Home Base Special Delivery Power Nap

Transcription

Field test: MT tracked tractors show versatility
Finning to shine on the future with a new look
Right
Choice
The
SUMMER 2005 www.finning.ca
Trades rise as practical
and rewarding careers
Home Base
Fox Creek service firm
keeps the operation local
Power Nap
Fatigue in the workplace
Special Delivery
Finning Terrace takes
service to the open sky
Non-deliverable mail should be directed to: #201, 10350-124 Street, Edmonton, AB T5N 3V9 Canadian Publications Mail Product Sales Agreement #40020055
38
16
30
Departments
4
The Finning Focus
Brand reflects progress
6
GroundBreaker
Cat chopper, Oilsands
expansion, Puerto Rico
calling, Prince George growth,
By the numbers
10 The Tech Report
Key technology goes for
security and much more
11 Yellow Iron
New products and
services from Finning
20 Safety First
A nap during a shift might
make the workplace safer
27 Yesterday/Today
Wetaskiwin equipment show
primed for success
41 Bill’s Business
The chance to expand
42 Count On Us
The tradition of service
CONTENTS
SUMMER 2005
Features
Industry Report
12 Building Langley
21 Employment and Recruiting
B.C. construction firm takes on
design-build specialty
16 Tractor Pull
MT tractors brings ag-business
an edge
28 Meeting the Challenge
Finning in Terrace goes the distance
22 Demanding Times
Challenges ahead to maintain
a skilled workforce
25 Passion for Trades
Education and training lead to
rewarding careers
30 Team Effort
Custom machine designed for safety
and savings
34 Field Test: Multiple Tasks
New MT 865 takes a pre-season workout
25
36 Industry Highlight
B.C.’s mining industry set to shine
38 Fox Trot
Alberta oilfield service firm keeps
it in the family
ON THE COVER
COLETTE DEBEURS
EDMONTON, ALBERTA
PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN GAUCHER
www.finning.ca
Summer 2005 • TRACKS & TREADS
3
The Finning Focus
A New Identity, an
Enduring Commitment
After 72 years of operation, Finning has
arrived at another milestone. The 35year-old double bars of our old logo will
be traded for a new, fresh look at Finning
International operations in Canada, the
United Kingdom and South America. We’ll
phase in this new brand identity over the
next couple of years.
The new look keeps Finning in step with
our business partner Caterpillar, which
adopted its new scheme three years ago.
The move to a more consistent brand image
mirrors what we’re striving for in our relationships with you, our valued customers.
Namely, we always want to help you get
more out of the business you’re in – whether
it’s doing landscape work in a residential
neighbourhood or moving tonnes of overburden at a mine site.
Looking back, that’s been our focus since
Earl B. Finning hung the first Finning sign
on a Vancouver building back in 1933. His
motto was: “We service what we sell.” Those
are our roots, the groundwork of our business, even today.
Since that time, the Finning team has
developed a sophisticated range of services
designed to keep owners of rugged, dependable Cat equipment running at full capacity.
Finning’s innovative approaches continue
to attract the best and the brightest problem-solvers in the industry. From the early
pioneers who kept customers’ equipment
up and running as they built a province,
we have evolved into a modern tech-savvy
international workforce. Today, Finning
deploys industry-specific solutions to maximize machine productivity.
I trust you’ll view our new brand identity
as evidence of our continued commitment
to your success. We’re here to help you expe4 TR ACKS & TREADS • Summer 2005
rience the thrill that comes from achieving
and surpassing the goals you’ve set for yourself and your business.
Your partner along the journey, is the resourceful, professional, approachable, and
now, new look Finning team. We look forward to serving you – for the next 70 years
and beyond.
IAN REID, PRESIDENT, FINNING (CANADA)
The New Face of Finning
THE NEW LOOK will be phased in at all Finning International operations worldwide over the
next few years.
(Below) Original Finning sign goes up on a Vancouver building early in Finning’s history.
www.finning.ca
SUMMER 2005 Volume 45, No. 2
PUBLISHER
Ruth Kelly
[email protected]
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER
Joyce Byrne
[email protected]
EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Jeff Howard
jhoward@finning.ca
EDITOR
Malcolm Sword
[email protected]
ART DIRECTOR
Jennifer Windsor
[email protected]
ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR
Vanlee Tran
[email protected]
DESIGN & PRODUCTION
Gunnar Blodgett, Catherine Lizotte
Letters & Feedback
I DO LIKE TO RECEIVE Tracks & Treads, and enjoy reading about
the technologies coming out.
I have always been a Caterpillar fan and to this day I have yet
to see a Cat machine let us down come whatever may. Caterpillar
has always kept our farm machinery going. We own two Challenger
tractors. Just got one last spring for $252,671 and I think it is
worth all of that, because now we know, come hell or high water,
the Challenger will keep us going. We also have two Peterbilt
trucks with Cat engines, a 966 crawler loader and a RT80 zoom
boom with a 40-foot-high reach. All of these engines just work
great.
We also have a 280 Steiger with a 3406 that outperforms, in
terms of fuel used per acre worked, any other tractor we have. Fuel
economy is outstanding on this engine and it has over 8,000 hours
and is still going strong.
So, Caterpillar has always been good as far as I can recall. Even
when I was just a kindergarten boy, back in 1938, Cat has always
stood out above all others.
I look forward to getting Tracks & Treads for a long time yet.
CIRCULATION MANAGER
Rob Kelly
[email protected]
ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE
Jacob J. Waldner, Manager
Fairville Colony
Bassano, Alberta
Anita McGillis
[email protected]
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Robin Brunet, Gord Cope, Tony Kryzanowski,
Steven Sandor, Christopher Spencer, Bill Tice,
Kerry Tremblay, Jim Veenbaas
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
AND ILLUSTRATORS
Sylvie Bourbonnière, Dustin Delfs, John Gaucher,
John Roder, Rob Salmon, Bill Tice
Tracks & Treads is published to provide its readers
with relevant business, technology, product and
service information in a lively and engaging manner.
Tracks & Treads is published for
Finning (Canada) by
Venture Publishing Inc.
#201, 10350-124 Street
Edmonton, Alberta T5N 3V9
Phone: 780-990-0839
Fax: 780-425-4921
Contents © 2004 by Finning (Canada)
No part of this publication should be
reproduced without written permission.
www.finning.ca
Tell us what you think
Tracks & Treads would love to hear from you. Tell us what you think of the
magazine, its stories, its columns, its look. Tell us how we can improve the
magazine and make it a more interesting read.
Send your comments to executive editor Jeff Howard by e-mail at jhoward@finning.ca
or the old-fashioned way to: Jeff Howard, Tracks & Treads, Finning (Canada),
16830 - 107 Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta, T5P 4C3
www.finning.ca
Summer 2005 • TR ACKS & TREADS
5
GROUNDBREAKER
GROUNDBREAKER
NEWS &
REVIEWS
COMPILED AND WRITTEN
BY JIM VEENBAAS
Getting Bigger
to be Better
When the Finning (Canada) service centre
opened in Mildred Lake near the Syncrude
Canada Ltd.’s plant north of Fort McMurray in
the 1970s, things were a lot smaller. The biggest
trucks could fit into the glove compartment of
the monster machines that roll into the centre
for maintenance these days. Finning expanded
the Mildred Lake shop in June of 2004 and
super-sized the building. The shop easily accommodates the 400-tonne behemoths that
now dominate the operations of the big oilsands
developers.
