Author Archives: Kevin

Why it is important to paint heavy equipment?

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Heavy equipment is one of the most important element s in the present era, because of its contribution in the constantly growing construction industry. With new constructions being made every day, without the heavy equipment, it would be quite difficult to do these extensive jobs in such a fast pace.

Even the workload would be multiple times higher and would require more workers. Hence, to minimize time as well as to minimize expenditure, the heavy construction equipment plays a huge role. However, they do not come for a pocket-friendly price. Therefore, it requires a great deal of maintenance for the heavy construction equipment. Along with maintenance, what is equally important for the heavy construction equipment is to paint it occasionally.

Importance of Painting Heavy Equipment:

Just as cleaning the heavy equipment off dirt and dust is important, it is equally important that you paint the heavy equipment occasionally. There are many reasons behind it.

  • Increases longevity:

Just as high quality paint increases the life of a property, home or other concrete elements; it also increases the life of the heavy equipment as well. These commercial vehicle paints are made of chemicals and materials that can protect the metal structure of the machine from dust, dirt as well as moisture.

  • Increases resale value:

When you wish to sell your old heavy equipment and buy a new one instead, always make sure that the equipment is painted well. This will give it an almost new look, which will certainly increase the price of your equipment. It is worth spending on the painting expenditure, if you want to increase the price of the machine or if you want to sell it fast.

  • Give it a Branded Look:

The branded heavy equipment comes with high quality paint and finishing. If you want to enjoy ownership of your heavy equipment that has a branded look and appeal to it, painting is the first step.

Painting the Heavy Equipment Yellow:

Now that you have understood the importance of painting your heavy equipment, it is also important that you know which colour is the best for you. If you go through the branded heavy equipment, you will see that they all come in a bright yellow colour.

The reason behind this is that the yellow colour is a highly visible colour. Hence, be it early in the morning or in the bright sun or even at dusk, when there is very minimal light, the yellow colour is highly visible whenever light reflects on it. Therefore, painting it yellow is the best choice, so that potential accidents can be avoided.

Conclusion:

If you are thinking of painting your heavy equipment afresh, make sure that you choose the best quality paints and also have the painting done by the professionals. There are professional heavy equipment painters, who will clean your equipment at first and then paint the new colour professionally, so that your equipment gets a completely new look. It is not every day that you will be painting your heavy equipment. So, choose only the best, without compromising on your budget.

Motor Grader Tricks

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Grading has always been considered as one of the most important functions in the construction industry and particularly in road building work. Therefore it becomes quite crucial for the construction company to buy the best grading machines available in the market and also hire the best men who know how to work on those machines. The operators need to be really experienced as far as their job is concerned. They need to know the tricks of the trade more than anything else.

Operating the machine is one thing but knowing the tricks to complete the work is what many construction companies expect from the operators. So if you are the one who knows motor grader tricks you might find your place as an operator or also as an instructor in major construction companies that are involved in grading works. Since construction companies gives more stress on the tricks of using a motor grader, it makes more sense to know what tricks in particular are they looking for in an operator to know so that the operator can work in those areas that is required for him to get into the best of the company.

Knowing your machine well:-

This is perhaps the most important trick that one should learn first. Just by the noise of the machine when you start the engine that you should know if it will work fine the whole day or will there be some sort of problem that may crop up as the day progresses. You can expect quick work only when the machine is in good shape or else there is a possibility that it will run slow during the major part of the day. Other than that, knowing the various functions in a grader is way too crucial for any operator. You just do not have run the machine but you have to run it effectively and in order to do so you need to ensure that you know the various functions attached to machine. Heavy equipment companies provide 2 functions for the same job. One will be a quicker one and the other will be the normal one. So if you are the genre of conventional operator who shies away from trying new things then it is a problem. You got to learn the new part of the story to become highly productive.

Soil composition and blades:-

Different types of blades are required to work on different types of soil. You can’t use the same type of blade on all kinds of soil. The trick again begins with knowing which blade should be used for what type of soil. One particular type of blade can be used for a soil that is not meant for it but it will be very time consuming and will lead to many days to grade a small plot of land. You should use the right kind of blades for grading work and it is the responsibility of the operator to know which blade to be used on what type of soil.

