Tracks & Treads Summer 2014

SUMMER 2014

Northern EXPOSURE A year-round highway stretching from Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk will open up the northern NWT

Ice Road Truckers The Tibbitt to Contwoyto ice highway is in it for the long haul

On a Roll fans Hockey star score nt treatme

How a family-owned logging firm in Dawson Creek is making a go of it in Gas Country

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A FINNING CANADA PUBLICATION PM #40020055

Days are long but time is short.

Count on Finning to have the right machines, parts and service to keep you going this summer.

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Turn up the heat and contact your local Finning sales representative today.

Get 0% interest for 48 months financing on the purchase of a NEW Cat compact machine, which includes Cat Skid Steer Loaders (216, 226, 236, 246, 252, 256, 262, 272), Cat Compact Wheel Loaders(906-914), Mini Excavators (303.5 - 308), Cat Backhoe Loaders, Cat Multi Terrain Loaders (257, 277, 287), Cat Compact Track Loaders (259, 279, 289, 299), Cat Mini Excavators (Under 3 ton), Cat Small Wheel Loaders (924-938) and Cat Small Track Type Tractors (D3-D5K). Offer does not include Cat Telehandlers. Offer valid from July 1, 2014 to September 30, 2014 on select new Cat Compact Machines. Offer available only at participating Cat Dealers. Flexible payment terms available. Offer is available to customers in Canada only and cannot be combined with any other offers. Financing and published rate are subject to credit approval through Cat Financial. Offer is subject to machine availability and may change without prior notice. Additional terms and conditions may apply.

Contents

Summer 14

26

Columns & Departments 4 Finning Focus A word from Finning

5 6

18 25

14 18 20

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Full Speed Ahead The Mackenzie Valley Highway will finally connect Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk all year long

Northwest Passage The seasonal highway between Tibbitt and Contwoyto lakes is the world’s longest heavy-haul winter road

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New Hub of the North

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Finning’s Yellowknife branch is filling a void in northern NWT

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Mission Possible

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Loggers in Gasland

Finning employees gain as much as they give, while donating time to a community outreach centre The Bassett brothers proudly maintain a third-generation logging firm in ever-changing Dawson Creek

On the Cover

Caterpillar equipment is behind the building of a two-lane highway connecting Tuktoyaktuk and Inuvik.

Photo copyright Tawna Brown.

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22 23 24

Letter to the Editor Groundbreaker A life-size Jenga game; CNC honours one of Finning’s own; Fox Creek fundraiser; E series tested; Hockey Night in Edmonton; Lethbridge ground breaking; Helping Habitat

By the Numbers Yesterday & Today Most vehicles are easy to steer, but that wasn’t always the case with crawler tractors

Operators’ Tips To step up productivity, step aside

Managers’ Tips Managing fly-in workers is easier with planning, selective hiring and training

Service Spotlight Customers know technology is at the leading edge in the downtime war

Safety First Near misses are serious business

Tech Spotlight Finning technology day in Surrey

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Portrait

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Phil’s Business

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Count on Us

Meet Chad Besuyen Tools of the trade geared at the North

Summer 2014

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BY HILARY ANAKA, FINNING EDITOR

Making Safety a Family Matter

Lethbridge branch celebrates 14 years without a lost-time injury My job takes me to many interesting places and events, but visiting our Finning branches has to be one of my favourite things to do. A few months ago, I had the opportunity to attend a safety celebration at our Lethbridge branch.

This celebration was a special one for a couple of reasons. First, they were celebrating an impressive 14 years without a lost-time injury and second, they were inviting employees’ families to the celebration – something I’d never heard of before.

In talking with Lethbridge branch manager Brent McDowell before the event, he explained that the inclusion of family members was nothing new for them and a natural move, given the family culture they had within the branch. He said, “Our safety culture is something we take home with us and that’s why we invite family members, friends and past employees.

We’re safe so we can go home to our loved ones and friends.”

So I hit the road for Lethbridge and was thrilled to be a part of the celebration. While I was there I had the chance to talk to Lana Caldwell, product support sales rep Abe Caldwell’s spouse, about what it means

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to her that Abe works for a safety-conscious company. She told me, “It’s reassuring because you know they’re doing everything possible every day to keep their employees safe and to ensure they’re going to come home every night to spend their time with the family.” Their adorable young son, Jaxon, nodded in agreement with his mom.

After spending a couple days in the branch and talking to employees from different areas, it was clear that the Lethbridge crew thought of themselves as a family and took care of each other like a family.

They believe, and so do I, that it’s that family attitude that got them to 14 years without a lost-time injury.

Noel Hill, Finning’s general manager of health and safety, said: “Safety performances like Lethbridge’s prove that dangerous work doesn’t have to be un-safe work.” On page 23 of this issue of Tracks & Treads, Hill expands on that idea and talks about the risk pyramid and how reporting near-misses and preventing less-severe incidents decreases the number of serious injuries or fatalities. If that isn’t incentive to change the small things like a bumpy entry rug or clutter in the shop, I don’t know what is.

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SUMMER 2014 Volume 55, No. 2

Letters & Feedback

PUBLISHER Ruth Kelly rkelly@venturepublishing.ca FINNING EDITOR Hilary Anaka hanaka@finning.ca DIRECTOR OF CUSTOM CONTENT Mifi Purvis mpurvis@venturepublishing.ca EDITOR Shelley Williamson swilliamson@venturepublishing.ca EDITORIAL ADVISORS Jeff Howard, Michelle Loewen ART DIRECTOR Charles Burke cburke@venturepublishing.ca ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR Andrea deBoer ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR Colin Spence PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Betty Feniak Smith PRODUCTION TECHNICIANS Brent Felzien, Brandon Hoover

A CAREFUL READER: Sidney Anderson, 87, of Richmond B.C., has an eagle eye. He called us to let us know that a story in a recent issue of T&T referred to a “pump” motor. It should have read “pup” motor, so named for its small size.

“Sometimes they were called pony motors,” Sid explained. He should know. He was a field service rep for Finning for 25 years, assigned to major projects in Vancouver in the 1960s.

Well-spotted Sid, and thanks!

- Tracks & Treads Editor

FROM THE ARCHIVES: A postcard of the original Caterpillar factory in Peoria, Illinois.

CIRCULATION COORDINATOR Karen Reilly circulation@venturepublishing.ca ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE Anita McGillis amcgillis@venturepublishing.ca CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Robin Brunet, Caitlin Crawshaw, David DiCenzo, Martin Dover, Lucy Haines, Robbie Jeffrey, Noémi LoPinto, Christy Nich, Cory Schachtel CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS AND ILLUSTRATORS Tawna Brown, Amie Contact, Heff O'Reilley, Aaron Pedersen, Joey Podlubny Tracks & Treads is published to provide its readers with relevant business, technology, product and service information in a lively and engaging manner.

Tracks & Treads is published for Finning Canada by Venture Publishing Inc. 10259-105 Street Edmonton, Alberta T5J 1E3 Phone: 780-990-0839 Fax: 780-425-4921

Tell us what you think Tracks & Treads would love to hear from you. Tell us what you think of the magazine’s stories, columns and look, so that we can improve it and make it a more interesting read.

Send your comments to editor-in-chief Hilary Anaka by email at hanaka@finning.ca or the old-fashioned way to: Hilary Anaka, Tracks & Treads, Finning Canada, 16830 – 107 Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta T5P 4C3

Contents © 2014 by Finning Canada. No part of this publication should be reproduced without written permission.

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PM #40020055

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Summer 2014

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By David DiCenzo

Jenga in Real Life Caterpillar is getting into the movie business. Short films, to be exact.

Stack is the first in a series of shorts in the Built For It Trials, a collection showing what Cat machines, and their capable operators, can do.

Stack features five models (the 320E, TH514C, 277D, M316D and 349E), run by operators that total 121 years of experience, in a real-life game of Jenga. The massive blocks of wood weigh more than 600 pounds each

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and are carefully arranged just like in the traditional game but only on a much larger scale. And also like the real game, it comes to its inevitable conclusion when the blocks all tumble down.

In total, the pieces of wood used in Stack weighed an astonishing eight tons.

They were rubbed down with about 72 cans worth of shuffleboard wax to help them slide into position better. And the operators, despite their extensive experience, admitted to being nervous before the game began.

