This is the first time on the list for four dealers.
SUWANEE, Ga. – Doosan Infracore North America, LLC has announced its top-performing dealers of 2020. The top 10 dealers are among more than 160 Doosan equipment dealers in North America.
Doosan annually recognizes its heavy equipment dealers that have excelled in providing top-level performance in sales, parts and service to the customers in their respective markets. The top 10 Doosan dealers of 2020 include the following enterprises (headquarters in parentheses):
“There are four dealers joining this list for the first time, which is reflective of their hard work growing the Doosan brand in their regions,” said Todd Roecker, Doosan director of dealer management and marketing. “The word is out about Doosan equipment. We continue to attract new customers and top-performing dealers in North America.”
Top-performing Doosan dealers are offered a selection of several incentives that they may choose from. In addition, Doosan North American leadership may look to these dealers for input regarding Doosan initiatives and direction as they represent the dealer network.
The L and XL Series Trucks powered by Cummins engines to be produced at Hino plants in West Virginia, USA and Woodstock, Canada.
NOVI, Mich. – During the virtual 2021 NTEA Work Truck Show, Hino Trucks announced its intent to produce medium- and heavy-duty Hino trucks with Cummins engines for sale in North America. As a result, Hino intends to offer Cummins B6.7 and L9 engines in Hino’s L and XL Series models by the end of 2021.
“We are thrilled to offer Cummins’ proven B6.7 and L9 engines,” said Hino’s Bob Petz, senior VP of vehicle and parts sales. “The reliability, performance and durability presented with Cummins engines coupled with the award-winning Hino conventional cab will provide our customers the Ultimate Ownership Experience.”
“The Cummins B6.7 and L9 have an unmatched legacy in the medium-duty space, with nearly 80 years of combined production history,” said Amy Boerger, Cummins’ vice president and general manager, North America On Highway. “We are confident Hino customers with Cummins engines will continue to enjoy low cost of operation ownership with our combined offering.”
As part of Hino’s Work Truck Show announcement, Hino plans to redirect engineering and other resources to accelerate the development of the battery electric vehicle (BEV) portion of Project Z, the company’s development path to zero emission vehicles (ZEV). The company had previously announced plans to develop and produce a full range of class 4 through 8 Battery Electric Trucks by 2024. It is now planning to begin low volume production of the BEV models in the fourth quarter of 2022, ramping up to full production by the end of 2023.
“Our industry is in the midst of a generational shift from traditional vehicles to Zero Emission Vehicles,” said Hino’s Glenn Ellis, senior VP of customer experience. “This new partnership is in line with the recent shift we have seen among other OEMs who are looking to strong industry partners to help offset their growing R&D investments into new ZEVs.”
Hino will begin production of Cummins powered trucks at the West Virginia and the Woodstock plant in October 2021, using engines built by Cummins at their Rocky Mount Engine Plant in North Carolina. The company plans to make the Cummins B6.7 engine available in the L Series by the end of 2021, initially offering the engine in two ratings: 240 HP and 260 HP. The B6.7 will be paired with Allison’s 2000 and 3000 Series transmissions. Starting in 2022, the Cummins L9 engine will be available in Hino’s XL Series model, initially in three ratings: 300 HP, 330 HP and 360 HP. The L9 can be paired with Allison’s 3000 or 3500 Series transmission or an Eaton manual.
Hino and Cummins will continue to evaluate additional opportunities to collaborate on powertrain strategies in the future.
The free webinar is part of the Propane Presents Technology Series and will be held Thursday, March 25 at 2 p.m. EST.
WASHINGTON – The Propane Education & Research Council (PERC) is offering a new webinar that will allow fleet directors to hear directly from their peers about how propane autogas can benefit their fleet. The webinar, titled “Propane Autogas – Fuel Innovation That Helps Fleets Go the Distance,” is part of the Propane Presents Technology Series and will take place at 2 p.m. EST on March 25.
