How to know if 60-Ton Haulers Are Right for You

The industries that we work in such as construction, mining, quarry, and others are undergoing changes at a blazing pace. A pace that you might seldom find hard to match. At times you might have thought of the extra work that you have to put up with because of a mismatched equipment. While working at a Heavy construction Equipment site, it might have occurred to you that bigger used dump trucks could have been a better fit for the job or a compact one would have been more efficient. All of these things fall under the banner of Mismanagement. How to avoid these pitfalls? The answer is, know the equipment before using it.

When it comes down to hauling, there are a ton of options out there. It’s only natural of you to get confused. However, if you know how to use a dump truck precisely then you don’t have a major problem on your hands. The new 60 ton articulated dump trucks are the talk of the town. Some are praising the move by Original equipment manufacturers while others are questioning the motive. People really don’t know how to negotiate their way with these humungous haulers.

Can three of these 60-ton cat articulated dump truck do the job of four 730’s? Which equipment would be more efficient? If I buy a 60-ton hauler how will this decision impact the production rate? Are the operating costs going to be effected? What is the maintenance cost on these machines? Questions like these are common while purchasing construction equipment. Luckily, we have a solution. You can follow the following steps to know if these haulers are best for you or not.

Operating Hours

You need to know about the operating hours on the machine. This is important because it would help you determine the suitability of the machine for your work. You’ll want to calculate the working hours on the machine for the whole year. You can map out the shifts that are scheduled for the year and also the average shift duration. The non-operating delay on a single shift should be excluded and also the time for equipment maintenance be taken into consideration. There is always a chance of the results being inaccurate but you are not going to miss by a huge number. This would give you an overall idea of how much are you going to use the machine.

Knowing the Site

Doing a site analysis comes in handy because it involves more than just inspection. You gather the data according to the site conditions with the help of the handheld GPS device. During the process, the curves of the road, the distance traveled, the hauled material, even the road gradient is also checked. All of this data is then imported to a program known as the site simulation software program in the form of a GPX file. After the data has been imported, the next step is to work together.

The fleet manager works simultaneously with the dealer or the OEM to add more specific data into the system such as loose density, bank density, swell factor, and some other estimated percentages pertinent to making passes. With this new software you also get the freedom to choose from one of the many ground conditions specific to your site. Doing this would help you calculate the rolling distance of the construction equipment. Knowing the rolling distance is imperative to determining the fuel efficiency and estimation of cycle times.

Add the Equipment Data

After you are done with the on ground conditions and data pertinent to it you need to pay attention to the equipment specifications. The model number, how many machines are being used, information about the model, other model numbers, and the bucket sizes. All this data needs to be input into the software.

The software would automatically gather all the specifications to address a simulation. This gives you the freedom to run the reports in combination with other models for moving and loading units. For instance if you are looking for used dump truck for sale, you would also have to include the data for the loading equipment so the results are precise and accurate.  You can then switch the equipment side by side until you get the best possible results at the lowest expense.

Do the Production Analysis

The average cycle time, average number of bucket passes, and the required fuel average spent per hour, are all the factors that need to be counted in. You can also review the machine utilization in a breakdown method to know the amount of time spent by a dump truck during a single cycle inclusive of all averages of load time, spot time at loading unit, at dump, and dumping time.

Operating Costs

Now that you have almost all the pieces of the puzzle, you can determine the operating costs. However, you should know that these production costs are just a part of the process and not the whole process. You should also consider costs such as taxes, insurance, depreciation schedule, service plans, maintenance and replacement costs.

So this is all about knowing whether a 60-ton articulated truck is best match for you or not? The recent trends show that many of the customers are now taking interest in this machine. Although bigger is not always better but one thing is sure, 60-ton haulers are the future of hauling.