Three bays were added and each is big enough
to safely accommodate Cat 797s. Moreover, two
50-tonne cranes were installed to hoist the heavy
machines. As well, a stand-alone wash bay and a
track press were added.
“This really allows us to improve the delivery
of our service and the effectiveness of that service,” says Brian Shaw, Finning’s oilsands manager in Fort McMurray. “When you’re working
on a truck the size of the 797, you need to have
a proper crane and you need a building large
enough to lift up the giant box inside.”
The expansion project was also needed to accommodate the 200% increase in repair volume
at the service centre in the last five years. “We
couldn’t bring the 797s into the shop unless we
had the body and the outside duels off,” says
Randy McDonald, Finning’s regional manager
for branch operations. “Now we have a place
to assemble the 797s. When the temperature is
-30°C, it’s not very efficient to work outside.”
In addition to the new shop space, there is
20,000 square feet of new warehouse space
equipped with the latest storage and retrieval
technology. Finning will use the high-density
storage system to house the large volume of replacement parts needed to accommodate the increased activity. “This is a huge improvement on
the parts side – better than what we had in terms
of square footage and ability to access and ship
the parts in a timely fashion,” says McDonald.
Long Distance Help
As the leadhand mechanic at the Finning
Customer Support Centre, Ken Stewart fields calls
from all kinds of operators across North America.
But he nearly fell out of his chair when he picked
up the phone Feb. 2 and discovered he was talking to a farmer from Puerto Rico.
“He was calling from a small island off of
Puerto Rico. He was using an old D4C tractor, it
must have been built in the ‘60s, and he wanted
to know what kind of fluid to fill the gear box with,”
says Stewart. “I couldn’t believe it. It was 9 p.m.
and I’m getting a call from Puerto Rico. We get
an occasional call from Alaska, but never that far
away.”
He listened to the caller describe his problem. With experience in heavy equipment repair,
Stewart knew the tractor needed transmission
fluid and guided him through the process of filling
up the fluids.
“He didn’t want to damage anything and they
didn’t have much on the island where he was liv-
6 TR ACKS & TREADS • Summer 2005
ing. This guy was doing his regular walkaround
maintenance and he didn’t have the service manual anymore and he just wanted to make sure it
would be ready for the next day,” Stewart says.
“He found our Internet site and gave us a call.
He couldn’t believe someone was still on call at
that time of night. We helped him out and his tractor was working as good as ever.”
www.finning.ca
GROUNDBREAKER
Orange County
Choppers Builds
a Cat Machine
Caterpillar has long been associated with some of
the biggest, toughest, most-rugged machinery in
the world. Now those same qualities have been
built into the latest Cat machine to hit the ground –
a new street bike designed by the boys from
Orange County Choppers.
The Cat Chopper is the latest creation from
Paul Teutul Sr. and his sons Paul Jr. and Mikey.
The family builds some of the world’s most famous
bikes for its television show American Chopper,
which can be seen twice a week on the Discovery
Channel. The Cat Chopper, one of the most powerful bikes ever created by OCC, is decked out in
Cat’s distinctive yellow and looks as tough as one
of the company’s 797 mining trucks. With sleek
lines, powerful bars, a massive back tire and fender, the Cat Chopper will leave a lasting impression
when people see it prowling the highways.
“Being around the construction industry before, we know that the Cat brand carries a legacy
of quality, strength and toughness ... the same
things we now strive for at OCC,” says Paul Jr.,
the chief designer and fabricator. “That’s why we
were so excited to have an opportunity to build the
Cat Chopper.”
In order to draw inspiration for their design,
the crew from OCC toured Caterpillar’s Track-Type
Tractor plant in East Peoria, Illinois. They even operated a 124 tonne D11R Carrydozer during the
tour.
“Touring the plant, seeing the quality that goes
www.finning.ca
CAT TOUGH: PAUL TEUTUL SR., PAUL TEUTUL JR.
into every aspect of the machine build, and meeting the people who make it all happen gave me
the inspiration I needed to create a bike that
Caterpillar employees, dealers and customers can
be proud to call their own,” says Teutul Jr. People
across North America tuned in to watch the twopart series in April as the family put its skill and
creativity to work, transforming the power of Cat
into a motorcycle. If you didn’t have a chance to
catch the action on the tube, Discovery Channel
Canada will run the two-part series again on June
14 and June 21.
Caterpillar has big plans for the chopper as
well. The bike will hit the highways and tour 30 Cat
dealers across the United States starting in May.
Between July 15 and 17 the machine will make a
star appearance at the Edmonton Grand Prix.
7
GROUNDBREAKER
MACHINIST IAN MACKAY
Prince George Grows
Business is
booming like
never before
in Prince
George and
the new shop
gives them
the capability
of working
on some of
the largest
cylinders
made by
Caterpillar
British Columbia’s surging economy is fuelling
growth at the Finning hydraulic cylinder shop in
Prince George. Darcy Frankforth and his staff
have recently added more than 5,000 square feet
of shop space by moving into a vacated building
on their existing property.
“We looked at our old facility and the growth
in the economy in our area and decided we needed to expand. It was one of those situations where
we either had to grow or seriously look at other
options,” says Frankforth. “Everything pointed
to the opportunities out there and it’s succeeded
beyond our expectations.”
Making the move was a natural choice for
the Prince George operation. There was a 7,000
square-foot fabrication shop sitting on their
property that wasn’t being used. They renovated
the building, brought in new equipment and had
the new digs up and running in short order. They
even put the old building to use, converting it
into a clean room for engine assembly.
“We’ve been getting busier and busier and
we’ve increased our staff, but what we found was
that moving materials around was slowing us
down. The big thing is that we now have more
work stations and we’re putting in new cranes,
which allows us to increase efficiency, produce
more work in less time and reduce the chance of
damaging materials,” says Frankforth.
To reduce costs, Frankforth was able to salvage some equipment from the Pacific Fluid
Power shop that closed down in Edmonton.
Cranes, jibs, lathes, polishers, honing benches
and other equipment were all trucked in from
Edmonton. “It really worked nicely because the
stuff may have gone to auction and we might not
have recovered the full value. This was a great opportunity for us to grow without the high costs,”
says Frankforth.
The expansion project has been a real team effort. The company’s eight employees played a key
role in designing the new facility. They all volunteered time to help with some improvements.
“We sat down, before we even made the decision to grow the business, and talked to our
employees and explained what we wanted to
do and where we needed to go. We wanted to
make sure they were engaged and involved,” says
Frankforth.
“They’ve been the real success story. They designed where the equipment should be placed,”
he adds. “Before anything happened, they were
over there looking at it and getting their ideas
and thoughts. They know the business and they
know what’s needed. Their ideas are well founded
and well thought out.
“Our staff came in one weekend with all their
families and friends, everyone donated their time
and we painted the walls,” Frankforth says. “They
wanted the place to look professional because we
were really going after a cylinder customer. We
spent the whole weekend painting and prepping
the building, the client came a few weeks later
and we got their business.”