It took about 28 hours to complete the game, but Stack is only a few minutes long. Watch it at: www.cat.com/en_US/articles/customer-stories/theultimate-challengeisoninstack.html

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NEW DIGS: Lethbridge College’s future centre for trades and technology officially broke ground on April 24. With some pointers from Lyndon Wincheruk of Finning, Alberta Premier Dave Hancock helmed the 312EL to do groundbreaking honours.

The building is expected to usher in its first students in the fall of 2017.

Welcome back, Broster!

Cody Broster hasn’t forgotten his roots. The 30-year-old B.C. native got his start at Finning back in 2004, after graduating from the College of New Caledonia, where he studied both business and as a pre-apprentice machinist. Ten years later, Broster is entrenched as the customer service manager at Finning’s Prince George branch. While meeting the needs of customers in the region is top priority, he has also remained loyal to the school that gave him the foundation for his career.

Broster’s close relationship with CNC and the students learning their trades there earned him the prestigious President’s Industry Council Award late last year.

“It was really nice to receive this award,” says Broster. “I enjoy working with the college and the partnership we’ve formed between Finning and them. It’s great to give back and see these kids coming through the programs.”

Broster is a member of the President’s Council and has devoted time to helping CNC since he left in 2004. He was instrumental in developing the machinist program for levels one through four at the school’s Prince George campus.

Broster still does shop tours for students and talks with classes about his experiences. But the award itself was given for his work maintaining a partnership between Finning and CNC. He says he was happy to help CNC through the purchase of some Cat equipment for the program, a 259 skid

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steer, a 312 excavator and a D4K small dozer.

Broster has also contributed to the pipeline between the school and Finning, where grads have landed jobs leading to apprenticeships.

Broster says it’s gratifying to see young, energetic workers get their start, but he understands this is also critical to the future of the industry. “There’s a huge deficit for tradespeople, especially in Northern B.C.,” Broster explains. “We won’t be able to meet the demands if we don’t train these kids.”

Broster’s history with the school and Finning made him the perfect choice. “Part of our success, especially in trades training, is our ability to collaborate with industry to ensure their needs are being met and our students are receiving the best, most relevant training possible,” CNC’s executive director of external relations, Randall Heidt, said at the award presentation. “People like Cody are invaluable to us and are excellent corporate partners who really want to constantly improve trades training in northern B.C.”

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E Series Gets Tested Quality equipment and unmatched service have been at the very root of Finning’s success as Western Canada’s Caterpillar supplier. But those customers in the market for an excavator will find that the best has gotten even better.

Finning has a new motto for those customers in 2014: “Put Us to the Test.”

“The whole idea is that we want to put more belief in the customer,” says Garry Hadley, Finning’s excavator marketing manager based in Edmonton. “The new E series excavators are world class. They are number one in the world. The way to prove that is to put us to the test; take it out and try it,” says Hadley. The program, applicable to select E series excavators, incorporates a huge commitment to fuel consumption, a promise on a machine’s delivery date and a “try-before-youbuy” demo program that’s already a big hit with customers.

Finning guarantees that newly purchased E series excavators (without special modifications) will be delivered within 14 days of the company’s receipt of a signed order and finance approval.

If not, a $2,000 parts and service credit will be applied to the customer’s account.

Already boasting the most fuel-efficient machines on the market, Hadley says Finning is now also guaranteeing that annual fuel consumption will not exceed the stated figure provided to the customer at the time of delivery, covering a one-year term. If the figure is exceeded, Finning will issue a parts-and-service credit to the account that represents the difference between what was

stated and the actual fuel consumed, based on a calculated rate of $1 per litre.

“The fuel commitment has really caught their eye,” Hadley says. “They’re seeing an incredible number as to what their fuel efficiency can be. It allows our sales guys to go in with confidence, knowing that we truly are world class in fuel economy and efficiency.”

The demo component allows customers the opportunity to test run an excavator and see first-hand the many changes made to E series machines: cabs redesigned for improved comfort; Isochronous engine speed control; increased horsepower; electronic boom regeneration; T4 Interim Solution after-burner treatment; and 2D grade control that is ideal for earthmoving contractors to improve productivity and profitability by using an angle sensor, dual axis sensor and laser catcher to measure the relationship between the body, boom, stick and bucket.

Fundraiser Puts Fox Creek on the Map Jim Thiessen describes Fox Creek, Alberta, very matter-of-factly. “It’s in the middle of nowhere,” says Thiessen, purchasing manager at Marnevic Construction.

It’s true. Tucked along Highway 43, about 260 kilometres northwest of Edmonton, the small town of about 2,000 people doesn’t have much going on around it. That’s why it’s so important for the prominent members of the community to do their part.

Marnevic Construction is one of them. Twice a year, at a spring barbecue and at a special Christmas event, Thiessen raffles and auctions off merchandise graciously donated by any individuals, employees and businesses willing to chip in. The

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funds raised go to support causes like women’s shelters or kids’ playground construction. Whatever organization is in need at that time determines where money is used.

“We hit a record $3,683 raised from the Christmas event this past year,” Thiessen says. “All of those funds were donated to the Fox Creek Minor Sports Association.”

Thiessen took over the fundraisers about eight years ago and has a knack for it, getting major suppliers on board who gladly donate items – some pretty strange, albeit very useful. “We get everything you could possibly imagine from kitchen wares to clothing to tools,” he says. “One supplier donated a log splitter, which was pretty neat. It surprises me a little every year.”

To show its gratitude, Marnevic regularly takes out an ad in the newspaper acknowledging contributors. “All of the funds stay here in Fox Creek,” Thiessen says. “It’s really important in an isolated community like this because it shows which businesses are willing to support the town.”

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Hockey Night in Edmonton For fans of the Edmonton Oilers, March 22, 2014, was a day to forget. The Oil not only lost that edition of the Battle of Alberta to the hated Calgary Flames but also got pummelled in an 8-1 thrashing that will take some time to shake off.

Regardless of the result, the Finning quartet of Kurtis Lunn, Julie Fisher, Teddy and Lars Harpe will have a very unique recollection of that night.

Lunn and his friends manufactured a winning bid of $4,000 in an auction for a behind-thescenes Hockey Night in Canada (HNIC) package, where they got to experience the game, and its production, in a manner known to few. After Finning equalled the bid, a total of $8,000 went directly to the Edmonton Food Bank.

The HNIC package was impressive. CBC’s Mark Connolly hosted the foursome at Ruth’s Chris Steak House for a pre-game meal. They also enjoyed great seats for the Battle of Alberta, got a VIP tour of the Rexall Place press box, CBC control room and an up-close view of After Hours as Scott Oake and Kelly Hrudey did their post-game work. The group also enjoyed a two-night stay at Edmonton’s Chateau Lacombe, and received gift cards from Kingsway Mall. While it sounds like a prize that was months in the making, it took a mere two days.

“CBC has an annual fundraiser for the Food Bank, but last year we did something innovative,” says Judy Piercey, managing director of CBC. “We pulled together stakeholders, business, community and civic leaders. We wanted to raise awareness

ICE TIME: From left, Julie Fisher and Kurtis Lunn are joined by Lars Harpe, Teddy Harpe and CBC host Scott Oake on their winning night at Rexall. about hunger in the city. We wanted to make a difference.”

The CBC Edmonton Turkey Drive Advisory Council was born. Hilary Anaka, team lead of external relations at Finning (and Tracks & Treads editor) joined the council. Piercey says that the HNIC package idea grew organically – and quickly.

Mark Connolly’s brother Brendan is part owner at Ruth’s Chris, so the food was covered. John Chwyl, in charge of marketing at Kingsway Mall, chipped in the gift certificates. Richard Wong, vice-president of Chateau Lacombe, was keen to offer a couple of rooms once the ball got rolling. Finally, Don Metz of Aquila Productions instantly agreed to allow the winners behind-the-scenes access for a full game-day experience at Rexall Place.

“The whole package was sorted out in 48 hours,” says Piercey.

A Hand Up for Habitat Edmonton is home to the largest Habitat for Humanity affiliate in all of Canada. In 2013 alone, Habitat built 83 homes in Edmonton and northern Alberta.

“That’s a lot of product to move to sites,” says Brenda Netter, of HFH’s Edmonton branch. Netter and her organization got a big boost on that front for 2014. In need of some help, she reached out to the Cat Rental Store and was able to secure a massive 10-foot by 30-foot snowmobile trailer to borrow this year. “It’s a great asset to move material and smaller landscaping equipment,” Netter says. “It helps us be much more mobile in the delivery of our program. “We put it to use the day we got it.”

