Ask These Questions When Choosing a Plant Hire Company

In any project, hiring additional equipment to speed up its completion is essential. You can either opt for dry hire equipment (machine only) or wet hire equipment (machine and operator), depending on your budget and needs. While dry hire is the cheaper option, you do need to consider how you will take care of the equipment during its use in the project.

If you want to make sure you return the project equipment properly, consider following this checklist we’ve made for you.

Checklist for Returning Dry Hire Equipment

Hiring specialised equipment like rollers, wheel loaders, excavators, dozers, and dump trucks requires extra respect and consideration. It would be prudent to make sure that you only let people with proven skills and experience to handle the machines. Failing to do this means you risk damaging the equipment in the hands of someone unfamiliar with the machinery. To avoid getting charged for additional repair and maintenance fees, use this checklist:

1. Check All Documentation

Each equipment hire usually comes with a document pouch where you can find all the necessary paperwork to run it. Included in the paperwork will be registration papers, risk assessments, do’s and don’ts before use, and service history. It’s important to read and understand these documents before operating the equipment. They should also be returned in their document pouch when you return the equipment to the owner.

2. Perform a Final Inspection

When you hire a machine in good condition, it’s only logical and respectful to return it in the same condition as before. Doing a thorough inspection before, during, and after using the machine is important and wise. As an added measure, it’s best to give it a final go-over before returning it. Follow this checklist to make sure you checked everything:

• Make sure that the machine is secured, including all the nuts and tyres. Everything should be tightly secured and the tyres should be at the correct pressure.
• Check if all the lights are functioning properly.
• The engine should be in good shape and working properly, exactly as when you first used the machine.
• When inspecting the tyres, make sure that they do not have splits or punctures, and that all bolts are still visible on each wheel.
• The brakes should be working perfectly.
• Checking the bucket teeth or other accessories (if included) for any cracks or damage is also important.
• Make sure to refill the fuel tank unless the owner specified otherwise.
• The machine’s cabin should also be clean without any traces of debris or rubbish from the worksite. All controls should also work, and no signs of internal damage should be spotted.

3. Clean the Equipment First

Whenever you hire equipment, it’s considered good etiquette to clean or wash the equipment thoroughly immediately after using it. This prevents dirt build-up and can even protect the equipment from being damaged while at work. Worksites are expected to be muddy and full of debris, so it’s best to give the equipment a good wash when appropriate. The owner will also appreciate seeing their equipment looking as clean as it was when it was hired out, and will be more inclined to hire machinery to you again in the future.

Conclusion

The benefits of dry hiring are that it’s a relatively more cost-effective solution, but it has more responsibilities in handling the machines. If you’ve done your maths and decided dry-hiring is the best option for your particular project, you must consider how to keep the equipment in good working condition until you return it to the owner. By following this checklist, you won’t have to worry about returning your dry hire equipment.

KEE Group has been Australia’s most effective unique civil and mining support service for over a decade. Not only can we transport the machinery to the site, but we can also supply it, fuel it, service it and operate it. Take advantage of our excellent service whenever and wherever you need it. Contact us if you need transport equipment for hire on your next project.

If you’ve been on any highway in Australia, you have likely seen many specialised trailers pulled by freight transportation companies. Low loader trailers, also known as double drop, low-bed, or lowboy trailers, are efficient and versatile transport machines designed to carry bulldozers, cranes, and other heavy construction equipment.

How Low Loader Trailers Function

The very first low bed trailer was introduced in the 1920s. Back then, it could only be loaded from the rear and its gooseneck was attached to the truck from the front of the trailer. The detachable gooseneck followed in the 1950s, making it much easier to load the deck. Modern low loader trailers have hydraulic systems that further streamline the loading process.

Low loaders are semi-trailers with two drop decks. The first drop is behind the gooseneck of the trailer, and the second drop is right before the wheels. These two drops make oversized transport more convenient, and they are what separate low loader trailers from other standard trailers.

The low-lying deck ensures that the centre of gravity is low, while the equipment being hauled remains as stable as possible. There is also the option of increasing the width of the cargo plane. This way, the trailer remains completely stable on the road regardless of what cargo it carries.

Low loader trailers come in two variations: short and extended, with customisable chassis adjusted depending on use. The trailer sits very low to the ground, making it easy to accommodate tall equipment that surpasses the legal height requirement for flatbed trailers.

Two-axel low loader trailers can carry equipment up to 5 metres high and 20,000 kilograms. If the number of axels is expanded, the weight limit can be increased to nearly 40,000 kilograms. Low loaders have hydraulic suspension and an optimal loading platform that makes loading, transport, and unloading heavy machinery incredibly easy.