Business is booming like never before in
Prince George and the new shop gives them the
capability of working on some of the largest cylinders made by Caterpillar. In fact, Frankforth
set a target to double cylinder work in 2005 and
so far they have exceeded even those lofty goals.
“We’re doing 994 cylinders and they’re coming
all the way down from the Northwest Territories.
We get all the cylinders for BHP Mines in the
Northwest Territories, we’re hiring more employees and adding an afternoon shift. We’ll be able
to offer service from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.”
www.finning.ca
GROUNDBREAKER
By the Numbers
Price of Shaq’s wedding gift – a Phantom
Rolls-Royce – to Donald Trump and
Melania Knauss:
12 – Size of Orange County Choppers
(OCC) Paul Teutul Sr.’s work boot
$325,000
Rank of the custom
Number of Phantom’s
that could be carried by Caterpillar bike among projects
completed by OCC in terms
a Caterpillar 797B
of bigness, toughness
haul truck:
and ruggedness:
Shaquille O’Neal’s:
22
135
1
$34.95 US
Number of
kid-sized sandboxes
a 797B can haul:
4,000
Number of lessons from the sandbox
that can be applied to business leadership
according to author Alan Gregerman:
13
950 – average number of words
in the vocabulary of an African
Grey parrot
Average number
of words used by
doctors during a
933
consultation: 933
www.finning.ca
Price of a set of
Orange County
Chopper talking
action figures:
Number of provinces,
outside of B.C. where
housing construction
will grow in 2005:
0
Growth of B.C.’s
construction workforce
between 1991 and 2001:
2,800
Since 2001: 47,000
Maximum federal government grant available
for commercial building owners who plant
vegetation on roofs: dkdidid
$60,000
9
The Tech Report
Smart Key
For years, Caterpillar machines across
the world have used a master-key system.
Any operator carrying a Cat key can start
up any machine. This system has mobility
advantages. Qualified operators are able to
go from job to job and have
access to equipment.
However, there are some
drawbacks. It leaves companies vulnerable to theft
and equipment misuse.
Management has no way of
tracking who’s using which
machines at what times.
Cat’s recently developed
theft deterrent system is
about to make all-access
keys a thing of the past.
“It is fairly new,” says Tom
Petras, the Finning (Canada)technology products
customer account manager. “ Just a few of our customers are using it. But it’s
an option that can be retrofitted onto any factory
equipment.”
The system works using
a yellow radio frequency
(RF) key. The key is embedded with a transmitter that
emits a unique code for each operator.
The shop manager programs the onboard
equipment with a Cat Pocket Tec or a Palm
Pilot to assign keys specific codes to start a
particular piece of equipment.
“Let’s say you have 20 operators on site,
but want only 10 of them to be able to operate a particular machine,” Petras explains.
“You can program it so only those operators’ 10 keys would be able to start the
machine. Other keys would not work.”
The system has an override feature which
bypasses the onboard key control system.
It will shut down other electronic components on the machine, rendering it useless. Petras notes theft reports in the field
are minimal, but there are urban legends
describing a hunter who gets his pickup
stuck in the bush and comes across a Cat.
He uses his master key to use equipment
he isn’t authorized to operate to get out
of his rut. As well, Petras notes, the RF
key system will soon be integrated with
Finning’s GMS machinery tracking system. “Customers are able to track exactly
which staff members are operating which
equipment at specific times.”
At Sunpine Forest Products Ltd.’s westcentral Alberta mill site west of Rocky
Mountain House, a 950G wheel loader is
outfitted with the new system, says mobile
shop foreman Wes Galbraith. With over
200 people on a job site that operates 24-7,
the loader is busy for two, 11-hour shifts,
four days a week. Galbraith wants to know
exactly who is operating the machine, so
the new RF system was
t he answer. “ We are
using it for machine
control,” Galbraith outlines. “We know that
the operators using the
equipment a re f ully
trained and signed off
to use the machine,” he
adds. “And, from there,
we will be able to tell
what operators are doing with their time on
the machine.” Operator
identity, working and
idling time are tracked
by the system, Galbraith explains. “With 200
people on site, the system stops all joyriding,
and ensures only authorized people use the
machine,” he says.“We
can eliminate waste.”
There are always people on site, so theft is
not a major concer n
at the mill. But Galbraith does see the
system’s value in that area. “We don’t
have a lot of experience with theft, but,
looking at the machine, I can see why
[the RF] would be a hell of a deterrent.”
It appears that the days of the Cat master
key are numbered. Soon, Cat operators
will be tuned to a different frequency –
one that comes from the RF key in their
pocket.
www.finning.ca
ILLUSTRATION BY SYLVIE BOURBONNIÈRE
THE DAYS OF THE CAT MASTER KEY SYSTEM ARE NUMBERED. STEVEN
SANDOR WRITES ABOUT TECHNOLOGY DESIGNED TO KEEP EQUIPMENT
IN THE RIGHT HANDS.
YELLOWIRON
New Products and Ser vices from Finning
www.finning.ca
D8T takes it to the next level
The new D8T track-type tractor, with an ACERT C15
engine, comes equipped with a Cat Monitoring Display
System with Advisor to give operators and service technicians insight into machine operation and maintenance
needs. The D8T also has the capability to set individual
preferences for specific operators to boost operator efficiency and productivity. An electronic ripper control and
dual-twist tiller control contributes to easy operation.
Cat Machine Security System
Stolen equipment means lost productivity. Protect your
machine with the Cat Machine Security System, which
guards against theft by disabling a machine’s starting
system. Thieves cannot bypass the starting system
because Machine Security System is integrated into the
electronics. Only a key with your unique code can start the
machine. This new programmable Cat system is available
for nearly all brands of equipment.
Classic line expanded with liner kits
Cat Classic parts give you repair options for those older
machines. And we’ve now supplemented the Classic
catalogue with liner kits for D330s, D333s and 3300 PC
engines. Also available are crankshafts, cylinder heads,
valve kits, PC chambers, connecting rods, mufflers,
exhaust manifolds, fuel transfer pumps and fuel lines.
Watch for Classic 3300 direct injection engine parts
coming soon.
Small … and solid is beautiful
Building on a reputation for solid powertrain technology,
Challenger’s MT200 B-Series tractors represent a
major leap forward in styling, ergonomics, hydraulic
capacity and serviceability. Ranging in horsepower from
23.3 to 44.2, the MT200 series is built to Challenger’s
stringent specifications by Iseki Tractors. With four
gears under one mph, the MT265 allows a snow blower,
rototiller or other implement to work in tough conditions.
11
Albert (left) and George Tecklenborg
www.finning.ca
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROB SALMON
COMPANY PROFILE :: Teck Construction Ltd.
Second generation taking
the family business to
new heights
Building
Langley
BY ROBIN BRUNE T
F
rom a second-floor vantage point, Teck Construction Ltd.’s headquarters boasts a panoramic
view of Langley, British Columbia. The town
is widely regarded as the rural antidote to the
urban sprawl of Vancouver’s Lower Mainland.
