An old contact of mine named David had acquired a track impact crusher to process broken concrete on site on a public highway project. David once explained how an important customer (an asphalt producer) had called him in immediate need of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP), as his inventory had been depleted. He had a pile of unprocessed RAP but no way to crush it to meet his deadline, and asked if he could hire David and his crew to lend a hand.
“No problem,” David said.
That Friday afternoon David loaded his HSI (horizontal shaft impact) track plant onto a low-boy trailer, hauled it and his two-man crew to the customer’s yard, and began to crush RAP material that evening. They crushed RAP all weekend, putting down almost 5,000 tons of finished product.
Then on Sunday evening David loaded the track plant on the trailer and headed back to the highway project where he commenced with crushing concrete the next morning.
David was very impressed how the mobility of these “new” track plants had allowed him to react and respond to a business opportunity with an important customer. He explained how it would have taken at least a couple of days and several haul loads just to set up his old plant. He wouldn’t have had adequate time to react, and even if he did, the cost to do so for a small volume of RAP would have been prohibitive.
David summarized it like this: “There is no way we could have done something like that with a wheel plant. Track plants have brought a paradigm shift to our industry.”
This story helps to explain the merits of renting mobile equipment.
As we all know, the capabilities of track plants detailed in David’s story are obvious:
■ They can be quickly loaded and easily hauled to the jobsite.
■ They do not require multiple transfer conveyors that also must be moved and positioned.
■ Once on site they can be up and running in a matter of minutes.
■ They do not require a large crew to operate.
Economics
These capabilities equate to minimal indirect expenses compared with traditional systems that require multiple loads and more labor to erect the equipment.
If we accept that the revenue from the finished products are the economic sponge that absorbs all of the costs to move, set up and operate the plant, then it is clear that the track plants provide an opportunity to process smaller quantities of material. They simply generate lower indirect costs that need to be absorbed before profits are being generated.
Renting mobile machinery enables contractors to pursue smaller volume, short-term jobs that they might have declined to bid on previously. The economics of renting machinery can make them worth pursuing.
Applications
Contractors don’t always have the business horizon necessary to invest in specialized machinery. Some might crush hard rock on one job, process recycled material on the next, and then only need to screen overburden on another.
From a rental standpoint, users can rent what is needed for the job. They might rent an impact crusher to process recycled material on one project, a jaw and cone to crush sand and gravel on the next project, and then rent a screen for overburden in a quarry.
Others lack experience with crushing and screening equipment and are apprehensive to invest in buying machinery. This leads to what is possibly the biggest advantage track machines provide: They are engineered with proper transition points, conveyor angles and so forth, putting less pressure on the end user to operate the equipment with best practices.
Perhaps a company that specializes in landscaping might suddenly see an opportunity to save money and increase profit by renting the equipment needed to process their own material instead of buying the equipment.
The opportunities are endless.
Finances
Another benefit to renting equipment lies on the balance sheet. During economic downturns, many companies cut back on capital spending. In such cases it is common to engage in long-term rental contracts (12-plus months), meeting production demand while not investing in capital.
Plus, renting mobile crushing and screening equipment can be advantageous in terms of overcoming application and financial challenges.
As David so accurately stated, the ability to rent process machinery has brought forth a new paradigm, creating new opportunities to generate profit in ways that were previously inconceivable.
Paul Smith is international marketing manager for Astec’s Aggregate and Mining Group. He can be reached at psmith@astecindustries.com.