Rhett Nickerson of the Cat Rental Store was also eager to oblige. “We happened to have a trailer that fit the bill here in the Edmonton yard,” says Nickerson. “Habitat for Humanity is a great organization. We have the tools and we are happy to assist. Whenever an organization that helps the community is in need, we absolutely want to help.”

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Summer 2014

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By the Numbers

1942

3.5 million The number of square kilometres comprising the three northern territories. The area covers 40 per cent of Canada’s total land mass

The year of completion for the Alaska Highway, the main roadway connecting Alaska, Yukon, and British Columbia

0.3

28 The number of communities in Nunavut

The population of the Northwest Territories remaining after the division of the Northwest Territories into Nunavut and Northwest Territories, in 1999

The percentage of Canadians who live in the northern territories

1.4 20,000 The vacancy rate in Whitehorse.

$382,359 The average price of a condominium in Iqaluit

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The number of years that people have lived in Canada’s North

-63°C The coldest recorded temperature, in Snag, Yukon (1947)

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BY KEITH HADDOCK

Steering Through the Decades

Most vehicles are easy to steer, but that wasn’t always the case with crawler tractors

Most vehicles are steered with a steering wheel, and steering to the left or to the right feels natural and automatic. The same goes for modern Caterpillar crawler tractors and, more recently, wheel loaders.

Steering these machines is just as simple, except it is performed entirely by the operator’s left hand with a single joystick lever or, depending on the model, short fingertip levers. The same left-hand console also controls speed and direction.

But steering of crawler tractors wasn’t always that simple.

Until 1974, Caterpillar tractors required two foot pedals and two hand levers to steer left or right. The system was very reliable and, for the tractor operator, became just as easy as using a steering wheel. But the controls were once not power-assisted and gave the operator quite a workout.

Left and right levers were connected to clutches, which disengaged the drive to the respective left or right crawler track, allowing it to freewheel. As the track slowed, it permitted the tractor to make a gradual turn in one direction. The right or left foot pedal applied the brake to the track for a sharp turn.

The downside to this system was that during a turn, power to the inside track was cut and the full tractor power was applied to the outside track.

Operators had to PROGRESS: Caterpillar introduced its revolutionary double remember that when going differential steering system on the D8N tractor in 1987. The downhill pulling the technology, now applied to all Cat’s mid-size tractors, is shown left-hand clutch lever in simplified form in the bottom sketch.

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would cause the track on that side to freewheel, resulting in the machine turning to the right instead of to the left.

The opposite effect would occur when travelling on level or uphill grades.

After decades of tractor steering with the two-lever, two-pedal system, Caterpillar introduced hand-lever steering on its D8K tractor in 1974. Independent clutches and brakes were still used, but the same lever activated both. Partly pulling the lever would disengage the crawler drive on one side; a further pull on the lever applied the brake for a sharp turn. Both levers were worked by the operator’s left hand, leaving his right hand to control tractor implements, dozer or ripper.

In 1987, Caterpillar introduced its “revolutionary” differential steering system on its D8N tractor. This steering method, now applied on all Caterpillar’s mid-size tractors (D6T, D7E, D8T and D9T), is controlled by a single tiller-type lever, and ensures power is divided equally to both tracks at all times. Power is transmitted to the final drives through three planetaries. The centre steering differential can also receive power through a bevel gear fixed to its housing which is rotated by a high-torque hydraulic motor. For straightahead travel, this motor and the differential housing are stationary. When the operator moves the tiller lever to make a turn, the hydraulic motor is actuated and the steering differential causes one track to slow down while the opposite track speeds up an equal amount. The tractor makes a smooth turn without loss of power to either track.

Caterpillar’s small, nimble tractor line (D3K2, D4K2, D5K2) now employs an electronic hydrostatic drive system that allows turns under full power and a step-less speed range. No differential drive is needed, but as with the mechanical system, steering and machine motions are controlled by a single lever at the operator’s left hand.

However, Caterpillar continues to employ steering clutches and brakes on its largest tractors (D10T and D11T) as the most reliable steering type for that size of tractor. These are electronically controlled by a pair of short fingertip levers at the operator’s left hand console.

No matter which system is employed, the steering, speed and direction of today’s Caterpillar crawler tractors are controlled by one hand – a far cry from the array of heavy multiple levers and pedals of yesterday’s machines.

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Tips

operators

Operation: Automation

To step up productivity, you may need to step aside and learn how to make the most of Cat features

BY ROBBIE JEFFREY

As an operator, you are more than a master of your machine. You know what’s going on at all times, what lies ahead, and how it all transpires. You know that time is money and so is fuel, and that as an operator, you’re the first and last line of defence against redundancies and blunders. An operator doesn’t just operate a machine – you guarantee that the entire operation is a finely-tuned machine.

A dutiful operator keeps in mind a fundamental goal: reduced cost per hour. Sometimes, the best way to reduce this cost is to limit your interventions. Try as you might, you can’t do everything. Handing over the reins to the automated features on your trusted Cat machine frees you up to focus on other tasks that streamline the operation.

Finning’s Brad Nunn, application specialist for Heavy Construction and Mining, steers you through some of the automated features in Caterpillar’s large track-type tractors. Proper use directly impacts an owner’s bottom line, and that kind of reputation looks good on an operator.

With these automated features, you form a partnership with your machine that not only makes evident your respect for the bottom line but gives you command over your operation.

“Automatic Blade Assist allows the operator to preset the cut, carry and spread positions for the blade pitch function on large tractors,” Nunn explains. This is done by setting the percentage of cylinder stroke for each segment of the dozing cycle. “It’s crucial to load the blade quickly, since this can use the most fuel during the cycle.” At the end of the cycle, the operator can roll the blade forward to dump the material and not have carry-back on the blade, and can cycle through all the blade positions that he or she has preset for the material being worked in.

“Rolling the material takes a lot more energy than sliding it,” he continues. “If the operator can load the blade quickly and then pitch the blade back to carry 12

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Summer 2014

the material, fuel savings of up to 25 per cent can be achieved.” Sliding material also minimizes the wear and tear on the dozer.

Auto Carry is an optional feature for ensuring that your dozer maintains its optimum pushing power, which relates to 10 to 15 per cent slippage. With sensors that measure ground speed and track slippage, Auto Carry will guarantee there is no undue wear and tear. “Regardless of what part of the cycle the operator is in,” Nunn says, “Auto Carry is going to optimize it, and it simply won’t let you slip the tracks or stall a torque convertor. These kinds of mistakes are costly, and they happen all too often.” Spinning tracks in a large dozer can chew up the undercarriage – an expense to be avoided at all costs.

Auto Rip is a new optional feature on large dozers that works best in consistent materials. “A lot like Auto Carry, the machine senses track slip, ground speed and engine load,” Nunn says. “By letting the machine sense when the ripper needs to be raised or lowered, the operator can focus on their surroundings.” Auto Rip is extremely efficient when ripping for scrapers or ripping in consistent soil types.

Far too often, operators don’t position the shank for proper penetration at the beginning of a cycle. Fortunately, Auto Ripper Stow takes the thought process out of it.

The operator can pre-program the ripper to the position desired for the beginning of the cycle. “The push of a button is all that’s required,” says Nunn, noting, “The ripper will automatically raise and position the shank for initial penetration. When the ripper is programmed to raise and shank out at the end of the cycle, it removes all doubt as to where one will be when they return to the start position.” Like the Automatic Blade Assist, Auto Ripper Stow comes standard on all large dozers.

As an operator, you already know the power of your Cat machine, and you trust it to deliver consistent, efficient work. With these automated features, you form a partnership with your machine that not only makes evident your respect for the bottom line but gives you command over your operation. The work is always changing – this is how you stay in control. www.finning.ca

managers

Remote Control

Managing fly-in workers is easier with advance planning, and selective hiring and training

BY CHRISTY NICH

You’ve been working in your industry for years, know your job inside and out, but you’ve been given a new challenge – managing remote workers.

Where do you start?

One of the main concerns is hiring the right people for the job. Every industry has its own standards and qualifications, so you have some choices on where to begin based on your own company’s requirements.

You can advertise via your company website (if you have one), at any of the training institutions, or by word of mouth. Maybe you require operators who have a ticket to prove that they can handle heavy machinery, or specialized professionals like plumbers or pipefitters. Tickets can be obtained by hands-on experience or through technical institutions, such as SAIT Polytechnic or NAIT, which makes a campus recruiting visit worth your while.

Potential employees may also require safety certification specific to your industry, like WHMIS or H2S Alive training, as well as first aid certification. Your company may provide this or you may have a list of places where new employees can obtain it.

