Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/700710
PARTNER SOLUTIONS | VOLVO CE LTL Contracting City, Province: Thunder Bay, Ontario Number of employees: 25 Annual revenue: $10 million Markets served: Excavation, mining, site preparation "T hat L350 is a beauti- ful loader," says Jason Delaqua, equipment manager for LTL Con- tracting, Thunder Bay, Ontario. "The operator loads a truck with three passes. The power of that machine is phenomenal." There's a break in the action, and opera- tor Mike Halstead steps out of the L350F wheel loader. "I like it a lot," he says. "It's very smooth, and has great power, once you learn how to run it. With a Volvo loader, you don't just charge the pile at top speed. If you do that, you'll spin the tires. You go in at low rpms, and lift, tilt, lift, tilt. I can load a 40-ton truck in three passes." Jason says he and other LTL managers are being trained on CareTrack, Volvo's telematics system for reading out machine operating information at remote locations away from the machine. "That CareTrack system is great," Jason says. "It actu- ally sends me alarms on my cell phone if something is wrong. It's got low fluid level sensors, overheating sensors, and it tells you idling times, running times, and a whole lot more." At the tailings dam site, the articulated trucks are dumping waste rock. Each year the mine comes out with an additional dam raise. LTL is now working about a 4-meter vertical lift. That will be a 16-meter-wide top, a roadway, when the raise is finished. On the downstream side, the dam needs a fill of about 50 meters wide. So just to get the width of the dam at the top, LTL adds more material at the bottom to widen the dam and give it a solid foundation. "Once we have achieved that grade, then we place cushion material on the upstream side of the dam," says Kevin Fucile, LTL general manager. At the dam site, a Volvo EC380D exca- vator is working at the toe of the dam, to excavate to bed- rock. The EC380D casts dirt and excess waste rock away from the toe of the rock slope, to clear the way for more suitable material that slides down as the trucks dump it. "We prefer the Volvo excavators because we have found that their fuel economy is excellent, and so is the strength of their hydraulic systems," says Kevin. "And for comfort for the opera- tors, and for efficiency, we prefer the Volvo products." As the EC380D excavator works, Jason explains that the bucket has been hard- faced with T-400 steel on the underside, to better resist wear from the abrasive rock. Wear and tear caused by the abrasive rock is a primary challenge faced by LTL Contracting. "The biggest thing is that it is rock," Scott says. TOUGH EQUIPMENT BATTLES HARD ROCK – Jason Delaqua WE'RE MOVING ANY- WHERE FROM 7,000 TO 12,000 CUBIC METERS OF MATERIAL A DAY. " " Volvo's excavator is the ultimate digging tool, designed to deliver long lasting performance, strength, power and leading fuel efficiency. FOR LTL CONTRACTING, ROUND-THE-CLOCK PRODUCTION IS THE EX FACTOR Headline: Abadi Condensed Extra Bold or similar. 40 to 60 point. Sub-head: Abadi Condensed Extra Bold or similar. 20 to 32 point. Body copy: Arial regular or similar. 10 point. Leading 11.5 point. Word count: 500 average. Main photo: CMYK Tiff or jpeg. 300 pixels per inch. 655 x 550 px approximately. (9"x 7" approximately) Colors, (for Equipment World): Orange: 0 Cyan, 52 Magenta, 100 yellow 0 black Gray: 45 Cyan, 27 Magenta, 17 yellow 51 black Photo caption: Helveica Narrow. 10 point. 14 point leading. 2nd photo optional. Same technical requirements as main photo. Quote: Abadi Condensed Extra Bold 20 to 30 point point. Info box: Helvetica Narrow Bold and Helvetica Narrow Regular. 9 point Logo should be 300 pixel-per- inch Tiff or Vector eps. Color mode: CMYK. Trim size, each page: 7.875" wide by 10.5" tall. Trim size, each page: 7.875" wide by 10.5" tall. Document width: 15.75" wide by 10.5" tall.