Buying new machinery is a significant investment. And sometimes, the cash outlay just doesn’t seem practical. For that reason, people sometimes don’t think about all the benefits of replacing older construction equipment, and there’s a lot of emphasis on the cliché “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” in the construction industry.
Of course, when it comes to aging heavy equipment, it does at some point start breaking down and needing to be fixed, requiring increasing maintenance. Eventually, it becomes an easy call once you can clearly see that the recurring downtime and maintenance costs are wasteful enough that it’s time to buy a new piece of heavy equipment.
But even before that, there are a number of hard and soft benefits of replacing older construction equipment that are worth considering if you’re holding onto aging machines in your fleet.
Reasons to Replace Aging Heavy Machinery
- Eliminate excessive maintenance costs on equipment that’s starting to break down
- Eliminate considerable machine downtime due to breakdowns and increased maintenance needs
- Newer machines have improved fuel efficiency, reducing operating costs (read more about how to lower fuel costs)
- Higher operating efficiency and productivity from more modern heavy equipment for faster work and reduced payroll hours
- Newer heavy equipment has improved safety features, boosting construction site safety and reducing accidents
- Greater operator pride in the machines they use, which in turn increases worker satisfaction and retention, and encourages better equipment care and higher-quality job performance
- Increased operator comfort due to more modern cabs, more effective vibration and noise dampening, and other features; this too boosts worker satisfaction, retention, conscientiousness, and performance
- Higher-quality, more efficient results from newer equipment and a more satisfied crew also means greater client satisfaction