Then there are the personality traits that work best in the field. Mike Kennelly has been a seismic surveyor for 22 years and is currently working on the advance team as a senior surveyor at Glacier Exploration Surveys Ltd. He describes his work as “contractors to look after the team of other contractors” while out in the field. He’s been in charge of staff and says the best personality types are not typical of any other kind of day job. Employees need to be diverse and flexible since the working conditions are extreme. You don’t go home at the end of an eight-hour day – or on weekends, for that matter. In fact, you could go months before you return home for a break.

Staff working remotely must be able to put up with extreme climate changes. It gets cold out in the bush and you can’t go inside because it’s raining or even pouring. The ideal Glacier Exploration worker needs to be physically fit because he or she is scaling steep hills or mountains, not hiking trails. Helicopters take workers into and out of remote camps, so proper “heli-procedures” also need to be followed. And because workers are out in the wild, safety is the utmost concern. www.finning.ca

Bears are not uncommon, so Glacier Exploration also provides an awareness course and bear spray to each employee. Moose are especially worrisome in the fall and, of course, workers need to be aware of other animal dangers throughout the year.

To manage remote teams, good organizational and communication skills are very much essential. Jud Overton, operations director for Finning in the oil sands, says it’s important that you and your teams have a clear understanding of your customers’ business and operational goals to allow in-depth planning for remote worksites.

As a manager, you have to be able to coach, mentor and support your team when needed but if you are managing from offsite, this is sometimes very challenging.

Having a team with very high skills and the confidence to make good decisions – as conditions can change quickly – is a must. Remote worksites do not always have textbook tooling or facilities, so workers have to make safety a top priority. As a manager, you have to be able to coach, mentor and support your team when needed but if you are managing from offsite, this is sometimes very challenging. “It has been my experience with employees that sign up for remote work that they truly enjoy the challenge and personal accomplishment this work brings,” says Overton.

Having the right team can make all the difference, so it’s worth it to hire and make sure employees are content with the work and the compensation package your company provides. Are your individual employees qualified, safety-conscious, efficient, and well suited for remote work? Do they understand the goals and are they committed to help you accomplish them? If the answer is “yes,” then you’ve done your job, say the experts. If not, it’s time to make the necessary improvements to change it into a positive work environment for everyone.

Summer 2014

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AHEAD

BY CAITLIN CRAWSHAW | PHOTOGRAPHY BY TAWNA BROWN

The Mackenzie Valley Highway will finally connect Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk all year long 14

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www.finning.ca

ALL PHOTOGRAPHS © TAWNA BROWN

FULL SPEED

I

n most places in Canada, summertime

is jokingly referred to as “construction season,” since long, cold winters make outdoor roadwork difficult. But in the North, it’s just the opposite: the construction season can’t start until mercury dips well below zero.

“You don’t want to mess with the permafrost – the ground has to be frozen before you put a road on top of it,” explains Merven Gruben, vice-president and co-owner of E. Gruben’s Transport Ltd. in Tuktoyaktuk.

“You mess with that and you really screw up your foundation and the base of the road.”

That’s why the new Mackenzie Valley Highway project broke ground in early January 2014, after a ribbon-cutting ceremony with Prime Minister Harper.

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The $300-million project will extend the Dempster Highway, which currently ends in Inuvik, to the remote community of Tuktoyaktuk (known also as “Tuk”). The 137-kilometre long, two-lane highway will be surfaced with gravel, allowing drivers to reach speeds of up to 70 kilometres per hour – more than twice as fast as the ice road that the communities previously used during the wintertime.

The highway expansion was long awaited by the community, explains Gruben, whose company is building the road with Inuvik partner Northwind Industries.

During his six years as mayor of Tuk, he lobbied government agencies to have a permanent road built – an idea that was first proposed in the 1960s.

This winter, the project finally officially went ahead. Once E. Gruben’s Transport Ltd. and Northwind Industries were awarded the contract, they had to move quickly to gather the equipment they’d need to build the road before the ice road closure in March. After examining bids from several of the biggest players in the market, they picked Caterpillar iron. “They have a proven record up here,” says Gruben, noting that the family-owned company has used Cat equipment since the 1970s.

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The Coldest Journey

’TIS THE SEASON: For the next three years, the majority of the road work to the Mackenzie Valley Highway will have to be done during the winter.

But he adds that the service contract was also appealing, since Finning is the only heavy equipment company with a location in the region. “They wanted a one-stop shop,” says Finning sales rep Brendan Carter. Cat customers in the area have access to

“In the North, this was the largest single purchase of Cat equipment ever,” Brendan Carter says. parts and technicians who can regularly service their machinery – an important consideration for northern companies. Flying in parts from elsewhere is especially expensive so far north.

For the four-year project, E. Gruben’s Transport Ltd. and Northwind Industries went with a comprehensive service package to protect their investment of 63 pieces of equipment worth nearly $40 million, including 30 articulated dump trucks (740Bs), six 349 excavators, three D10T tractors, and other equipment.

“In the North, this was the largest single purchase of Cat equipment ever,” Carter says. “Not in terms of the money, but the number of machines.”

Once the deal was signed, the real work began.

All the equipment had to be hauled up north from Baltimore, Maryland, as well as Aurora, Illinois and other locations in North America, before the ice road closed. After being held up throughout the U.S. due

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to bad weather, the U.S.-built equipment made its way to Canadian Finning branches to be prepped for shipping up North. The vast majority of the machines were prepared by Finning’s Centre of Excellence branch in Red Deer.

Once in Inuvik, Finning technicians faced an even more challenging task, says Carter: “They had to assemble everything in -45˚Celsius.” But for all of the challenges, the equipment arrived on site before the closure of the ice road. With the necessary equipment, it was full-speed ahead until the end of the winter season.

Slated for completion in 2018, the roadway will be built in fits and starts. For the next three seasons, the majority of the work will happen during the coldest months of the year. “You’re limited to periods of time when the ground is frozen to haul gravel,” says Russell Newmark, CEO of E. Gruben’s Transport Ltd. But while this is a big part of the job, he stresses that some work can still be done in summer months. At the moment, workers are compacting and grading the road, adding signage, and installing guardrails, for instance.

After the weather, the project’s biggest challenge will be labour. “We need a lot of employees and we’re trying to use all local people,” says Kurt Wainman, president and owner of Northwind Industries.

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RESOURCE ROAD: The new highway, when complete in 2018, will improve access to the oilfield and encourage more economic activity in the region.

“It’s been good, but it’s been a short season. Next season will be five or six months, so that will be a bigger challenge.” This year, about 140 workers were involved in the road’s construction, but this number should jump to 240 in November and grow even more next year.

Gruben has been anticipating the highway project for years and says his company has been steadily hiring and training workers in Tuk – and neighbouring northern communities – for the last 15 to 20 years.

“We have a lot of people with class-one and class-five driver training, mechanics, welders, a lot of apprentice training,” he says.

While it may be more difficult in the short term to deal with the labour crunch, the owners of both companies agree that the long-term benefits make it worthwhile. “For us, training locally will give us a bigger pool of workers,” says Wainman. This means more skilled labour for future projects down the line.

Employing local people is also a good thing for the community, he notes.

In fact, he thinks the highway has the potential to create more opportunities for his company. “We say, ‘It’s a road to resources,’ ” Wainman explains, noting that the highway will improve access to the oilfield and potentially encourage more economic activity in the region. “There’s a lot more hooked to the

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road than the cost of groceries,” he says.

Newmark agrees that the highway will transform Tuk: “Every aspect of life – health care or recreation – improves when you’re not isolated anymore.” At the moment, getting to Inuvik to buy cheaper groceries or take

“Every aspect of life – health care or recreation – improves when you’re not isolated anymore,” Russell Newmark says. the kids swimming takes hours on the ice road. With a permanent highway, families will be able to access a wide range of services with just a 45-minute drive.

“It opens up everything. For the community of Tuk, it’s an incredible benefit,” he says.

And then there are the cost savings. Gruben points out that a permanent road is a big investment, but it’s more expensive for the community to build and maintain a new ice road year after year. He would know: his company has had the ice road contract for the last 20 years.

A permanent road will also be safer. Over the years, Gruben has had some vehicles – and the company's loads – fall through the ice. The risk has become greater because of warmer temperatures resulting from climate change: “I’ve never gone through myself – but I’ve gotten close. I’ve had my foot on the battery box on a couple of occasions, but never had to jump.”