Keep your conduct good to grow in the construction industry

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Right from our childhood we are taught to work hard and were made to understand that hard work pays you off in time. There is absolutely no second thought on the fact that there is no substitute for hard work but there is something more than one need to do to climb up the ladder and it is to keep his conduct good. You will be loved by your co-workers if you are good to them. It is as simple as this. You be good to others and expect the same from them. Other than having a good rapport with your team mates and colleagues you should also ensure that you give your best in terms of performance so that your supervisors should think about you whenever they have to assign a challenging task to someone. You should make such an image in front of your superiors. It is also important that all the higher level management must know you for your work. Growing in an industry is a tough task but it can be achieved if you are a person who knows to respect others and also respect your work.

Good conduct is one of the most essential criterions in the construction industry that will decide how quickly you will be able to climb up the ladder. Knowing your work is equally important but it will not help you for long if you are not good in conduct. You should work on your mannerisms if you are not so good in it. Wishing everybody in the morning with a smiling face can work wonders for you. Your colleagues will appreciate your wishes and will know you as a well-mannered person. This will go really well with your bosses who play a key role in promoting you.

Interact with people and try to remember people by their names:-

Interaction is an essential part of the construction business. Every now and then you are required to speak to somebody from a different department. So if you have a good rapport with guys from other departments you can get your work done quickly and this is possible only if you interact with them on a regular basis. To have a little chat with the guy working in the next department you need not go to him with some work. You can simply say a “Hi’ to him and spend a couple of minutes talking to him about his well-being. He will certainly appreciate it. Also try to remember names of people. It is certainly not an easy task to remember names of every person whom you meet but if you can manage to do so it will yield rich dividends.

Be helpful to people:-

In the construction business, a person can be of immense help even though he does not know how to get things right. It is all about connections that will let him help the guy who comes to him seeking help. If you know a lot of people in the organization and if someone comes to you seeking help, you can direct the person to the right guy. If you are helpful to others you get noticed and this eventually helps you to get promoted.

How to use a bulldozer

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Operators at times have a hard time while operating heavy equipment. They feel that while they are used to one particular type of machine when they are given to work on an equipment that has new configuration it takes time for them to understand those configurations and get their hands used to the system. They also have to understand the various features and their importance that is installed in a machine making the process more complicated. However once they are used to the system and they understand the features well they do not see much problem in using it. Using a bulldozer in particular has been found to be tougher amongst operators as compared to any other form of heavy equipment. The most common issue encountered by many operators is with steering the machine in the right direction. They sort of tend to lose their control while maneuvering the machine which leads to casualties and losses.

There has to be a systematic way to use a bulldozer and that is discussed as follows:-

Enter the cabin with a calm mind:-

We have enough problems to deal with in our day to day lives but we can’t carry the load of those problems with us wherever we go and especially when it is about going to work you simply can’t carry it there. You have to leave all your worries and hassles right before you enter the workplace and this stands right for the operator as well. You should not enter the cabin if you are tensed or worried about anything. You had a quarrel at home or an argument with your boss. It is better that you take some time doing nothing and clam your mind. You should not work on a bulldozer while you are angry or running through emotions. It can turn out into a bigger mess. Have a chat with your friend, check out a funny video on YouTube and once you feel that you are fresh and ready to work, get inside the cabin.

Have good control on the paddle and the brakes:-

Keep your legs strong while you are using a bulldozer. You use your legs to increase or decrease the speed of the machine as well as when you apply brakes on it. Your legs should not be shaky while you are using the bulldozer. Ideally, the paddle of the bulldozer is located just behind the brake. This means that you should be well trained and have practiced enough before using the mechanisms.

Use joystick to steer the machine as well as to use the blades:-

Joysticks are quite a helpful device as long as you know how to use them. It can be used to steer the machine and also used to move the blades in the right direction. The blades of the bulldozer are used to shove the mud to give a plain surface. An operator who has loads of experience in using joysticks to move the blades can do the work the right way at the first time. Rest may take some time to master the work.