During the live webinar, PERC will provide an overview of how propane autogas has made a difference for fleets across the nation, specifically in the paratransit, parcel/package and food and beverage delivery industries. Registration is free and now open at Propane.com/Propane-Presents.
“For an alternative energy adoption to be successful it needs to reduce emissions, lower the total cost-of-ownership, and provide a similar or better performance without compromising range — propane autogas is the only energy source that can do that,” said Steve Whaley, director of autogas business development for PERC. “This webinar will provide fleet directors with the knowledge they need to make a confident and informed decision on their alternative fuel energy choices.”
Registrants will hear from three fleet directors as they discuss how the innovation behind propane autogas has improved their company’s bottom line and helped cut emissions in their communities. Speakers include Paul Strobis, paratransit director for Broward County Transit in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida; Lisa McAbee of McAbee Trucking and a USPS contractor in Blacksburg, South Carolina; and a representative of Bimbo Bakery, a commercial baking manufacturer serving all 50 states.
To register for an upcoming webinar or watch recorded versions of past presentations, visit Propane.com/Propane-Presents. For more information on propane autogas vehicles, visit Propane.com/Fleet-Vehicles.
The designs are outfitted with Super Hub dual axle support systems to increase stability and reduce vibration.
Coxreels features a complete line of Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) hose reels built on the all-steel construction SH and T Series of reels. These reels are equipped with a stainless steel external full-flow swivel and chemical resistant Viton seals to provide a DEF dispensing solution available with a factory installed, high-quality Goodyear DEF hose. The swivel is easy to access for seal maintenance and fast DEF dispenser hose installation.
Coxreels provides professional reeling systems in heavy-duty single pedestal (SH Series) or supreme-duty dual pedestal (T Series) configurations that handle DEF hoses up to 75 feet of ¾ inch hose I.D. Both designs are outfitted with Super Hub dual axle support systems to increase stability and reduce vibration during operation.
READ MORE: Coxreels unveils safety hose reels | Coxreels offering roller bracket for Challenger Series reels
The DEF models are available in standard spring retraction and EZ-Coil controlled retraction systems that promote greater operator and workplace safety by retracting up to 80% slower than conventional reels.
For further information on Coxreels DEF hose reels, visit www.coxreels.com.
Whether it’s salary for employees or your slice of the profits, judging how to pay everyone on board can be tricky.
Figuring out how much to pay your employees – and, for that matter, how to pay yourself – can seem like a delicate situation. How much is too little for new laborers? When is it time to give someone a raise so they don’t jump ship and join another company? And how do you evaluate your own job performance to pay yourself accordingly?
These are complex questions only further complicated by a global pandemic. And as landscapers nationwide refitted their trucks and restructured their companies to adjust for safety protocols, they also had to make on-the-fly decisions about payroll.
“In March and April, I was very frank with my staff. We had a huge project – the biggest commercial job that, in 18 years, we were ever going to undertake,” says Benjamin Lewis, the president of Browder-Hite in Virginia. The project got tabled because the owners’ funding source backed away due to the financial implications of COVID-19. “I thought, ‘My goodness gracious, if this is the beginning of the year, I have no idea what this year will be like,’” he says.
For some, the adjustments were awkward – Lewis says his company enjoyed a great 2020, while at Clarke’s Landscape Solutions, Jonathan Clarke says he suffered a 30% loss in revenue. Couple that with crews who didn’t want to work, and he says the year resulted in a pay cut for everyone, including himself.
“I had to limit the amount of work I estimated, but my guys were paid consistently,” he says. “I just adjusted my pay accordingly.”
For Paul Fraynd, the CEO at Sun Valley Landscaping in Omaha, Nebraska, all the necessary COVID-19 precautions were put into place almost immediately. They closed for a day right around when the rest of the world seemed to – the tipping point for him was when the NBA started cancelling games. And when they quickly reopened, they had to be particularly careful around their clients as 55% of the work they do is residential, largely either design/build or maintenance.