With little effort, Teck staff can spot some of the
buildings company founder Al Tecklenborg erected here in the
past 40 years. As well, the newer edifices created by his sons,
George and Albert are in eyeshot. It could be argued that Teck
Construction has helped foster Langley’s status as one of the
Lower Mainland’s fastest-growing regions. The company has
gained a reputation as a tilt-up specialist, and despite B.C.’s economic ups and downs, suffered surprisingly few setbacks apart
from the odd mishap – like the time the company’s prized Caterpillar 420D backhoe was stolen from a job site.
Although Teck runs various types of equipment from different manufacturers, Cat backhoes are the keystone in the company’s mastery of the design-build format. “Design-build provides
the opportunity to simplify all construction methods in the
commercial and industrial sectors, reduce on-site problems and
value-engineer all aspects of a project – but it requires that we
be versatile in our on-site work capabilities,” explains (George)
Tecklenborg. “Among other things, the Cats allow us to provide
site servicing to clients. We wouldn’t have become so verticallyintegrated were it not for those machines.”
The company runs a 10-member office staff and 35 field personnel, working projects ranging from $100,000 renovations
to $7-million buildings. True to its Langley country roots, Teck
began as an informal venture between friends. “My dad helped
www.finning.ca
build a house back in the 1950s,” recalls Tecklenborg. “After the
project was finished he figured he could make a living doing so.”
Teck was founded in 1957 when Al was 21. Residential construction was the initial bread and butter, but quickly broadened in
scope to include commercial facilities, schools and hospitals.
Up until recently, Langley was considered a remote outpost
of Greater Vancouver, a quiet farming community with an oldfashioned town centre and modest amenities. Under the elder
Tecklenborg’s guidance, Teck changed the landscape of the
downtown core, beginning with a series of car dealerships and
other commercial/retail facilities in the 1970s. In 1989, Teck
adopted the tilt-up method of construction in which massive
slabs of a concrete structure are formed horizontally then tilted
into place vertically. Through hard work and creative inspiration,
Teck successfully avoided the pitfalls of other tilt-up specialists
who erect big-box edifices that are visually unappealing. “We
pushed the envelope of tilt-up construction by adding attractive
box windows, elaborate glazing, reveals, cornices and columns,”
says Tecklenborg.
George, now 35, and Albert, 37, became involved in their
father’s business as school kids. The low-key and well-spoken
younger brother credits Albert for pushing Teck into the realm of
design-build and himself for purchasing a series of excavators to
augment the company’s range of activities.
The first backhoes Teck used were competitor machines, but
in 1989 were replaced by a brand new Cat 416 backhoe. From
that point on, the Tecklenborgs remained faithful to Cat products. A 416 Series Two backhoe was purchased in 1990, followed
Summer 2005 • TR ACKS & TREADS 13
CAT 420D MOVING LOCK BLOCKS AT A
LANGLEY CONSTRUCTION SITE
“We wouldn’t have
become so verticallyintegrated were it not
for those machines,”
says George Tecklenborg,
Teck Construction Ltd.
by a 416C, then a 420D. “From the start,
Caterpillar incorporated leading-edge
technology into its backhoes,” says Tecklenborg. “It always embraced the newest
engineering concepts and it was the first
to introduce the excavator-style boom
and pilot controls,” he explains. “We currently own a 416C and the 420D, and we
can push either of these machines much
farther than we could with the others,” he
says. “They are truly versatile.” On-site,
versatility translates into Teck being able
to dig footings, excavate pipes, perform
slab prep, and even – if a large excavator isn’t available – tackle site stripping.
“The 420D handles that particular task
just fine,” says Tecklenborg. “It may not
be as efficient as a large excavator, but
it’s far more cost-effective than waiting for a big machine to be freed up or
farming out the job to someone else.”
The company underscored the value of
the rugged backhoe by signing an agree-
ment to add another 420D to its fleet.
In a situation that can only be described
as a perverse endorsement of Caterpillar
desirability, Teck’s 420D was stolen from
the work site of a new Toyota dealership
in downtown Langley last fall. “The backhoe had been parked for the weekend,
someone managed to maneuver it over
an open ditch and under a large boom,
after which I assume it was loaded onto a
low-bed trailer,” says Tecklenborg. “The
machine had anti-theft devices like night
switches that disengage the fuel lines,
but the thieves knew how to deactivate
them,” he notes. Insurance paid for a
replacement 420D. Now all of Teck ’s
equipment is outfitted with GPS/cellular
tracking devices.
The company is currently overseeing nine projects in and around the
Fraser Valley, including construction
of the 110,000-square-foot headquarters in Chilliwack for Langley Concrete
www.finning.ca
COMPANY PROFILE :: Teck Construction Ltd.
Backhoe operator John Stomperud
Teck’s civil foreman Eric Stomperud
and Tile, a 70,000-square-foot rental warehouse in a local
business park and offices for a small printing firm. “We may
have only two backhoes in our equipment inventory, but the
beauty of site servicing is that it can be done at the start of
a project or even midway through. This leeway allows us to
transport the machines to and from different sites as needed,”
says Tecklenborg. “There’s no waiting around for equipment
on our sites.”
Given its efficiency, one might expect Teck Construction to
broaden its geographical reach. But the die-hard country boy
in Tecklenborg refuses to consider accepting assignments too
far from home. “There’s more than enough work for us locally,
plus we have a terrific talent pool here,” he adds. “It used to be
there wasn’t much of an advantage being Langley-based, but
nowadays this is a real hub of activity.” Tecklenborg smiles as
he surveys the farms and snow-capped mountains through
his office windows. “When dad retired four years ago, my
brother and I had specific plans to grow the business, and we
did,” he explains. “From handling three-four jobs to six-eight
jobs at any given time, as well as the corresponding expansion
of staff and equipment, including backhoes, excavators and
forklifts.”
And the company is in Langley for the long run, Tecklenborg says. “Now our plan is to remain here and use every
opportunity to be a better design-build general contractor,” he
says. “With the upcoming Olympics, we’re looking forward to
a productive decade.”
www.finning.ca
Operator Tells All
When all is said and done, the most attractive feature of heavy
equipment to its operators is comfort. Teck Construction Ltd.
operator John Stomperud has worked for the Tecklenborgs for
21 years. He commands one of Teck’s latest additions – a 420D
backhoe.
“It’s a fabulous machine of course, but it also has the roomiest
cab I’ve ever worked in,” Stomperud says. “Caterpillar obviously
went to great lengths to make the controls and the seat ergonomically-friendly,” he adds. “Comfort is extremely important to people like me. I spend eight hours each day driving backhoes.”
Back in the 1980s Stomperud manned Teck’s first piece of
equipment, a competitor backhoe. When the company bought
a Cat 416 machine, it took him awhile to get used to the Cat’s
two-lever control system. “The other (competitor machine) had a
lever for everything, but once I adapted to the Cat configuration
it amazed me that I ever operated something as complex as the
other,” he recalls.
By contrast, the operator says Cat learned from past efforts
to create the ultimate backhoe. “The pilot controls of the 420D
enable you to perform all types of excavation with ease,” he
explains. “It’s an exceedingly well-designed machine.”
Currently, Stomperud is transporting his 420D to various job
sites throughout the Fraser Valley. “I’m performing grading on
one site, excavating on another and prep work elsewhere – the
assignments change daily. So far I haven’t encountered a job the
420D is not equipped to perform,” he says. “It’s a resilient backhoe, and hopefully we won’t have anymore trouble with thieves
in the future!”