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STORY BY RICK OVERWATER

northwest

PASSAGE

The seasonal highway between Tibbitt and Contwoyto lakes is the world’s longest heavy-haul winter road

BY CAITLIN CRAWSHAW

F

or many Canadians, winter is a four-letter word.

But for those who live in Canada’s northernmost reaches, the season has a definite upside: the opening of winter roads.

Each winter, many communities build temporary roadways made of snow and ice to allow vehicles to safely cross over frozen tundra and lakes, connecting remote areas to the goods and services in other regions. It’s a more convenient and much less expensive alternative to air travel.

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But ice roads aren’t just important for the people who dwell in Canada’s northernmost reaches; they are critical for industry, as well. About 65 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, lies the access point to an ice road that stretches from Tibbitt Lake to Contwoyto Lake each winter. This is the only on-land transportation route for the mining operations of Diavik Diamond Mines, Dominion Diamond Corporation, and De Beers Canada. This highway, which was first constructed in the early

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15 per cent over rocky islands and tundra. “We have to be very cognizant of the tundra because it takes such a long time to recover,” Tattrie explains. “So we take LONG HAUL: These days the road spans 360 kilometres great care not to damage it.” and is only available for about 60 days a year.

Because the ice road is only available for about 60 days each winter, the mining companies strategically plan to haul in as much equipment and fuel as they can.

In 2014, 7,480 loads carrying about 250,000 tonnes of commodity were transported along the Tibbitt to Contwoyto Winter Road. Because of this demand, and the size of the loads, the road must thicken enough to bear the weight of the vehicles travelling along its surface. “Our target ice is usually 40 to 42 inches,” says Tattrie.

“That will put the heaviest loads up to the sites.” That said, he recalls one instance where they had to go a bit thicker – about 44 inches – to transport a large excavator to a mine site. To ensure the road will be safe for all loads, Nuna Logistics is supported by an engineering company to calculate the exact thickness of the ice required, based on the configuration of the haul equipment that will be transported along the road’s surface.

Every year, it takes about one month and 125 road builders and support personnel to build the road, install road signs, and grade the slipperier portions of the route to ensure the highway is safe. But the opening of the road is just the beginning for Nuna Logistics. Throughout the season, the company maintains the roadway – a service which involves a great deal of technology, engineering prowess and people power.

A big part of this work involves monitoring the condition of the ice. In the past, crews accomplished this by drilling into the ice to determine its thickness, but now the industry standard is a technology called ground penetrating radar (GPR), which transmits high-frequency radio waves through the ice sheet to determine a minimum measurement. “Almost every day, we get measurements off of the ice and watch how the ice is growing,” says Tattrie.

It’s completely normal for the road to change over the course of the season, he notes: “The ice sheet is a floating surface that bends and contracts throughout the 1980s, is considered the world’s longest heavy haul winter road season. When the temperature changes, the weak points in the ice winter road. In its early days, the road stretched from often shatter, and one piece of ice might go above another piece where it cracks, outside Yellowknife to the north end of Contwoyto forming a ridge line.” Most of the time, these pressure ridges can be fixed with the Lake, a distance of up to 600 kilometres. These days, aid of a grader, but if they’re too high – say eight or nine feet tall – the road must the road is about 360 kilometres long, although this distance varies with the weather conditions and needs be repositioned to allow vehicles to drive around them.

Wind is also a challenge since it sweeps snow across the ice. This both narrows of industry. the road and causes the ice beneath it to thin (since snow has insulating properSince 1998, Inuit majority-owned company Nuna ties). The ice road is 130 to 150 feet wide for the most part, with the exception of Logistics Limited has built and maintained the road the portages, where it’s only 30 to 35 feet wide. Regular road clearing is required to using Cat equipment. Each year, the road is open durpreserve both the width and integrity of the road. ing the months of February In addition to supplying Cat machines for Nuna and March, although “We have to be very cognizant of Logistics for the road creation and maintenance, planning for the temporary the tundra because it takes such a Finning supplies plenty of equipment to the mining road begins much earlier long time to recover. So we take companies that use the road. But unlike a traditional than that, explains Nuna great care not to damage it.” highway, shipping along the ice road comes with some Logistics project manager limitations, says Dave Erwin, a sales representative with Tim Tattrie: “In November Finning: “I always tell people that by March 20, the road could close.” To that end, or December, we send a crew up to the south end of he aims to have all equipment ready to ship to the mining companies by March 1. the road by helicopter to do ice spot checks for us. I’m The ice road also affects how Cat equipment is packaged for shipping. Erwin looking for them to give a ballpark figure of what ice explains that machines are stripped down to meet weight specifications dictated we have from Tibbitt to our south camp.” by ice road limitations.

Once he has a sense of how well the ice is forming In spite of all of the measures taken to keep the road in good working order, along the route, Tattrie and his team look to help the there are times when Mother Nature doesn’t co-operate. “Sometimes, the wind ice in areas where it’s a bit thin. Generally, this means can pick up and it literally shuts the road down,” says Tattrie. “At times, we’ll have clearing snow from the ice, exposing it to the cold 100 tractor trailers stuck in our centre camp, all along the road.” air in order to increase thickness. Sometimes, water Last year, road operations were suspended for about 39 hours; other years, the trucks are used to flood areas to create ice. This is road’s use was suspended for as many as 100 hours. The downtime is expensive particularly important for freezing a portage – the for the client and users of the road, but it’s inevitable so far north. “Once the wind portion of the ice road that crosses over land. About stops, we get the road open and the tractor trailers moving again,” he says.

85 per cent of the road is built over frozen lakes and

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Summer 2014

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Finning’s Yellowknife branch is increasing the reach of its service to customers across the NWT

H

ay River, a community of 3,600 on the south shore of Great Slave Lake, used to be referred to as “the hub of the North” – and was Finning’s base of operations in the Northwest Territories. For decades, the branch was a crucial supplier of equipment and parts to the nearby Pine Point lead zinc mine, which operated between 1965 and 1988, and after that it was kept busy with the diamond boom.

But the Northwest Territories is a place of dramatic and fundamental change, and by the early 2000s, many resource firms in the region had moved their head offices to Yellowknife, the capital city of the NWT. Hay River was still a parts and service hub;

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BY ROBIN BRUNET

but Finning representatives had to journey five hours around the Slave to Yellowknife and board a plane to remote locations in order to serve a growing number of isolated customers. A way to serve customers in a more timely fashion was badly required.

That, in a nutshell, is what prompted Finning to open its Yellowknife branch in 2013. But building a new facility is one thing: it was quite another to find a manager who would make the most of it and also felt at home in 456,792 square miles of sub-arctic and arctic landscape, populated by only 44,000 people.

Cut to Mitch Thompson, Finning’s Calgary customer service manager. He and his wife Rhonda had lived in that city for six years, and although they had friends and enjoyed many aspects of the Prairies, living in a city the size of Calgary was getting to them. “It was the biggest city I’d ever lived in, and as it grew so did the grind,” he says.

So when Finning asked Thompson, 56, to shore up Yellowknife, he promptly consulted with Rhonda; soon the couple was heading north. Getting used to near-24 hour daylight during summer and perpetual night in winter wasn’t a problem: prior

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The Yellowknife facility sits beside a lot that has been earmarked for a mechanical shop. “When we’re finally finished in a few years we’ll be a fully-functioning branch, servicing what we sell and supplying parts courtesy of daily deliveries from Edmonton,” says Thompson. “What’s really exciting about the new branch is the opportunity for growth: the resource sector is booming, and plans are underway for entirely new industries to be launched here.”

One example of a new industry is, surprisingly enough, logging, which would be undertaken to supply a proposed pellet mill in Hay River. “Even though nothing is certain, we’re in the unlikely position of quoting forestry equipment up here,” says Thompson. “Forestry will never be a huge component of the regional economy, but it would certainly be unique.”

Another potential new venture for the Yellowknife area would be The Cat Rental Store. “If there’s one thing we’re constantly asked, it’s ‘when will you have rentals available?’ ” Thompson says. “Overall in the territories there’s a lack of rental outlets, so we would be filling a big void.”

Meanwhile, Finning is kept busy with its mining clients, including its largest, Dominion Diamonds. Other important mining clients include the Diavik Diamond Mine, about 300 kilometres north of Yellowknife. The mine is typical of NWT ventures in that transportation can be a challenge: it’s connected to Yellowknife by an ice road, and one winter the road froze late and thawed early, meaning arrangements had to be made to bring supplies in by air.

