How to Get in on Caterpillar's Global Operator Challenge This Season

June 6, 2022

Caterpillar was an early pioneer of grade control with products like Grade with Assist, which automates the bucket and stick to continuously optimize the blade position, helping operators hit grade 45% faster.

Grade Control Tech Update

A quick overview of how grade control, already indispensable to heavy and civil contractors, is evolving for additional use cases and construction disciplines.

There are a lot of great prospective employees out there who have never been exposed to construction. You could be the one who helps them fall in love with our amazing industry.

How to Onboard New Hires With No Construction Experience

Many contractors are being forced to look outside the industry for workers. Follow these suggestions to help non-construction new hires make the transition quickly.

Dash cams add value to GPS for theft prevention by offering a more powerful deterrent since clear images are available of perpetrators stealing of vandalizing equipment.

Tech for Construction Theft Protection

From GPS tracking and fixed and equipment-mounted cameras to cybersecurity approaches to back office tech for white collar theft, criminals may soon find contractors a harder target.

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S1.E11: How Renting Equipment is Helping Solve a Contractor’s Labor, Materials-Availability Issues

When Johnson & Galyon traded its equipment for rentals, they freed up people and buildings where they can stage materials with long lead times. Here’s how it helps them get the ‘very best pricing’ from subcontractors.

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S1.E10: Some Benefits that Convinced Johnson & Galyon to Spend More Renting than Owning Fleet

In deciding, the general contractor was ‘confident’ renting all of its equipment needs would cost more. Here’s how the move improved project and fleet management to make it a good investment.

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S1.E9: Contractor Counts the Ways Renting Improved its Equipment Operations

When Johnson & Galyon decided to rent all of its equipment needs from a single rental partner, they expected machine performance to improve but CEO Doug Kennedy seems a little surprised at how deeply the value penetrated into his company.

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S1.E8: The Surprises that Eased Johnson & Galyon into a Rental Partnership that Adds Value

How the east-Tennessee general contractor made it look easy to ensure pricing, quality and service it could depend on in structuring its commitment to rent all of its equipment needs from a single partner.

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S1.E7: What Changes Convinced Johnson & Galyon to Trade In its Equipment Fleet for Rentals?

One of East Tennessee’s biggest general contractors took the long view of challenges presented by new equipment, vendor practices and labor availability to gain big improvements in equipment performance.

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S1.E6: How Jon Ballmann Turned a 5th Grade Dream into an Earthworks Business

Drawn to construction by the heavy equipment, Jon Ballmann’s fascination for earthworks has spread to all aspects of the business and kept his right-sized company growing at just the rate he wants since graduating from high school.

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S1.E5: Contractor’s Smart Investments Recruit Just the Equipment Support His Company Needs

Small earthmoving contractor Ballmann Earthworks continues to grow well beyond its owner/operator stage with the leader’s commitment to enlisting dealer fleet support so that he can nurture his business.

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S1.E4: Smart Grader Blade Satisfies Earthmover’s Quest for Versatility that Grows

Ballmann Earthworks is built on machines that not only do a lot of different jobs but also are efficient doing a lot of different sizes of jobs. Here’s how Jon Ballmann weighs the cost and payback on a ‘Cadillac’ grader attachment.

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S1.E3: How a Contractor Keeps Crews that Sustain Business Growth

Ballmann Earthworks keeps growing in a competitive commercial construction market on the strength of customer-first workers and the care their company owner takes to know and fully employ their skills.

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S1.E2: Count the Values Supporting 15 Years of a Single-Brand Earthworks Company’s Growth

When Jon Ballmann can fill a machine need with a Caterpillar he does, going to Fabick Cat where he balances sales price with support that softens his risk and helped the skid steer owner/operator to shift into sustained heavy-construction momentum.

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S1.E1: Contractor Explains How Technology Literally Built His Fledgling Earthworks Business

Jon Ballmann built his earthworks business from a skid steer in college to what he admits as having achieved his goals in his early 40s. Here’s how customer focus and technology got him there.