The passing of the $1.2 billion Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment Act opened the door for a flood of road and utility construction projects focused on rebuilding America’s infrastructure. While this presents a huge opportunity for contractors, success depends on having the right equipment to tackle projects effectively, efficiently and safely. Sometimes the most cost-effective solution means maximizing the fleet of equipment you already have.
One way to do that is to look at equipment attachments. Skid steers, wheel loaders graders and other equipment are staples with almost every construction crew. While it might not always be the first product one thinks of for road and utility projects, the versatility offered by innovative industry attachments makes host machines invaluable.
Here are 5 ways attachments can help enhance productivity and profitability.
- Tackle More With Less
Attachments increase the versatility and flexibility of the equipment you already own. Instead of bringing heavy equipment, you can just bring additional attachments to a jobsite. Road Widener’s patented FH-R material placement and Offset Vibratory Roller are a new generation of attachments that go beyond traditional material loading and digging to create innovative jobsite solutions, improving efficiency and safety.
Purchasing additional attachments for your machines helps increase your host machine’s ability to tackle more jobs. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment Act doesn’t just support road construction. Attachments like the FH-R material placement and Offset Vibratory Roller safely allow operators to lay a multitude of materials, including things like topsoil, gravel, hot mix asphalt and more. Each attachment expands your repertoire without having to invest thousands of dollars in new machinery. The best part is that, because attachments are placed on the equipment you already own, your operators don’t need to be trained on how to use a new piece of equipment.
- Reduce Labor Demands
Training your operators on new equipment is too time-consuming during labor shortages. As of January 2022, 11.3 million jobs needed to be filled throughout the United States, many of these contractor positions. If you’re running on a skeleton crew, every second not spent working is losing you money. By working with the equipment your operators are already familiar with, you cut back on equipment training times and increase operator confidence.
Using attachments is also great because you don’t have to have as many equipment operators on-site. When finding a good crew is hard, attachments give you the chance to use the crew you do have to the best advantage. One person can do multiple jobs without having to know how to run more than one or two machines. This increases productivity and decreases on-site crowding. It also helps increase operator safety.
- Enhanced Safety
The FH-R material placement and Offset Vibratory Roller attachments both increase operator and jobsite safety. The biggest benefit of the Offset Vibratory Roller is that the host machine remains on solid ground throughout the compaction process due to the offset arm that lowers the drum during the compaction process, leaving the host machine on flat ground.
Most traditional roller attachments attach to the front of the host machine. When compacting road shoulders and edges, this pushes the machine off-balance, leading to a risk of tipping. Tipping is a huge danger that can lead to injury and even death. One worker’s comp claim pays for the entire Offset Vibratory Roller attachment. The attachment is also small enough to be transported safely with the host machine instead of requiring additional hauling equipment.
- Reduce Transportation Expenses
When you can cut back on the size of the machinery you’re using, you don’t just save gas costs and maintenance fees, you also save on transportation expenses. Heavy equipment haulers usually require additional fees to get your equipment to your jobsite. When you only need to move your host machine, you can fit both the host machine and the attachment onto a single trailer that can be pulled by a standard pickup truck. Overall, this reduces cost, though this isn’t the only way attachments can save money.
- Minimize Maintenance Costs
Another big expense for your business is maintenance fees for heavy machinery. Each piece of machinery you own requires a set maintenance schedule for oil changes, transmission checks, and more. Attachments don’t have individual motors. This means the only maintenance you need to invest in is the routine maintenance of your host machines, which are already scheduled. The only cost you need to worry about when it comes to these attachments is the cost of the attachments themselves. This is also true when you look at equipment transportation costs.
If you’re ready to learn more about how the FH-R material placement attachment and the Offset Vibratory Roller attachment can help increase profitability and productivity, call Road Widener today to set up a demo.
