How do you combat a known labor shortage in the construction industry? By making things easier and more uniform throughout different pieces of equipment and ensuring people don’t need to spend a ton of time on training on equipment.
Making things easier for contractors is one common theme that was being highlighted by many manufacturers at the 2023 show in Louisville, Kentucky this week.
“We want to make (the equipment) simpler and easier to operate,” says Jeff Davis, HDD product manager at Ditch Witch. “The workforce is getting tougher and tough to find good operators. The contractors are struggling to get good operators and get operators in general.”
Ditch Witch was unveiling its new AT120 directional drill at The Utility Expo. The drill had debuted in Europe recently and also at CONEXPO in March. The drill incorporates many of the same cab features and controls as the company’s smaller drills.
“If machines are made with similarities, it will help greatly,” Davis says.
The theme was similar amongst many of the manufacturers at the every-other-year show. It’s something they have been working on for years to do. CASE Construction, as an example, has operator controls and cabs across their specific platforms being similar so it’s easy for contractors to jump in and start using. That includes in the company’s newly announced wheeled excavators.
"The construction industry faces a unique inflection point with historic levels of government investment, yet a resource-constrained labor market. That's why we're launching the next generation of our swift, smooth, smart machines this year to help contractors get more work done smarter, faster, and easier than ever," says Terry Dolan, vice president, North America, CASE Construction Equipment.
It’s not just motorized equipment manufacturers trying to make it easier for contractors. Others supplying equipment like drill bit and even trench shoring solutions are also following.
GroundWorks Safety Systems’ shoring systems are made to be stacked using excavators to lift into place and attach.
“Rather than having the crew members holding up poles and fighting to get them together, this is a safer and faster solution to putting up shorting to ensure your team remains safe in the trenches,” says Danielle Foley, who handles marketing for the Canadian company.
Putting up and down the trenching during a demonstration at The Utilty Show took just a mere 5 minutes with the excavator and one other crew member on the ground attaching chains.
“Work crews are getting smaller and anyway we can make it easier for construction crews to do what they need to do and continue to do is safely, we will do,” Foley says.
The Utility Expo wraps up today at the Kentucky Exposition Center.
