square feet or provide 535,000 cubic feet of dry heat at 83 percent efficiency.
NEW FEATURES
lbwhite.com
Indirect-fired Foreman 500/750 heaters from L.B. White have new and enhanced features. Operator controls are now centralized in one convenient panel. Added rental-ready controls include an onboard voltmeter to verify jobsite power supply and an hour meter that clocks actual runtime.
The controls are compatible with the new L.B. White Link telematics that
pushes critical heat alerts and allows fleet managers to remotely access diagnostics, GPS location and more from any web-connected device. Link provides actionable insights to reduce service calls, avoid costly winter downtime and maximize utilization. Foreman 500/750 oil models feature lightweight, composite 57-gallon fuel tanks. The 500,000 BTU-per-hour model provides five more hours of maximum runtime.
A new T-hookup on the 750,000 BTU-per-hour model allows for fast connection to a primary remote tank while the auxiliary tank is equipped to provide four more hours of maximum runtime. Dual fuel models are also available. Foreman heaters provide portability and quiet operation. They are backed by a two-year manufacturer’s warranty.
DRAMATIC EXPANSION
canthermheaters.com
Cantherm Distributors has introduced a dramatic expansion in product offerings, stocking and servicing. Cantherm has been
distributing a variety of Biemmedue Arcotherm heaters, accessories and parts throughout North America from its base in Winnipeg for over 30 years. Under new ownership as of 2019, Cantherm has expanded the number and types of Biemmedue Arcotherm heaters on offer. The number of unique indirect-fired models is now up to eight, ranging in output from 100,000 to 1,000,000 BTU. The radiant Fire models now available have increased from one to two, in outputs of 115,000 or 155,000 BTU. Furthermore, the muchanticipated electric EK models, available in four sizes, are set to debut in
2022. Beyond the heating units themselves, Cantherm is developing customized products that provide better overall performance and versatility, namely, custom mobile heating trailers, which can be designed based on a client’s specific needs and applications; three custom duct adapters for each of the indirectfired units, which are under development or already available for purchase; and ducting options that are more efficient and durable, which are available in various diameters ranging from six to 30 inches. Furthermore, with the importance of increased health considerations to clients currently, Cantherm’s
products continue to deliver the goods by boasting very high CFM ratings, which are critical for healthier air exchange capabilities.
BACKWARD
INCLINE FAN
campoequipment.com Campo Equipment in Brampton, Ont., is excited to announce the addition of two new make-up air units to the DF650 (650,000 BTU) line which was unveiled at the ARA Show in February 2020 in Orlando, Fla. The DF1600 (1.6 million BTU) and DF2500 (2.5 million BTU) make-up air heaters are constructed with the exact same features and benefits
as the DF650. The backward incline fan provides quiet operation, high static pressure, low amp draw and high CFM. The unique heat push-through design locates the fan behind the burner, reducing wear-andtear on the fan and virtually eliminating unplanned shutdowns and repair costs. Burner modulation ensures the burner never shuts off. Fuel options are propane and natural gas. The heater includes lockable casters for safer installations and forklift pockets for easier mobility. The units are stackable for off-season storage. Campo’s proprietary power management system
stabilizes the incoming power to acceptable levels, protecting your equipment and keeping service calls to a minimum. DF-series heaters are certified to be used with or without ducting and meet CSA standard ANSI Z83.7-2017/ CSA 2.14-2017. These built-in features result in increased ROI for you and a positive customer experience, culminating into return customers.
The heater is best suited for heating space as the building envelope is beginning to be closed up. The heater is designed to sit outside or in a doorway so it can draw fresh outside air. This helps to pressurize the space and the introduction of fresh outside air causes the moist air and contaminates to be forced out. This helps reduce dry times for compounds such as concrete, paint and adhesives during the construction process.
WHEN PERFORMANCE MATTERS
sureflame.ca
The IX800 from Sure Flame is a good choice when performance matters. This dual-fuel,
800,000-BTU, indirect heater features Sure Flame’s patented burner and exchanger technology. Designed by an in-house, world-class combustion engineer, the IX800 delivers superior efficiency along with exceptional heat extraction. Moving all that heat to where customers need it is no problem thanks to the powerful 13,600-CFM-rated fan. The IX 800 easily handles long duct runs and can build impressive static pressure. Built tough for the extreme demands of the rental industry, the IX800 is backed by Sure Flame’s standard three-year warranty.