De Beers Canada’s Snap Lake Mine is 350 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife, and is another Finning customer. Its ice road makes the site accessible by land for six to eight weeks per year (the mine itself is built under a lake and the deposit slopes from the lakeshore at an almost horizontal angle).

But the Dominion Diamond Corporation’s Ekati Diamond Mine is by far the branch’s biggest mining customer, says Thompson. The mine (named for the Tlicho word meaning “fat lake”) is Canada’s first surface and underground diamond mine. Like Diavik, the Ekati mine site is in the Lac de Gras region of the Northwest Territories, about 300 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife.

Other clients include the City of Yellowknife, the Government of the Northwest Territories, and northern construction firms, including those run by the business arm of the Tlicho First Nation, and Nuna Logistics, an aboriginal majority-owned company that maintains the ice road. (For more on the ice road and its importance, BRANCHING OUT: The Yellowknife branch, turn to page 18). Meanwhile, Northwinds Industries and E. Grubens Transport, both which opened in December 2013, is poised of which are heavily involved in the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk highway project, are also to give Finning customers full service. key Finning customers through the Yellowknife branch.

All of these clients receive the fast service customers in urban areas take for granted. “We finish ordering parts everyday at about seven, and the truck from Edmonton arrives about 24 hours later at Hay River and Yellowknife,” says Thompson, noting that to Calgary, Thompson had worked for Finning in Hay the Yellowknife branch consists of 14 people. Hay River still has six mechanics on the River, first as a service supervisor then as customer payroll, as both branches continue to develop strategies service manager. “I’d been for how to serve all of Finning’s NWT customers. there five years and enjoyed About the only equipment Finning doesn’t sell in the the community-oriented, “That’s the great thing Territories – much of the land is covered by Canadian genuinely friendly people about the North,” says Mitch Shield – are scrapers. “They don’t work well because it’s up north,” he says. all hard rock here, not the nice sand you get in Calgary,” Although it’s been a Thompson. “We all know says Thompson. “Other than that, sales patterns are year since the Thompsons each other. It’s fulfilling – and pretty similar to other branches: graders, wheel loaders, unpacked their bags, the articulated trucks – you name it.”

Yellowknife branch is still it makes for good business.”

As the Yellowknife branch gears up, Thompson and very much a work in prohis wife are entirely at home in one of the world’s last gress. It officially opened frontiers. “Yellowknife has all the amenities of a big city, in December of 2013 just but there’s no mistaking we’re a hub in a vast wilderness,” he says. “For some people after the last parts and mechanical positions were filled; that would be troubling, but we spend as much of our spare time hiking, fishing and some of the personnel are from Hay River and true to the NWT spirit, they love their hometown so much they meeting people we knew years ago. That’s the great thing about the North: everyone is far-flung geographically, but we all know each other. It’s really fulfilling – and it makes return on weekends. “They think Yellowknife is way too for good business.” big,” says Thompson, with a laugh.

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Summer 2014

21

Spot light

SERVICE

Time to Connect

Savvy customers know that technology is at the leading edge in the battle against downtime

BY MARTIN DOVER

A piece of Caterpillar equipment on a construction site requires brake servicing. Sounds pretty innocuous right? No. It’s a big deal, especially if you’re an equipment manager trying to get a job done right, and on time. Unscheduled downtime on a construction site means there’s potential that the entire project could go off schedule. It’s an unwanted scenario that Trevor Tetzlaff, product support marketing program manager at Finning Canada, helps customers avoid.

Now Tetzlaff and his team at Finning Canada have a new solution in the arsenal of product support and preventive and proactive maintenance: Cat Connect.

In Tetzlaff’s example, Cat Connect would simply send an automated text message to the project’s equipment manager alerting him of the brake overheat before there’s an outright brake failure, allowing the equipment manager to assess the situation and take corrective action. It could be a possible operator error or a site condition that is impacting the machine’s performance. Either way, the manager can tamp that spark before it becomes a flame.

“Of course the goal is proactive maintenance. Not reactive. The worst thing for a customer is if that machine has unscheduled downtime, it’s costing him money instead of making him money,” Tetzlaff explains. “If we can be proactive and have a plan to work with the customer, then his machine doesn’t go down, and his operating costs are reduced.”

The technology behind that convenient text message has much broader implications. Cat Connect is allowing Finning Canada to integrate cutting-edge technologies into Caterpillar machines. It means that Finning can provide the added service to its customers when they need it most.

Cat Connect gives customers more control of the job site, helping them monitor and enhance operations in four key areas: equipment management, productivity, safety and sustainability.

Using the data from technology-equipped machines, customers receive new information and insight into the inner workings of their equipment and operations.

Finning can tailor the right combination of Cat Connect technologies and services for any jobsite. One customer might want to ramp up production, while another might want to improve safety. Finning can make Cat Connect work for both.

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Cat Connect can, for example, precisely track equipment location, speed and avoidance zones, and relay the information to a site supervisor or machine operator.

“As we’re talking to a customer, he might say, ‘You know what’s really important to me? Productivity.’ Customers want to know how the equipment helps hit payload targets more efficiently, boost production with faster cycle times, and possibly improve grade and compaction efficiency,” Tetzlaff says.

“By combining equipment, technology and services, we’re able to say, ‘Yes, actually I have the ability to help you increase your productivity.’ ” Cat Connect can, for example, make use of a precision grading system to provide onboard information that helps new and experienced operators deliver improvements in grading efficiency specific to the task at hand.

Another customer, facing a new challenge presented by a job, might want to maintain or improve safety. Cat Connect can precisely track equipment location, speed and avoidance zones, and relay the information to a site supervisor, equipment manager, and provide feedback to the operator.

“It’s a way to use technology to help build a culture of safety,” Tetzlaff says of the safety features. “Caterpillar has recognized that technology is driving change in the heavy equipment industry. And our customers look for ways to use this technology to their advantage.”

Take for example the introduction of telematics into equipment management.

In the last decade, telematics, or the use of wireless communications to understand and manage machine operations, has become an increasingly valuable tool on worksites. Telematics is the foundation for Cat EMSolutions under the Cat Connect umbrella of services.

“So if you’re hearing that telematics will have a penetration equal to the cellphone by 2020, which isn’t that far away – holy smokes – that means that every machine will be talking to something, data will be out there,” Tetzlaff says.

“We want to be on the forefront, using that data to help customers’ business, to gain efficiencies.”

“And we are interested in their businesses, and their successes,” Tetzlaff says.

“If our customers are successful, we’re successful.” www.finning.ca

BY CHRISTY NICH / ILLUSTRATION BY HEFF O'REILLY

Close Calls

For every serious workplace incident, there are hundreds more near misses

1

Fatality

10

Disabling injuries

100

There are statistically 600 near misses for every Recordable injuries serious workplace incident, according to the risk pyramid developed by Frank Bird in 1969, which was 1,000 based on an earlier work by H.W. Heinrich. Bird’s Incidents requiring first aid study also showed that there are 30 incidents leading to property damage and 10 minor injuries occurring at work prior to every serious incident.

10,000 Near misses Heinrich’s theory proposes that serious incidents don’t occur in isolation. He wrote that incidents are usually of the same type and generally involve the same 100,000 people. Another study found that there are as many as Unsafe acts/conditions 300,000 “at-risk behaviours,” which are defined as not consistent with proper safety practices or training, or resulting from misuse of machinery.

But a study by Behavioral Science Technology violations can help your serious recordable injury rate stay low. Such approaches (BST), a safety management consulting firm, shows to safety can allow workers to see crucial safety red flags and highlight areas that minor injury numbers have steadily declined requiring more attention. over the past few years, yet the number of serious According to Noel Hill, general manager of health and safety for Finning incidents and fatalities have not. It suggests a new Canada, it’s near misses that help identify problem areas in need of analysis and paradigm, based on the notion that serious injuries correction. “We treat all of our near misses as learning opportunities. We do have different underlying ourselves a favour and take the 15 minutes to ask ‘What causes than minor happened here and how can we keep it from happening “We treat all of our near misses as ones including missed again?’ ” Through Finning’s online reporting system, learning opportunities,” says Noel Hill. controls, procedural all near misses are reported and the company can then “We do ourselves a favour and ask inefficiencies and badly “conduct trending” to notice where patterns exist, Hill ‘What happened here and how can we designed equipment. says. “We’re also looking to see if there are trends in keep it from happening again?’ ” These factors can create certain kinds of injuries. Is somebody being struck by high-risk situations that something? Are we having falls?’ [After asking these can often lead to major incidents. questions] we can categorize and pinpoint where we want to focus our efforts to Identifying and addressing these high-risk situations create greater awareness,” he explains. is the key to prevention of major incidents. A precursor Being aware of potential dangers can go far in cutting down on near misses. “You is “any high-risk practice that has been overlooked and can have a serious incident where the outcome is not catastrophic, but it has the not corrected.” For example, a safety control that is potential to be and I think that’s really how we look at all of our incidents,” says Hill, routinely ignored by a company could go for years with pointing to Finning’s Risk Assessment Matrix, which measures the severity of every very low lost-time injury rates until there is a serious incident, big or small. incident. The focus needs to be on preventing those high-risk situations, regardless of whether or not they JOBSITE CHECKLIST are reported. And while property damage incidents Some quick reminders to ensure an injury-free workplace: account for billions of dollars being lost annually, they Analyze the job before starting work are often misnamed as near misses, but they could have Identify the hazards just as easily resulted in personal injuries.

