Better Roads Digital Magazine
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/85910
COVER STORY NEWUSED RENTAL by Mike Anderson WHY BUY NEW? Heading Subhead x. EW ductive – and deliver the most revenue – if it rolled off the as- sembly line dangling a tag with your name on it. T Buying a brand new machine means buying the best machine available at this particular time, say equipment manufactur- ers. And this remains the most compelling reason for contractors to do exactly that when adding to or turning over their fl eets in 2012, despite announced price increases by manufacturers due to enhanced technologies to meet new emissions requirements. "There have been a lot of improvements to the equip- ment other than just complying with Tier 4 Interim emissions he 30-metric-ton excava- tor you place your top operator into this season will be the most pro- standards," says Bruce Boebel, crawler dozers product manager for Komatsu America. Whether it's articulated dump trucks with traction control systems, dozers "The competitive nature of the market requires us to improve the productivity of the machines." with lockup torque converters or excavators with factory-installed telematics solutions, the construc- tion equipment rumbling out of factories now is the most profi - cient, fuel-effi cient and produc- tive it's ever been, says Boebel. "It's not merely to meet the new emissions standards," concurs Lee Haak, a former Komatsu America product manager who now heads up the company's used sales side with Komatsu Remarketing. "The competitive nature of the market requires us to improve the pro- ductivity of the machines. "A guy who's holding on to a fi ve-year-old machine isn't going to enjoy a lot of the technology now available," says Haak. With the arrival of Tier 4 emis- sions requirements, "the machines are just different than they were before," says Dennis Slater, presi- dent of the Association of Equip- ment Manufacturers. "You have a lot of effort being put in to mak- Better Roads February 2012 31b Aging, slowing fl eets best remedied by buying new, effi cient equipment