THE RENTAL STORE’S FRIEND
ces-sales.com
Construction Equipment Solutions continues to provide quality heating products as well as service parts and technical assistance to the Canadian rental industry. CES carries a complete line of heating products for all heating applications and fuel choices, including propane, natural gas, electric and oil-fired units. As well, it supplies units that are direct-fired, indirect-
fired and infrared as well as convection. The Val 6 heaters are designed with the highest quality and dependability in mind. The Val 6 radiant heat is able to heat an object without heating the air and losing efficiency at the same time. Val 6 heaters are not affected by wind or cold ambient temperatures the same way forced air heaters are. Not only are Val 6 heaters eco-friendly, releasing only one to two parts per million of carbon monoxide, but they are able
to convert almost 100 per cent of their fuel to energy. This makes the Val 6 a very efficient form of heating. CES also offers the full line of
Marley Engineered heating products. The TBX series mobile warmer comes in two sizes. The mobile warmers have a thermostat with positive “off” and “fanonly” positions with a range from 40 to 100 F. Teninch wheels allow for easy rolling over obstacles on a job site to the spot where heat is required.
FOR LARGE SPACES ecopowerequip.com
The IAQH 2000 from Eco Power Equipment provides centralized, large scale heating capacity for large-scale construction with larger cubic volumes. It is ideal for hospitals, high rises, big-box stores, distribution centers, woodframe multi-family low-rise construction projects and other applications. The IAQH-2000 is capable of heating large spaces and creating a temporary environment that controls temperature and humidity reduction via heated makeup air. The ability to utilize a single or reduced number of larger heaters to heat entire spaces reduces the total cost of projects, making for a leaner construction en¬vironment based on reducing fuel burn, ideal
construction temperature and humidity. The IAQH’s modulating-type design means users have the horsepower for high output heating but can modulate down to 150,000 BTU. The heater has limited burner cy¬cling and the control system brings unparalleled uptime, even in minus40C condi¬tions. Eco Power can provide constant circulation for the structure and use several auto¬matic makeup air strategies, depending on location and ambient condi¬tions. The IAQH 2000 can control temperature and humidity better and provide even distri¬bution through space. Highperformance automation with an integrated modem is supported with one year service from the factory. Additional features include remote control and moni¬toring, notifications, and heating management. The four-pass heat exchanger comprises a primary drum and secondary tubes made of 304L series stainless steel with great care in the design to reduce crack¬ing of welded joints. In addition, 300 series stainless steel is known for its great
resistance to corrosion and can safely operate at high temperatures, which in¬creases its service life. The exchanger is equipped with access panels for the inspection and clean¬ing of the secondary tubes It is installed as to enable the thermal expansion that occurs during the heating cycles of the unit. IAQH heat exchangers are built to perform in fleet conditions for years.
NO FLAME, HIGH OUTPUT
thermdynamics.com
Ideal for applications where an open flame spark risk is out of the question; the TD1250 from Therm Dynamics excels at providing 1.25 million BTUs of clean, dry heat.
To advertise in this section, contact Danielle Labrie.
The heaters are offered in two versions: the TD1250L (lift) and TD1250S (slide) The patented technology uses two diesel-powered engines to agitate hydraulic oil in a flameless, sparkless, low-pressure environment. In addition, an overspeed air intake shut-off valve is standard equipment. The oil is heated and circulated, not burned, providing a clean pollution-free discharge to the target environment. Safety features are incorporated to protect the investment. All heaters are equipped with a set of four shut-off switches that terminate the engines when excessive pressures, speed or water temperatures are detected. Certified to UL733-2013 and CSA B. TD1250 heaters
Phone: 888-599-2228 ext 245, Fax: 519-429-3094
Email: dlabrie@annexbusinessmedia.com
produce 9,000 CFM at a static pressure of seven inches. The power plant is a 2-2504D Kohler with 240-gallon, double containment, fuel storage. Applications include thawing frozen ground, heating buildings or structures, curing concrete, drywall and paint drying and removing excess moisture to inhibit mould growth. The TD1250 features easy access to all maintenance components and minimal operation supervision.