Follow manufacturer’s service guides Analyzing your company’s safety data to uncover Educate yourself and staff to take necessary safety precautions trends and the pattern of safety incidents and

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Summer 2014

23

Spot light

TECH

Higher Learning

When it comes to customer education, Finning's Surrey branch is leading the company that leads

From its inception during the Great Depression, Finning Canada’s forward-thinking approach was clear, helping turn Earl Finning’s original $50,000 loan into a cutting edge, global company. While there are few Finning-free places on the planet today, there are always new ways to bring customers new products.

Over the last four years, Surrey branch sales manager Dan Warrington has challenged his staff to up their game when it comes to informing customers about new products and technology. Late last year, once employees had a grasp, they began promoting a more advanced, on-board technology designed by SITECH, a Finningowned, independently-run construction technology company. Through SITECH, contractors learn how to use technology that makes significant improvements in their project workflow – dramatically increasing their production, improving their accuracy, and lowering their operating costs.

But first, the staff got some training of their own.

“The first thing we did was bring in Ed Picher from SITECH to give the sales team a run down on the new technology, specifically grade control,” says Warrington. “We turned that into our business plan for the year: don’t sell to the customers, educate them, so they can take advantage of these new tools.”

As SITECH’s technology sales and service rep since 2011, Picher and his team were used to receiving the stereotypical “IT guy” treatment. This time was different. “In the past, whenever we’d get invited to speak at an event or a sales training, we’d be relegated to five or 10 minutes. This time, we got three hours to explain the technology, what they can do with it and how it benefits our customers.”

The sales team sufficiently educated, it was time to roll it out to specific customers. This April, each sales person brought select employees – an owner, a supervisor, operators or even a full crew – from three targeted companies to the very first Surrey Technology Day, held in the branch’s operating engineer’s site. Each of the five machines – two dozers, two excavators and a packer – had a Finning and SITECH member assigned to it, to answer client questions as they gave them each a go, in some cases for the first time.

“It’s not about Finning, it’s about our customers,” says Alex Docherty, director of technology for Finning Canada, who adds that it’s these new products’ efficiency that helps maintain Finning’s status as an 24

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PHOTO: AMIE CONTACT

BY CORY SCHACHTEL

“We already have requests from all the other regions.

Southern Alberta, Fort McMurray, Grande Prairie, Edmonton – they all want to follow the Surrey model.” industry leader. “Take the two-dimension grade controllers,” he says, “a system that helps manage the up and down. Usually someone has to go into the trench and take measurements to make sure they have the right depth and slope. With the new system, you don’t have to send anyone into the trench, because in the cab you get a graphic representation of what you’re trying to dig, including the teeth of the bucket itself. And there’s a line that represents where you should be from an elevation perspective, which guides your cutting edge to the correct elevation, achieving grade the first time.”

Participants also saw VisionLink demoed, an online application where customers see where their machines are, how many hours are on them, their rate of fuel burn and how much time they’ve spent idling – important data that gives a fuller view of machine efficiency and utilization.

Over two days, Finning and SITECH crews gave more than 60 customers from 18 companies first-hand experience with the newest machines and technology on the market. Some orders came pretty much on the spot, others took longer. And while the immediate business is nice, Surrey Technology Day – the first of its kind in Western Canada – had farreaching effects.

“We already have requests from all the other regions. Southern Alberta, Fort McMurray, Grande Prairie, Edmonton – they all want to follow the Surrey model,” says Picher, noting a company doesn’t reach Finning’s level of success without innovation, both in the product it sells and how it delivers.

Warrington agrees it was a success. “I’ve been in the business for 28 years, and I’ve got a great team,” says Warrington. “I pitched them my vision, and they ran with it. Most importantly, the customers loved it.” www.finning.ca

Mission Possible

Finning employees gain as much as they give, while donating time to a community outreach centre

BY LUCY HAINES

SOUP’S ON: Finning Kamloops branch employees felt grateful to partner up with the mission to serve 150 meals per seating.

A

couple of years ago, Finning Kamloops branch manager Dan

Lockwood needed a way to boost morale – and build camaraderie – among his staff, when adjusting to a new computer system proved frustrating. Lockwood suggested the employees take their minds off company computer woes by doing something outside the office; perhaps something for those less fortunate.

Since he had previously volunteered with his church to make and serve meals at the city’s New Life Mission, Lockwood suggested the same at Finning and – to his surprise – staff from every area of the branch, parts, service, sales and management, signed up in great numbers (along with several spouses) to create and serve a weekend of meals at New Life Mission.

“I knew the good feeling that comes from helping others, so I thought this could be a win-win situation for Finning and the mission,” Lockwood says. “This effort brought employees together, united in one common goal.”

From their very first effort, the Kamloops employees embraced serving about 150 meals per seating for homeless and low-income people. Some Finning folk www.finning.ca

planned the menu and shopped for groceries, while others did the cooking, serving or cleanup. Since that first effort, Finning Kamloops volunteers have put on four meals at the New Life Mission – four teams of 10 employees (40 in total) providing a Friday supper of spaghetti, salad, vegetables, garlic bread and dessert, followed by a Saturday lunch of shepherd’s pie, salad and dessert for appreciative patrons at the mission.

For Finning, the cost is about $500 per meal and a weekend of time – but it’s time well-spent, according to Lockwood. “As a company, we have performance demands, but it’s nice to simply help in the community we live in too,” he says. “It gives me pride to show that we’re more than just a dealership, and this has been a bonding experience, creating a family atmosphere among employees.”

The feelings go even further for Finning sales coordinator Cindie Tommasini, whose experience serving meals at New Life Mission has been an eye-opener – even a life-changing experience.

“I wanted to help others in my life but didn’t know how,” Tommasini said. “It’s gratifying to see people say thank you with a smile on their face.” The near40-year veteran employee said misconceptions about homeless people kept her in the kitchen to start, but she ended up out front, visiting with many who came for a meal. “It felt like a hug. I didn’t need to know why these people were here. It made me realize it could be any of us who fall on hard times.”

Stan Dueck, executive director of New Life Mission, opens the Outreach Centre’s doors six days a week to the homeless and working poor, serving about 120 meals per sitting. The mission’s budget has to stretch to support a residential program, nursing and dental care and a thrift store, where clothing and blankets are regularly donated to those in need.

“We need help from groups like Finning – it gets the community engaged in what we do,” says Dueck.

“And those coming in for a meal are even more appreciative. Our meals are always healthy and nutritious, but when Finning comes in, it’s awesome – a step up from the norm.”

Finning Kamloops employees also recently chose to donate winnings from a branch sales contest – more than $5,000 – to New Life Mission. And while the company’s Kamloops branch was awarded with a community service award, Lockwood and his employees agree: the real reward is in the giving.

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STORY BY RICK OVERWATER

The Bassett brothers proudly maintain a family-owned logging firm in ever-changing Dawson Creek

BY ROBIN BRUNET

S

everal years ago, Wade Bassett was talking to a

flag person who had just moved to Dawson Creek, B.C. from Vancouver. He asked what she wanted to do, and she replied that she was trying to get into the oil and gas industry. “What about you?” she asked.

“I’m a logger,” he told her.

Bassett then explained the basics of logging and how trees are replanted after cutblocks are harvested and roads decommissioned. “I’m not sure if I persuaded her to change careers, but she really paid close

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attention to what I was saying,” Wade recalls.