EQUIPMENT PROFILE
www.finning.ca
Challengers boost farm services
business in safety and efficiency
Tractor Pull
BY TONY KRY Z ANOWSKI
When Red Deer area farmers, Norm Scott
and son Richard, developed a strategy to
diversify their farming business, the plan
included a custom manure management
division. It was a way to generate enough
income to support two families. It was a
winning business plan. However, that plan
was altered by a near-tragic incident.
When the Scott’s star ted Sno-Valley
Manure Management Ltd. three years ago,
they purchased a four-wheel drive tractor to
haul manure tanks from storage lagoons on
hog and dairy farms to nearby fields. “My
son was coming home from a job, and as he
made a turn at the top of a hill on a gravel
road, the manure tank pushed him down
into the ditch and rolled the tractor,” says
(Norm) Scott. “So we made a decision then
to buy something more stable, which turned
out to be a second hand, Challenger 65 series
with tracks instead of wheels.”
Not only did the decision provide a safer
tractor, but it also attracted business from
area farmers because the Challenger tractor’s
superior flotation results in less soil compaction. The business continued to grow, leading to the acquisition of a used Challenger
75 series and another manure tank. While
Sno-Valley’s main customer base is hog farm
operations, an influx of Dutch dairy farmers immigrating into the central Alberta
region has created opportunity and growth.
The new arrivals are primarily focussed on
milk production, not farming. Sno-Valley
provides custom seeding, combining, silage
har vesting and deliver y ser vices for the
dairy farms. The summer operations maintain cash flow between the busy spring and
fall manure application seasons.
Business is good on the manure side. SnoValley has booked $100,000 more work this
spring than last, and traded in its two older
machines for two new Challenger MT765
tractors to improve productivity. In addition,
the company’s manure management equipment fleet includes two, tandem 5,000-gallon tanks. These are equipped with Nuhn
Industries Ltd. manure injection systems
and an Aer-way brand pasture rejuvenator
implement for applying manure on pasture
and hay fields. Sno-Valley also uses a smaller
tractor to power the pump used to fill tanks
with effluent from the lagoon. The company
is ahead of the curve on established trends
and practices in manure management –
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN GAUCHER
www.finning.ca
EQUIPMENT PROFILE
“My view is
that if you are a
contractor and not
injecting in five
to 10 years down
the road, you’re
not going to be
hauling anymore,”
says Norm Scott of
Sno-Valley Manure
Management Ltd.
continued
deploy ing injection ser v ices versus
surface application of manure. Scott
explains Red Deer County frowns on
surface application, although it is permitted when the ground is frozen when
injection is impossible. Manure injection
has advantages over surface application –
potential health hazards are reduced from
surface run off and the nutrients stay in
the soil. Furthermore, there is no nasty
odour. In fact, the company calls itself
‘the neighbour pleasers’.
“My view is that if you are a contractor
and not injecting in five to 10 years down
the road, you’re not going to be hauling
anymore,” Scott says.
On a typical job site, Sno-Valley’s smaller tractor powers an agitator and pump at
the lagoon, liquid manure is pumped into
tandem tanks. The rear tank is equipped
with the injection system. “It works like
an air seeder,” says Scott. “The manure
goes through a set of hoses leading down
to the shanks, where it is injected right
into the ground.” Typically, it will be
injected between four and eight inches
below the surface.
The MT765 hauls loaded tanks from
the lagoon to the application site, which
can be up to 3.5 kilometres away from the
source location. During peak operating
season, the company will transport over
100 loads of liquid manure in a 24-hour
shift. Sno-Valley uses three injection systems. One suited for zero till soil, where
the shanks and manure injection hoses
are 30 inches apart, leaving 80% of the
soil undisturbed. The second unit is for
use in standard cultivated fields, where
the shanks and injection hoses are 11
inches apart. The third injects manure
using the Aer-way implement which is
used primarily on pasture and hay fields.
Manure is a natural fertilizer, reducing farm input costs, offsetting the cost
of expensive commercial fertilizers. But
there are issues with manure usage. Red
Deer County requires soil testing of farmwww.finning.ca
If this plan comes together, Scott believes
the manure hauling operation has potential to
evolve into a year-round business.
land every three years. The concern with
repeated manure applications is phosphorous build up that can negatively affect
water quality. Soil tests help farmers
monitor phosphorus content and determine acceptable quantities of manure
application for each acre of land. Farmers
are also responsible for determining the
nutrient value of lagoons. “In the past,
the rule of thumb for applying manure in
some parts of the county was 6,000 gallons per acre,” Scott outlines. “That grows
a pretty decent crop.” However, the application rate does vary depending on soil
and lagoon nutrient tests, he adds.
The need to transport manure greater
distances was a major reason Sno-Valley
upgraded to the Challenger MT765. The
new machines travel at speeds up to 40
kilometres per hour versus 27 kilometres
per hour with the older Series 65 tractor.
The capacity to work faster allows SnoValley to operate with fewer employees.
Scott is looking forward to putting the
tractor’s electronic Tractor Management
Centre (TMC) to use. The operator preprograms hydraulic flow and pressure,
ground speed, engine rpm and power
output, so repetitive functions can be
duplicated with the touch of a button –
TMC’s One-Touch management system.
When putting in long days, Scott says
operator fatigue is an issue. Repeating a
function using the TMC avoids errors and
maintains consistency. The system also
has the capability to learn. As the tracwww.finning.ca
tor performs repetitive tasks, it “learns”
to throttle down and reduce hydraulic
flow as it reaches the end of the field. The
MT765 provides a smoother ride, more
operator cab comfort and better visibility compared to the Challenger 65 series,
Scott says.
New standard equipment like the power
take-off (PTO) shift makes the tractor
more versatile than the older Challenger,
allowing farmers to pull a greater variety
of implements like forage cutters, balers
and manure injectors, as is the case with
Sno-Valley. The transmission improves
from 10 gears in the older equipment to
16 in the new generation of Challenger
tractors. The all-new Caterpillar C9
engine, with 538 cubic inches (8.8 litres)
of displacement and 306 gross engine
horsepower delivers plenty of consistent
power. Scott adds improved fuel economy
is expected from the new MTs.
Sno-Valley currently operates the
manure business seasonally, from breakup to freeze-up, but this may change.
Power generation from a manure digester is being contemplated for the Red
Deer area. Biogas is produced from the
manure. The gas, which is primarily
methane (natural gas), is used to fuel a
generator to produce electricity for the
Alberta power grid.
If this plan comes together, Scott
believes the manure hauling operation
has potential to evolve into a year-round
business.
Dutch Dairy
Country
Gert and Jetty Niewenhuis immigrated to central Alberta three years
ago, lured from the Netherlands by
cheaper land to run a dairy. Their goal
was never to grow grain, forage crops
or raise cattle. That’s why the couple,
along with many other recent arrivals
from Holland, have contracted silage,
grain and manure management services to others. Niewenhuis has operated his dairy south of Red Deer for the
past two years. He hired his neighbour
and experienced Alberta mixed farmer,
Norm Scott, to provide those services.
Scott is co-owner of Sno-Valley Manure
Management Ltd.
