Maintenance Tips for Construction Equipment and Vehicles
Construction equipment and vehicles make up the backbone of any productive construction company. But specialist equipment does not come cheap and can be even more costly to repair or replace.
Therefore, diligent maintenance of your construction equipment and vehicles is vital for prolonging the lifespan of your machinery and saving you money. Here are four simple tips to help get you started.
Know Your Vehicles Inside Out
Heavy vehicles on a construction site come with all sorts of hazards. With inexperienced drivers and improper maintenance increasing risks tenfold.
Thorough product knowledge is therefore invaluable, and both you and your employees should know the equipment and vehicles used on site like the back of their hands. Drivers should check tyres, lights, and indicators at the start of every shift, and will need instruction on documenting and reporting issues. Try giving drivers a list of daily checks to sign off for their vehicles.
Improper use and maintenance of heavy-duty vehicles, such as a concrete truck, can lead to a whole host of problems and even serious accidents if employees do not thoroughly understand and respect the vehicles they operate, so make sure everyone involved in the operation of any heavy machinery knows it inside out.
Stick to a Routine
Just like having a scheduled check-up with your dentist, having a routine check-up of your machinery ensures everything keeps running at an optimum level. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration around 20 percent of industrial accidents are related to maintenance operations, so you are not only saving time and money in the long run, but you could be saving lives.
A daily visual check might be enough for some of your equipment, but for others, anything that is regularly exposed to abrasive materials or heavy-duty operations, for example, should be given a more in-depth inspection more often.
If you are unsure how often your equipment, machinery and vehicles need a good once over then consult the manufacturer's recommendations. Nobody knows your equipment better than the people who made it, so make sure to adhere to the manual.
Train Your Employees in Both Operation and Upkeep
Your machinery and vehicles will only be as good as the people using them. To keep your equipment in tip-top condition, everyone in contact with it should be fully trained in proper operation and maintenance.
Knowledgeable machinery operators are not only more productive but will ultimately cause less wear and tear on equipment than untrained workers. So, incorporate operator training into your routine maintenance checks and take the time to train them in the equipment’s monitoring systems and how to both recognize and report failure indicators.
Keep it Clean
Alongside regular maintenance checks, frequent cleaning of your equipment and vehicles will go a long way in prolonging their life expectancy.
Since construction vehicles and equipment are built for dirty, dangerous jobs it is easy to assume that they must be resistant to mud, dust, and liquids. However, while this is true to an extent, the trusty site bulldozer will be able to take a lot more punishment than your car, over time exposure to such materials will lead to rust, corrosion and general wear and tear. Keeping things clean and tidy will greatly improve the lifespan of your machinery.