Look for promotions in the construction business

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

We never want to work in the same position as it gets a little monotonous doing the same work every day and over and over again. We do not work only to get money at the end of the week but we also work to get a sense of satisfaction from what we do and this is what drives us ahead in life. Moreover one should never make a comfort zone and live in it. That can be dangerous especially when it comes to forming a great career. Great careers are never achieved by living in the comfort zone. One needs to get out of it and strive hard to achieve something in life. Promotions are given to only those who want to do things differently and have the ability to work in an environment which is not so friendly. This is what most entrepreneurs look for in an employee. They want people who can take up challenges in life and can convert every calamity into an opportunity.

Promotion can bring a rise in your salary:-

There are 2 ways to bring a rise in your salary. The first is not an advisable one but still worthy in few scenarios and it is to leave your current company and move to the next one in search of better package. The second one sounds to be more logical which is to work hard and take a raise in your levels. Whenever you get a promotion, your package is increased. Other than the annual appraisal that happens in most of the construction companies, any hike due to a rise in the position is phenomenal. This is what your aim should be when you join a company. Try to know the different levels of promotion and how hard you have to work to get to the place you want to see yourself.

You are known and respected because of your work:-

If you perform and deliver high end results, you will be known amongst the various levels of management. Once that is done they can pitch in for you when asked about your performance and will give positive feedback. Many companies follow the tradition of checking with various departments about the performance of an individual before promoting him to the next level. Only if they get positive responses from basically all the levels of management, they go ahead with the promotion. Once you are known and you continue to carry the good work, you will be also respected for it. As and when you attain seniority in the company, the respect that you have amongst the masses will only grow.

Generating a good rapport with almost everybody in the company:-

Promotions are also given to a person who is a team’s man. If you are a person who can gel up well with your team members and with members of other teams, you are gaining popularity. Good rapport always comes handy during good and bad phases on life. So always maintain a good rapport with almost everybody and ensure that people know you for good reasons. This will help you to climb the ladder quickly than ever.

How to evaluate the performance of your employees

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

It has been always difficult to evaluate the performance of an individual who is working in your company or organization. You may have certain expectation from him and if at all you find the person to be anywhere short in fulfilling those expectations then you presumably mark him down in that parameter. However, he may have been exceptional in all other activities and therefore perhaps do not deserve the score. Therefore while you evaluate a person you should take into consideration his overall performance and not single out instances where he was not able to fare well. it actually does not go well with anybody who have been working from the core of his heart and then in the end gets to know that he is marked down on one such instance which was in no way crucial or have caused any harm to the prospects of the organization.

In the construction business where you have a lot of men working for you, it becomes tougher to evaluate the performance of every individual. It is just impossible to keep a track of the performance of all the employees and then rate them. This is why you got to create a system where you can easily track the performance of your employees and can justify the scores that you give to them. Supervisors should stringently monitor the performance of the employees in their respective teams and present the report to their managers. The managers in turn will approve the ratings and will decide the rise in pay of the employee.

Punctuality should be a crucial check:-

All the employees in the company should adhere to their respective shift timings and late comers should be tolerated. The message should go loud and clear to all the employees in the company. Construction workers who arrive late at the site can eventually become the reason for delaying the work. Any delay will then have to compensate by overtime which means the company then needs to pay its employees more for allowing them to work for extra hours for the fault of few guys who had arrived late at the site. The company should take this very seriously and must mark down the latecomers during their evaluation.

Their overall behavior and willingness to work:-

Employees who have worked hard for the success of the company should be rewarded and it is the onus of the supervisors to pluck out people who have made commendable contribution. The supervisors should keep a close watch on the employees and check who is willing to work harder. Guys who have the quest to learn more about the business are the ones who should be given more opportunities and also should be given good ratings during evaluation. The behavior of the employee also plays a crucial role while assessing his performance. One should check how good the person is in bonding with his team and the kind of rapport he shares with other teammates. Employees possessing these qualities should be rated more than others.

