Should Employees Give Input on Equipment Purchases?
We always advise any business owners or operations managers to get an opinion from a trusted dealer before deciding to buy a diesel truck, a generator, or some other piece of heavy equipment for their business. The power and transportation are important to your bottom line, and you want a team with experience and perspective on your side. But what about getting input from the other direction? Should you ask for opinions from managers, mechanics, or even drivers and frontline employees when making equipment purchases? This is a question we get asked from time to time, particularly as our customers start thinking about the issues and challenges of buying things like big engines and expensive boats for their companies.You can probably make an argument either way. In our experience, having some input from employees can be valuable. But at the same...
5 Ways Buying Diesel Equipment Affects Your Bottom Line
The business owners and managers we work with know that buying diesel trucks or other pieces of heavy equipment is a big decision. But sometimes they might not realize just how big that decision will be, and all the ways that it will eventually affect their bottom line. If anything, they tend to focus on the sticker price of the particular model and look for ways to decrease the immediate financial hit. That’s certainly a good thing to do, but it sometimes misses the point. That’s because, in the long run, what you pay for a particular truck or engine might not be the factor that determines whether you get good value or not. The ongoing running costs add up over time, to the point that they might go far beyond your original...
How Important Are Power Equipment Brands When Choosing Engines and Power Solutions?
When you’re about to make a big capital investment – like the purchase of a diesel engine or generator, for example – every detail matters. But then again, so does every penny.Maybe that’s why we hear questions about the importance of choosing the right brand so often. Sometimes, customers come to us with specific brands and models in mind. On other occasions they simply want the lowest cost, or the power equipment that can deliver them the highest price-to-performance ratio on paper. In other words, some business owners and executives are brand loyal while others are cost concerned. In fact, they might even think that bigger brands are less attractive because they entail higher costs.Which side is correct? How much attention should you pay to branding, if any at all? Are...
Modern machinery is an amazing thing. With thousands of years of experience in engineering behind us, we can mold a relatively small amount of metal into an amazing volume of horsepower and put it to specific uses. Not only that, but we can run our devices for hundreds of thousands of miles and expect them to work reliably. However, even the most carefully designed and constructed machinery is going to need serious attention at some point. You can prolong the life of a heavy diesel engine, generator, or marine power unit with careful maintenance, but eventually you’re going to be looking at an overhaul. Otherwise the wear and tear on pistons and other moving parts could render your engines unreliable.Anyone who has worked in a business that requires heavy machinery knows that budgeting time and...
So, you need to buy a new heavy-duty truck for your business. Maybe you need a long-haul rig that can move products from point A to point B. Or, you might require something with a lot of horsepower to pull or carry major loads for short distances. You might even need a truck that can do a little bit of both.How can you ensure you’re going to choose the right model… or get a good deal on a big truck in the first place? This can be a big question for business owners, and particularly those who aren’t used to making capital purchases. After all, every dealer and manufacturer is going to suggest their option as the best one. And with the dollar amounts involved – both in terms of upfront costs and ongoing operating expenses – it’s not a decision most...
asked from time to time, particularly as our customers start thinking about the issues and challenges of buying things like big engines and expensive boats for their companies.
You can probably make an argument either way. In our experience, having some input from employees can be valuable. But at the same...
other occasions they simply want the lowest cost, or the power equipment that can deliver them the highest price-to-performance ratio on paper. 
