Journal of Equipment Management 2022

—JOURNAL OF—

TIM MORGAN CEM | AEMP 2022 CHAIRMAN

FORWARD TOWARDS THE NEW NORMAL BUILDING NEW, STRONGER RELATIONSHIPS, & IMPROVING ASSOCIATIONS — THAT’S OUR PATH TO SUCCESS TIPS FROM FLEET LEADERS

Fleet Management, Technology to Watch

2022 | www.aemp.org

THE CONSTRUCTION LABOR SHORTAGE

Is it a challenge in finding workers or do we have issues in recruiting and training?

DIESEL FUEL 101 How to choose the best fuel for your fleet

THE AEMP 2021 TECHNICIAN OF THE YEAR:

Manatee County’s Chase Snyder

The AEMP Core Content Educational Framework AEMP offers online educational opportunities and hosts multiple conferences and meetings every year to engage our membership and the industry. Through our conference offerings, AEMP offers some of the most engaging education and professional development for heavy equipment management professionals in the world. We accomplish this with our education committee work through member volunteers to establish the topics and areas of strategic focus that will drive our industry forward and has been established around the framework of what we call the AEMP Core Content Areas.

These core content areas are also established around the various levels of experience found within the Equipment Management Profession. The core content areas and levels are as follows:

Technologies

Essentials

Selection and implementation of technologies that reduce operating costs and increase growth is a significant part of the Equipment Management (EM) role.

Traditional Equipment Management responsibilities have a big impact on a company’s bottom line.

Financials

Connections

Some of the largest capital investments made by a company are often in their equipment assets managed in this role.

While equipment is a valuable company asset, skilled professionals and relationships create a positive culture in any organization.

Visit www.aemp.org/core-content

THE EQUIPMENT MANAGEMENT SPECIALIST (EMS) CERTIFICATE AEMP’s education is focused on building excellence in equipment management and is designed for professionals in the equipment management and equipment supply industries. Our Equipment Management Specialist (EMS) online educational program leads to earning the AEMP Equipment Management Specialist (EMS) Certificate.

The Equipment Management Specialist Certificate is an assessmentbased certificate recognizing the competency of an individual involved with equipment in a private, municipal, or government fleet within the first five years of career development. This certificate serves individuals who want to obtain the skills, knowledge, and competencies necessary in equipment and asset management, to better understand the depth and breadth of the equipment industry, and to gain the ability to interact on a higher level with fleet-related professionals.

Pursue the Equipment Management Specialist (EMS) if you:

• Are interested in taking the first step toward certification.

• Have fewer than five years’ experience in equipment management.

• Are an end user or supplier in the industry

• Desire to know, define, identify and recall information presented in the Career Equipment Fleet Manager Manual.

Visit www.aemp.org/certification

Course Details: This course is online self-study and is self-paced. This means that candidates will guide themselves through the material and activities under no set schedule. However, all course materials are available for the duration of one year from the candidate’s enrollment date. It is estimated that the time required to complete the course is between 35-40 hours.

AEMP Strategic Alliance Partners

And Strategic Media Partners:

—JOURNAL OF—

AEMP Board Members

8 Forward Towards the New Normal 12 Accelerating AEMP’s Growth & Impact

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16 Fleet Leader Roundup: 8 Experts Share Tips for Fleet Management, Technology to Watch

28 How to Solve the Construction Labor Shortage 34 Machine Data Changes Behavior

42 How to Take Command of Your Construction Equipment Asset Management 48 Telematics Go Beyond Fleet Management 56 State Laws On Pot Light Up Fleet Response

62 Contractors Find Big Savings From Equipment Data 70 How Fleet Management Certification Can Increase Heavy Equipment Owner ROI by 10x 84 Diesel Fuel 101: How to Choose the Best Fuel for Your Fleet 96 Master the Details 106 Tips to Keep Vocational Trucks Rolling 116 The AEMP 2021 Technician of the Year: Manatee County’s Chase Snyder

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FLEET LEADER ROUNDUP

8 EXPERTS SHARE TIPS FOR FLEET MANAGEMENT, TECHNOLOGY TO WATCH

page 16

CONNECT

WITH US ©KZENON – STOCK.ADOBE.COM

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A E M P .O R G | 20 22

The Journal of Equipment Management (JEM) is the principal publication of the Association of Equipment Management Professionals.

The JEM provides a serious source of thought-leadership that advances the equipment management profession.

Statements of fact and opinion are the responsibility of the authors alone and do not imply an opinion on the part of the officers or members of AEMP. Submitted articles are reviewed by members of the Editorial Committee.

Submit article proposals and completed manuscripts to chris@aemp.org. For further information on equipment management topics, or to provide opinion of contributors, contact: Publisher, AEMP, 1818 Parmenter St, Ste 300, Middleton, WI 53562, or call 970-384-0510. ©2022 AEMP. Published by the Association of Equipment Management Professionals.

Produced by AC Business Media.

All rights reserved. Materials may not be reproduced or translated without written permission from the publisher. Contact AEMP for reprint permission.

Editorial Offices: Chris Turek, 970-384-0510, chris@aemp.org AEMP

AEMP and the AEMP Foundation work together to bring the most comprehensive collection of services and resources to equipment management professionals.

AEMP is an individual membership organization. Its members manage private and public fleets in 18 countries.

Our Cause (why we exist) AEMP helps fleet professionals build fleet efficiencies through world-class education and collaboration.

Our Value (what we do) AEMP connects great ideas and great people to inspire innovation within the heavy equipment industry.

Our Promise (how we serve our stakeholders) AEMP delivers a collaborative community within the Equipment Triangle, with exceptional tools to make equipment managers successful.

Our Guarantee

If any AEMP program, product or service does not fulfill our promise, we will make the situation right or refund your money.

2021-2022 AEMP

BOARD OF DIRECTORS EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Chairman of the Board Dan Hubbard, CEM, CRH Americas Materials Chairman Elect Tim Morgan, CEM, Branch Civil, Inc. Secretary Treasurer Adam Ralph, CEM, Immediate Past Chairman Dave Bolderoff, CEM, Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts Chief Executive Officer Donté Shannon, FASAE, CAE, AEMP, Ex-Officio

BOARD OF DIRECTORS DIRECTORS AT LARGE

INDUSTRY DIRECTORS

Ben Caldwell, CEM, Manhattan Road & Bridge Co.

Director of Strategic Partners Mike Granruth, Trimble

Casey Dowling, CEM, RIPA & Associates

Director of Associates Joe Baker, J.J. Kane Auctioneers

Ernie Stephens, CEM, Superior Construction Jon Kaye, Gallagher Asphalt Corp.

Kirby Yakemchuk, CEM, Forbes Bros.

Matthew Case, CEM, Manatee County Government Tim Giggee, CEM, Covia Corp.

Our Mission

Building Excellence in Equipment Management

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Journal of Equipment Management

2022-2023 AEMP

BOARD OF DIRECTORS EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Chairman of the Board Tim Morgan, CEM, Branch Civil, Inc. Chairman Elect Adam Ralph, CEM, Traylor

Jackie Fowler Membership

Immediate Past Chairman Dan Hubbard, CEM, CRH Americas Materials

Jenny Frey Meetings & Conferences

Chief Executive Officer Michael Battaglia, CAE, MBA, CNAP

Chris Turek Marketing / Communications & Online University System Administrator

BOARD OF DIRECTORS DIRECTORS AT LARGE

INDUSTRY DIRECTORS

Ben Caldwell, CEM, Manhattan Road & Bridge Co.

Director of Strategic Partners Mike Granruth, Trimble

Ernie Stephens, CEM, Superior Construction

Michael Battaglia, CAE, MBA, CNAP Chief Executive Officer Board of Directors Rachel Connor Education & Training

Secretary Treasurer Tim Giggee, CEM, Covia Corp.

Casey Dowling, CEM, RIPA & Associates

AEMP STAFF

Director of Associates Joe Baker, J.J. Kane Auctioneers

Gil Gilbert, CEM Henkels & Mccoy Inc.

Nathan Florek Marketing & Communications Tony Veroeven Operations & Business Development Erin Roosa Operations & Management

Jon Kaye, Miller Bros Construction Inc. Kirby Yakemchuk, CEM, Forbes Bros. info@aemp.org

Matthew Case, CEM, Manatee County Government Steve Riddle, CEM New River Electrical Corp.

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A E M P .O R G | 20 22

AEMP 2022 CHAIRMAN

FORWARD TOWARDS THE NEW NORMAL

BY TIM MORGAN

ASSOCIATION OF EQUIPMENT MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONALS

Tim Morgan

E

veryone looked to 2021 to be a year to reset and get back to some state of normality.

Delta, Omicron, “The Great Resignation,” continued political turmoil, workforce shortages, and supply chain issues all teamed up to provide a different scenario.

We learned as an industry that “normal” may be redefined as often as the calendar changes years. Georgia Krause, in the article “Empathetic Leadership” published in the 2021 Journal of Equipment Management, described our industry as a “VUCA” environment: Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous. The reality is that this is our normal.

Our industry has proven year after year that we can and will overcome any obstacles in our path to success by using the power of our associations and the equipment triangle,

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where end-users, manufacturers, and dealers join forces to find collaborative solutions. We have learned over the years to have vision to counter volatility, understanding to counter uncertainty, clarity of purpose to counter complexity, and flexibility to counter ambiguity.

The new year looks to offer more of our normal. As an industry, we can look forward to the many opportunities we will have to continue to build new relationships, strengthen existing relationships, and to improve our associations. We should continue to build on the strong foundations of excellence in education, the establishment of industry standards, and collaboration between associations. As association members, we will have the opportunity to improve our associations by committing to show up and do the work needed to grow membership and retention, to build and make available PAGE

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Journal of Equipment Management

“We should continue to build on the strong foundations of excellence in education, the establishment of industry standards, and collaboration between associations.”

©DILOK – STOCK.ADOBE.COM

cutting-edge education programs both online and in-person and to go beyond the core competencies by adding new industryrelevant curriculums to include subjects such as sustainability and diversity and inclusion.

I look forward to 2022 with enthusiasm, anticipating a “normal” year full of excitement and growth while serving the needs of our industry and our association.

Journal of Equipment Management

—TIM MORGAN, CEM, BRANCH CIVIL INC. & CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD, AEMP

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A E M P .O R G | 20 22

© 2022 Caterpillar. All Rights Reserved. CAT, CATERPILLAR, LET’S DO THE WORK, their respective logos, “Caterpillar Corporate Yellow”, the “Power Edge” and Cat “Modern Hex” trade dress, as well as corporate and product identity used herein, are trademarks of Caterpillar and may not be used without permission.

WHAT’S THE RIGHT MOVE FOR CONTINUING YOUR EQUIPMENT MANAGEMENT EDUCATION?

CRAFT A WINNING STRATEGY A NEW COURSE FROM CATERPILLAR UNIVERSITY

WITH THE FUNDAMENTALS OF EQUIPMENT ECONOMICS

Build expertise in equipment costs and lifecycle management with our new virtual, video-based course led by Mike Vorster, author of Construction Equipment Economics and President of C.E.M.P. Central Inc. The Fundamentals of Equipment Economics course will help you master essential skills and strategies that lower costs and improve business performance, all while earning continuing education credits from AEMP. It also helps you identify: Critical success factors and equipment management functions for your business Definitions and characteristics of owning/operating costs, and how to weigh associated risks How to use cost control principles to produce actionable information for your business How to make the decision to repair, rebuild or replace a machine in your fleet How to calculate your owning and operating rate An understanding of depreciation and interest charges The impact of machine utilization and job charges Organization structure and the complex flow of funds How to increase machine uptime and decrease machine downtime

The Fundamentals of Equipment Economics curriculum is endorsed by the Association of Equipment Management Professionals (AEMP) and provides six education hours towards AEMP’s CEM/CESP certification. Those who complete the entire online coursework receive a 10% discount on the AEMP certification exam fee.

IN COLLABORATION WITH

LEARN MORE AT

CAT.COM/EQUIPMENTECONOMICS

AEMP 2022 M I C H A E L BAT TAG L I A, C EO

ACCELERATING AEMP’S GROWTH & IMPACT

BY MICHAEL BATTAGLIA

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reetings AEMP members!

I’m excited to join this dynamic community of Equipment Management professionals after being selected to serve as AEMP’s new CEO following the departure of Donte Shannon this month. I’ve gotten to know Donte over the past few years as a colleague at AMPED and wish him nothing but the best in his future endeavors. The foundation in place

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right now gives me a lot of confidence of growth ahead.

I’ve spent the last 14 years fostering an understanding of association management as an Executive Director and in other staff roles. I currently hold the Certified Association Executive credential, the Certified Non-profit Accounting Professional credential, and an MBA from The George Washington University.

I bring strong trade association experience which will help me identify growth potential PAGE

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Journal of Equipment Management

©MONSTER ZTUDIO – STOCK.ADOBE.COM

My first priority as CEO will be to followup on the success of CONNECT 2022, as well as our listening tours, to ensure that we continue delivering highquality experiences for members.

—MICHAEL BATTAGLIA ,CEO

good time to review AEMP’s organizational performance over the past few years and prioritize programs and services that make the most impact moving forward. I’ll be working with the team to improve communications, update the online user experience, and increase member engagement. Collaborative opportunities with industry partners and other associations will also help accelerate our growth as every stakeholder contributes to the future of AEMP. My third, and long-term priority, is to support the evolution of AEMP’s education and certification programs. AEMP staff, committee members and volunteers have made great strides in establishing the core educational areas that guide all current and future content creation, but there is more evolution needed to reach our end goal—AEMP’s essential role in knowledge transfer and certification is indisputable. There are many other member benefits that AEMP provides but education and training will remain at the core.

I really enjoyed meeting many of the members at CONNECT 2022 and hope to continue to strengthen these important relationships over time. Please don’t hesitate to contact me or the AEMP staff at any time with any questions or concerns.

See you again soon!

within AEMP and implement performancebased strategies to reach those goals.

My first priority as CEO will be to follow-up on the success of CONNECT 2022, as well as our listening tours, to ensure that we continue delivering high-quality experiences for members. These discussions are happening now and over the next 90 days. The AEMP Board and Staff have worked hard to build existing programs and services and I intend to use the AEMP strategic plan 2022-2023 as a roadmap to grow these programs further.

My second priority is to establish clear benchmarks for our future growth. It’s a

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A E M P .O R G | 20 22

IS IT TIME TO CONSIDER

ELECTRIC?

To help you better judge if electric is right for you, we’re addressing some of the top considerations for making the switch.

POWER When it comes to power and performance, most electrically powered machines are either comparable to or exceed their diesel counterparts. For example, the Volvo ECR25 electric excavator and L25 electric wheel loader boast nearly identical specs to their diesel equivalents —in some cases, they’re improvements.

MAINTENANCE With electric, there’s no engine-related maintenance. The lithium-ion batteries and electric motors are totally maintenance-free. The lifetime of the battery electric components should be equal to or better than the diesel engine on a conventional machine.

CHARGING When it comes to electric equipment, an adequate charging infrastructure is key, so you’ll want to plan on more than standard household outlets. For optimal overnight charging, it’s strongly recommended to have a 240-volt, 32-amp charging infrastructure in place to ensure the machines have plenty of power for the next day’s tasks.

With an optional fast charging device, it takes less than one hour to charge the ECR25 back to 80%, and about one and a half hours for the L25.

COMFORT Serious reductions in noise and vibration mean smooth, quiet operation and less fatigue for operators after several hours of work. It’s a difference they’ll notice immediately, and one they’ll appreciate long-term.

DISCOVER NEW JOB OPPORTUNITIES While investing in electric equipment comes with a lot of considerations, there are serious advantages to having a hybrid fleet, like putting construction equipment to work on jobs that were never possible before with only diesel-powered equipment.

Take some time now to think about the ways electric could help you reinvent the way you do business in the future — you could get a leg up in markets you may have thought were off the table.

Curious what early adopters of electric construction equipment think?

SEE HOW ELECTRIC STACKS UP TO DIESEL

FLEET LEADER ROUNDUP

8 EXPERTS SHARE TIPS FOR FLEET MANAGEMENT, TECHNOLOGY TO WATCH

BY KAREN SCALLY, CONTENT DIRECTOR, GEARFLOW.COM

T

Turning to the next generation of fleet leaders, eight experts shared their tips for successful fleet management, as well as what technologies are making the biggest impact on construction equipment operations.

Here’s what they had to say.

©KZENON – STOCK.ADOBE.COM

oday’s heavy equipment fleet management does not look like it did 20 years ago. The acceleration of digital technologies and the growing responsibilities of the role are changing what it means to be an effective fleet manager.

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Journal of Equipment Management

MANHATTAN ROAD & BRIDGE COMPANY

OPEN COMMUNICATION AFFECTS BOTH EQUIPMENT PROCUREMENT & UPTIME Ben Caldwell is the CEM and equipment manager for Manhattan Road & Bridge Company—a heavy civil/highway construction company headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

©KHWANCHAI – STOCK.ADOBE.COM

What is your most valuable advice for effectively managing fleet operations?

It really boils down to having a culture of open

communication. When we look at the places where we’ve stumbled, most of the time a breakdown in communication caused or contributed to the issue.

Internally, we’ve made a concerted effort to put the right information in our technicians’ hands and empowered them to use that information to make the best repair decisions.

With our project teams and stakeholders, we’ve adjusted or added coordination meetings to make sure that we are all staying on the same page. Having the right frequency of these meetings goes a long way to prevent small issues from becoming big problems.

