Features Education Event Reports
National Showcase

The nation’s largest heavy equipment show drew record numbers to the
International Centre in Mississauga, Ont. as the biennial National Heavy
Equipment Show showcased premier equipment and technologies available
to the industry.

The nation’s largest heavy equipment show drew record numbers to the International Centre in Mississauga, Ont. as the biennial National Heavy Equipment Show showcased premier equipment and technologies available to the industry.

This year's National Heavy Equipment Show drew a record number of industry professionals.

The two-day event drew 13,772 out of the frigid southern Ontario cold and into the over 325,000 sq. ft. of exhibit space, where more than 200 companies were on-hand showing off the newest products, technologies and innovations available for Canada’s heavy equipment industry.

For the first time, thanks to a partnership between Rock to Road and Master Promotions, the show featured a day full of informative seminars known as Heavy Education. The seminars looked at current issues of interest to the industry, with a focus on maintenance and finance.

Mike Deckert, vice-president of Flo Components and the Ontario Hot Mix Producers’ Association, presented a seminar discussing issues surrounding proper lubrication of heavy equipment.

One of the most overlooked issues with maintenance, involving lubricants, is a minor measure that can cause major damage according to Deckert. A small discrepancy using grease guns, where commonly operators understand the number of pumps of the gun that equal an ounce, giving them the measure needed in order to apply the proper amount of lubricant. As Deckert explained, many guns now come with varied shots per ounce, often leading to over and under lubrication causing friction issues that reduce the life of the wear part. Deckert discussed how auto greasing systems are reducing some of those issues, but also that operators need to be properly trained in order to be able to identify the potential for improper fluid and lubricant use.

Heavy Education also focused on financing options as presented by National Leasing and Deloitte. Three experts from the respective companies provided valuable information on different funding models for different types of equipment purchases, and the advantages and disadvantages of each one. The speakers were:

• Carol Stubits, general manager, Ontario sales, National Leasing
• Scott Clendenan, director, mid-ticket sales, National Leasing
• David Dalziel, partner, audit & advisory services, Deloitte

The trio discussed the fact that there are three important questions you need to ask yourself when deciding on borrowing options for the purchase of a piece of heavy equipment:

What is the life of the asset and the life of the debt?

What are the short-term versus long-term tax implications of the borrowing strategy?

Does your available cash meet repayment obligations?

Having the answers to these three questions can go a long way in understanding the best method of borrowing for your next purchase, and prevent short-term and long-term financial issues for your company.

The show included a National Industry Breakfast, where Rock to Road’s Top 10 under 40 was officially announced (see story on page 18). In addition to the announcement, a keynote address was made by Bob Collins of BuildForce Canada. The speech examined construction and infrastructure trends throughout all of the provinces, including the peak periods for investment in some booming markets.

Collins noted some of the volatility to be considered in the market over the next several years. Aside from the state of affairs in Alberta, Collins mentioned that New Brunswick will be in trouble should the Energy East project not proceed as planned. He also mentioned that Newfoundland, once home to the youngest workforce in Canada, now has the oldest workforce, as young people have gone west in search of permanent work opportunities.

However, construction work continues to be strong in Ontario, led by continued investments in the Greater Toronto Area. That is where the National Heavy Equipment Show will return to in two years time, in 2017. Dates have not been announced. Stay tuned to rocktoroad.com for details on the show as they are released.