It would be an understatement to say Wade and his brother Clay are proud loggers at a time when Dawson Creek is focused on oil and gas. In 2003 several large oil companies acquired masses of land rights for the purpose of natural gas development in the so-called Capital of the Peace. This kicked off a boom that has transformed a once-sleepy locale into a hub where as many as 100 new businesses are created annually.

But Clay, 52, and Wade, 49, operate as their father Dale Bassett

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had when he formed W&D Contracting back in 1987: that is, they log within a 100-kilometre radius of Dawson Creek on behalf of Louisiana Pacific, which moved into town in 1986 and was the reason Dale, a long-time rancher, decided to enter logging full-time.

Dale was born in 1939 and worked in sawmills around Dawson Creek clearing sites for his dad and uncles (he’d also worked up north for Beattie Construction and others). Similarly, his sons Clay and Wade entered the profession shortly after leaving school by working for Dale’s brothers, Ken and Rick.

Clay tried his hand several times in the oil and gas sector but always returned to logging, and the brothers joined Dale full-time shortly after he formed W&D. Outfitted with a fleet of Caterpillar equipment, the Bassetts provide employment to about 17 employees during winter as well as a half-dozen truckers and a crew of subcontractors. While LP is the main recipient of the lumber, the West Fraser/Canfor mills in Chetwynd get the spinoff.

THE FAMILY WAY: Brothers Wade and Clay In keeping with tradition, during spring and summer Bassett have logging and ranching in their blood. the brothers turn their attention to the family ranching business: between their home and Dale’s adjoining property in Upper Cutbank, they work more than customers. “We bought our first Cat, a D6C, back in 1988, but it wasn’t until 2,500 acres of land. “The calves come in the spring and the 1990s when we got enough regular cash flow going to pick up a processor, a we grease the haying equipment and prepare for the buncher and other equipment from Finning Dawson Creek, rather than relying new round of crops,” says Clay, to which his brother adds good-naturedly: “We don’t have any spare time for on lesser manufacturers,” says Wade. “The quality of the equipment is fantastic – ourselves, but that’s the way we like it – ranching in the but what really impresses us are people.” He mentions Damien Bennett, Finning’s account manager for Fort St. John, who the Bassetts regard as more of a friend summer and logging through the winter.” than a salesman. “He and his colleagues have always been ready to help us out The Bassetts are hardly alone. Clay’s wife Trina when we’ve run into problems, and that’s meant a lot to us.” and Wade’s wife Cindi do the company bookkeeping; The Bassetts keep W&D going strong in the 21st century Clay’s two sons, Derek, because it’s what they do best, which also makes economic 27, and Blaine, 25, and his The Bassetts like their 324D Processor sense. “Our most recent purchase from Finning was a daughter Caitlyn, 23, and Forest Machine for its well balanced 324D Processor Forest Machine. We’re impressed with its Wade’s daughters, Morgan, stance, power and reliability. well-balanced stance, power and reliability that we have 20, and Brooke, 17, are all grown to love about Cat equipment,” says Clay. fully-immersed in both Running the business as efficiently as possible is key to survival. Clay points out the logging and ranching businesses. The thirdthat when he and his brother joined the company there were 100-plus logging congeneration employees have become excellent examtractors supplying LP in the Dawson Creek area, and today there are only two – but ples of the Bassett entrepreneurial spirit and speak they’re hard-pressed to imagine any other lifestyle. to the opportunities the forestry industry can provide Bennett admires the resiliency of the Bassetts. “They are a wonderful family and to the younger generation. it’s been a pleasure to get to know them,” he says. “They’ve prevailed in a challenging “All of our kids are very aggressive when it comes industry, and now it seems that forestry in our neck of the woods is growing,” he to wanting to work. They got that trait from us, and in turn, we got that from our loving mother Pat and father notes, adding that housing starts are up and prices remain stable in North America, and new opportunities in foreign markets point to a promising forestry future.

Dale – who taught us not only how to work but also “Clay and Wade have developed a good niche, harvesting poplar for oriented that it should be a source of enjoyment,” Clay says. strand board production, and their fleet of about 25 machines, from skidders to load“Over the years, we have seen the dominant oil and ers and road building equipment, serves them well,” Bennett adds. “Along with our gas industry provide opportunities for us outside of product line, they’re also strong supporters of using Cat parts and Finning service logging when the forestry market was a little softer, departments in their repairs. We treasure their loyalty and business partnership.” but the primary focus for us is the logging industry,” he The only regret of the Bassetts is that Dale didn’t live long enough to enjoy retireexplains. “It has held a stable growth path that has had ment. He died on January 20 at the age of 74. “He meant the world to us,” says Clay. less peaks and crashes, which we have also managed “He derived a deep satisfaction from his work, as did our mother, Pat.” to find a way to match our growth with. Logging has To which Wade concludes: “He used to tell us, ‘Slow and steady wins the race.’ provided us with a great life-work balance.”

There aren’t many people left like him who understand that you have to work hard to Not surprisingly, loyalty is important to the Bassett earn what you need and want, and we miss him terribly.” family, which is why they are long-time Finning

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Summer 2014

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Portrait: Chad Besuyen

BY NOÉMI LOPINTO PHOTO BY JOEY PODLUBNY

Integrity is more than a catchphrase for Finning product salesman Chad Besuyen; it’s a deeply held core value that colours everything he does and who he chooses to work for.

Integrity of product is why he chose to work at Finning. Integrity in business is how he has built a reputation of solid rapport with his customers, ultimately earning him high honours for compact construction equipment sales in North America.

“If you wanted to roll it into the global scale, that’s pretty big,” he says. “But I’ve had success in sales because I like the product and what Finning represents. I enjoy standing behind it.”

He says for him it’s more about serving his Finning customers and working alongside a strong support team than achieving high sales numbers; though, he can count that among his accomplishments, as well.

Besuyen was flown down to Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas strip, where he and five others were recognized for their hard work and dedication by the CEO of Finning International and the president of Finning Canada in March.

He was recognized as the top overall rep and top salesman in the category of Compact Construction Equipment.

Since his return, the 33-year-old Spruce Grove native has placed the ring on a mantel and is back at work for Finning. “What’s important to me is to continue to develop great business relationships,” he says.

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www.finning.ca

www.finning.ca

Summer 2014

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Count on Us

HEAVY DUTY GEAR SOLD HERE Attention Finning shoppers: It’s 1980 and our customers are putting the shopping carts to good use, loading up on maintenance products – batteries, filters, headlights antifreeze and shop supplies – this time at Finning’s Campbell River branch.

You’ll still find a wide-range of these products at your favourite Finning location, but today you can also use an electronic shopping cart at our online PartStore, at www.finning.ca. The same applies if you need to update your wardrobe with a Cat hat or Finning jacket. Visit your nearest Finning centre or simply click on the Heavy Duty Gear tab. Thank you for shopping at Finning!

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www.finning.ca

Days are long but time is short.

Count on Finning to have the right machines, parts and service to keep you going this summer.

YEAR FOR 36 MONTHS*

PRODUCT LINK / VISION LINK SUBSCRIPTION*

YEAR /

5000 hr

ON SELECT CAT速 CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT. *

PREMIER EQUIPMENT PROTECTION PLAN

*Only until September 30, 2014

Turn up the heat and contact your local Finning sales representative today.

Get 0% interest for 36 months financing with 3yr/5000 Premier EPP and 3 yr. Product Link subscription on the purchase of a NEW Cat machine, which includes Cat Medium Wheel Loaders (950K, 962K, 966K, 972K), Cat Medium Track Type Tractors (D6K2, D6N, D6T), Small Hydraulic Excavators (311FL RR, 312EL, 312EL CR, 316EL, 318EL, 320EL (standard only), 328DL CR and 336 EL H Hybrid Large Excavator. The Equipment Protection Plan (EPP) applies to select models and is provided through Cat Financial for use at participating Cat dealers. Financing is subject to credit approval through Cat Financial. Additional terms and conditions may apply. Program is subject to change without prior notice. Offer is valid from March 1 to September 30, 2014 on select new models at participating Cat dealers. Offer is available to customers in Canada only and cannot be combined with any other offers.

*Program applies to select Cat Excavators (312E, 314E, 316E, 318E, 320D, 320E, 321D, 324E, 326F, 328D, 329E, 329F, 335F, 336F, 349E). See your Finning Sales Representative or visit finning.ca for “Finning Fuel Guarantee”,”Guaranteed Machine Delivery Date”, “Great Prices and Competitive Financing” details. Finance programs may vary over promotion period. Demo program available at select Finning branches. Promotion runs from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014.