INDIRECT OIL
flagro.ca
The FVO-400RC60 from Flagro is a 390,000-BTU
indirect-fired oil heater with a recirculating hood. It uses proven Riello burner technology including a nozzle pre-heater for cold weather start up and an upgraded low-temperature fuel pump. Features a welded, 304 stainless steel heat exchanger. The powerful backward blower provides ultra-quiet operation and low amperage. It’s ductable up to 150 feet. A smart power indicator control and volt meter verifies proper power supply to the heater. Highdensity flat-free wheels, a built-in 60-gallon fuel tank and forklift pockets give the unit the portability and convenience needed for rental applications. CRS
AD INDEX
HOPE IS NOT A PLAN
Bigger isn’t always b etter
by Adam Snook
There’re always parallels to be drawn in sports and business. Teamwork, collective goals, planning, leadership – the list goes on. If there’s one thing that another game seven loss by the Leafs teaches us, it’s that bigger isn’t better. Now, I know Montreal is no smallmarket team, but something about the way they are constructed and, most of all, the way they play reminds me of the differences between big corporate behemoths and small businesses.
When you break down the failures of the Leafs (and there are many), it’s the same list that you’ll find dragging down most behemoths in any industry. Too top heavy, not hungry enough, not agile enough, complacent. I’m sure there’s others you could add to the list. Montreal on the other hand was quick, efficient and nimble with changing their plans according to what the game demanded. They’re like the small to medium size business owners who are taking market share from the behemoths.
Like the Leafs, most publicly traded companies have massive overarching structures to try to sort through in order to get anything accomplished. All of the money ends up going to the top line players or C-level executives and the role players down the line aren’t able to make the decisions needed to react to the changing game or market conditions. The Habs, or small businesses, on the other hand, have talent spread out at all levels and lines. It makes it much easier to change your game plan on the fly when you have decision makers at all levels. Nimbleness and agility are a small business’ greatest asset against top-heavy or plodding competition.
The big companies, like the Leafs, have all their cream at the top. There’s little to no motivation or hunger when you’re guaranteed millions and it’s not based on performance. The guys on the bottom lines are only going to be so motivated when they know that their hard work rewards those above them regardless of their effort or performance. Small operators, like the Canadiens, have to have talent at all levels. We know that if we don’t have people capable of filling in on every line at every position that we’re very likely to get blown out. We also know
that being a small, tight-knit group of wellcompensated, happy team members we can compete with and beat anyone of any size when it comes to service.
Big operators know that the money is always there to pay the bills. Need more? Have an offering, hit up a P/E group, leverage your billiondollar fleet. No problem. There’s no drive to hammer sales and get that equipment out at better rates. The metric is strictly utilization, a lazy man’s way to measure success. The Leafs have been built the same way for decades: money is no object. Small operators know that if we don’t hustle every day there will be no money in the bank. Second mortgages on your house only go so far to keeping you in business. Hopefully, we’re also learning that keeping rental rates up means that we can make more off renting less. Last on my list is complacency. Just like overpaying for talent has gotten the Leafs in trouble for years, the behemoths are complacent in their business models. Instead of driving revenue growth at elevated rates and pushing utilization based on service they prefer to make acquisitions. When top-line growth is all you’re worried about to satisfy shareholders or investors you need to keep feeding the machine, no matter what the cost. When we’re looking to grow as small businesses, every purchase matters. We make cost analysis into a science. If it’s not immediately accretive, we move on to something that is. Our dollar utilization should be outstanding if we’re doing a proper job of this.
Teamwork is what will keep the independent operators thriving in an ultra-competitive market place. That means working with other rental companies, and preferably other independent ones. Keep your dollars supporting the guys on the same level as you. Ultimately a healthy team of locally owned independent rental companies can not only compete with, but also defeat their bigger, slower competition. Go Habs! CRS
Adam Snook owns JustBins, a Regina-based provider of waste disposal solutions. His background includes building First Choice Rentals, an Alberta based equipment rental and oilfield service provider.
DRAIN CLEANING MADE EASY
The lightweight, yet powerful Model DRZ-PH-O makes quick work of clogs in sinks, tubs, and laundry drains in 1-¼" to 3" drain lines up to 50 ft. long. The variable speed automatic feed makes the job easier, safer and cleaner, by keeping the operators’ hands off the spinning cable. Flexicore® cable, durable metal frame, and powerful motor make the machine rental tough.
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