Rejections should not demoralize the owner of Construction Company

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

We do not always get what we have wanted. There are many times when we have to hear No from people. Guys especially from sales have to deal with this word quite often. But they deal with it and do not get dejected. The moment you get dejected after rejections you tend to move out of the league and that is probably the end of your journey in that industry. Rejections are part of life. You will come across numerous instances where your idea or your effort will be rejected just because the other person did not find it worthy. However, this certainly does not mean that it was not a good idea or you have not done a good work. It is just that the idea or the work you have done did not go well with the situation at that point in time and has every chance that it will go well if you try it again. It should not let you down and force you to think negatively. That may go completely against you and you should avoid such thoughts coming to your mind.

The construction industry has its share of good and bad phases. When the industry is doing well you will not see people rejecting you but the moment the bad patch makes its way in the industry is when you will come across a lot of rejections down your way. You will not get enough work and people for whom you have worked with delay your payments or will pay you less. Moreover, big construction companies also fail to enroll you on a big project. They may simply not have much work in their hands which is why they can’t give a share to you. These factors are certainly annoying for a small construction company who depends on these big guys for work and also when you do not have small projects coming your way it can be really frustrating.

You should not let rejections become a factor to demoralize you. When things are not going well in the industry it will affect all and not particularly to you. You are bounds to hear rejections as well as say No to others as well. However, that is the time when you do some research on the industry. Spend more time in developing your website. Check the company’s performance in the last few months or years. Take into consideration all the factors that led to high profits in the business and also what went wrong when the profits were down. You need to dig in deep to get the real reasons out. This will help you in a big way to avoid repeating any mistakes that you have committed in the past. When you are busy with work you do not realize mistakes made in business. You just move over it committing it again.

When the business is slow you get the time to ponder on these things and ensure that you avoid doing them and continue your endeavor to get more work.

Looking for advice on starting a rental equipment business

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Working as a subsidiary of any successful business will always fetch you good returns. In the construction sector, heavy equipment play quite a crucial role in the completion of the project and if you relate your business in and around this sector you will never run out of business. You will always have clients who will come to you for something or the other. Either they will want heavy equipment from you or their accessories or some vital part which may have gone faulty and want that to be replaced. This will always keep your business ticking and also the flow of customers. People who have spent few years in buying, selling or renting heavy equipment have made enormous wealth. They see this to be a good business and believe that the only thing you require to make this business a success is some knowledge on construction machines. If you possess that knowledge it is only a matter of sometime and you see success coming by.

Starting a rental equipment business may sound to be too simple but aspirants should also keep in mind the complexities that they may encounter while they get into this. They should take some advices from people who have been in this industry for years and who can guide them in taking the right decision. Moreover, they should not consider this business as an easy earning method as there is nothing called as easy earning. Life becomes easy once you have taken enough hardships to learn a particular thing. So you may have to go through lot of hardships while you are in the process of starting a heavy equipment rental business and once you learn to run the business, it may then become simple for you.

How much you know about heavy equipment:-

Before you begin a rental equipment business, it is crucial that you understand which machine is used for what purpose. People will come to you for different types of machines and will ask various sorts of questions which you have to address. So as long as you do not understand what they are talking about you will not be able to give the correct reply. Also knowing a bit about the construction business will be highly beneficial. Just by knowing the type of work you should be able to suggest people the heavy equipment they should take on rent.

Rental price vary from machine to machine:-

After knowing which machine does what, the second most crucial thing that you need to know is the rental price of the different types of heavy equipment. Not all the heavy equipment have the same rental price. Their prices vary a lot depending upon its utility. You can’t rent a high rental price machine at a cheaper rate and vice-versa. No customer will take a low rental priced machine at a higher price and not knowing the correct price can have severe impact on the rental business. Other than that, you also need to know your profit margin or your commission that you will charge from your clients. These are quite important and rest just follows.