That open line of communication also pays big dividends with purchase and rental decisions, making sure that the equipment we procure is the right size and spec to meet the project

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needs. Externally, our dealer network plays a key role in parts and service support for our fleet. Maintaining regular communication with those partners at various levels of the organization keeps things running smoothly.

What current and emerging technologies offer the biggest opportunities to transform the future of fleet management?

For where we are today, implementing a work order system with an iPad app component like HCSS Equipment360 has made a big difference. Instead of repair information living on a server in a dark closet, all of our techs now have access to the data at their fingertips in real time. The iPad app has been especially helpful using voice to text instead of typing on a laptop.

Going forward, I think taking the data that we generate from work orders, telematics, oil samples, etc., and aggregating it in a meaningful way is where we are headed. Having information in different systems and silos makes it harder to see the overall picture and act on the data.

While we’re not there yet, we know that is the direction we need to head as our executive leadership seeks to gain efficiency.

A E M P .O R G | 20 22

Josh Cotton is the North American equipment operations manager for Bechtel Corporation.

Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, Bechtel Corporation offers engineering, construction, and project management services, ranking No. 1 on ENR’s Top 400 Contractors list in 2020 and 2019.

What is your most valuable advice for effectively managing fleet operations?

Key elements to managing a fleet are goal setting and benchmarking.

Goal setting and benchmarking are the foundations to developing a plan and making sure that each dollar spent on the fleet goes to work for the organization.

When market conditions change, the fleet manager needs to understand those changes and how they will

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What current and emerging technologies offer the biggest opportunities to transform the future of fleet management?

The integration of mobile tools, such as smart devices, have made a huge improvement on our data collection efforts. We have virtually eliminated the need to re-key any data into our fleet management software.

At this point, less than 95% of the data we collect is collected in the background as part of the work process.

Gone are the days of huge

stacks of paper work orders that need to be hand-entered into the system, which allows the majority of our KPIs to be real time.

Even though telematics are not new, the eventual evolution of the telematics space has the potential to change the way we do business. Once the technology matures to the point where we truly understand how productive an asset is, the data will empower us to do a lot more with smaller fleets.

Smaller fleets will have a huge impact on the reduction in carbon footprint and will allow organizations to reserve capital for other projects.

I see waste all of the time in the construction industry in the form of idle assets. More intelligent telematics that leverage artificial intelligence will provide the type of business intelligence that will reshape the fleet of the future.

©NICOELNINO – STOCK.ADOBE.COM

BECHTEL CORPORATION

SET GOALS & BENCHMARKING TO TRACK FLEET PERFORMANCE

affect their ability to meet the organization’s operational and financial goals. Goal setting and benchmarking will drive the development of business intelligence tools and conversations that are required to measure performance and meet or exceed expectations.

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©RASHADASHUROV – STOCK.ADOBE.COM | HAGLUND

CCC GROUP

PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR FLEET IN REAL TIME Jarod Lashley is the CEM and construction equipment director for CCC Group—an industrial construction company based in San Antonio, Texas.

What is your most valuable advice for effectively managing fleet operations?

Have live data. Using live data in conjunction with visualization is key; analyzing trends can ensure your decisions are accurate.

Treat every asset like a job on its own. Know your costs, income, and how much profit each asset is generating.

Identifying those that are not performing or meeting your targets is essential.

If you are able to review and analyze live data, right-sizing the fleet will raise utilization levels and keep you in target with fewer pieces of equipment, allowing you to utilize your purchasing in a different asset category.

Journal of Equipment Management

This can also be seen in rental vs. owning. Using live data to analyze each asset separately will help you make better decisions and give you a clearer picture of your fleet’s performance.

What current and emerging technologies offer the biggest opportunities to transform the future of fleet management?

Our centralized maintenance management software (CMMS) brings efficiency and ensures that live data is available. We use telematics to communicate with the software, sending daily operations of the machines.

It is easier to capture performance data through the CMMS by opening a work order and identifying issues faster, reducing downtimes on breakdowns. The CMMS is where all the data is being analyzed: PAGE

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• Track operations and financial performance; • Analyze repair costs, technician repair time, down time, Failure Modes and Effects Analysis codes, and operator behavior; • Track unscheduled vs. scheduled repairs, and PM performance.

If you want to change a process, measure your data.

Integrations between software is one opportunity to transform the construction industry today. Many platforms are being used to bring data from the field to the central database where the data is being analyzed through a DMAIC process (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control).

Sharing this information with all points of the Equipment Triangle can lead to a better performing unit— providing a benefit to all.

A E M P .O R G | 20 22

MILLER BROS. CONSTRUCTION

UNLOCK THE TRUE POTENTIAL OF YOUR DATA

What is your most valuable advice for effectively managing fleet operations?

I believe to be the most effective in the role, a successful equipment manager needs to take the time to get to know and understand the business that the company operates.

They need to spend time with both equipment operators and project management to determine what is the right tool and spec needed to get the job done in the most effective manner.

Never accept “because that’s how we’ve always done it.”

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©ROGATNEV – STOCK.ADOBE.COM

Jon Kaye is the vice president of equipment for Miller Bros. Construction—a third generation, familyowned excavation firm headquartered in Northwest Ohio.

What current and emerging technologies offer the biggest opportunities to transform the future of fleet management?

I truly believe electrification will be the future of the heavy equipment industry, but I think we are still a long way from this being the “norm” or having an appreciable impact to the average fleet. The equipment and construction industry has typically been slow to adopt new technology, but over the last five to 10 years we have seen companies (both construction firms and OEMs) push to change this.

Companies have invested

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“Never accept ‘because that’s how we’ve always done it.’.” in telematics and updated ERP systems, but today many in the industry are at a plateau. We have begun collecting so much data but few are using that data to unlock its true potential.

This is the key to the future of equipment management— taking data from various systems and translating it to actionable steps for each level of the organization.

Journal of Equipment Management

CASTROL IS PASSIONATE ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS. BUT THAT’S JUST HALF OF IT.

Castrol® VECTON® is also the world’s first certified carbon neutral commercial engine oil,* which helps reduce your carbon footprint. And our System Pro Technology™ delivers an extra performance reserve of up to 45%** for longer useful oil life to help reduce operating costs.

LEARN MORE AT CASTROL.COM/AEMP *Defined by the BSI’s PAS 2060 carbon-neutral certification standard. ** Average of percentages by which VECTON exceeds the industry standard requirement limits in API CK-4 and ACEA E9-16 engine tests for viscosity maintenance, heat protection, deposit control, minimum oil limits and acid neutralization. In API CK-4 tests only, the VECTON performance reserve is 37%.

IT’S MORE THAN JUST OIL. IT’S LIQUID ENGINEERING.®

HAWKINS CONSTRUCTION COMPANY

KNOW YOUR CONSTRUCTION ORGANIZATION’S OPERATIONS IN & OUT

What is your most valuable advice for effectively managing fleet operations?

Have a good understanding of your equipment and the job. Know how your equipment works, its capabilities, and how to build.

For example, if you have an understanding of how to build a box culvert, you are more valuable to your field employees with helping them select the correct piece for the job. Be active in the bid process.

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©PIRANHI – STOCK.ADOBE.COM

Dan Kunce is the CEM and equipment manager for Hawkins Construction Company—a fourth generation, familyowned company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, specializing in construction, program management, and design/ build services.

What current and emerging technologies offer the biggest opportunities to transform the future of fleet management?

My opinion on technology is to get a relationship with a software company that is willing to build a platform that fits your needs and is able to change the platform whenever your needs change.

There are a lot of platforms out that have PAGE

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useless information that you may never use. Developing software to your specific needs is worth it.

Since technology is such a moving target, machine control technology is becoming a robust and valuable tool for us.

Journal of Equipment Management

MCG CIVIL

Adam Williams is the CEM and executive vice president of asset management for MCG Civil—a heavy civil construction company headquartered in Castle Rock, Colorado.

What is your most valuable advice for effectively managing fleet operations?

I think the most important thing we can do as equipment managers is to be actively involved in working “on” the business, not just working “in” the business. Every company has a mission, vision, and/or a strategic plan. Being actively involved in that creative process helps you to tailor the fleet to meet the mission/ vision of the company, whether that is moving into vertical construction, mining/aggregate, civil, or municipal work.

Being an active

Journal of Equipment Management

©MICROONE – STOCK.ADOBE.COM

INSERT YOUR EXPERTISE INTO YOUR COMPANY’S STRATEGIC PLANS

participant and moving the company towards achieving its overall goal greatly increases your ability to manage the fleet, while being consistent with company goals and vision. This allows you to garner support and buy-in of key partners within the organization.

What current and emerging technologies offer the biggest opportunities to transform the future of fleet management?

In a world filled with information, data streams, emailed reports, and copious amounts of KPIs, being able to make all that information usable is key. Aggregating this information and blending the nuances of the art PAGE

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and science of equipment management will be the next step in efficient equipment management.

Many companies are pivoting to reporting solutions that sit on top of multiple stand-alone data sources.

While your telematics data may have valuable run/ idle time information, does it correlate it to the cost or revenue per hour of a given asset? Are you able to layer information from depreciation schedules against whether an asset is in its first, second, or third service life?

A E M P .O R G | 20 22

DAVIS CONSTRUCTORS & ENGINEERS/MASS EXCAVATION

FLEET MANAGEMENT STARTS WITH TEAM MANAGEMENT Craig Worrell is the CEM and director of fleet operations for Davis Constructors & Engineers/ Mass Excavation—a general contractor and parent company of civil firm Mass Excavation. Both are based in Anchorage, Alaska.

What is your most valuable advice for effectively managing fleet operations?

Understand and lead your people with intention. If you put your people first and make sure they have what they need to be successful, in turn you and the company will be successful.

Managing your team is the foundation that the rest of your fleet will operate from.

You can have a world-class PM program and top-ofthe-line, newest equipment and technology, but without happy, eager, self-motivated individuals in the driver’s seat, you will never reach the efficiency level you could be capable of.

What current and emerging technologies offer the biggest opportunities to transform the future of fleet management?

Aside from the newer technology in GPS and what the OEMs are installing on the newest machines, we are not using any other apps or software to speak of. I do think that telematics and smartphone app-driven technology will have the greatest impact because it provides baseline core information that streamlines PMs, work orders, purchasing orders, etc.

It also will allow us to have the information immediately and accurately, removing the possible errors during data entry or transposing of numbers while not tying up human hours tracking it all down. Ultimately it allows us to make decisions faster and that speed is often the deciding factor for machine purchase, disposal, and other strategic operations within the fleet operations.

©SEVENTYFOUR – STOCK.ADOBE.COM

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Journal of Equipment Management

FORBES BROS.

BOOST THE POWER OF YOUR FLEET DATA THROUGH AGGREGATION

What current and emerging technologies offer the biggest opportunities to transform the future of fleet management?

The industry is moving past data into information. AI and

Big Data have huge potential to change how fleets are managed. Bringing all the data together to produce relevant information and decisions is what will separate world-class fleets from the rest of the field.

Autonomy is a close second, removing variability in operation and reducing damage to result in decreased costs. The hurdles are large, but the potential efficiency gains can help differentiate your organization from your competitors.

Originally published May 2021, Gearflow.com.

©YOUR123 – STOCK.ADOBE.COM | DAVE HAGLUND

Kirby Yakemchuk is the CEM and director of fleet services for Forbes Bros.—a utility contractor based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

What is your most valuable advice for effectively managing fleet operations?

You are only as strong as the team around you. These are the folks that have to execute the strategy and will be your eyes and ears. The best plan in the world will fail if you don’t have the right people.

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HOW TO SOLVE THE CONSTRUCTION LABOR SHORTAGE

Do we have a worker shortage or a shortage of leaders who know how to recruit and train the next generation? These experts offer tips on how you can fill your talent pipeline.

BY JORDANNE WALDSCHMIDT, CHIEF EDITOR, EQUIPMENT WORLD

S

till looking for the proverbial easy button to fill your talent pipeline?

We hate to break it to you: there isn’t one.

“If you’re in this industry and not being the biggest promoter of it, you’re part of the problem,” says Benjamin Holmgren, president of Buildwitt Jobs. “You’re not going to solve it for the industry. Solve it for you.”

Holmgren was joined by Natasha Sherwood, executive director of the Independent Electrical Contractors Florida West Coast Chapter, and Steve Cona III, president and CEO of the Associated Builders and Contractors Florida Gulf

Journal of Equipment Management

Coast Chapter, in a recent panel discussion led

by Autumn Sullivan, director of marketing and experience for Mobilization Funding.

The panel explored the issue of why skilled trade workers are leaving the industry, the impact of culture on recruitment and retention, and what companies can do to increase their talent pipeline.

RECRUITING & RETAINING THE NEXT GENERATION So, can everyone stop blaming millennials already? Continuing to drone on about how the generation lacks worth ethic is so 2010.

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©SYDA PRODUCTIONS – STOCK.ADOBE.COM

Older millennials, those born in the 1980s, are established and in positions of power in their careers. Where the industry needs to focus its attention is Gen Z and Gen Alpha.

“I don’t believe it’s so much a labor shortage, as a shortage of leaders who know how to lead the next generation,” says Holmgren. “Kids my age want to have a mission to get behind. They want to have a vision. They want to be led, trained, and developed.”

The companies that have solved this understand this workforce development crisis

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is not about millennials. “Taking ownership of solving this for your company is the elixir,” says Holmgren.

SHOP CLASS MAKES ITS COMEBACK Getting in front of Gen Z and Gen Alpha starts in school. Trade education in middle school and high school was nearly extinct but is slowly making a comeback. Until there is wider support for the curriculum at a state and district level, getting involved at an individual level is critical.

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AN ENGAGED EMPLOYEE IS SOMEONE WHO STAYS WITH YOU. old, and we have to get that lower to 21-22 years old. It can’t be an afterthought.”

Outside of local efforts, Holmgren suggests meeting the younger generation where they are online.

“It’s one thing to put on a trade show or job fair, but what about Instagram? TikTok? One thing you can start doing today is using social media to tell the story of your business and show people what it’s really like to work in your industry. It’s not that you have to make it look cool; the trades are already cool. ‘Come join us’—that’s what we need to be telling people.”

WORK CULTURE IN CONSTRUCTION Taking ownership of the construction recruitment and retention problem also means taking a hard look at company culture.

For better or worse, every company has a culture. How that culture has evolved depends on how it is emulated and nurtured daily.

Work culture has been cited as a major factor in many skilled-trade veterans leaving their employer or the industry entirely. While culture is a hot topic in the construction industry, and often framed as something only young people are pushing for, it has a significant impact on retention across the board.

“You can tell that no matter the age of the employee, they are all looking for a culture that has a family atmosphere, opportunities for advancement, flexible hours, and good benefits,” says Sherwood. “I just helped a

Construction companies can help through apprenticeships and mentor programs.

Contractors involved in mentorship see betterhiring success because they already have name recognition with students, panelists say.

“The greatest benefit to our industry would be a solid pipeline out of high school and into the trades,” says Cona. “It has to be a statewide effort in our educational system to promote opportunities in all occupations that don’t necessarily require a four-year degree. The average age of our apprentice is 26-27 years

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CONTINUING EDUCATION FOR RETENTION

fourth-year apprentice graduate who had an opportunity to go anywhere. He took a job at a company that paid $2 less an hour because it was a good fit. There’s that level of appreciation that is sometimes more important than the dollar bottom line.”

While there are required continuing education credits in the construction industry, employers should also consider training that provides employees with a path toward a goal they value, such as moving from apprentice to superintendent.

“In this day and age in this economy, you have to invest in training your workforce. There are no unemployed electricians and plumbers sitting on the sideline,” says Cona. “You have to build your pipeline by investing in people who might not necessarily have the skills that you need at that time. Invest in your employees, train them, put them in apprenticeship programs and maintain it through their lifecycle as an employee.”

An engaged employee is someone who stays with you.

ALTERNATIVE TALENT PIPELINES Beyond young people, there are many other viable talent pools and untapped markets to help fill the skilled-worker pipeline.

“In this day and age in this economy, you have to invest in training your workforce.”

—STEVE CONA III, PRESIDENT & CEO OF THE ASSOCIATED BUILDERS AND CONTRACTORS, FLORIDA GULF COAST CHAPTER

CHANGING THE NARRATIVE While the narrative that construction is a dead-end job is a systemic problem, individual companies can start making strides today to reframe the conversation and illuminate the opportunities.

“This country was built because people learned skills, created things and built things.

No one can say this country was built because people went to college. That’s what we need to continue to push,” says Cona. “As parents, as an industry, we need to be better at pushing the narrative that this is a viable option.”

“Don’t people get tired of talking about finding good help?” adds Holmgren. “We know you can’t find good help. Do something.”

“I’m not interested in solving the industry’s labor-shortage challenge, but if there is one person who can take something from this and it lights a spark and they can solve it for them, that’s a win.”

Correctional institutions, foster care systems, and the military are just a few options.

“We’re looking for all sorts of avenues to fill that pipeline, and one of those is folks coming out of corrections,” said Cona.

“We’re getting asked by state leaders and politicians to work with them to help develop skills while people are still incarcerated. So whenever they get out, they can get plugged back into society. If you can give people opportunities and jobs when they get out of being incarcerated, their chances of going back are very slim.”

“The military does a great job recruiting kids, with ROTC officers and billboard campaigns,” says Sullivan. “The trades need to be seen as a viable option. You can feed your family, you can travel around the country— there’s a lot of opportunity depending on where you want to go with it.”

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Originally published September 2021, EquipmentWorld.com.

