Managing equipment across multiple jobsites

When a contractor runs one job, the foreman knows where every machine is. With four or five jobs running, that knowledge splits across foremen, the shop and the office.

The same questions then come up every afternoon. Where is the second roller? Is the grader free tomorrow? Who is moving the excavator?

Managing equipment across jobsites comes down to three things for each machine, every day: where it is assigned, whether it can work and what has to happen before it moves.

Start with one equipment list

Everything else depends on a single list that everyone uses. For each unit, record:

• Unit number and type, such as "RL-11, double-drum roller".
• Size or class, enough to know what it can do and how it travels.
• Attachments it can carry, and which one is mounted.
• Owned or rented, and for rentals, the return date.
• Home yard or base.
• Qualified operators, so the machine is never assigned without one.
• Current status, described in the next section.

Treat trailers and attachments as items in their own right. A float, a broom or a cold planer head can be double-booked as easily as a machine, and a missing attachment can stop a job just as surely.

Separate "assigned" from "available"

A machine can be assigned to a job and still be unable to work. Keep the two ideas apart with a short set of statuses everyone understands, for example:

Decide who can change a status. In many companies the shop or equipment manager marks a machine down or back in service, and the dispatcher assigns it.

A "down" status with no reason and no expected return date is only half useful. The dispatcher needs both to plan around it.

Assign equipment on the dispatch, not in side conversations

Put every machine on the daily dispatch with its operator, its attachment and any support units it needs. If the dispatch says the roller is on Job A, it should be on Job A.

Side deals are where double-bookings come from. A foreman lends a loader to the job next door, nobody updates the plan, and tomorrow two foremen expect the same machine. Any change in assignment should be a change to the dispatch.

Pair operators and machines deliberately

A machine without a qualified operator can't work, whatever its status says. Keep a simple record of who can run what, and plan the two together.

Some contractors keep an operator with "their" machine wherever it goes; others assign operators daily. Either works if the dispatch shows both. What causes trouble is assuming an operator will follow a machine to a new job without anyone saying so.

Make the morning check part of the plan

A machine found with a problem at 6:45 AM is a dispatch problem, not just a shop problem. Build time for each operator's pre-use check into the start of the day, and agree who the operator calls if something is wrong.

The sooner a problem is reported, the more options the dispatcher has: a substitute from the yard, a swap with a job that can spare one, or a change in the order of work.

Plan around the machine that sets the pace

On most jobs, one machine sets the pace for the rest of the operation. On a paving job it is the paver, which depends on steady deliveries and rollers that can keep up. On granular placement it is often the grader. On trenching it is usually the excavator.

Protect that machine first and size everything else to it.

Here is an example. On a granular base job, the grader fails its pre-use check at 6:45 AM. The grader sets the pace there, so it is the first problem to solve. The dispatcher takes the grader from a smaller job that can wait a day and books the float to move it. Then the granular job's truck report times are pushed back, so loaded trucks don't queue on site while the grader travels.

Decide what stays and what moves

Leaving a machine on a job "just in case" feels free, but it isn't. An idle machine on one site may be the reason another site is short.

Each afternoon, ask of every machine:

• Is it needed here tomorrow?
• If not, where is it needed next, and when?
• Can it be released early so a move can happen today?
• If it stays, is it secure and out of the way?

The answers become tomorrow's assignments and tonight's moves.

Plan moves as part of the schedule

A move is not finished when a float is booked. A complete move plan names:

1. The machine, by unit number, and any attachments travelling with it.
2. The truck and trailer, and whether that combination suits the machine.
3. The driver, licensed for the combination.
4. The pickup location and ready time: when the machine is released, cleaned and ready to load.
5. The drop-off location, access notes and who receives the machine.
6. The availability time: when the machine must be on site and ready, for example before a 7:00 AM crew start.
7. Route constraints and any permit needed.
8. Preparation notes, such as retracting screed extensions.

Permits are the contractor's responsibility and depend on the load, the route and the season. In Ontario, for example, the province states that provincial oversize/overweight permits are valid on King's Highways only, and that municipal roads may need separate permission from the municipality.

For a step-by-step checklist, see managing equipment moves between jobsites.

Be clear about who is responsible at each handover

When a machine changes hands, from one foreman to a float driver and then to another foreman, make it clear who is responsible at each stage. Nobody should assume someone else has it.

A short handover note helps: the machine's condition, attachments travelling with it, and anything the next person should know before starting it up.

Handle breakdowns the same way every time

When a machine goes down on site, a consistent routine saves time:

• The foreman reports the unit, the problem and the effect on the work.
• The dispatcher decides whether to substitute, rearrange the work or slow down.
• The equipment list shows the machine as down, with a reason.
• The dispatch is updated, and the people affected are told.
• The issue stays visible until someone closes it.

Recording breakdowns as they happen also builds a history. Over a season, that history shows which units keep causing trouble.

Review the week, not just the day

Once a week, look back at how equipment was used:

• Which machines sat idle on a job for more than a day?
• Where were jobs short, and of what?
• Which conflicts or late moves happened more than once?
• Which rentals could go back, and which gaps suggest one is needed?

That review is where patterns show up, and where next week's plan gets better.

Where software fits

Spreadsheets and whiteboards can hold an equipment list, but they struggle to show assignments, status and moves together across several jobs. What helps is seeing every unit, where it is assigned and whether it is available in the same place the day is planned.

In STRACTA, company fleet, equipment, trailers and attachments are kept in one place, equipment and trucks are assigned on the daily dispatch, and equipment moves are scheduled with the machine, truck, trailer, driver, destination and availability time.