Do not jeopardize the project by not paying your laborers

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

A businessman always wants to save money and at times he gets so much under the skin of saving money that he ends up not paying his employees their rightful dues. We call this as exploitation and exploiting your workers will lead you to no good. They will not say anything for a month or so but will definitely not take it forever. They will display their displeasure by not working up to their mark and gradually will leave for better. In this process you also end up losing some fine men and in today’s time it is very hard to earn loyalty of others. We work in a professional environment and we expect the workmen to be professional with their approach towards work. Similarly, they also set the same expectation when it comes to their package. Not paying them what they truly deserve will ultimately hit your work hard when you see their moving to some other company that pays them more than you do.

In the construction business, you just can’t afford to exploit the laborers because if you try and do that it will backfire like anything. They leaving your project in the mid can have a drastic impact on your work and can completely leave it jeopardized. Do not play with your project by trying to save few dollars. It will cost you more than what you will be able to save.

Payment should be on time:-

The construction laborers have a family to run like you do. They also need to take care of their secured and unsecured loans and if you do not pay them on time then they will be unable to pay others on time. This will have a larger impact on their credit report and many other things that will be difficult for us to contemplate. In a nutshell, they should get their pay on time to meet their weekly expenses. Ideally, the construction laborers are paid on a weekly basis and therefore the company should have strong HR mechanism to ensure that the payments of all the laborers are accurate and done on time. Try not to delay their pay and in case if you foresee any delay in paying them, inform them well in advance so that they can make necessary arrangements. You also need to make sure that you pay all the other employees like the operators, site engineers, administrative guys and everyone who works for you.

Losing men with skill and talent will be a big loss:-

Paying your employees on time in just one side of the coin. The other side is to pay them as per the industry standards. You may be a small company but you can still afford to pay your employees what other small companies are paying. Your workers will understand your inability to pay them what a mammoth company can but will not be willing to take it if you pay them less than a small size construction company pays to its employees. They will not take long to leave you and move to the next best available option and construction sector will accept any person who is skilled and know his part of job well.

Things one should avoid in the construction business

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Every business has certain norms and the guys who are conducting the business need to follow those norms religiously. People have to follow those norms as it is and things that are not allowed just can’t be practiced in reality. Apart from that, there are certain things that are advised to do and few things that one should just avoid doing. In the construction industry there are many things that one should simply avoid because if they try to do that it can lead to serious complications.

Breaching the law of the land:-

In the construction business, you will come along people who in order to simply things from themselves do not abide by the law. They take their chance but in the end they also pay a price for it. To go against the law of the land is something that you should always avoid doing. If there are certain rules laid to conduct business, it becomes the moral duty of others to follow those rules. Right from taking sanction to building houses as per the limit laid by the law, one should follow every minute thing. Remember you are always being watched and if you play foul you will get caught someday or the other and once you get caught you may have to end up losing your business license. It is recommended that you do not enter that zone.

Securing your jobsite:-

One should have enough security measures to secure the jobsite from mischievous elements. Your heavy equipment are rested at night and there are chances that someone can break-in to your jobsite in the death of night and can steal the machines. Heavy equipment are expensive stuffs and they have good value in the grey market. You should avoid taking such chances. Hire good security personnel who can guard the jobsite once everybody has left the site. Install cameras in key locations. It is not feasible for the security personnel to keep a watch at every corner of the site. With the help of the cameras, the guys can do a marvelous job and can keep a watch on all the items. Moreover, you can number all the equipment present at the site. That will help the guys to take a count at the beginning of the day and also at the end of the shift. So security is something that you should never think to avoid.

Take important decision without consulting others:-

Important business decisions should be taken keeping the management in loop. Moreover, their feedback also matters a lot. Taking important decisions without letting the management know about it can have severe communication issues within the organization and can become really nasty. You should avoid making this mistake.

Financial irregularities:-

Any kind of financial irregularities should be avoided at any cost. To avoid this, one should keep a track of the accounts on a monthly basis and question if he finds something suspicious or questionable. Financial irregularities have the ability to eat up a might business enterprise in no days. So better take care of it at the bottom level.