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Discover the value of My Komatsu My Komatsu is your centralized portal for comprehensive fleet management. Check machine telematics, access support materials, order parts and more from your phone, tablet or computer — anytime, anywhere.

Create an account at mykomatsu.komatsu. Download the app from Google Play or the App Store or scan the associated QR code.

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Performance data used to coach operators works more effectively than a report card citing faults.

BY ROD SUTTON, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR, CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT LYTX INC.

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elematics has given equipment managers in-depth understanding into machine performance and operation. Managers have also come to understand that the data transmitted from a machine can reveal accurate accounting of how an operator performs, including insight into not only simple behavior such as idling, but also more subtle actions such as braking habits and how often they use machine automation or power modes.

All of these behaviors impact operating costs and, ultimately, the profitability of the

project and the organization. Yet changing operator behavior remains a difficult and, frankly, uncomfortable task for people responsible for the machine’s performance.

Rather than grading or criticizing operators with data, managers can use it in a coaching process that protects the organization’s investment in its working assets and also boosts operator morale, expertise, and performance.

Coaching differs from training in that it’s a conversation rather than an instruction process.

A two-way framework of communication benefits the fleet and the operator or driver, who will see coaching as a positive experience designed to help them improve.

Del Lisk, VP safety services for Lytx, a video services supplier, defines coaching as sitting with a person, listening, understanding, collecting information, bouncing ideas off the person, and guiding them to come to the decisions about what they need to do differently.

An organization that rewards improvement—which should lead to reduced costs and improved profits—solidifies the positive nature of the experience. A cookout to celebrate a reduction in certain performance metrics, the number of fault codes, for example, reinforces the fact that the entire organization gains from excellence.

An equipment-using organization must have a foundation in place before creating a coaching program that uses data, say experts. Tim Noon, global quarry technology SME for construction digital and technology for Caterpillar, suggests four key principles for a program: It gives the operator a manageable number of areas to address, it uses facts and data to engage the operator in a positive manner, it provides coaching based on these manageable areas and the facts and data, Effective coaching involves two-way conversation that allows operators and drivers to arrive at the conclusions that can result in behavior change.

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JOHN DEERE

Benchmarking a specific machine type, such as this John Deere Machine Analyzer report, enables fleets to identify operators who might benefit from coaching.

and it is built into the monitoring process in order to continue the success.

With that strategy in place, Noon says, managers can identify one or two fault codes and coach. If a fault code indicates that an emissions regeneration has been terminated by the operator, for example, “explain to the operator the importance of that.” “‘I know I’m trying to get you to produce, but this is necessary for the health of the machine and the longevity and the cost of the machine, and our overall company’s success.’

The operator now understands,” he says.

“They’ve built a positive experience.”

Equipment managers can also use data aggregated for a particular machine type—whether across their own fleet or from a dealer’s database—to identify benchmarks that reveal who might need coaching, says James Leibold, product marketing manager,

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connected solutions, John Deere.

“If you have operators in 100 different loaders, you can use this to compare operators against each other, to set a baseline...[to determine] who might need some coaching,” he says.

Travelers, an insurance provider, suggests that the foundation must also include performance criteria and accountability. “If the company’s policy says a driver who has more than two accidents in a 24-month period will have a change in their driving responsibilities, and a driver has two accidents,” says Bob Bringgold, director of transportation safety for Travelers. “Then follow through on your company policy to, for example, move them into a different position for 12 to 24 months until their record clears up.

“Once fleet managers establish PAGE

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©SMOLE – STOCK.ADOBE.COM

the foundation, coaching based on this foundation can become more readily accepted by the drivers.”

Coaching works, and it pays off in hard dollars measured in fuel savings, reduced cost of ownership, and greater utilization. Insurance savings are another cost benefit. Travelers cites studies that show fleets can reduce the frequency of accidents by 30-40% in a year when telematics is used to coach driver behavior. Lytx’s Lisk says claims costs, the money paid for bent metal and injuries, can fall by 50-80% initially. Premium reductions would logically follow, if the improvements can be maintained.

Once the foundation is laid, fleets can turn to specific metrics. One of the simplest and most immediately beneficial is fuel burn, which can be identified by idle time and mode of operation. Aaron Kleingartner, dealer and

Journal of Equipment Management

product marketing manager, Doosan North America, says an equipment manager can look at operational data over a period of time to determine where coaching could be used.

The use of high power mode and high idle times might indicate a problem, he says, but a deeper look would reveal where to focus.

“If you’re taking a look at a series of days of operation on a machine...you can dive deeper into that data and see what the loads were on the pump and the engine during that time of high power or high idle. Use that as a training tool: ‘There were certain times where the machine was not working that hard. What were you doing from 1 [to] 4 on the afternoon of Wednesday?’”

Richie Snyder of Case Construction Equipment, concurs. “Are they running it full speed, all out, like a racetrack when they don’t need to be? Is that additional wear and tear PAGE

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reports supplied by their dealer or OEM that display quickly and easily data that can lead to coaching. Volvo’s ActiveCare Direct does that, says Dave Adams, connectivity services support manager: “By having a report that

VOLVO

on the undercarriage of the machine, higher engine temps, not to mention job site safety?

Let’s drill into that before we create an unsafe environment,” says Snyder.

Fleets can take advantage of telematics

This sample report from Volvo ActiveCare Direct indicates areas for improvement in red. It also notes in green areas that are showing improvement. Fleets can use this positive change to reinforce operator behavior.

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identifies these items easily, they can quickly turn that item into a training session. They are able to quickly identify where they want to attack, what they want to improve, and make those improvements.”

Equipment managers can also monitor the use of machine control and machine automatics. These operational aids boost production and efficiency, and they can also reduce fuel burn and operating costs.

Michael Salyers, senior product manager, smart construction solutions for Komatsu, says the company’s Intelligent Machine Control opens opportunities for operator coaching.

“We are able to understand how the machine is working [as] it is working,” he says. “[Fleet managers] can see...how often the tracks are slipping, how close they are to design, if they’re even working in designs....Now the customer can see the percentages of time each operator is using the technology....Maybe he needs more coaching.

“Automation should increase production anywhere between 30 and 70%,” he says. “[A] bout 50% of the maintenance/repair cost on a dozer is undercarriage. [I]f we can reduce track slip by using automation more, we’re going to prolong the life of that undercarriage, thus extending the life of the dozer.”

Video data supplements machine data, say suppliers, and give fleets an additional layer of coaching direction. Lytx’s Lisk uses hard braking as an example. Simply showing a driver a report listing the number of instances makes for a “challenging conversation,” he says.

“But if I instead share a video with you, where you were looking at paperwork for several seconds going down the road, and then at the very last moment looked up and swerved to avoid a bike rider, that’s a much more powerful and effective way of communicating and changing behavior,” says Lisk.

Video providers are also bringing artificial intelligence (AI) to bear on the coaching process,

©DACO – STOCK.ADOBE.COM

COACHING WORKS, AND IT PAYS OFF IN HARD DOLLARS MEASURED IN FUEL SAVINGS, REDUCED COST OF OWNERSHIP, AND GREATER UTILIZATION.

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teaming their video database with machine data to identify behaviors most likely to lead to safety problems. He explains how machine vision (data recorded via cameras mounted in the cab and on the machine) and AI work together.

“The technology is trained to recognize if the driver is holding a cellphone in their hand,” Lisk says. “It can be configured to capture that video; it can also be configured to simply send the driver an alert. If they don’t put the phone down, it will then capture video.

says Caterpillar’s Noon. “Everything is digitally connected, and the data is coming from everywhere. Dealers are “step[ing] up: ‘Mr. customer, we’ve noticed that we see something here in your PMs and in these fault codes that could be addressed with some simple training.’”

Doosan’s Kleingartner says the dealer can be the data partner for a fleet.

“Even as great as the interface and the user experience are with today’s telematics platforms, it’s very easy to get overwhelmed with the data,” he says. “A dealer can be that subject matter expert for you with that data and help you through some of those scenarios that could in time significantly improve your cost position for a project.”

Case’s Snyder says their dealers are focusing on not only predictive maintenance services, but also operational improvements.

“If you’re bringing value to the operator, they will stop and listen to you,” he says. “Because if they can make the job easier, and they can be more productive, then they look a lot better to his bosses. The overall job and the overall company is being more productive and profitable.”

All John Deere construction equipment dealers have telematics departments, says Leibold. The dealer can work with operators to help them read the monitor and learn where their blade tip is, he says, or how to use offsets on the company’s SmartGrade controls.

“Then they can view the telematics site and look at all the operators’ data and start picking out who might need some coaching.”

Operators literally hold the keys to an equipment organization’s success, not only in production and profits, but also in equipment operating costs and asset management metrics. Organizations can use machine data to coach them to use those keys to the best of their abilities.

KEY PRINCIPLES FOR A COACHING PROGRAM ❯ Give the operator a manageable number of areas to address. ❯ Use facts and data to engage the operator in a positive manner ❯ Provide coaching based on these manageable areas and the facts and data. ❯ It is built into the monitoring process in order to continue the success.

—Tim Noon, Global Quarry Technology SME for Construction Digital and Technology, Caterpillar “[This] shifts the coaching from management...to the driver. It’s their opportunity first to self-correct that behavior.

If you had 20 people you need to coach, but 17 could self-correct, that sure makes the day more efficient.”

Although AI offers much potential for selfcorrecting, the fact remains that the reason that fleets have not taken full advantage of coaching is because the skill set is not common among equipment managers or operations managers. Dealers and distributors, however, can fill that gap.

“In 2021, customers are probably beyond suffering from information and data overload,”

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Originally published March 2021, ConstructionEquipment.com.

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HOW TO TAKE COMMAND OF YOUR CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT ASSET MANAGEMENT

Branch Civil recovered profits and found better control of its construction fleet data by diagnosing the pain, finding the right treatment, and monitoring fleet health.

BY KAREN SCALLY, CONTENT DIRECTOR, GEARFLOW.COM

Branch Civil is a heavy civil/site development contractor based in Roanoke, Virginia, with about 900 on-road and off-road assets in its fleet.

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E

fficient construction equipment asset management is critical to a contractor’s success. Yet, it is almost always an area that needs improving. While the adoption of telematics solutions for construction is increasing, the data is meaningless unless it is used to make smarter decisions.

Contractors often lack clear visibility into their costly waste of time and resources, says Natalie Kerschner, equipment asset data analyst for

Journal of Equipment Management

Branch Civil. “Our equipment data impacts the understanding we have of our unit costs, so that affects how our estimators are able to bid effectively,” Kerschner says. “It really touches all parts of the organization.”

After a careful evaluation of their fleet operations, Branch Civil implemented a novel solution that is providing the big picture to increase their productivity. It’s called the Situational Awareness Room (see photo on page 66) and it is serving as the command center to keep equipment—and jobs—up and running well.

Kerschner credits the creation of the Situational Awareness Room with automating service assignments,

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eliminating overtime spent on manual cost tracking, and identifying underutilized equipment to expand profit potential.

Want to get better control of your construction fleet data like Branch Civil did?

Here’s how.

would jot their tasks down on a notepad as they performed them. Then, they would spend significant time entering all that same information into their computers.

The problems extended to the department’s data DIAGNOSE analysis as well. “When YOUR PAIN I first started, everything Natalie Kerschner, equipment asset data Branch Civil is was in clunky reports analyst for Branch Civil, says managing fleet a heavy civil/site and a zillion Excel data efficiently is the key to understanding unit costs and bidding more effectively. development contractor worksheets,” she says. based in Roanoke, “It would take me a few Virginia, and it is part of the Branch Group, with days to make a really good report. Even then, $391 million in annual revenue. The site work I wasn’t confident in the reliability of the data, contractor serves Virginia, West Virginia, and because it was just being pulled from so the Carolinas, with about 900 on-road and offmany sources.” road assets in its fleet.

Kerschner says it took a few months for Kerschner, who has been with Branch the team to complete the evaluation of their Civil since 2015, says about five years ago fleet management processes. “Once we had the equipment department embarked on a that really clearly mapped out, literally with a thorough analysis to determine the source flowchart showing all of the details, then we of any inefficiencies. “We were involving the found someone to partner with to help us find entire fleet team, asking them what their pain a solution that worked for us,” she says. points were,” Kerschner says. “If we could improve anything in their lives, what would FIND THE RIGHT TREATMENT they want it to be?”

While there are many construction From managers to mechanics, no topic equipment asset management software was off-limits. “Honestly, the first few meetings platforms available, Branch Civil wanted included a lot of complaining about the something that could be customizable for systems that were in use,” she says. “But that their particular challenges. Tim Morgan, Branch was a really important part of the process Civil’s equipment operations manager, had because there was a lot of pain.” learned about the solution they ultimately For starters, they discovered that the selected through his network at the Association mechanics were spending a lot of time of Equipment Management Professionals: after normal shifts on cost tracking. “Anyone Teletrac Navman’s Qtanium Connect. The asset working on equipment had to log every bit of management software integrates with their their time, so 15 minutes spent on this item other systems in one dashboard, provides GPS or 15 minutes on that,” she says. Because location tracking of equipment, and monitors the service team is so busy throughout the equipment utilization. It is available on day working on equipment, technicians desktop and a mobile app.

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Kerschner says they then outfitted mechanics with iPads and added QR codes to their equipment. That way, mechanics can scan any asset in the fleet, and the app pulls up all of its data. Technicians can also enter fuel information and time spent on work orders right into the app, which links to their time cards to eliminate overtime for duplicating entries like before.

Another beneficial feature is that the solution automates equipment service schedules, Kerschner says. “The program automatically generates work orders and assigns them to specific mechanics when preventive maintenance is due,” she says.

“Previously, we had an employee dedicated to doing that—making those work orders and putting them in Windows folders. Now it automatically shows up on their mobile app when they log in, saying these PMs are due.

That’s been a big thing.”

Kerschner says that involving the mechanics in the development and testing of the program helped in creating buy-in. The program allows them to focus more on what

they are most skilled at—maintenance and repair to improve equipment uptime.

“Some mechanics were less technically savvy than others,” she says. “Now we joke that you can barely pry the app out of their hands because it’s made life so much better.”

MONITOR YOUR FLEET HEALTH Now that they had an asset management solution, Branch Civil didn’t want to lose sight of the value it could truly bring. They decided that all data and requests should feed into one spot with decisions flowing out of it. It was Morgan’s idea to make this a distinct location, dubbing it the Situational Awareness Room (SAR).

In 2018, the fleet team converted an old parts room in their Roanoke headquarters into what is essentially a command center. It is designed to make it easy to see what is going on with all of Branch Civil’s equipment at any given moment, with giant screens lining the walls to provide real-time data snapshots.

The SAR is manned by at least an equipment administrator, a logistics Better construction equipment asset management is preparing Branch Civil to move to predictive maintenance in the future.

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representative, and a manager to coordinate operations. One phone number and email connects field personnel and their equipment requests directly to the SAR. A screen shows these requests feeding into a communications board on Trello, which is a free project and team management platform. “It’s also linked to all of our OEMs and Qtanium, so fault codes pop up on there, and all requests and issues automatically are populated onto our Trello board,” Kerschner says.

A separate screen tracks the location of all of Branch Civil’s service trucks. That way, if a machine in the field goes down and a call comes into the SAR, a logistics administrator can quickly assess what options are available. A third screen is dedicated to their data management system where the fleet management team can drill down into the details of any particular situation. “Everything is just really central,” Kerschner says. “I can’t express how much that’s improved efficiency.”

Branch Civil recently added a SAR to its Virginia Beach location as well. “It will function exactly like the other one, with all the same information coming into screens that mirror exactly what the other SAR sees,” Kerschner says. “But there’s also a dump truck fleet over there, so they’ll be able to really use it to manage the dump truck fleet efficiently.”

Qtanium app before and after jobs to track when damage occurs.

And those complicated spreadsheets they used to handle? “A lot of those reports we were doing, we don’t even have to do anymore,” she says. “We can just push a button and have these reports.”

Another benefit is that these solutions are helping Branch Civil more effectively manage their equipment that is accruing “red” work orders, which are unplanned repairs that take a machine out of service. By comparing machine maintenance records, they can flag a piece of equipment for resale if it is breaking down too often.

Perhaps the biggest strength of the data is that it’s allowing Branch Civil to operate with a more flexible fleet. “These tools enable us to leverage leases and rentals wisely,” Kerschner says. “This is helping us better manage equipment life cycles.”

With two years of data collected, Branch Civil is moving into monitoring trends to shift from preventive to predictive maintenance.

“The more we develop our KPIs, the more predictive we can be because it’s just looking at the next level of data,” Kerschner says.

She anticipates that the next step will be more accurately estimating when specific machines require certain repairs, such as when the undercarriage needs to be replaced.

Admittedly, it’s taken years of commitment to improving their construction equipment asset management to get this far, Kerschner says. “We really went from using too much paper to using purely technology,” she says.

“And that was a big effort.”

But the ultimate payoff is having a hand in reshaping contractor productivity through digitization. “I think one of the exciting parts of this is being able to be on the forefront of a lot of the change,” she says. “You really are often just limited by your imagination.”

RECOVER YOUR PROFITS The fleet management team initially estimated that it would take about two years to see a return on investment from the SAR and its new technology. So the actual results were pretty astonishing. “Honestly, we surpassed our proposed ROI within a few months,” Kerschner says.

Getting the true picture of equipment utilization allowed Branch Civil to take machines off-rent much sooner, resulting in significant savings, she says. This strategy also produced better documentation, including pictures of equipment taken through the

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Originally published February 2021, Gearflow.com.