Both trailer types are also equipped with high-quality equipment such as outriggers and flip ramps to make the transfer process as easy as possible.

What Low Loader Trailers Can Carry

Low loaders are the best choice for heavy machinery or equipment. Its unique setup can accommodate large and uneven loads up to 5 metres wide and 100 tonnes. The trailers can also be extended by as many axels as needed to accommodate your machine lengthwise. For companies that handle different types of cargo, low loader trailers are the most practical and cost-effective solution because they can transport any type of goods, machinery, and equipment.

Low loader trailers are often tasked to carry the following:

• Construction equipment for roadwork and excavation
• Forwarder, harvester, and skidders for forestry
• Tractors, wagons, harvesters, hybrid towers, and other agricultural equipment
• Generators and turbine blades for wind power plants
• Boats, cranes, and other large vessels
• Specially fabricated plant machinery
• Heavy machinery for drilling and transporting minerals for mining
• Semi-trucks and earthmovers
• Road-rail vehicles, locomotives, rail motor coach, and other railway parts.

These are only a few examples of what low loader trailers can carry. If you have heavy equipment that you need to transport in Australia, contact a local transport company to find out about all your options.

Conclusion

Low loader trailers are a popular choice for transportation companies across Australia because of their large load capacities. If you need to transport heavy machinery, low loaders can get the job done. A reputable transport company will provide the perfect transport solution for your specific needs.

If you plan to hire a truck or a loader in Perth, KEE Group is here for you. Our haulage solutions cover the whole of Australia. We endeavour to meet all deadlines and budgets with our reliable service. We can handle anything between 1T and 250T across our fleet of low loaders. Contact us about your transport needs!

When managing a project that requires the use of mining machinery and equipment, considering all factors and costs will ultimately affect your bottom line. If buying new equipment is out of the question, then finding mining equipment for hire would be your only option. Even then, you’re still left with the decision between going for dry hire or wet hire, two very distinct options with their own advantages.

Let’s explore some of those pros and cons.

Why Dry Hire?

If you’re feeling confident with your project management and you want to prioritise cost over convenience, then dry hire is practically the best option for you. Dry hire is when you hire only the equipment needed for the project and operate the plant machinery yourself. In whatever way you want to use the equipment is entirely up to you. The good news is that dry hiring can dramatically reduce the overall cost of hiring equipment. Some of the other benefits of dry hiring include:

• The flexibility of finding your own operator: If you already have a skilled operator on your existing team, then you don’t have to worry about hiring one. If you don’t have an operator, you can always find someone who is skilled and would fit your budget.
• You have more control over the work: Obviously, you have greater control over an operator under your employment compared to a contractor.
• Better accountability: if you’re working with an employee, they’re already familiar with your expectations and processes, and they know how your team works on any given project. There’s greater accountability for what is done on-site in case anything goes wrong.

Of course, you can’t just hire equipment and then assign some random person on your team to operate it. Equipment rental companies will have their own mandatory requirements on how their equipment is handled. Your chosen operator needs to be experienced in handling the equipment and, in some cases, they need to be licensed to use it.

If your appointed operator fails on both requirements, you may need to shell out more money for equipment orientation and training before they can use the equipment. This can be costly both in terms of time and money.

Why Wet Hire?

If you need speed and convenience, a wet hire would be ideal for your project. Wet hire is very much a “complete package” as the equipment you hire already comes with a trained operator to use it. The catch is that you also need to pay for the operator’s labour as they work on your project under your supervision.

There are practically two benefits to this, but it could be more than enough to convince you to go for wet hire on your project. Those benefits are:

• No training necessary: If you don’t have an operator confident with the machinery on your worksite, then a more skilled operator may be needed. It eliminates the need to train and orient your team members on using the equipment.
• Lesser risk of any accidents: From an insurance perspective, a wet hire can be an advantage as they have already mastered the use of the equipment. Those operators already have an enormous amount of experience working on various projects, and they’re less likely to make mistakes while on the job.

Making the Call

Ultimately, the decision on whether you go for wet hire or dry hire for your mining project rests with you. Both are viable options and work well depending on the type of project you’re working on. Instead of choosing one over the other, it may be best to weigh your options by looking at your budget, the timeline of the project, and the type of work needed to be done.

Need some quality equipment delivered to your job site? Look no further than KEE Group. We have rollers, excavators, dump trucks, water trucks, low loaders, and dozers for hire whenever you need them. Not only can we supply mining equipment for hire, but we can also deliver, fuel, service, and operate it depending on your needs.