Then, Fraynd implemented a pay freeze across the entire $6-million company that would later be lifted in July, so pay raises were temporarily suspended. Other perks for his 55 employees were also removed, including the complementary local zoo membership each of his employees enjoys.
But by the summer, Fraynd had a new plan in place: They reestablished a portion of the budget for pay raises and started divulging full financial information in monthly Zoom calls to the employees to be transparent. Between explaining that and asking for their input – they all collectively decided to keep pay raises over company parties, for instance – Fraynd says his company navigated the pandemic well.
“Honestly, people just want to go to work and feel safe,” he says. “We’ve built that trust by sharing the real facts. It helps when you’re not making promises you can’t keep. That part kind of bonded everyone, like if you go to war together. Obviously, we’re not in battle, but still.”
Meanwhile, Clarke says his residential hardscape company – made up of somewhere between three and seven employees – struggled during the year. He says many of his employees left to collect unemployment checks, leaving it more difficult to properly cut the checks. Those who did good work were rewarded even despite the financial hit his company took, Clarke says.
“If I can rely on them to show up and do proper work, and if they’re good employees and I want to keep them around, I’ll always pay them more,” Clarke says.
Lewis says it’s rare his 20 employees, who all do either maintenance or irrigation, don’t earn some sort of financial incentive opportunities. His office employees earn a salary while his field workers are paid hourly, but he says the crews have some “skin in the game.”
When his crews still finish up early on a job – for example, working 89 hours instead of 100 – he’ll still compensate for the time they saved working efficiently.
“I’m not a hoarder. I’m not looking to keep every dime,” Lewis says. “I have a philosophy that my employees come first. I operate from a Biblical standard that says pay the worker what he’s owed.”
For Fraynd, pay raises can be awarded from a budgeted 3% of total revenue. As always, in 2020, he left it up to his supervisors on how the pay could be awarded – some crews started paying $1 more an hour across the whole unit, while others just handed $3 more an hour to the employee who made the biggest difference out in the field. It helps that they’ve established pay ranges for each position so they know the maximum someone can earn in each role – if someone wants to earn more than the $18-$22 crew mower earns, they must try and learn another role within the company.
And Fraynd monitors his competition to ensure they’re paying among the best in the Omaha area. He noticed a huge spike in pay rates five years ago, and as a result, they “planted their flag in the ground” and paid the most in town. Soon after, everyone else recalibrated as well, meaning he’s now trying to pay in the top 10 percentile.
“I struggle because I want everyone to raise up, but not everybody wants to. Some people are happy to make what they make, and we need those people, too,” he says. “With the employees, you generally get what you pay for.”
At some point, company owners have to assess how they’ll make money, too.
With his smaller company, Clarke says he determines how much he’ll earn based on how much remains after paying it out to his crew workers. And Fraynd says he’ll always make sure his employees are paid their proper dues first before deciding his salary. Just like how he assesses the success of his crews, Fraynd says he tries to score his own performance as a leader, taking a cut from the overall sales. It behooves him to press his employees to perform well as much as it benefits them.
“We either make the sales and have the work or you don’t. I think everybody’s kind of familiar with that,” he says. “There’s always going to be some subjective component, but we try to make (pay) as objective as possible, driven through data and numbers.”
But it can feel like a relatively subjective decision. Company owners might have a bias toward paying themselves too much, or they might shortchange themselves in the name of appearing like a team player.
Lewis says it helps to find a third party, such as a consultant, to help determine a company owner’s pay. He and his consultant meet in the late summer to plot out the next year.
“As a general rule, I’m paid a salary, and it’s generally a percentage of anticipated income through the year, and I also take draws on capital,” Lewis says. “If we don’t make sales in a specific quarter or failed to meet expectations, then I will not take a full-sized draw.”