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Retrieving data from equipment and making the most of that data continues to be an area in which telematics technology is evolving.

©IZZETUGUTMEN | IMAGE’IN | KANAWATTH – STOCK.ADOBE.COM

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elematics systems continue to play a pivotal role in heavyduty equipment. As use of these systems has increased over the years, so too have their capabilities.

“Telematics as a technology has evolved significantly over the last 10 years,” says Pankaj Sharma, vice president, Marketing and Product at NexTraq, a Michelin group company. “It’s no [longer] just a location-based service like it used to be perceived in the past. It has evolved to be all about insights that make an impact on a fleet’s operations, whether it’s productivity, safety, cost efficiency, compliance and a lot more.”

Retrieving data from a piece of equipment and making the most of that data continues to

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be an area in which telematics technology is evolving. Incorporation of more data analytics as well as artificial intelligence and vision technology, such as dash cams, are some of the ways Sharma says telematics systems are advancing to provide more information for vehicle and equipment owners.

Integration is becoming an important part of the equation, as well. “Understanding that no individual entity can provide all services, it’s very evident we need to be part of a big ecosystem to provide a higher impact for customers,” says Sharma.

Because of this, forming industry partnerships — whether with service providers or OEMs — will be vital to ensuring end-use customers get the features and information PAGE

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TELEMATICS GO BEYOND FLEET MANAGEMENT

Continued advancement in telematics enables more data collection and predictive maintenance capabilities.

BY SARA JENSEN, EDITOR, OEM OFF-HIGHWAY

they need. While NexTraq currently offers an aftermarket solution, it plans to work with OEMs as they play a critical role in ensuring the right equipment and vehicle insights are provided to end users.

“In addition to having a flexible portal and the ability to configure whatever data you want to collect, it’s also important to realize the level of telematics that every machine needs because not all machines are as complex; not all of them have complex electronics that need to be monitored and updated,” says Ivan Teplyakov, business development manager for Connected Solutions, Danfoss Power Solutions.

For those wanting software updates, remote diagnostics or monitoring of complex electronics, he says high-level telematics

Journal of Equipment Management

systems with more connectivity are necessary.

However, not every machine or customer needs this, which is why Danfoss has made both the software and hardware used for its telematics systems flexible.

“We offer a portfolio of three different devices,” says Teplyakov. “The customer can select the appropriate level of need for their particular machine as well as the appropriate level of cost.”

NEW TECHNOLOGY IMPROVES DATA COLLECTION According to Sharma, NexTraq provides fleet management services across multiple industries, including the heavy equipment industry. Those services are focused in PAGE

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four main areas: productivity and cost efficiency, safety, compliance and workforce management. “At the end of the day, all of our solutions and services are targeted toward these elements,” he notes.

The heavy equipment industry has a broad range of requirements including tracking assets, projects and workforce. As such, the NexTraq solution brings together various elements into a single solution to help meet the industry’s range of needs.

This provides a complete picture of how a business is operating and what changes may need to be made to work safer and more efficiently.

With the NexTraq solution, users can more easily track where and how their equipment is used. This can benefit rental companies which need to monitor equipment use and plan maintenance; it can also benefit equipment owners who want to ensure their employees are using the equipment in a safe and efficient manner.

Telematics provider Geotab recently introduced its GO9+ solution featuring Wi-Fi connectivity to help make it easier for fleets to track and monitor their equipment.

Bluetooth beacons can be placed on tools and equipment that communicate with a Wi-Fi hub, which then communicates with the Geotab technology.

Colin Sutherland, executive vice president, Sales & Marketing at Geotab, notes when the company launched the new telematics solution, customers said the biggest value was the amount of data generated to help with business operations. Because the device includes both cellular and Wi-Fi components, customers can potentially reduce their cellular data costs.

Many equipment fleets have multiple portable devices and cellular plans, which can become

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costly. Having a single solution capable of providing all of their data needs can help to reduce these costs.

Sutherland notes customers can set their rate plan to best meet their business needs.

“We’re initially launching with a 2-gigabyte rate plan because we expect a lot of users to be dropping their expensive cellular plans and bringing it all through the GO9+ device,” he says.

Customers have told Geotab they will be better able to track data consumption with this new device and operate more cost effectively. “It’s all about operating costs in the field,” says Sutherland. “And in 2021, it’s about staying lean, giving people productive tools and eliminating wasted time. So, you can find a tagged asset and you know where it’s used.

Combining connected assets and devices enables an employee to work effectively in a really seamless way. And that’s what excited us when we launched GO9+.”

While tracking a large piece of equipment will be beneficial, so will the ability to track and monitor non-powered assets such as attachments and tools, even cargo in some cases.

Alex Romero, product manager for Software and Connected Solutions, Danfoss Power Solutions, says the telematics portfolio the company is launching keeps in mind the GEO

TAB

Geotab’s GO9+ includes cellular and Wi-Fi connectivity.

fact heavy equipment also continues evolving.

“Not all machines have been equipped with enough intelligence to capture how the machine is performing in the field, and some of them are more evolved than others,” he explains. “[Some customers] may need more help from the intelligence that PAGE

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Incorporation of vision technology such as dash cams into telematics systems are helping provide more information for vehicle and equipment owners.

resides within the telematics gateway.”

As such, he says Danfoss has systems which are programmable and nonprogrammable.

Reliability and security of the information is integral, as well. Ensuring that is why Danfoss has chosen to engineer its own telematics system from the ground up. Romero says doing so provides more control over the type of protocols used for communicating information. The entire communication chain—other than the cellular network and infrastructure—is owned by Danfoss, enabling it to provide customers with the data they need in a safe and secure manner.

The company is able to do this by ensuring its telematics gateways are compliant with the latest cybersecurity protocols and the right encryption to make sure the data is not exposed.

“A part of this evolving digital environment is data itself,” says Teplyakov. “It’s about data ownership, and then data privacy. And by having full control over our system, we can deliver these services to our customers without including, any more than necessary, third parties which could bring an element of risk to the whole environment.”

Journal of Equipment Management

NEXTRAQ

TELEMATICS & THE GROWTH OF CONNECTIVITY Over the past 20 years, Sutherland says diagnostic trouble codes (DTC) have moved beyond those which were engine or sometimes drivetrain focused to other components such as PTOs. More sensors are also being incorporated into components and systems to make them, and the overall piece of equipment, smarter. All of this is providing more information to help fleets maintain equipment and maximize uptime.

However, it can be challenging to bring all of this information together, which is where telematics plays a role. Bringing all information and connected devices together to a common upload point, such as a telematics system, makes everything easier to manage.

The never-ending quest for productivity, which all of this information and maintenance PAGE

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©KOSSSMOSSS – STOCK.ADOBE.COM

For OEMs wanting software updates, remote diagnostics or monitoring of complex electronics, high level telematics systems with more connectivity are necessary.

planning looks to improve, has been a key driver for the increased use of digital technology in the heavy equipment industry, says Romero.

“We’ve seen a large wave of adoption and willingness to adopt digital technology and specifically connectivity,” adds Teplyakov.

More OEMs are doing so because the cost of entry is lower due to the rate at which technology has evolved. Many see the additional features which can be provided through digitalization as a requirement to compete in the market, as well.

Implementing connectivity and digitalization must be purposeful. Teplyakov says it should either solve a problem or increase reliability and productivity while reducing downtime. What that means for the off-highway equipment market can be very different. “The large OEMs understand what data needs to be collected and how they can show users the valuable information collected in order to drive these productivity improvements,” he says. “For the majority of the market, what

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that means could be very different.”

As such, he says every OEMneeds to look at its own machine designs and what constitutes productivity benefits and reduced downtime.

Based on that, it can then implement the right technology. “Because we cater to this market of small and medium OEMs, we need to have a very flexible platform that can be configured to these different needs,” says Teplyakov.

The user interface of Danfoss’ system is customizable with various levels of dashboards. Teplyakov says customers can configure which signals they want to monitor and at what frequency. There are also customizable reporting tools through which historical data can be viewed in a way the customer needs.

Danfoss consults with customers to determine what problems they’re looking to solve or where they want to make improvements. “It’s a learning process that together with the customer we go through every time,” says Teplyakov.

It is a growth process, as well. Telematics PAGE

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PROVING THE POTENTIAL OF EVS AND ALTERNATIVE FUELS

systems can provide some basic features such as machine monitoring. Adding connectivity can then further expand these features while also making them faster and more automated.

“We always say that changing what you’re already doing to implement connectivity usually will not lead to the kind of success you want. But rather, you should augment the processes that are already in place by adding these data insights into your machine,” says Teplyakov. “Then you can grow from there. As you’re learning more about what the possibilities of connectivity are, then you start looking at more and more advanced features.”

When adding connectivity, he again notes the importance of an OEM understanding its machine and what signals would possibly provide deeper insights to aid end use customers.

Telematics play an important role in connectivity and the digital transformation of the heavy equipment industry, and is a key enabler component, says Romero. “To create an efficient machine network and deliver the promise of internet of machines, you need to connect them,” he says. “Connectivity technologies [like telematics] and pervasive expansion of wireless infrastructure have been key to this proliferation of connected machines.”

As machines continue to become more connected, it will be critical to also connect all of the different cloud platforms on which they run. Teplyakov says it will be necessary to have the cloud platforms communicate with one another to create machine networks that reach beyond a single IoT (Internet of Things) environment. “That then will lead to connecting not just machines themselves but the actual worksites,” he says.

Doing so would enable not just machines to be monitored but also the flow of various materials and resources. This would benefit a variety of industries including construction, agriculture, mining and others.

Journal of Equipment Management

As alternative fuel and power sources become more prevalent in the heavy-duty vehicle and equipment markets, telematics technology will be able to provide insights into how they perform, as well.

Sutherland says there are several alternative fuel vehicles currently in the market which Geotab’s telematics technology supports. It is able to provide not only the dayto-day operational health information but also the potential remarket value of a vehicle.

“We’re proving to some companies that previously thought buying an alternative fuel vehicle was going to be really expensive to maintain in the fifth, sixth or seventh year, that actually the vehicle has about double the life of their combustion vehicle,” Sutherland points out.

With electric and alternative fuel vehicles, customers will likely want to hang on to them

“Connectivity technologies [like telematics] and pervasive expansion of wireless infrastructure have been key to this proliferation of connected machines.”

—ALEX ROMERO, PRODUCT MANAGER FOR SOFTWARE AND CONNECTED SOLUTIONS, DANFOSS POWER SOLUTIONS

for 1 million miles, not half a million miles as currently typical with combustion enginepowered vehicles. “It’s pretty impressive to see the distance the alternative fuel vehicles get, and how low a running cost per mile they actually will run,” says Sutherland.

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©KOSSSMOSSS – STOCK.ADOBE.COM

As more alternatively powered vehicles and equipment enter the market, Geotab’s technology can help educate the industry about what is feasible with these new models, says Sutherland. It can help a fleet see what assets could be electrified or operated on an alternative fuel, which he says is key to these new technologies’ uptake in the market. “It’s giving people some benchmarks and trust that when they have to go to an alternative fuel… they will have the confidence to make that decision,” he comments.

The Geotab technology can also be used to provide insights to the OEMs of these alternatively powered vehicles to help them ensure their designs are meeting the needs of the market.

Sharma believes electrification and automation will provide a big opportunity for telematics and fleet management solutions providers. Vehicles will be more connected and capable of providing more insights into how they are being used. “It enables us to provide a lot more insights to our customers in a very intuitive way,” he says.

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There will also be a shift in safety and operations as these vehicles enter a fleet. More of the operations, such as maintenance, will become automated.

“There’s a big change which is going to happen and I think fleet management services like ours will play a huge role, intermediating the gap between what they [fleets] currently have and how they’re shifting,” says Sharma.

Going forward, every component and system is going to be natively connected from the beginning. “As we move forward with the technology, every piece of equipment, every piece of a vehicle will have its own insights,” Sharma predicts. “And the more we learn, the more it will be required for someone to gather those insights and explain or give actionable next steps for a fleet manager or fleet owners to take. That’s the way this evolution is going to take place and it’s more about how you digest the information and present it to the customer so they can take the next steps.”

Originally published May 2021, OEMOffHighway.com.

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IGNITE YOUR CAREER.

www.aemp.org/IGNITE

STATE LAWS ON POT LIGHT UP FLEET RESPONSE How fleet managers handle marijuana usage varies, but increasing acceptance of the drug puts the squeeze on labor practices.

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©IARYGIN ANDRII – STOCK.ADOBE.COM

BY ROD SUTTON, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR, CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT

CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT | SCRANTON GILLETTE COMMUNICATIONS

REGULAR DRUG TESTING (% RESPONDING, AMONG THOSE WHO TEST)

Employee drug testing often includes regular testing after hire.

Truck drivers and equipment operators are randomly tested by 80% of respondents.

A

s marijuana usage becomes more acceptable, the oftenlegal drug is increasingly showing up in employee drug tests. For managers of construction equipment fleets, marijuana usage not only poses problems in terms of operator impairment, but it also puts pressure on hiring practices, as preemployment drug screening limits the pool of applicants in a tight labor market.

Construction Equipment polled its

Journal of Equipment Management

subscribers to determine marijuana’s impact on equipment operations. Of the 303 respondents, 73% said that their company does drug testing. The respondents who test were invited to continue on with the questionnaire to answer more specific questions about the practice, providing a sample of 215.

Quest Diagnostics, a national provider of workforce drug tests, reported in May 2021 that marijuana usage among the general U.S. workforce increased in 2020 compared PAGE

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to 2019. It based its analysis on a database of more than seven million urine drug tests collected between January and December of that year. Whereas positivity for most drugs fell or held steady, marijuana showed up in more drug tests in 2020 than it did in 2019.

In an article reporting on the data, the Wall Street Journal noted that some industries—such as hospitality—are easing the requirement that job applicants test for marijuana while others—such as trucking— have seen increasing difficulties with labor as pot usage increases.

Marijuana testing has affected fleets’ ability to find qualified labor, according to 56% of respondents. One respondent said their company has a zero-tolerance policy for equipment operators, does both preemployment and random testing for the drug, and not only is having trouble finding applicants but is also losing employees due to marijuana use.

Another respondent suggested that the legal users are the same who used to be illegal users, so “nothing has really changed.”

In the Quest data, marijuana positivity differed between states that have legalized the drug for recreational use, only for medicinal purposes, or not at all. Marijuana positivity in states with legal recreational use statutes grew from 2.2% in 2012 to 4.8% in 2020. In states with only medical marijuana statutes, marijuana positivity increased from 1.9% in 2012 to 3.2% in 2020. In states with no medical or recreational marijuana statutes, marijuana positives increased from 1.9% in 2012 to 3.0%

in 2020.

“Our data suggest that marijuana positivity has increased sharply nationwide since states began to legalize marijuana in 2012,” said Barry Sample, PhD., senior director of science and technology for Quest.

Respondents to the Construction Equipment survey were split almost evenly between those in states where marijuana is legal and those in states where it is not.

Even so, 87% of respondents said they have a policy against marijuana use independent of state law. In Springfield, Illinois, (one of 18 states where marijuana is legal for recreational use) marijuana usage is still illegal in the workplace. All state employees are randomly tested for alcohol and drug use, according to Springfield city fleet manager Timothy Wier, and if they are involved in an accident or equipment is damaged, “they are tested,” he says.

About 80% of respondents randomly test their truck drivers and equipment operators for the drug. Yet 15% and 16%, respectively, do not “regularly” test drivers or operators even though their companies do drug testing.

Of those that test for drug usage, 88% said that they include marijuana in those tests.

Ducati Earth International in New Hampshire, where marijuana is legal for medical use

Base = 215 Although half of respondents reside in states where marijuana use is legal, nearly 90% said they still have policies in place to prohibit its usage.

CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT | SCRANTON GILLETTE COMMUNICATIONS

LEGAL OR NOT, USE IS PROHIBITED 20 2 2 | A E M P .O R G

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TESTING FOR MARIJUANA

Marijuana is included on drug screening panels for nearly nine of 10 respondents.

YES

Base = 215

G I L L E T T E C O M M U N I C AT I O N S

(87.9%)

NO

NTON NT | SCRA

(12.1%)

Journal of Equipment Management

ST CO N

been unable to come to a consensus on how to handle it (contractors and unions alike),” they say, “and not for lack of discussion.”

TI RUC

ON

EQUIPME

only, is surrounded by states where it is legal, according to owner Michael Regn.

“Alcohol has destroyed more families than pot ever has,” says Regn. “We random drug test once or twice a year, and we’ve never had anyone fail.”

Testing positive for marijuana almost always results in disciplinary action, according to respondents, and 42% say employees are terminated if tests reveal marijuana in their systems.

Lanford Bros. has “zero tolerance” for any drug use, says superintendent Alan Slater.

Located in Roanoke, Virginia—where marijuana became legal in July—Lanford does bridge rehabilitation work for the departments of transportation in Virginia and North Carolina— where marijuana is completely illegal.

“We random test every week to stay within [project] rules,” Slater says. “We have lost some good employees because of this, but they all know the rules that we have to go by.”

North Carolina and Virginia are also right-to-work states, but in states with a strong labor union influence, discipline for marijuana violations may be addressed in labor contracts.