“We’ve contracted out these services because running a dairy takes a
lot of time and effort,” says Niewenhuis. “And having to purchase the
equipment makes it too expensive to
do ourselves.”
He owned a dairy farm that milked
65 cows in Holland before moving to
Canada. His Alberta operation is now
an established 100-cow dairy. The
lack of land available to expand in Holland has led to an influx of Dutch dairy
farmers, particularly to central Alberta.
Land further south in the province is
more expensive and requires irrigation,
Niewenhuis says. Scott says the Dutch
dairy customers have become more
than customers. They have become
friends. “We’ve found that the Dutch
people are very loyal,” Scott says.
“Once you get in and do a good job,
you have an opportunity to expand.
Word of mouth is pretty good advertising.”
BRINGING A PILLOW AND BLANKET TO WORK FOR A NAP DURING A SHIFT
IS NOT SEEN AS BEING A CAREER-ENHANCING MOVE WRITES KERRY
TREMBLAY. BUT IN THE NOT TOO DISTANT FUTURE, IT MIGHT BE
Taking a Break
Fatigue is a big issue. Workers are human,
and humans get tired. Statistics from
the United States suggest more than $46
billion per year in costs are lost to sleeprelated accidents. Furthermore, more than
40 million Americans suffer from undiagnosed sleeping disorders. No similar studies exist for Canada, but similar issues
exist in this country.
On the job fatigue impairment is being
compared to drinking and driving. Writing for OHS Canada in March,
2001, Carolyn Schur, president
of Alert@Work Human Resource
Services, a Canadian consultant on
fatigue management says: “When I
think about where we are with our
efforts to deal with fatigue, sleepiness and long or rotating work
schedules, I think about where we
were with the drinking and driving
issue 30 years ago, when nearly half
of all fatalities on the road involved
drinking and driving. We knew it
was a problem...but we didn’t take
it as seriously as we do today.”
That’s backed by a Februar y,
2005 Fatigue Management Guide
released by Workplace Health
and Safety for Australia’s state of
Queensland. “Recent studies have
shown that staying awake for 17 hours
leads to the same level of impaired performance as having a blood-alcohol content of 0.05%. Staying awake for 21 hours
is equivalent to a blood alcohol content of
0.1%.” The legal limit for blood alcohol
levels in Canadian drivers is 0.08%.
“Fatigue is mental or physical exhaustion that stops a person from being able to
function normally, and is mainly caused
by a lack of sleep,” the management guide
outlines. Fatigue can be caused by all kinds
of issues: workload, length of shift, previous number of days worked, shift schedules and time of day. A host of other factors
come into play, such as having a new baby
at home, a second job, eating fatty foods or
being on-call.
There’s increasing talk from researchers, governments and safety associations
suggesting fatigue is a huge, often unmeasured factor in accidents. The difficulty is
there are very few ways to measure it.
Some companies, as part of due diligence and emergenc y preparedness,
are setting up backup plans to cover for
fatigued workers. A newly- released study
by British Columbia’s Forestry Task force
says on-going health and wellness and
support programs must effectively address
current and emerging physical and mental
conditioning issues, including fatigue.
There are two kinds of fatigue, says
Schur. “These are physical fatigue (like
when one has just finished a physically
heavy job or run a race), and cognitive
or mental fatigue. That’s when the brain
zones out (maybe only for a few seconds)
and doesn’t even recognize that it has.
It’s one thing if that happens in a meeting and another if it happens on a big
machine or operating heavy equipment.
Then it becomes a dangerous situation.
Someone who is cognitively fatigued has
the same lack of judgement as ones who
are impaired through drinking alcohol.
Impaired is impaired is impaired.” That,
she says, “is the bottom line.”
One of the bigger factors – and one
that humans have little control over – is
called circadian rhythm. It’s the internal
body clock that affects everything from
body temperature to digestion, hormone
levels and blood pressure. Since humans
are generally diurnal (day-oriented), the
body temperature drops slightly
after lunch and then dips more in
the early morning hours. That early
afternoon dip is why people get
sleepy in the afternoon. Naps may
be a solution, but at work has a stigma attached to it. People stereotype
professionals who nap as weak, lazy
or unproductive. However, naps can
maintain alertness and performance, researchers suggest.
Transportation companies are
already taking a hard look at how
tired drivers get. So are companies
like Canadian National Railway
Company and a handful of others.
Some companies in the U.S. are supplying rooms that workers can nap
in for 20 to 40 minutes, whether
they are working the day, evening or
night shift. And one company in New York
City has created a business of providing
nap space for sleepy office workers – at $14
US per nap.
The numbers are fuzzy on the effect of
fatigue on work place safety and efficiency.
But the vast majority of the information on
the subject suggests following the safety
axiom – recognize the problem, understand the solution and act in time. Maybe
it’s time to wake up and let workers nap.
www.finning.ca
Safety First
Special Report
Human Resources,
Recruitment and
Training
22
Demanding Times
The need for skilled labour
is high and industries are
looking to non-traditional
sources to fill the voids
www.finning.ca
25
Passion for Trades
Dedication and perseverance result in highly rewarding careers for a couple of
newly qualified tradespeople
The economies of Alberta and British Columbia
are surging ahead on high prices for commodities, particularly in the oil and gas, mining and
construction sectors. With the 2010 Olympics
on the horizon and new oilsands facilities being
built, skilled workers are at a premium from the
construction trades to the service and supply
trades. The push is on to get more people pursuing careers in the trades. That has businesses
and government agencies looking at non-traditional sources for new employees.
S P E C I A L R E P ORT
HUMAN RESOURCES
HUMAN RESOURCES
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Demanding
Times
W
estern Canada’s economic boom is fuelling
demand for highly skilled tradespeople in almost
every sector. The combination of high demand
and the need to replace an aging workforce has
the potential to create severe work shortages in
the future. This has governments and industry scrambling to find ways to train and keep
apprentices and journeymen in virtually every
occupation. With ongoing and planned projects in
mining, pipelines, construction and forestry, employment needs are on the upswing. Skilled workers ranging
from heavy duty mechanics to carpenters to bricklayers
are in short supply.
According to the Petroleum Human Resources
Council of Canada’s comprehensive 2003 employment
study for the upstream petroleum industry, there are
a number of occupations that are currently facing or
will face skills shortages. The PHRC study and others
like it released by the Canada West Foundation and the
Construction Sector Council, echo solutions exist in
non-traditional sources. Traditionally, Alberta and British Columbia have filled worker needs through migration from other parts of Canada and immigration from
The need for skilled labour
is high and industries are
looking to non-traditional
sources to fill the voids
BY KERRY TREMBL AY
Europe. Today, local potential is being tapped from the
growing non-traditional sources for skilled tradespeople like women, aboriginals and young people.
The pattern of cross-country migration is less likely
to continue. Increased economic activity in the Atlantic provinces, a strong Ontario economy and the 2010
Olympics in B.C. means interprovincial migration
will slow. On the immigration side, only 3% of 53,000
immigrants in 2002 had trade certificates, according to
Statistics Canada.
