The third edition of the IPWEA Plant & Vehicle Management Manual contains many great tips, as well as the most up-to-date best practice procedures, for managing a fleet.
Construction equipment and plant are major investments for all fleet managers, so choosing the right item for the application is paramount. Here are eight tips from the Manual for purchasing construction equipment:
- Do not overspecify plant needs, but rather outline the role the equipment has to perform and then allow the suppliers to offer a suitable plant item for consideration.
- Scarce capital can be used inefficiently through inappropriate specifications or by over specifying operational requirements.
- Always include the characteristics of the plant required in specifications. For example, in a loader, breakout force, lifting height and bucket capacity should be included. In a grader, the weight, blade capacity and drawbar pull are important characteristics that represent the operational requirements. Similarly in rollers, drum size and compaction effort are critical to ultimate performance.
- All plant specifications should include an oil pressure-sensitive engine hour meter.
- All local measurements should be as per ISO10567 and ISO3046 or the Australian equivalent.
- Engine horsepower should always be expressed in terms of Net Flywheel Power (kw).
- All components have a service life, so make sure the component overhauls and maintenance are included in the service contract offered.
- Don’t ask suppliers to include wearing components such as cutting edges or tyres/tracks, as every operation will differ. Any requests for supply of these components will be assessed on the basis that field operations are most severe and may result in a higher contract maintenance cost offer.
For even more tips on purchasing construction equipment, order your copy of the third edition IPWEA Plant & Vehicle Management Manual now. Visit
www.ipwea.org.au/FleetManualv3 for more information.