An Illinois contractor, who wished to remain anonymous in this heavily unionized state, says the testing has diminished since the state legalized the drug. “The industry has

Of a 2021 Poll Conducted

by Construction Equipment ❯ 73% of companies conduct drug testing ❯ 56% state that marijuana testing has affected fleets’ ability to find qualified labor ❯ 87% said they have a policy against marijuana use independent of state law ❯ 80% randomly test their truck drivers and equipment operators ❯ 15% and 16%, respectively, do not “regularly” test drivers or operators even though their companies do drug testing ❯ 88% of those that test for drug usage include marijuana in tests

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TESTING CRIMPS HIRING

CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT | SCRANTON GILLETTE COMMUNICATIONS

YES

NO

(43.6%)

Slightly more than half of respondents cite marijuana usage tests as an inhibitor to finding qualified labor.

(56.4%)

Base = 172

DISCIPLINARY ACTION FOR USAGE

Four of 10 respondents said that testing positive for marijuana would result in termination, and 4% said no disciplinary action would result.

CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT | SCRANTON GILLETTE COMMUNICATIONS

The company has opted to treat marijuana the same way it treats alcohol use: “You cannot be ‘high’ on the job, but we will not test for it.”

Patricia D. Murray, president of Envirenew in Maryland, where medicinal use is legal, does not test for the drug unless a contract requires it. She acknowledges that some employees may be using and is concerned about liability. She recently had a truck driver injure himself on the job. He went to the hospital for treatment under workers’ compensation, but when the hospital asked for a urine test as part of the claim process, he declined. The driver was then responsible for paying the hospital.

Originally published July 2021, ConstructionEquipment.com.

Base = 173 20 2 2 | A E M P .O R G

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WHY AEMP CERTIFICATION? Top 5 Reasons Equipment Management Professionals seek CEM certification:

#1 Maximize your company’s bottom line #2 Find new efficiencies for your fleet #3 Expand your knowledge and gain new skills The Certified Equipment Manager (CEM) designation is the premiere professional credential for managers of off-road heavy equipment fleets or managers of municipal government fleets. If you are ready to showcase your knowledge and prove your position in the equipment management sector as a subject matter expert, take action today and find out what CEM certification can do for you!

#4 Advance your career #5 Earn the industry’s most recognized credential

Visit www.aemp.org/certification

AEMP Strategic Alliance Partners

And Strategic Media Partners:

©ALEX – STOCK.ADOBE.COM

CONTRACTORS FIND BIG SAVINGS FROM EQUIPMENT

How to avoid telematics overload and cut costs.

BY MARCIA DOYLE, EDITOR EMERITUS, EQUIPMENT WORLD

“F

irst things first,” advise contractors who’ve managed to tame the telematics data coming off their machines and on-road equipment.

“The first question you need to ask is what do you want from this data and how is it going to make your operation better,” says Chris Caldwell, equipment superintendent with Roanoke, Virginia-based Branch Civil, which currently has a $70 million fleet, including around 100 pieces of heavy equipment.

Josh Munna, who manages Barriere Construction’s Resource Optimization Center (pictured at right) agrees. “You need to understand what you’re looking for,” he says.

The Metairie, Louisiana-based company has around 200 pieces of off-road equipment and 40 pieces of on-road equipment.

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BARRIERE CONSTRUCTION

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Branch Civil’s Situational Awareness Room transforms their construction equipment fleet data operations.

Focus is key, adds Kevin Reimert, fleet coordinator with Schlouch Construction out of Blandon, Pennsylvania. “There are so many data points that you can easily get distracted and go down a rabbit hole that doesn’t have any value,” he says.

really mattered.”

The Branch Civil team created a plan that outlined to company executives how incorporating telematics would make operations better, Caldwell says.

STARTING POINTS

“Fuel is our No. 1 operating expense, and if you’re not focusing on fuel, you should be,” Reimert says. “Telematics gave us visibility as to what needed fuel and what didn’t need fuel.”

For example, a common but inefficient practice is to send a fuel truck to every job every day and fuel machines as needed.

Using telematics data enabled Schlouch Construction to take a deep dive into fuel burn percentages and eventually schedule its fuel trucks based off machine fuel levels. This allowed the firm to better manage its routes and improve fuel delivery efficiencies.

Schlouch then examined equipment

FUEL COSTS NO. 1

“Ten years ago, we were basically chasing failures,” Munna says. “We found that after a certain point, it’s more efficient to purchase a new piece of equipment, so we now tend to keep equipment less than 5,000 hours, which helps us to be less reactive.”

“In 2005, we were 100% fix-when-fail,” says Don Swasing, chief operating officer at Schlouch, which manages about 150 construction machines and 150 pieces of on-road equipment. “Our vision then became condition-based maintenance. We started talking about what we could control and what

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BRANCH CIVIL

ELIMINATING COSTS

utilization. “We looked at the metrics, the key performance indicators that could drive utilization into a better place than we had with a manual process,” Reimert says.

Fuel burn and equipment utilization were also two key data pieces that Barriere Construction first wanted to control, Munna says. From then, there’s been a progression of information. The company coordinates its data through several suppliers, including Cat’s VisionLink (for construction machines), FleetWatcher (trucking cycle times), Samsara (service trucks) and B2W (production, PMs).

“We’re still finding out things today, and we’re 10-plus years into this,” Munna says. “You really have to know what you’re going for and what will satisfy your needs.”

“All of this information is designed to compel us to act,” adds Don Swasing, chief operating officer at Schlouch.

Journal of Equipment Management

All three contractors can pinpoint cost savings as a direct result of incorporating telematics.

Branch Civil used its utilization reports to change its business operations. “When a machine’s utilization is low, we can move it somewhere and avoid rental,” Caldwell says.

The company also looks at fuel burn to help determine how many equipment maintenance workers will be needed on a job.

It also gives Branch Civil more visibility into reported hours versus machine hours and increases billing accuracy.

Barriere uses its machine data to determine where older machines are in their life cycle and whether they need to be disposed of, Munna says.

Tracking this data also helps operations understand how much idling costs, Munna says, including the added DEF expense with PAGE

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©ALEX – STOCK.ADOBE.COM | SCHLOUCH CONSTRUCTION

Tier 4 equipment.

Barriere’s different data feeds from its telematics, tracking systems and software are put on six large screens in Barriere’s ROC, says Lucien Wicker, the company’s equipment coordinator. Also on screen: the weather.

“We combined the equipment and logistics department and put all in one area so we can share resources throughout the company,” Munna says. “It cuts down on the phone calls and emails.”

“We have GPS on probably 85% of our third-party trucks, so we’re able to see where those trucks are minute by minute, including the low-boys on the paving side,” Munna adds.

Branch Civil calls its equipment operations center “SAR,” which stands for situational awareness room. It uses Teletrac Navman to bring its machine telematics into one portal.

Its on-road fleet is managed on another screen. “It’s centralized information with a decentralized command,” Caldwell says.

All machine fault codes are populated automatically in Branch Civil’s SAR, says Natalie Kerschner, operations analyst. In the SAR, “you can see everything that’s going on

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with the equipment, what the needs are, and then it can be assigned from there.”

Branch Civil has also worked hard to automate its PMs, Kerschner says. “The work orders are automatically generated whenever a service is coming due and assigned to a mechanic.”

These work orders are color-coded, separated by regular PMs, damaged units, emergency shutdowns, etc. “We can look for trends to see if a machine has had a lot of emergency breakdowns and drill deeper into the information,” she says. “It really has helped us keep a better eye on our fleet.”

“All of our data flow comes to one person,” says Reimert. This includes the company’s telematics providers such as Cat’s VisionLink and Komatsu’s Komtrax. Schlouch’s logistics department also handles data coming in from its on-road fleet.

REAL COSTS “Once you get the buy-in from operations, it’s going to make everything on the equipment logistics side so much easier,” Munna says. “Then they really are able to PAGE

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understand the cost effects and what it could do to the equipment.”

And when utilization rates show that not all the equipment assigned to a jobsite is used, it can really cut costs and prevent equipment hoarding, Munna adds. “That’s helped us get more aggressive on our bids.”

Barriere has a weekly meeting where operations reviews utilization reports.

The hour readings reported by machine telematics are compared with the hours each foreman reports. “We want to make sure they understand what happens when you’re not properly claiming the equipment,” Munna says.

The costs involved can be significant.

“In the first year we implemented our telematics, we reduced our rental spend by about 50%,” says Caldwell, of Branch Civil.

“We almost paid for our entire telematics through our efficiency.”

In fact, just the PM scheduling alone has helped Branch Civil drive its equipment rates down. “In turn, that makes us better on bid day,” Caldwell says.

Swasing, of Schlouch, agrees. “It made it a little easier for us to come together and have conversations about utilization, how to lower cost rates and how to extend the life of the equipment,” he says. “It ultimately affects our cost rates, and the cost rates ultimately affect our ability to win business.”

Schlouch reduced its idle time 10% to 15% across its fleet after coaching its operators, Reimert says. “The foreman can communicate with his crew and tell them, ‘Every hour you idle this machine, it’s costing this amount of money.’”

“You really have to start at the why and stick to that why throughout the coaching process,” says Kerschner, who also tries to share dollar amounts and what the company is able to save through such things as an antiidling policy. “We tell them, ‘Here are all the reasons and here’s your part of that,’” she says.

In addition, Schlouch has saved significant

Journal of Equipment Management

money with its hauling operations, Swasing adds. “Our estimators have really latched on to that and are incorporating it into their bids.”

HOW TO START For those just starting out and looking for basic information such as machine location and hours, “you can probably go with a generic third-party application,” says Reimert.

But those wanting a deep dive to improve operational efficiencies will need to use OEM telematics “and get that specific fault code information and fuel data.”

ONGOING CHALLENGES These telematics veterans have a clear view of what still presents problems.

“I think there’s a gap at the dealership with a working understanding of the product,” Reimert says. “They’re sending somebody out who’s not really understanding what a fleet manager’s responsibilities are and what we are trying to accomplish, and it makes it that much more difficult to get a result.”

Munna also points out there can be some hour-meter discrepancies between machine telematics and maintenance software. “We have an automated PM system that is our trigger, and when a meter is off, it may be generating a PM faster or slower than we like and that’s going to cause other failures.”

Increasing the number of mixed-fleet data points that are included in the Association of Equipment Management Professional’s Telematics Standard would also be helpful, Caldwell says. (This creates a common data format that enables viewing mixed fleet data on a single site.) “It would be more easily accessed in one place,” he says.

This article was based on a live Tech Talk presented by CONEXPO-CON/AGG and sponsored by Caterpillar. Originally published April 2021, EquipmentWorld.com.

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Equipment, wherever and

With the largest, most diverse fleet of construction and we are a one-stop shop for whatever you need, delivere

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HOW FLEET MANAGEMENT CERTIFICATION CAN INCREASE HEAVY EQUIPMENT OWNER ROI BY 10X

Tap into the value that fleet manager certification provides for you and your organization.

BY KAREN SCALLY, CONTENT DIRECTOR, GEARFLOW.COM

The principles of the Certified Equipment Manager are not necessarily intuitive, says Matt Cox, CEM, director of asset management for LehmanRoberts.

LEHMAN-ROBERTS

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T

he profit is no longer in the iron for heavy equipment fleet management. It’s in how you perform the job, says Matt Cox, director of asset management for Lehman-Roberts. The right training is key to creating efficiencies, and fleet management certification can help elevate asset managers into increasingly valuable roles in their organizations.

In the past, Cox says heavy equipment owners would often focus on winning work

to at least cover the equipment they had financed. “If you bought a piece of equipment, let’s say a road grader, and you financed it for $300,000, all you had to do was get enough jobs to pay the note on that,” he says. “At the end of the term, if you had some residual value left over, the profit was literally in the iron sitting in your yard. That’s absolutely not where we’re at today.”

Current fleet managers need to master distinct skills to control their department’s costs. Cox says the Certified Equipment Manager (CEM) designation he earned from the Association of Equipment Management Professionals (AEMP) has been instrumental in shaping processes that pave the way for profitability.

The AEMP offers a certificate program (Equipment Management Specialist) and two certifications (Certified Equipment Manager and Certified Equipment Support Specialist) for fleet professionals, and it provides the only resources specifically designed to professionally develop equipment managers, says Donte Shannon, FASAE, CAE, and the CEO of AEMP. “We offer everything from fleet management and maintenance essentials to financial management to benchmarking.

We have a number of core content areas focused on education and training to give the full breadth of being a holistic, successful equipment manager,” Shannon says. “So the investment…comes back sometimes even tenfold to the company, because your staff person is learning how to create efficiencies in order to save the company money.”

THE TYPES OF FLEET MANAGEMENT CERTIFICATES & CERTIFICATIONS AVAILABLE Equipment Management Specialist What it is: The Equipment Management Specialist (EMS) certificate course is designed for those who are new to heavy equipment

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fleet management (less than five years of experience) or as the first step to get a CEM designation. It is also ideal for organizations that are looking to create an equipment manager role, covering 17 core competencies essential for asset management.

Format: Self-guided online program available through AEMP University.

Time commitment: Estimated 35-40 hours; course materials available for one year after enrollment.

Requirements: No requirements Certified Equipment Manager What it is: The Certified Equipment Manager (CEM) is the industry’s premier recognition

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FLEET MANAGEMENT CERTIFICATION CAN HELP HONE THE SKILLS NEEDED TO CONTROL HEAVY EQUIPMENT COSTS.

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FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE FLEET MANAGEMENT CERTIFICATES AND CERTIFICATION IS AVAILABLE AT AEMP.ORG.

SMS EQUIPMENT

Certified Equipment Support Professional What it is: The Certified Equipment Support Professional (CESP) is designed for dealer, supplier, and other vendor representatives to demonstrate superior knowledge of fleet management requirements in order to better serve their customers. The designation covers what a CEM needs to know plus material specific to customer support.

Format: Exam offered during in-person AEMP Connect and Equipment Shift conferences or at a local certified testing center.

Time commitment: Four to five hours spent studying each chapter of the Career Equipment Fleet Manager Manual.

Requirements: Minimum five years of equipment management experience plus 25 “points” of accumulated experience and continuing education hours in order to complete the application packet for the exam.

of fleet management qualifications, demonstrating a mastery of five standards and 17 core competencies.

Format: Exam offered during in-person AEMP Connect and Equipment Shift conferences or at a local certified testing center.

Time commitment: Four to five hours spent studying each chapter of the Career Equipment Fleet Manager Manual.

Requirements: Minimum five years of equipment management experience plus 25 “points” of accumulated experience and continuing education hours in order to complete the application packet for the exam.

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HOW TO PREPARE AEMP offers a course, called the IGNITE Learning Lab, to help individuals prepare for their CEM and CESP exams. Traditionally, the course has spanned two to three days and took place in conjunction with the association’s Connect and Equipment Shift conferences, held every spring and fall. While the IGNITE Learning Lab is not required in order to take certification exams, participants had the option to take the exam upon completion of the course as part of the in-person events.

However, in 2020, the pandemic forced changes to the course that the association was already considering. “The organization has been talking for the past three or four years about transitioning this program to an online format,” Shannon says.

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In early 2021, the AEMP launched a revamped course for the web, featuring instructor-led study over a seven-week period.

At the beginning of each week, recorded instruction, taught by a team of experienced CEMs, and handouts covering a new focus area are released. Quizzes help participants assess how well they are absorbing the material, which should take about four to six hours a week.

IGNITE participants can also add on an interactive peer mentoring component to review materials and discuss questions. “This pairs you with someone else who is also going through the IGNITE course, so it’s like having a study buddy,” Shannon says.

In the future, IGNITE will be offered twice

a year at in-person events and twice a year online. The next IGNITE Learning Lab begins online on May 3, and interested participants can learn how to register at aemp.org/ignite.

Students that participate in the course online who want to take their CEM or CESP exams afterwards can do so through AEMP. The Certification Commission is considering the advantages of moving the exams to an online format as well.

THE BENEFITS Those who have received fleet management certification say it has greatly influenced the ways they perform their jobs, providing an in-depth framework to enhance

WASTE MANAGEMENT

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their decision-making. Four professionals in fleet management detailed the results they have seen and how it’s impacted their operations. Here’s what they had to say.

“Having been in the position I was in with Michelin for 16 years, I was basically accustomed to looking from the axles down, not the whole scene, Then I became a senior district fleet manager, and it is a completely different wheelhouse.”

Equipment Management Specialist An announcement on Waste Management’s internal company portal caught the eye of Mindy Brown, the maintenance equipment manager for Southern Arizona and New Mexico. Two employees had recently earned their EMS certificates from the AEMP. Though Brown already had a goal to earn the CEM, she had never heard of the EMS. She was intrigued, and after learning more, thought it would be a good first step towards the CEM. Brown had previously worked for Michelin as a sales rep and was recruited to join Waste Management as a fleet manager.

“Having been in the position I was in with Michelin for 16 years, I was basically accustomed to looking from the axles down, not the whole scene,” Brown says. “Then I became a senior district fleet manager, and it is a completely different wheelhouse.”

What the EMS course does for someone that is newer to fleet management is it covers all facets of the role.

“There’s a misconception out there that people think we’re glorified parts orderers—you know, all we do is order parts,” she says. “We’re not just ordering parts. The role goes into this whole menagerie of things that interconnect with the bigger picture.”

Brown says the EMS course provided several benefits for her. First, it better prepared her for monthly P&L meetings with Waste Management leadership. Second, she says the

—MINDY BROWN, MAINTENANCE EQUIPMENT MANAGER, WASTE MANAGEMENT

EMS refocused her on the priorities of the job.

And perhaps most importantly, she says it gave her the tools to communicate more effectively with her team of nine service technicians, helping them understand the broader impact the fleet department has on the overall success of the company.

“What you do—and what you don’t do— matters: in terms of data, in terms of reporting, in terms of photos, in terms of quality PMs, or even charging parts out,” Brown says. “This affects this huge picture, not just your little window from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. every day.”