Brian Clewes, CEO of B.C.’s new Industry Training Authority (ITA), says he receives calls on a daily
basis from tradespeople wanting to return to B.C. The
Authority is the province’s version of an apprenticeship board. He outlines, in the past year, the number
of registered apprentices in the province has increased
by more than 30%, to 19,600 from 14,600. The rise is
primarily through ITA’s work that encourages employers to hire apprentices and provide support developing
programs for trainees, Clewes adds. ITA, has partnered
with industry and educators to develop new programs
to encourage high school students into the trades. Simwww.finning.ca
HUMAN RESOURCES
SPECIAL REPORT
HUMAN RESOURCES
INDUSTRY R E P O RT
LANDSCAPING
ilar to Alberta’s Registered Apprenticeship Program
(RAP), B.C.’s Accelerated Enrolment in Industry Training (ACE-IT) is currently being launched. The program
allows senior high students the opportunity to complete the first year of technical training in a trade while
they continue earning high school credits for graduation. There is a sister program for young people already
working part time as apprentices in industry. It provides credit for on-the-job time, a jump start on hours
needed to become journeymen and a scholarship.
Thinking outside the box, the ITA is involved with
new, easily-accessible and relevant programs to allow
industries and companies to train the workers for specific skills. For example, the ITA now recognizes a framing program, a forming program and a rebar program.
All are geared to tie into eventual journeyman status
and the ability to meet the criteria for the Red Seal.
With the help of industry, there is also a move afoot
to recognize and train for “multi-skilling”. “These are
broader apprenticeships,” Clewes outlines. “For example, an industry might need to have a skilled person
who is an industrial electrician, who can also do some
basic millwright and instrumentation work.”
Ray Jeffery, manager of Learning and Development
at Finning (Canada) is a tradesman with 40 years experience and is a senior member of Alberta’s Apprenticeship and Industry Training Board. “The challenge is
that we need to market the trades – not to the kids,
but to the parents,” he says. “The trades are not second
best!” Jeffery and Clewes outline the trades need to be
seen as a viable and rewarding first career choice for students. “At Finning some skilled tradespeople have been
pulling wrenches for 35 years and really like it,” Jeffery
explains. “Others have moved into sales or supervisory
positions after only a few years in the trades.
“Everything is going really well (in the economy),
and that means trade people are at a premium,” he says.
It means a strong demand for equipment sales and service. And there lies the challenge. “The rate of growth in
business means that the demand (for qualified heavy
duty mechanics) is outstripping supply,” Jeffery says.
Shortages sparked the unique, Caterpillar-specific
training program called “Think Big”, offered through
the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT).
Officially called the Caterpillar Dealer Service Techniwww.finning.ca
Skilled workers ranging
from heavy duty mechanics
to carpenters to bricklayers
are in short supply
cian Program, the training is a two-year partnership
between Caterpillar, NAIT and Finning.
Faced with inconsistently-trained mechanics in the
United States, Caterpillar training specialists designed
a Cat-specific program. It passed the program on to
NAIT (at the Fairview campus), which provides the
instructors and technical school setting. Finning offers
bursaries, a loaner tool program that sees top students
receive more than $9,000 worth of tools free at the end
of the program. Students participate in five, eight-week
work-experience sessions.
Graduates of the two-year program earn the chance
to challenge the Heavy Equipment Technician Alberta
Apprenticeship Examination to become eligible for full
journeymen status after fulfilling the required hours
on the job. NAIT’s first Think Big class graduated this
April. “The entrance requirements are high,” says Jeffery. “Students require English, Math and Physics at the
30-level and Grade 12. This is the real world and we
can’t afford to drop our standards.” Think Big is a key
part of the company’s three-pronged strategy to ensure
a supply of qualified technicians.
Roger Dootson, district manager at PCL Construction Management Inc. for Northern Alberta and the
Northwest Territories, has some of the same challenges finding skilled construction workers and deals
with recruiting in various ways. For heavy industrial
work, including shutdowns and electrical work, PCL
companies work directly with unionized labour. For
commercial and institutional projects in Alberta and
Saskatchewan, PCL companies use labour brokers,
whose job it is to ferret out the type and number of field
personnel needed. PCL works with about 150 apprentices in a variety of fields on an assortment of sites in
Western Canada. Even with that number of trainees,
there remains a high demand for carpenters, concrete
labourers, crane operators and cement finishers.
HUMAN RESOURCES
HUMAN RESOURCES
“Our ultimate goal is to
make our place the best
to work,” says Rodger
I N D U S Tplace
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Dootson, district manager
of PCL Construction
Management Inc.
One of the ways the organization staves off labour
shortages is to attract top people and pay them accordingly. Within PCL Construction Management Inc.,
there is little job turnover with salaried employees, because people want to work for the company,
explains Dootson. “Our ultimate goal is to make
our place the best place to work. We pay competitive
wages, which are the tops in the industry. We have a
medical benefits package second to none, retirement
savings plans, training of all kinds to ensure people
are skilled and we have one of the safest work places.
We encourage our subtrades and our labour brokers to
do the same.”
The company prefers to hire from the local area, but
sometimes the supply of workers forces the organization to look at non-traditional staffing.
While women make up only 7% of the total construction workforce in Canada, (3% in Alberta), PCL is
working with industry colleagues to shift the balance
and bring more women into the construction industry.
It supports an Edmonton society called Women Building Futures, and hires some of the society’s pre-apprenticeship graduates into apprenticeship positions. The
company also has agreements in place with aboriginal
groups to promote employment opportunities.
It has also gone further distances in its quest for
skilled labour. “We’re working with our labour brokers
to take advantage of one of the federal government’s
programs to capture skilled workers from Germany,”
says Dootson. But this has its own issues.
Language barriers mean that workers need to have
on-site translators (senior supervisory staff who speak
German). The German-speaking supervisors are more
than just a convenience. The bigger issue is safety. People must be able to understand instructions, as well as
the work systems. “Safety is of the utmost importance,”
Dootson notes. “We want to be able to send people
home at the end of the day.”
Forestry giant Weyerhaeuser Canada is beginning
to notice the shortage in many trades, and particularly
in some specialized areas like sawfilers, says spokeswoman Alex Catterill, from the company’s Human
Resources department in Vancouver. Weyerhaeuser’s
strategy is a commitment to hire people in the communities where it operates. This has resulted in an effort
involving the aboriginal community in the company’s hiring practices. But Catterill notes it is difficult
for forestry to compete with the oil and gas industry
to attract and retain workers, a sector where the earnings potential for young labourers and tradespeople is
significantly higher.
At Syncrude Canada Ltd., the story on finding people with the necessary skills is different, says spokesperson Alain Moore. “It’s good news on our front. On
the heavy equipment operations side, we can hire high
quality candidates within our region.” In fact, he says,
they recently advertised for 45 heavy equipment operators and had 700 qualified applicants for the jobs. The
company hires in a ripple effect – first, locally, then
provincially, and occasionally, on a national scale.
Moore explains Syncrude works with local Keyano
College, NAIT and local high schools to foster interest in the trades as viable career choices. “Syncrude has
recognized that it needs skilled tradespeople,” he says.
The company hires a few apprentices, but prefers journeymen. And with an emphasis on local hiring and
a reputation as a good place to work, he says that the
company’s retention factor is high.
Syncrude is also far ahead of many companies in
the number of Aboriginal people working either as
employees or contractors. “We are the largest aboriginal employer in Canada,” he says. Aboriginals make up
13% of Syncrude’s workforce.
