As you establish your new construction business, you have to pay special attention to your fleet of heavy equipment. There are some things that you can never afford to ignore, such as the following.
Purchasing
Purchasing the necessary equipment is the first step towards creating your fleet. It comes with a lot of considerations, including the best brands and sizes for your operations, and whether you are buying them new or used.
Figure out your needs for each particular equipment, and how much you are willing to spend. Watch out for unreliable and shady businesses that are out to ruin your investment. Transact only with a trustworthy heavy equipment dealer.
Training
Whenever you buy new equipment, ensure that all employees will be able to use it properly. Training is necessary to improve the efficiency or your job site and ensure the safety of employees. But if you are on a tight deadline, you might not have time to train your employees.
Spend time on training your employees whenever you make an addition to your equipment fleet. Untrained employees could damage the equipment, which leads to repair costs, downtime, or even injuries on the site.
Preventive maintenance
Investing in preventive maintenance technologies can be expensive and time-consuming, but it will save you a large sum in the long run. Take units offline from time to time to keep them up with preventive maintenance. This helps you stay on schedule, and prevents accidents and unexpected downtime.
After the initial purchase, repairs and maintenance are among the biggest expenses for your fleet. Weigh the costs before buying equipment. If you do not think you can keep up with the expenses, renting equipment for each project might be your most cost-effective option.
Scheduled maintenance
Preventive maintenance prevents small problems from blowing up. To keep your equipment fleet running at peak efficiency, each piece of machinery has to regularly undergo a scheduled maintenance. Skipping the scheduled maintenance leads to breakdowns and unscheduled downtime that can cost you a lot.
If you decide to rent equipment instead of buying it, the rental company will cover the costs for the equipment’s maintenance program.
Repairs
An equipment breakdown is extremely costly, especially if it results from a lack of maintenance. Broken equipment hold you back from being on schedule and you also need to pay for the repairs and replacement parts, if necessary.
Repairs are one of the most expensive part of owning equipment, but it can be prevented if the equipment keeps up with regular maintenance.
Consumables
Many owners tend to overlook this when building their fleet. Tires, grease, belts, oil, fuel, and other items that need to be regularly refilled or replaced are considered consumables. Each piece of equipment also needs to be ensured, and that counts as consumable cost, as well.
Before getting new equipment for your fleet, include the costs of consumables in your budget. Even if your initial estimate may not match the actual cost, you will at least have some allocation for consumables that will not throw off the rest of your budget.
Each step in running a business requires thorough research, especially when putting together your construction equipment fleet. After all, your equipment is necessary for constructing the best projects and laying the foundations of your success.