With her EMS training, Brown says she was able to get her team reporting correctly and embrace the value of their data, which is the only way company leadership will know exactly how their sites are running.

“I think one of the biggest takeaways I can attribute to it is that it helped prep me to help prep others,” she says. “My main goal with my team is to promote them.”

She is now recommending the course to other team members to further their own growth and sharing how it will open up their eyes to the potential influence they can have.

“This course will help you take the blinders off from this tunnel vision view that you have,” Brown says. “It gives you a much clearer view

THE EQUIPMENT MANAGEMENT SPECIALIST COVERS ALL FACETS OF THE ROLE FOR PROFESSIONALS WHO ARE NEWER TO FLEET MANAGEMENT.

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Does Fleet Management Certification Expire?

The CEM and CESP designations must be renewed every five years by completing 40 hours of continuing education during that time; no retesting is required.

relevant CE opportunities available from outside organizations.

Shannon says AEMP began offering regional in-person meetings in April 2021 with one in the greater Chicago area—these also offer CE hours. The one-day meetings follow all COVID safety guidelines and have a 50-person capacity.

AEMP offers about 35-40 CE hours each year that can be obtained by attending its conferences or webinars, participating on committees, and serving in volunteer roles. The association also recognizes

©ABYSSDESIGN – STOCK.ADOBE.COM

of what your job entails and everything you touch, and how that affects everything within the company.”

which he did at an AEMP Connect conference that preceded ConExpo-Con/Agg. He says he spent a couple months leading up to IGNITE studying the Career Equipment Fleet Manager Manual and materials.

Not only was he able to kill two birds with one stone by attending the course and visiting the trade show to meet with his vendors, Wiens says he found the peer-to-peer interaction during training particularly valuable. He realized he wasn’t alone in many of the challenges he faced and common solutions often existed.

The exam itself is quite rigorous, and Wiens says he didn’t pass the first time. “I wasn’t as prepared as I thought I was,” Wiens says. “It gave me a good judgement of where my weaknesses were, and where I needed to go back and study some more.”

Though he had years of maintenance experience under his belt, Wiens says he was less familiar with the financial side of equipment management. Currently, SMS Equipment is shifting how they lifecycle their machines, and Wiens says he has been able to apply his CEM training to the budgeting.

“When you’re a mechanic, you’re not always aware of all the numbers that are in

Certified Equipment Manager As a heavy equipment mechanic, Greg Wiens took advantage of the many training opportunities available for the profession to hone his skills. So, when he was promoted to fleet maintenance manager at SMS Equipment, he started searching for applicable courses for his new role.

“The place that I found the best fit—that was the most direct at fleet maintenance managers and just fleet maintenance in general—was the AEMP,” Wiens says.

He says that service technicians stepping into fleet management cannot rely only on their equipment knowledge, because there is so much more to the job than that.

“We’re more asset managers than maintenance managers and that requires another skill set,” he says.

Wiens says SMS Equipment, a dealer that carries mostly Komatsu equipment with branches throughout Canada and also has a rental fleet, supported him pursuing his CEM and going through the IGNITE Learning Lab,

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The Association of Equipment Management Professionals offers a certificate program and two certifications for fleet professionals.

SMS EQUIPMENT

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KIRBY-SMITH MACHINERY INC.

the background,” Wiens says. “I look at these numbers now on the ROI and the revenue of the machine, and I see the repairs—and I understand that maybe this is a machine we need, even though it’s not at that point in its lifecycle, to start talking to management about getting rid of, because it’s really going to be an issue.”

The insights and materials he received from obtaining his CEM is something Wiens says he relies on regularly. “The manual is a great reference book,” he says. “I think the information in there is second to none.”

Matt Cox’s promotion to director of asset

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management at Lehman-Roberts came with a string attached. He needed to get his CEM within the year. “It’s one of those expectations that if you’re going to be in this role, you need to complete the requirements for becoming a CEM,” he says.

In addition to going through the IGNITE Learning Lab, Cox says two other things helped him prepare for the CEM. First, he had 13 years of experience as a U.S. Army Commissioned Officer and MEDEVAC pilot where he oversaw the maintenance on a unit of 15 helicopters.

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THE CERTIFIED EQUIPMENT SUPPORT PROFESSIONAL PROVIDES INSIGHTS INTO FLEET MANAGER RESPONSIBILITIES THAT DEALER AND SUPPLIER REPRESENTATIVES MAY NOT BE AWARE OF.

times have changed. “There’s a legacy way of handling equipment maintenance, and then there’s what’s required of a modern equipment manager,” he says. “And it’s vastly different.”

When he entered the asset management position for the Memphis, Tennessee-based paving contractor, Cox says he didn’t appreciate how much financial responsibility it had.

“When you start talking about the budget of an equipment division, at times it can be 10-20% of the top line revenue of a company,” he says. “That’s a massive impact. And that is one of the stated goals of AEMP is to elevate the equipment manager into the C-suite, and rightfully so, because of the gravity of what we impact.”

Today’s equipment managers need to know how to partner strategically with vendors, how to lifecycle equipment, how to maximize the value of the fleet, how to set utilization rates, and much more, Cox says. All of this requires specific training, and that’s what IGNITE and the CEM designation provides.

But Cox wants to emphasize it’s just a start.

“I would caution people if they think that they’re going to take the IGNITE course, and all of a sudden, you’re going to have this body of knowledge and that you can then rest on your laurels after passing that exam, that’s not what it’s about,” he says. “Being a continuous learner and getting involved in AEMP, that’s really key.”

so a lot of the financial components were fresh in his mind.

“This stuff isn’t easy,” Cox says. “You can’t just act like how fleets were 40 years ago, where you run it until it breaks and then you go get tools out of the shop and fix it. It’s very complex with having to understand your cost per ton or your cost per hour to run a machine.

You need to understand your limitations of what you can do and what you need to rely on your vendors to help out with.”

Cox says the principles of the CEM are not necessarily intuitive, and to succeed in this role, fleet managers must understand that

Journal of Equipment Management

Certified Equipment Support Professional While working as a sales rep at his previous employer, Rickey Bailey—the vice president of the crane division at Kirby-Smith PAGE

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Today’s equipment managers need to know how to partner strategically with vendors, how to lifecycle equipment, how to maximize the value of the fleet, how to set utilization rates, and much more.

Machinery Inc.—noticed that most of his fleet manager customers had something in common. They all had their CEM. Though Bailey had 20 years of experience in the industry, he learned he could grasp the fleet manager’s world even better through the CESP designation, which is designed for vendor representatives by building on the CEM objectives.

“I just felt like it was the right thing to do to try to understand where they spent their time, other than just how much something costs,” Bailey says. “It’s helpful to know what the pressure points are and what exactly it is they’re trying to accomplish.”

Even with all his time spent working with fleet managers on their equipment needs,

—MATT COX, CEM, DIRECTOR OF ASSET MANAGEMENT, LEHMAN-ROBERTS

SMS EQUIPMENT

TODAY’S SERVICE TECHNICIANS WHO STEP INTO FLEET MANAGEMENT CANNOT RELY ONLY ON THEIR EQUIPMENT KNOWLEDGE IN ORDER TO SUCCEED.

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he says getting his CESP provided insights to responsibilities he didn’t realize they had. “It made me appreciate how detailed these guys have to get into the financials, environmental concerns, and safety concerns,” he says.

Now as the vice president of the crane division for Kirby-Smith Machinery Inc., a dealer with 12 branches throughout Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Missouri, and Southern Illinois, Bailey says having his CESP helps demonstrate his qualifications to his customers who have their CEMs. He says they know the kind of work he has put in to comprehend their needs and challenges.

“They understand what you’ve done and what you’ve been through from a certification

standpoint, and it’s appreciated and recognized,” Bailey says.

Bailey says the CESP allows dealer and supplier representatives to distinguish themselves by showing how much they care about their customers’ success—not just their own.

“Participating in the CESP furthers support professionals’ knowledge and understanding of what it is your customers are trying to accomplish, especially if new to the industry,” he says. “As soon as you meet the eligibility requirements, I would say it’s a good thing for manufacturers and distributors alike. And it’s just a great way to get involved in the industry.”

©MARTIN BARRAUD/KOTO – STOCK.ADOBE.COM

Originally published March 2021, Gearflow.com.

What’s Next if You’re Interested in Fleet Management Certification?

Donte Shannon, FASAE, CAE, the CEO of AEMP says the next step for fleet professionals interested in pursuing further development through certification is to discuss the value of this investment with their employers.

If employers have questions or budget is not available to fund professional development, Shannon encourages reaching out to the association’s leadership. “We certainly want to be able to work with people who may not have the resources to invest personally, but just need to be able to get engaged with us,” Shannon says.

Further details, including tuition costs, are available at www.aemp.org.

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A clean supply of quality diesel fuel will keep your fleet humming.

BY CURT BENNINK, SENIOR FIELD EDITOR, EQUIPMENT TODAY & FORCONSTRUCTIONPROS.COM

HOW TO CHOOSE THE BEST FUEL FOR YOUR FLEET

C

hoosing the best diesel fuel for your fleet should be based on more than the cost of the fuel. One of the more critical considerations is the cetane rating. It is an indicator of the combustion speed and the compression required for ignition. The higher the cetane number, the quicker the fuel ignites under pressure.

Cetane is rated on a scale from 0-100 with higher numbers indicating higher combustion speeds. Modern diesel engines often require cetane levels anywhere from 45 to 55. Generally, the higher the cetane number, the better.

Journal of Equipment Management

When purchasing conventional petroleumbased diesel, you also typically have a choice of grades. The most common and widely available grades are Diesel No. 1 and No. 2.

Diesel No.1 is commonly referred to as winter diesel since it tends to perform better in cold temperatures. It is free of paraffin wax and therefore offers the best operability during the coldest parts of winter. It has a lower viscosity and is less prone to gel in extremely cold climates. The higher cetane rating also results in faster, more efficient starts. This puts less strain on batteries.

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common operating conditions, it is less volatile than Diesel No. 1 and provides greater fuel economy.

Diesel No. 2 is inclined to gel in the winter, however. When the temperature drops, the paraffin in the fuel begins to solidify. Over time, this wax-like substance clogs the fuel line and the fuel filter and prevents the free flow of fuel, making it harder to start the engine. The fuel will begin to gel when the temperature drops to the fuel’s cloud point—where the paraffin in the diesel begins to look visibly “cloudy.”

As the temperature continues to drop, the

fuel will reach the Cold Filter Plugging Point (CFPP). This is the lowest temperature at which it can still pass through a 45-micron filter.

There are additives that can drop the CFPP to prevent gelling. But as the temperature falls, you need to consider changing from Diesel No. 2 to No. 1.

Another common solution is blending fuels to meet the local conditions. Diesel No. 1 and No. 2 can be readily blended, with most service stations offering blended fuels for local weather conditions. They can be blended in almost any ratio up to 100% Diesel No. 1.

CURT BENNINK

Water is a problem during transport, storage and use. Newly refined fuel is clean and free of excessive moisture. Refiners and pipeline operators adhere to strict fuel storage tank maintenance procedures with regular removal of water bottoms and occasional chemical treatment to assure American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) specifications are met.

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ON-ROAD VS. OFF-ROAD DIESEL

equipment has a major impact on uptime, There was a time when there were physical especially with the advent of Tier 4-compliant differences between on-road and off-road engines that rely on high-pressure common rail diesel, primarily in the amount of sulfur fuel injection systems. Because these engines allowed in the fuel. Ultra-low sulfur diesel work at higher fuel pressures and have smaller (ULSD) for on-road use had a limit of 15 ppm injector openings, even the smallest amount of of sulfur, while offAC BUSINESS MEDIA, FORCONSTRUCTIONPROS.COM STAFF road diesel could contain 500 ppm.

Then, in 2011, it was mandated that all diesel fuel produced in the U.S. be ULSD. While the ULSD fuel is cleaner, the downsides are that it produces less heat energy and has less lubricity, which can increase fuel system wear in older machines.

Today, the difference between on-road and off-road fuel really boils down to the dye color used to differentiate the tax status of the fuel. On-road fuel is taxed to maintain the road infrastructure, while off-road fuel is In 2011 it was mandated that all diesel fuel produced in the U.S. be ULSD. exempt from this tax.

Red dye is used for off-road fuel (both No. 1 and No. 2) and contamination can prove problematic. The most clear or green is used for on-road diesel. The common contaminant in diesel fuel is water. red dye is easy to spot and can be quickly Fuel cleanliness has always been an identified with a black light even if it has been essential part of maintaining the performance, diluted with on-road fuel. This makes it easy reliability and usable life of all diesel engines. for inspectors to catch diesel fuel customers International Standard Organization (ISO) trying to avoid the tax. cleanliness codes are used to determine the cleanliness level.

FUEL CLEANLINESS DRIVES UPTIME The ISO cleanliness codes are derived The cleanliness of the diesel fuel in your from ISO 4406:99, which states particles per

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Today, the difference between on-road and off-road fuel really boils down to the dye color used to differentiate the tax status of the fuel. Red dye is used for off-road fuel, both No. 1 and No 2, and on-road diesel is clear or green. On-road fuel is taxed to maintain the road infrastructure while off-road fuel is exempt from this tax.

1 mL. The codes show three sets of separated numbers, which refer to ranges depicting the number of particles present in fuel that are larger than 4, 6 and 14 micron, respectively.

As 6- and 14-micron particles are both larger than 4 micron, those particle sizes are also present in the first number. The second number only shows particles larger than 6 micron, while the last number only shows particles larger than 14 micron.

In the past, a cleanliness of ISO 18/16/13 has been specified by the fuel injection equipment manufacturers, which means no more than 1,300 to 2,500 particles greater than 4 micron can be present in the fuel. This level

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of cleanliness requires careful fuel-handling practices. Make sure all storage, transfer and equipment tanks are clean and fitted with the appropriate filters.

Fuel for Tier 4 engines has to be 100 times cleaner than that used in Tier 3 engines. Where Tier 3 diesel engines can operate with fuel containing between 1,300 and 2,500 particles greater than 4 micron, Tier 4 engines can only have between 20 and 40 particles greater than 4 micron. The cleaner the fuel, the more efficiently it will burn in these engines.

The stringent cleanliness requirements place a greater demand on fuel filters. Even small pieces of dirt or dust that don’t get PAGE

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filtered out of the fuel can get stuck in the openings of injectors, causing decreased engine performance or system malfunctions.

Consequently, filters must now prevent sub-visible particulate from entering the engine. Particulates in the 1- to 5-micron range must be removed, whereas 20 years ago, particulate removal was in the 50-micron range. (The human eye can see 40 micron and above.)

With engine injection pressures reaching 15,000 psi and above, removing water from fuel is essential to maintaining performance. While just 20 years ago engines were able to burn water that entered the fuel system, now even the smallest amount of water can cause an injector tip to blow and the engine to need overhauling.

All fuels contain some water in suspension. But unlike gasoline, diesel fuel is less refined and will hold a much larger amount.

This water can cause severe problems with water separators on the equipment. It can also cause the fuel injector tips to explode, resulting in expensive repairs. In fact, slugs of water in diesel fuel can cause sudden cooling in the engine and may result in shortened engine life.

Low levels of water dissolved in the fuel are not necessarily a problem. However, free water in diesel fuel could result in excessive injector wear, filter plugging, power loss and corrosion of engine fuel system parts. You can often tell if there is a problem by a simple visual inspection. If the fuel is hazy, or there is evidence of free water, then there is too much water in the fuel system.

Journal of Equipment Management

To remove water from fuel, many filter manufacturers will use an absorbent technology to literally absorb the water. Once the absorbent can no longer absorb and hold water, the filter must be replaced.

Water is a problem during transport, storage and use. Newly refined fuel is clean and free of excessive moisture. Refiners and pipeline operators adhere to strict fuel storage tank maintenance procedures with regular removal of water bottoms and occasional chemical treatment to assure American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) specifications are met. Unfortunately, after it leaves these facilities, water bottoms removal is often neglected.

Several factors contribute to moisture accumulation, including climate, storage tank installation and fuel-handling procedures.

Temperature changes can cause suspended water in the fuel to settle out. For instance, any time warm fuel is placed in a cooler tank, whether for storage or transport, moisture will drop out of the fuel as it cools. This makes it necessary to periodically drain off the water, which is a simple task. Water is more dense than fuel, so it always settles out to the bottom of the tanks.

BIODIESEL PROVIDES GREEN ALTERNATIVE Despite the recent interest in biodiesel, the concept of renewable diesel is not new. In fact, Rudolf Diesel’s namesake engine, developed in 1893, was designed to run on peanut oil. But the oil boom eventually resulted in an ample supply of inexpensive petroleum-based diesel.

Biodiesel is a cost-effective and more environmentally friendly alternative to conventional petroleum-based diesel fuels when used in the correct applications. It improves lubricity when compared to ULSD. It also reduces emissions of hydrocarbons, particulate matter and carbon dioxide.

In addition, biodiesel and renewable PAGE

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CURT BENNINK

Several factors contribute to moisture accumulation, including climate, storage tank installation and fuel handling procedures. Temperature changes can cause suspended water in the fuel to settle out.

hydrocarbon diesel fuel offer higher cetane numbers than traditional petroleum diesel for better combustion.

There are limitations, however, when compared to petroleum-based diesel.

Biodiesel typically has a higher cloud point, which means it may not perform well in low temperatures unless blended with traditional petroleum-based diesel; it has a tendency to absorb more moisture; and it typically produces slightly less power and fuel economy when used in higher blends.

Biodiesel comes blended with petroleum diesel fuel in various ratios—from B5, which is 95% petroleum diesel and 5% biodiesel, all the way up to B100, which is pure biodiesel. Engine manufacturers often publish the maximum

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content of biodiesel recommended for their products, such as B10 or B20.

Biodiesel blends up to a five volume percent are considered to be normal diesel fuel as defined by ASTM D-975, the standard specification for diesel fuel oils.

Biodiesel is chemically distinct from petroleum diesel and has a separate ASTM standard, which was developed back in 2002. It must meet ASTM D6751.

Poor-quality biofuel can be an issue. If biofuel is not refined properly, a by-product called glycerin will become present in the fuel.

Glycerin is basically the same thing as a soap.

It will coat fuel filters as well as potentially deactivate coalescers, inhibiting their ability to remove water from the fuel.

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Perhaps the biggest hurdle for biodiesel is the availability of feedstocks to produce it. It is typically made from oils and fats such as soybean oil or used cooking oil, with soybean oil the most common feedstock. These sources are simply not capable of producing enough quantity to completely replace petroleumbased diesel.

The inherent limitations of biodiesel could soon be addressed by an emerging fuel source known as renewable diesel. Renewable hydrocarbon diesel is a drop-in fuel. It can replace petroleum diesel completely.

Biodiesel and renewable hydrocarbon diesel go through a different production process.

Biodiesel goes through a process called transesterification. The molecules in biodiesel are primarily Fatty Acid Methyl Esters (FAMEs). Transesterification removes the esters from oil.

Renewable hydrocarbon diesel goes through a process called hydrogenation. Both processes work to take readily available fats and oils (recycled cooking oil, animal fats and soybean oil) and optimize them for today’s commercial diesel engines.

There are many similarities between biodiesel and renewable diesel. Renewable diesel is a bio-based fuel, derived from a variety of waste agricultural feedstocks, that meets the same standard as traditional petroleum diesel fuel, yet substantially reduces carbon emissions with additional air quality benefits.

Renewable diesel is often produced from a process called hydrotreating, which is already being utilized in today’s petroleum refineries.

Journal of Equipment Management

During this process, hydrogen replaces other atoms such as sulfur, oxygen and nitrogen and converts the oil’s triglyceride molecules into paraffinic hydrocarbons. The resulting renewable diesel reduces waste and byproducts, yields a higher energy density and improves cold flow properties. This process also enhances the blended fuel storage and stability of the finished biofuel product.

Yet, hydrotreating is only one method of producing renewable diesel. According to the Diesel Technology Forum, other methods under consideration for creating renewable diesel fuel include biomass-to-liquid (BTL) and thermal conversion process (TCP) technologies.

BTL uses high-temperature gasification to convert biomass into synthetic gas, or “syngas,” and then uses a Fischer-Tropsch process to catalytically convert the syngas to liquid fuel. TCP processing converts biomass or other carbonous material into a “bio-oil,” which is then refined into diesel-like fuel.

Both BTL and TCP offer the potential to convert large volumes of cellulosic biomass into liquid fuels, but require further development. They remain far from being economical for large-scale fuel production.

Renewable diesel has the potential to dramatically cut greenhouse gas emissions.

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has also determined that renewable diesel fuel yields air quality benefits that improve the emissions performance of older vehicles that may not use the latest emission control technologies. Renewable diesel can be used as a strategy to achieve sustainability objectives.

Diesel engines are going to be around for the foreseeable future, and renewable and biodiesel fuels hold promise in reducing the dependence on more carbonintensive fuels.

Resources: Citgo, Diesel Technology Forum, National Biodiesel Board. Originally published June 2021, ForConstructionPros.com.

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MASTER THE DETAILS

Barriere Construction uses extensive data for acquisition, preventive maintenance, and more.

BY FRANK RACZON, SENIOR EDITOR, CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT

Individual equipment operators, foremen, and superintendents are all tasked with regular machine inspections in the field. They evaluate each others’ inspections, and company software further grades the audits.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF BARRIERE CONSTRUCTION

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T

he old saying “The devil is in the details” doesn’t deter Barriere Construction’s Ben Tucker, CEM, and Josh Munna, who run the company’s 140-piece fleet. They embrace the details and the data they mine, using it to make decisions from acquisition and disposal to operator coaching and maintenance.

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specific asset ID number, which allows the roadbuilding and paving company to track a host of information on each machine, including profitability.

“Each piece of equipment, be it owned or rented, is treated as a profit/loss,” says Tucker, director of equipment and facilities. “So, you’re tracking your cost, you’re tracking your revenue for each piece based off of rate, and what utilization you’re getting out of it. We do it to have an optimized fleet for Operations. We know what to buy, when to buy, and when not to buy, based off of utilization.”

Barriere reviews each asset monthly, which helps tell it when it’s time to replace equipment. New technology is an intangible that also enters into the decision.

“We have, over time, set targets based on life expectancy—based off of metered

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hours, age—and some of it is technology change, too,” Tucker says. “We pretty much have a standard that we follow to keep a balanced fleet.

“If we had, say, 10 small dozers, and we were looking at a replacement every four years or 4,000 hours, you’ll get a good trade value back in on it at that time,” Tucker says.

“You won’t go in and spend a lot of money on undercarriage or major components where

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you don’t get value back when you’re done with it. We’re balancing our fleet, so we’re basically looking at replacing three every year.”

To Tucker and Barriere, a balanced and optimized fleet means having the proper amount and type of equipment with staggered ages while keeping utilization above 70%.

This acquisition and disposal strategy also helps optimize capital expenditures, according to Tucker. Barriere does a five-year outlook on

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capital based off of machine replacements and business needs.

“We may take away or add depending on the type of work we have,” Tucker says.

New technology has to reveal efficiencies in order to make Barriere’s fleet.

“If you talked to me six or seven years ago about automatic grade control on dozers, we probably only had two or three,” Tucker says. “Now we don’t buy them without

it. Every dozer is already lined up with everything on it and you’re getting optimum efficiencies. You see your work production increase by 30% and you get better quality, too. The yields are a lot closer.

“So you’re saving money in yields, and you’re saving money in production and in performance,” Tucker says. Barriere has started buying some excavators with grade-control systems as it has begun to see the benefits. It has found integrated systems advantageous because operators cannot knock off masts and sensors.

Barriere has GPS telematics technology on its equipment and even on 80% of the third-party truckers it uses. Mobile operations update every minute with geofencing to provide cycle-time analysis for continuous improvement. Such analysis can help the company find wasted truck movements, choke points, the right crew placement, and proper truck and equipment use during pipeline and excavation activities. It also uses OEM GPS systems such as Caterpillar’s VisionLink for fault monitoring, idle time, fuel burn, productivity, and 3D data transfer.

When it comes to mining the data, Tucker and Munna look at OEM feeds as well as an aggregation portal.

“We have VisionLink and we also use FleetWatcher,” says Munna, Barriere’s Resource Operations Center manager. “We’ve incorporated FleetWatcher into our thirdparty trucking and into our Operations center, and then there are FleetWatcher units on our pavers, milling machines, and material transfer vehicles to help with load-cycle analysis on the trucks. It’s also app-based for the guys in the field so they can see where their equipment is. We have an AEMP feed Barriere has a diverse fleet, including milling and paving equipment, and earthmovers. It outsources all of its maintenance, with some OEM dealers dedicating technicians regionally to serve Barriere jobsites.

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from VisionLink to FleetWatcher. That way Operations can see, and everything is right there in their hands.”

The company’s entire on-road fleet is equipped with onboard cameras that are driver-facing and forward-facing.

“We do it to protect us, the company, the driver, and the motoring public,” Munna says.

“We can see if the public cuts in front of our guys, and we also get alerts for harsh braking, harsh acceleration, harsh turns, rolling stops, and distracted driving. We use it as a coaching tool. We’ll call that driver when we get the notification and we can say, ‘Hey, I saw you were texting on your phone; let’s put that away and think about what can happen.’”

Conversely, Barriere fields calls from the motoring public and engages its safety department to review incidents. “We can go back and see who was at fault,” Munna says.

“Because that [truck] is a rolling billboard— they will identify Barriere construction.”

Tucker notes that there have been fewer incidents thanks to the coaching.

“Our company has a clean Compliance, Safety and Accountability for the first time in five years, and that is a direct reflection of the commitment to get better and become safer,” Tucker says. “That’s your biggest hazard and risk: on-road vehicles.”

Tucker thinks cameras would be a good idea in some off-road pieces of the fleet, as well.

“I’m thinking about putting it on our excavators,” he says. “Basically, if you put a forward-mounted camera inside the excavator cab—you being a project manager, superintendent, or foreman—you can go in sometimes to see exactly what’s going on.

Also, if you have any incidents, it can capture them. That’s the dangerous area, working in the city with excavators. They have backup cameras on them, but a forward-facing camera would help you with doing cycle analysis studies, too.”

Tucker says there is less resistance

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to cameras within the company than one might think.

“With one driver, we were sitting there going through [the camera system], telling him it’s for you and us, and he says, ‘Gosh dang, I got me a new hat rack!’” Tucker says. “You’ll get a couple of them against it at the beginning, but since some of them have seen the value, word of mouth has gotten around among the truck drivers. When we installed the GPS in the thirdparty trucks, I thought it was ‘Oh no, here we PAGE

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Barriere Construction assigns each piece of equipment an asset ID number so it can track profit and loss information on a monthly basis, utilization, maintenance history, and more.

go,’ but they liked it. They like that the company knows where they’re at and what they’re doing.

It plays in their favor, too; it’s a two-way street.”

Munna says the human element is a must in operator and driver coaching, and everything else Barriere’s equipment department tries to accomplish.

“If you don’t have buy-in from Operations, it’s going to be a continuous battle,” Munna

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says. “They’re going to be fighting you on things, you’re going to be fighting them on things. Sit down with a couple managers and say, ‘Look, we all work for the same team. The same names are on our hard hats and shirts.’

“The foremen, superintendents, they’re looking at the equipment every day,” Munna says. “As much as we want to, we can’t be all those places at one time, so with the foremen PAGE

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and superintendents, they’re not only doing their audits, but they can call in and tell us what’s going on with the machines instead of neglecting it and letting it be.”

When Munna conducts training, he talks to team members about a domino effect when it comes to caring for assets.

“You can relate it to Covid,” he says. “They say that one person is going to stop the spread. Well, here it’s going to take that one person to stop the spread of that bad behavior.

Clean the machine, go above and beyond, and be proactive. That way we can save money and time and get ahead of these issues.”

Barriere requires all its operators to do an inspection the first workday of the week, known as “Machine Monday.” Operators can do the inspection on their smartphone, mark the defects, give a description, and include pictures.

“It’s getting the field guys and the

“It’s getting the field guys and the operators into the mindset that this is their piece of equipment.

If you’re on it every day, treat it as if it’s your own vehicle.”

—JOSH MUNNA, BARRIERE CONSTRUCTION

operators into the mindset that this is their piece of equipment,” Munna says. “If you’re on it every day, treat it as if it’s your own vehicle.

You’re not going to leave your truck nasty on the inside, dirty on the outside. You change the oil, and you’re going to do the basics: cleaning, lubricating, inspecting. A lot of these guys are in that piece of equipment more than they’re in their vehicle. Take a little pride of ownership of it and then we can possibly on our end keep

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this a little longer because of that upkeep.”

“It’s teaching them the basics,” Tucker says. “‘If you do this and this, we’ll handle this. You take it daily, you grease it, you inspect it. [You do] the proper inspection, cleaning, and lubrication, and guess what?

The parts will come.’”

Barriere says that compliance with the quality inspections has shown a significant increase. Five years ago, it was 75%; this year, it is at 91%.

“How do you know if the operator is doing a quality inspection or not?” Tucker asks.

“The foreman has to do two inspections a month—his audits. He’s auditing a piece of equipment and that operator, whether he’s doing what he’s supposed to do. Then the next level is the superintendent, so he’s looking at the whole crew, the foreman and the operator. So you have a process in place to make sure things are staying uniform. It drives behavior: ‘If the boss is looking at it, I’m going to do it.’”

The company rewards crews that keep up with inspections and take good care of the iron. “When we buy new pieces, they will be the first crew that we look at, because this crew keeps this piece of machinery up, this operator is a great operator, he does everything that we ask,” Munna says. “So let’s give him the new piece of equipment.”

The inspection details that come from the operators, foremen, and superintendents are checked even further. Barriere’s software system automatically grades audits to show the condition of the machine and operator care.

It was tracking at 75% foreman compliance and 72% superintendent compliance, and today the company is at 97% with foremen and 99% with our superintendents.

All inspections and audits are sent through the system to the equipment coordinator for that specific working group while noted defects are sent to the coordinator via text or email for immediate follow up. From there,

Journal of Equipment Management

Journal of Equipment Management

©POPSAARTS – STOCK.ADOBE.COM

the coordinators input the defect into the maintenance software to be scheduled for mechanic or crew repair.

Barriere’s goal is to automatically send a repair request to its computerized maintenance management system (CMMS).

“This process has significantly shortened our days to complete— corrective repairs by seven days and preventative maintenance by five days— which has allowed us to maintain a work order emergency rate of below 2% for the past three years,” Tucker says.

“A new CMMS was put into place four years ago and were able to set up nested coding within equipment class which breaks repairs out by component, subcomponent, failure type, and corrective action taken,” Tucker says.

“This has helped us maintain equipment reliability and extend fleet life while keeping maintenance cost low.”

Over the past five years, Tucker reports that maintenance cost as a percent of revenue has stayed within a 0.2% variance and maintenance cost as a percent of estimated replacement value has been within 1%.

The company made a decision 15 years ago to eliminate all of its maintenance facilities and outsource repairs and PMs. It relies on its dealer partners for the work.

“Back then, we did about $60 million worth of work and we had roughly 180 pieces of equipment; the average age of our fleet was probably around eight years,” Tucker says. “We got down to about 135, 140 pieces and the average age of the fleet now is four years old. If you do preventive maintenance and maintain the wear parts over a period of time, you should not have any major component failure.

“If you had your [own] shops, and your expenditures were $4 million, guess what?

That’s $4 million of capital you can use,” Tucker says. “I find when you partner with

BARRIERE CONSTRUCTION IS THE LARGE-FLEET WINNER OF THE 2021 FLEET MASTERS AWARD. THE AWARDS ARE PRESENTED

BY CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT AND THE ASSOCIATION OF EQUIPMENT MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONALS AND ARE JUDGED ON CATEGORIES SUCH AS FINANCE, INFORMATION MANAGEMENT, POLICIES, AND CONTROLS. a good dealer and you have certain pieces of equipment types you like and you use, they work with you and it becomes a good partnership. They’ll go above and beyond what it take to do the job.

“We now have a great working partnership with our local [Louisiana] Cat dealer where they have mechanics dedicated to our company that are regionally placed around the state to handle what’s requested in a timely manner,” Tucker says. “Our outsourced mechanics have access to our maintenance software with iPads and can see in real time what is scheduled for them and the equipment’s location.

Everyone has access to the same details and can drill down to find the information they need. The key to using data and details to help the team is treating it all the same way throughout your processes, Tucker says.

“The main thing is to be consistent at what you do,” Tucker says. “Follow your KPIs because they’ll lead you in the right direction.

Also, always take a look at what’s costing you— remember the ‘80-20 Rule.’ Eighty percent of your problems are coming from 20% of those things out there. Which ones can you control, fix, get better at, or streamline?”

Originally published August 2021, ConstructionEquipment.com.

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TIPS TO KEEP VOCATIONAL TRUCKS ROLLING

As truck fleets age, driver inspections and preventative maintenance will keep you in motion.

BY CURT BENNINK SENIOR FIELD EDITOR, EQUIIPMENT TODAY & FORCONSTRUCTIONPROS.COM

PHOTO COURTESY OF MACK TRUCKS

M

odern trucks are packed with technology that helps monitor system health. “To maximize vehicle uptime, take advantage of the electronic monitoring systems available on vehicles today, like tire pressure monitoring systems, preventive maintenance (PM) schedulers and telematics reports that notify you of key fault codes that could provide advanced warning of a potential failure,” says John Crichton, director of fleet service, Navistar.

You should also perform daily walkarounds to identify potential trouble spots. “Daily walkarounds are commonly used to look for lube or coolant leaks, but it’s also important to listen for air leaks,” says Ray Hasting,

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Mack Trucks director of e-mobility and national vocational accounts. “Air leaks can be occurring at several different locations, including airline fittings, a bypassing brake valve, a loose exhaust clamp or a cracked exhaust flex pipe.”

A pre-trip inspection is a must for vocational commercial trucks. It is a CDL requirement and should be documented.

Develop a list and routine to ensure critical items are not missed. When you approach the truck, check underneath to make sure there are no fluid leaks. Make sure the truck is not leaning or listing in a certain direction.

“Lights and tires are two big issues a driver can monitor that will increase uptime,” says Tom Bray, senior business industry PAGE

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Tires, brakes and lights should be checked as often as possible, and always during any type of maintenance activity. It is a good practice to set cutoff limits, such as when tires must be replaced.

Brakes, followed by tires and wheels account for the most common reasons commercial trucks are placed out of service during DOT inspections.

AC BUSINESS MEDIA, FORCONSTRUCTIONPROS.COM STAFF

“Daily walkarounds are commonly used to look for lube or coolant leaks, but it’s also important to listen for air leaks.”

—RAY HASTING, DIRECTOR OF E-MOBILITY AND NATIONAL VOCATIONAL ACCOUNTS, MACK TRUCKS

adviser for J. J. Keller & Associates. “The downtime difference between having to fill a tire and replace one is significant, and the consequences of a required light being out can be serious. As an example, no right rear turn signal can result in someone trying to pass the truck on the right when the driver is trying to turn right.”

The worst place to discover a problem is on the road. “Tires, brakes and lights should be checked as often as possible, and always during any type of maintenance activity,” notes Bray. “A company should be scheduling safety inspections at least often enough that issues with these components are found in the shop and not on the road.”

Also make sure drivers understand how

Journal of Equipment Management

new technologies work to prevent unnecessary downtime. “When ordering new equipment, research the enhancements that have been made to the vehicle safety technologies, such as predictive cruise control and lane keep assist and other options that alert drivers when they need to be aware of a pending hazard,” PAGE

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Build a Support Network “If trucks are operated in areas where the fleet doesn’t have a maintenance facility, it is important to develop a relationship with a service provider prior to having a problem with a truck,” says John Crichton, Navistar. “Maintenance and repairs will proceed much more smoothly if the service provider knows what your processes and expectations are prior to a breakdown.

©VIT – STOCK.ADOBE.COM

“Consider mobile maintenance for situations where you may have a terminal without a repair facility, and establish a relationship with a reputable service provider so you can utilize them when it makes sense,” he adds. “Many small repairs can be done on site and, in some cases, more quickly than transporting a truck to a repair facility that is backlogged with work.”

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To maximize vehicle uptime, take advantage of the electronic monitoring systems available on vehicles today, like tire pressure monitoring systems, preventive maintenance (PM) schedulers and telematics reports that notify you of key fault codes that could provide advanced warning of a potential failure NAVISTAR

says Crichton. Then, educate your drivers so they understand the changes and technology updates that have been made to the trucks and how the different systems work.

“For example, we have seen drivers bringing trucks in with a complaint of ‘low power’ only to find out that the monitoring system reduced the speed of the truck because the driver was driving too close to the vehicle in front of him,” says Crichton.

Take a proactive approach to DOT inspections. Most FMCSA violations can be avoided. Some of these include lights, tires, bolts, couplings, visible suspension conditions, exhaust leaks and visible mechanical

Journal of Equipment Management

concerns. Even a simple oil leak can result in an out-of-service order. The most common mechanical reason that DOT inspectors place a commercial truck out of service is due to braking system-related items. This is followed by tires and wheels.

BRAKES DESERVE CLOSE ATTENTION The DOT brake inspections catch many issues overlooked during regular maintenance. “Many of the critical issues flagged during these inspections are maintenance related, and many are issues that could have easily been prevented with PAGE

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Establish a preventive maintenance schedule and modify it if necessary. If your maintenance inspections are finding issues, this is telling you that you are not seeing the vehicles often enough or you are using cutoff thresholds that are too close to the limits.

AC BUSINESS MEDIA, FORCONSTRUCTIONPROS.COM STAFF

regular, thorough maintenance procedures,” says Fred Andersky, Bendix Director - demos, sales and service training.

Pre-trip inspections are a good starting point. First, look for visible brake system problems such as loose hoses or damaged brake components, including air chambers or push rods.

Since brakes are critical to uptime and safety, it’s essential to inspect as often as

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possible. “Do a quick inspection when the vehicle is in the shop, even if it is not for a brake issue,” advises Kevin Pfost, technical service, Bendix. A quick visual check can prevent future problems. “Make sure all brake chambers have the rubber plug properly installed in the caging bolt hole to keep contaminants out of the chamber.”

While in the shop, Bendix recommends air brake inspections include the following: PAGE

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❯ Conduct a 90- to 100-psi brake application and listen for leaks ❯ Measure chamber stroke at each wheel end to ensure proper brake adjustment ❯ Examine friction material for good condition and minimum thickness ❯ Measure/inspect each rotor and drum for wear and heat cracking and/or leopard spotting On an air brake system, the slack adjuster is used to adjust the brakes. It takes up the slack in the stroke as the friction surfaces wear away. Modern trucks are equipped with automatic slack adjusters that adjust themselves during full brake applications, and should only require manual adjustments during installation.

“Always follow the manufacturer’s guidelines for slack adjuster operation and troubleshooting,” says Pfost. “When backing off a Bendix slack adjuster, it could take up to 70 lbs.-ft. to back off. Leave the wrench on the adjuster nut or mark the nut and slack adjuster body and cycle the brake a couple of times to see if the wrench turns in the clockwise direction.

This will tell the tech if the slack is adjusting properly. If there is no resistance when backing off the slack, the slack adjuster is bad and should be replaced.”

prevents unnecessary downtime. “The EGR system’s performance can be significantly improved through regular cleaning and pressure testing,” says Hasting. “The EGR cooler lowers the temperature of the exhaust gas before it reaches the engine’s air inlet. Cooling the gas maintains low intake air temperature, which adds to overall engine efficiency. Low temperatures make the exhaust gas denser, so it occupies less space. The gas then displaces a smaller amount of oxygen, which helps maintain combustion efficiency and a leaner air-fuel ratio.”

Other overlooked components include ©ZAURRAHIMOV – STOCK.ADOBE.COM

THE MOST COMMON MECHANICAL REASON THAT DOT INSPECTORS PLACE A COMMERCIAL TRUCK OUT OF SERVICE IS DUE TO BRAKING SYSTEM-RELATED ITEMS, FOLLOWED BY TIRES AND WHEELS.

DON’T IGNORE AFTERTREATMENT SYSTEMS One of the most common reasons for mechanical downtime with today’s modern diesel trucks is a failure in the engine aftertreatment system. “The engine aftertreatment system is the most overlooked maintenance item, and its exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) system is often the most overlooked component of the aftertreatment system,” says Ray Hasting, Mack Trucks director for e-mobility and national vocational accounts.

Again, a proactive maintenance approach

Journal of Equipment Management

the air dryer and diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) pump filter. “The aftertreatment system uses air to purge fuel from the diesel particulate filter’s (DPF’s) hydrocarbon doser,” says Hasting. “Proper maintenance of the air dryer cartridge improves the aftertreatment system’s performance because it operates best when the air is dry. The DEF pump filter has an annual replacement interval that is often overlooked.

The inexpensive DEF pump filter will improve performance of the SCR system and extend the PAGE

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AC BUSINESS MEDIA, FORCONSTRUCTIONPROS.COM STAFF

life of the more expensive DEF pump.”

Also remember that engines need clean air and oil to maximize efficiency and longevity. “The lubrication and air intake system preventive maintenance practices are critical based on the severity of failures when both are not properly completed,” says Hasting. “Brake system, steering system and suspension system PMs are critical because of the safety implications.”

ESTABLISH A TAILORED PM PROGRAM Each vocational application is different, so a tailored PM program can be a good place to start.

“Systematic preventive inspections should be done regularly, not once a year (or every 90 days) when required,” advises Bray. “A good pattern I have seen used is a safety inspection of critical components (also referred to as a

Daily walkarounds should include checks of all critical fluids as well as condition checks to identify leaks or damaged/missing components.

Establish a PM schedule and modify as necessary. “If your maintenance inspections are finding issues, this is telling you that you are not seeing the vehicles often enough or you are using cut-off thresholds that are too close to the limits,” says Bray. “Also, part of any PM program includes driver involvement.

Training drivers on thorough pre-trip, en-route and post-trip inspections and following up the training with tracking is how you get the drivers involved. Immediately addressing any vehicle issue a driver points out following an inspection is how driver buy-in is secured.”

OEM recommendations serve as a starting point. “The more detailed the inspection, the greater the opportunity for enhancing vehicle uptime,” says Hasting.

“Also, inspection results should be reviewed regularly to ensure they’re adding value and should be adjusted as needed, with a focus on maximizing vehicle availability.”

Start with the maintenance schedule recommended by the original equipment manufacturer and modify it to match your operation. “As an example, with trucks that

“Systematic preventive inspections should be done regularly, not once a year (or every 90 days) when required,” —TOM BRAY, SENIOR BUSINESS INDUSTRY ADVISER FOR J. J. KELLER & ASSOCIATES

PM A, or preventive maintenance, schedule A) done weekly, bi-weekly or monthly, depending upon the service the vehicle is seeing. A PM B, which is a more in-depth PM inspection (and an oil change and lube), is then done in place of every second or third PM A. The PM B inspections are close to doing the periodic (annual) inspections required under the California 90-day inspection requirement and FMCSA’s periodic (annual) requirement.”

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are spending an excessive number of hours alternatively idling and working hard at worksites, you might want to reduce the mileage between inspections and maintenance accordingly,” Bray advises.

Make a checklist for all your maintenance inspections and other scheduled activities. “These serve two purposes,” says Bray. “First, they let the person doing the inspection and/or maintenance know what to do and what

“As an example, you can use a tire until its tread is 2/32 in. on a drive axle,” explains Bray.

“However, if you release a vehicle from the shop with exactly 2/32 in. on it, the tire will fall below the minimum before it’s back in the shop again.

“To paraphrase an old TV commercial, when it comes to maintenance, you either pay a little now or a lot later,” he continues.

“Everyone has heard the argument for having a systematic and preventive approach to maintenance. It increases uptime; reduces

Navistar’s OnCommand Connection Live Action Plans uses prognostic models developed with field service intelligence and algorithms based in big data analytics.

NAVISTAR

to look for when it comes to components and condition. Second, it documents the condition of the vehicle before and after the maintenance activity. This data can then be used to update the maintenance schedule, time allotted for maintenance and future equipment maintenance decisions.”

Finally, on your checklists, you want to include realistic cut-off limits for components.

Journal of Equipment Management

costs by preventing expensive on-road repairs; reduces losses due to unscheduled downtime; prevents roadside inspection violations and out-of-service orders during roadside inspections; helps defend litigation following a crash; and improves driver morale.”

Originally published November 2021, ForConstructionPros.com.

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THE AEMP 2021 TECHNICIAN OF THE YEAR: MANATEE COUNTY’S CHASE SNYDER

BY DON MCLOUD, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, EQUIPMENT WORLD

OT OS CO UR TE SY MA TE NA E CO UN TY ,F LO RI DA

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PH

For winning the 2021 AEMP Technician of the Year Award, Chase Snyder received this custom-built toolbox from John Deere, which has sponsored the award for more than 30 years.

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A

s a child, Chase Snyder was fascinated with construction equipment.

He would watch the “There Goes a Truck” series over and over on the VCR, especially the episodes that focused on heavy equipment.

That love of equipment has stuck with Snyder. Now, he’s 26 and each day he’s working on big diesel machines as senior fleet technician for the Manatee County, Florida landfill. The bigger, the dirtier, the more challenging the job—the better.

“I prefer the landfill stuff,” Snyder says, when asked about his favorite equipment to work on. “A lot of people think that’s weird when I say that, because it’s typically the dirtiest, the nastiest. When you’ve got to go and clean them and crawl up in the belly pans, you never know what you’re going to encounter.

“But it doesn’t deter me. I just find it

interesting what the machines are able to do.”

That attitude, his professionalism, his ability to save money by handling repairs inhouse and his commitment to training have earned Snyder the top honor in his profession— the 2021 Technician of the Year Award by the Association of Equipment Management Professionals’ Education Foundation.

Growing up, Snyder fed his love of equipment by visiting his grandfather’s construction business. As he got older, he would also spend time with his other grandfather, who was a technician at a Ford dealership, restoring 1950s-era Fords. “I’d always be out there watching him and trying to help him tinker,” Snyder says.

In high school, he decided being a heavydiesel technician was what he wanted to do. He saved up to buy a diesel pickup truck he could work on to prepare for his future career.

“When you’re younger and don’t have a

Chase Snyder prefers working on large, yellow iron at the Manatee County landfill.

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“His diverse skillset has saved us money on multiple occasions,” says Norman Hagel, Manatee County fleet operations chief, of Chase Snyder.

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Chase Snyder prefers to tackle the challenging jobs.

lot of money, you’ve got to learn how to make stuff run and learn how things work, because you can’t have somebody fix it for you,” he says. He learned mechanical repair on his truck by trial and error. He also got a job at a farm while in high school and performed basic maintenance on tractors.

When it came time for college, he got his associate’s degree. After that, he broke with

night for general automotive.”

While attending Manatee Technical College, he tried to work as a technician for some construction companies, but he didn’t have the diesel experience. But he was able to land a job with Sarasota County working on transit buses. He learned a lot to help him in his career. One longtime worker there was particularly generous with his knowledge.

“Luckily he took me under his wing and taught me a lot of some of the older-school tricks that still are relevant,” he says.

After graduation, he started working for Manatee County. At last, he was with the yellow iron he loved so much. The county has a 170-piece fleet, including heavy dozers, wheel loaders, excavators and massive landfill compactors.

His supervisor at the county landfill shop, David Alligood, won last year’s AEMP Technician of the Year Award. Snyder did not know Alligood before he came to work for Manatee County, but he had heard of him. When looking for work while in tech school, Snyder met the fleet manager for Sarasota County, who had also

“A BIG THING THAT A LOT OF THE YOUNGER GUYS LOOK FOR…IS WHAT TYPE OF TRAINING AM I GOING TO GET.” —CHASE SNYDER, SENIOR FLEET TECHNICIAN, MANATEE COUNTY, FLORIDA

family tradition of getting a four-year college degree and instead went to trade school. “I wanted to get into heavy diesel just because I found it interesting,” he recalls. “But I had to go to school at night, because I was working full time during the day, and there’s no diesel program within an hour and a half drive of where I was living at the time. So, I went at

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done three, and every time we get a little bit faster at it and save a little bit more money.”

Another accomplishment came when the pin bores on the blades of the landfill’s 40-ton dozers were wearing out. Working with the parts department, they found some replacement bearings that fit. A diagram was made of the parts numbers to keep on file for future repairs.

“It saved us a lot of costs and machine work,” he says. “…And also it’s going to save future downtime.”

Norman Hagel, Manatee County fleet operations chief, recalled another costsaving project, due to Snyder’s welding and fabrication skills. The county had a 10-ton trailer that Snyder converted for use as a spreader in summer and as a transporter during winter. “His diverse skillset has saved us money on multiple occasions,” Hagel says.

At 26, Snyder is the youngest member of the landfill shop team. He’s grateful for the experienced people he’s worked with who have passed along their knowledge. He tries to return the favor by taking on some of the heavier, dirtier work.

“They’ve done their time of doing all that work, and so if I’m able and willing to take on some of the grunt work from them, they pay it back by educating me,” he says. “So it’s a mutual respect there.”

He also makes a point of keeping up with the rapid technological advancements on the machinery. He recalls some advice he got early on when he was getting frustrated while working on a bus’ diesel exhaust fluid system. He let out a common grumble he had heard from the older techs about the new diesel emission systems. One of the veteran technicians chuckled. “Look,” he told Snyder.

“I’ve learned enough to get by till I retire next year. You’re still pretty new in the industry, and this is your reality. So, you either learn to figure this stuff out, or you go find another career path, because it’s not going away.”

Back-to-back winners in Manatee County show their winning custom John Deere toolboxes side-by-side.

worked at Manatee County.

“And I met with him and he laughed, and he goes, ‘You remind me of this guy David that I hired about 10 years ago,’” Snyder recalls.

When he went to the job interview for Manatee County, Alligood was in the room.

“There were four or five of us in that room,” remembers Alligood. “And when he walked out, we all looked at each other. We’re like, ‘That’s probably the best interview we’ve ever had.’ I couldn’t believe it, he was a dead ringer.”

Snyder has worked in Manatee County’s landfill shop for about three years and has already made an impact.

He’s a quick learner and willing to tackle the tough jobs, say coworkers.

“I love the big equipment, the nasty equipment,” he says. “If something breaks down in the field or up in the trash, I’m all over it.”

They also appreciate his calm demeanor and willingness to offer new ideas and solutions.

When the landfill’s 19-ton wheel loaders’ center pins began to wear out, he convinced management to do the work in-house rather than farm it out. “And I think we came in roughly 50% of what the quote was to have the vendor do it,” Snyder says. “Since then we’ve

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“And that stuck with me,” Snyder says. “This field has changed so much in the last 10 to 15 years. And I’ve kind of been brought into it as this wave of updating and new technology has come out. And it’s only going to continue from here.”

But that change is fine with Snyder.

“The running joke I always say is you’ve got to be smarter than what you’re working on. And with how technical some of this stuff’s getting now, it’s hard to do that some days. But it’s always a challenge, and the challenges are what keep you interested. They’re what keep you up at night and keep you motivated to come in the next day to figure it out.”

Snyder believes that one way the diesel tech industry can help put a dent in its labor shortage is to help the younger generations stay trained and headed toward career advancement. “A big thing that a lot of the younger guys look for, that I know I look for a lot, is what type of training am I going to get,” he says. “That way I can stay current and learn this new stuff.”

Manatee County has done a good job of offering and emphasizing training, as well as providing updated software and access to manufacturers’ information, he says. He has earned about 25 ASE certifications.

He offers this advice for young people starting a career as a diesel technician: “Keep your head up, and eventually, some of the right doors will open up. I know that’s what happened with me. If you work hard enough and push hard enough, things have to fall into place eventually.”

As for himself, Snyder definitely has an eye to the future. “I love what I do right now, but I also know that it’s not what I want to do forever. I definitely know that I want to progress up within our organization here. And I definitely want to be able to progress as far up as I can.”

Originally published December 2021, EquipmentWorld.com.

Chase Snyder doesn’t shy away from the dirty work. “I love the big equipment, the nasty equipment,” he says.

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