Tom Watts, Luscar Ltd.’s manager of human resources
says the coal mining company hasn’t felt the full impact
of any skills shortages due to business cycles, but may
in the future. He explains that the company’s success
can be directly attributed to its focus of hiring locally.
“Our strength is our community ties. We make an effort
to have home-grown tradespeople and apprentices.”
Watts says the company is viewed as a strong employer
with leadership in safety and operational excellence,
pays well and trains its employees.
That commitment and reputation creates company
loyalty in the small centres where its mines are located
in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
www.finning.ca
HUMAN RESOURCES
SPECIAL REPORT
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INDUSTRY R E P O RT
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I
t can be a long journey to finally get the career
of your dreams. Many take different routes to
careers in the trades. Some start young, right
after high school – others find trades careers
later on in life. According to Alberta Learning, in
2003 statistics show the average age of apprentices registered for the first time in the first
trade was 25. Adding up the numbers, there are
approximately 60,000 apprentices in Alberta, British
Columbia, Yukon Territory and Northwest Territories
studying everything from carpentry to cooking. For
brand-new journeyman carpenter Colette DeBeurs
and soon-to-be journeyman Caterpillar Dealer service
technician Jeff Brazeau , their very different journeys
have developed into jobs they delight in.
When Brazeau was a second year millwright apprentice attending the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, one of his instructors told him about a brand
new program starting up – the Caterpillar Dealer Service Technician program. “That tweaked my interest right
there,” says the 30-something apprentice and member
of the Think Big program’s first graduating class.
www.finning.ca
Dedication, perseverance
lead to rewarding careers
BY KERRY TREMBL AY
That chat with the instructor was the beginning of
a new career. He spoke to the head of the department,
applied online for a spot in the program, wrote six tests
ranging from mechanics to math, personality, physics and several others. “The testing was geared toward
comprehension, and thinking quickly and accurately,”
he recalls. Then it was on to a three-person panel interview. Once accepted, it was time to hit the books. Along
with 23 classmates, he spent eight weeks in the classroom, followed by eight weeks at a Finning (Canada)
facility in each of five semesters. Brazeau also spent
extra time in the classroom for one summer session – in
a class giving participants an opportunity to challenge
the Heavy Equipment Technician Alberta Apprenticeship Examinations.
“Study in class was a time for refocussing and firming up what I already knew from my prior education,”
says Brazeau. “The real learning was in the shop, where
I had a chance to apply the classroom material to the
machines, working environment and people,” he says.
“It’s been an environment conducive to learning.”
In his final stretch of the Think Big program he is
posted at Finning (Canada’s) Calgary Power Systems,
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN GAUCHER
Passion
for Trades
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Think Big Graduate Jeff Brazeau
working in the field. With an interest in gas compression, his goal is to work as a gas compression mechanic. Brazeau expects to have journeyman’s papers by
December.
For DeBeurs, 39, it has been seven long, determined,
dedicated years from the time she enrolled as an apprentice until she received her journeyman’s papers in carpentry in April. “I love what I’m doing, or I wouldn’t be
doing it,” she says. It took a lot to get there. “I needed
to do this for myself,” says the determined mother of
two young adults. As a hairdresser and then working
in a nursing home, she decided that it was time to find
a job doing what she had always loved – carpentry.
But there were roadblocks and detours. She studied to
get high school equivalency, and applied to apprentice.
After seven years – sometimes with side journeys for
raising two children – she reached her goal. “After I
started, I had to get it done,” DeBeurs says. Some earliest childhood memories were helping her carpenterfather with projects. Later, as an adult and discontent
Journeyman Carpenter Colleen Debuers
with her indoor jobs, her passion for carpentry was
tweaked when she was building a garage. The physical
labour, working outdoors and working with wood is a
dream job for DeBeurs.
Being a female on an industrial site has its moments,
she says. There was the day a teacher brought a group of
high school girls to the site to see what the trades had
to offer. She was asked to talk with them for a few minutes. She wasn’t wearing nice clothes, or even a clean
shirt. It was wet and she was covered in mud. DeBeurs
told the girls it was just an every day part of the job,
“you had to love it anyway.”
Getting along in a male-dominated world means
having the attitude that you are there to get the job
done, she says. If, for example, someone hands you a
sledge hammer, you use it. Right now, the new journeyman is working for Coram Construction Ltd. on an
industrial site in Edmonton. She’s working with luma
beams, steel, loose forms and building pony walls. “I
enjoy doing millwork and form work on concrete,”
Debeurs says. “The future looks fantastic!”
www.finning.ca
Yesterday/Today
THIS SUMMER’S WETASKIWIN ANTIQUE EQUIPMENT SHOW IS SHAPING
INTO A LEGENDARY EVENT. KEITH HADDOCK PROVIDES AN UPDATE ON THE
FRATERNITY’S BIG JAMBOREE
History in the
Making
Are you all set to attend the “Greatest Show
on Earthmoving”? Expect to see lowboys
rumbling towards Wetaskiwin’s Reynolds
Alberta Museum (RAM), carrying dozens
of antique construction and earthmoving machines this summer. The earth
will move August 5 to 7 for the working
exhibition of the Historical Construction
Equipment Association (HCEA) annual
International Convention and Old Equipment Exposition. It’s the first-ever HCEA
convention held outside the United States
which coincides with the association’s
20th anniversary and Alberta’s centennial
festivities.
What could be more appropriate to
celebrate Alberta’s prosperity, than to recognize the machines that built our highways, mined our coal, leveled industrial
sites, installed pipelines and excavated for
every type of infrastructure? The threeday event will highlight demonstrations
of horse-powered grading and excavating using some of the largest horse teams
ever assembled. Witness grading and
excavating by antique gasoline-powered
equipment manufactured between 1905
and 1930 and the diesel-powered crawler
tractors, scrapers, graders and haulers
from 1930 to 1955. The turbo-charged
diesel-powered equipment built between
1955 and 1980 will also be featured. Be a
spectator to excavators, including shovels,
draglines and backhoes at work.
Experience an old-time road camp
complete with fresh baking powder biscuits for a taste of the past. Static equipment displays, literature, books, scale
models, equipment memorabilia and
much more will be part of the festivities.
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The Wetaskiwin exhibition will include
displays from the Alberta Roadbuilders
and Heav y Construction
Association, Antique Caterpillar Machinery Owners
Club and the Alberta Chapter of the American Truck
Historical Society. Also, local equipment suppliers
will hold a trade show displaying modern industrial
equipment.
The world-class RAM is
a major tourist attraction
preserving the heritage of
machines in agriculture,
industr y and transportation. It is a permanent home
to hu ndreds of a nt ique
cars, trucks, tractors, aircraft and surface mining
equipment, including the
world’s oldest dragline and
a 370-ton stripping shovel.
There’s more than enough
for the entire family to do
and see at this year’s Old
Equipment Exposition. Antique Caterpillar owners
are encouraged to bring
machines to Wetaskiwin –
the organizers are looking for more.
You can put it to work, or display it
for visitors eager to hear your story. Don’t
worry about restoration or painting, just
bring it on in!
There is a generation that has never seen
machines like these operate and Wetaskiwin is the place for the entire family to
experience the past first-hand. So keep the
first weekend in August open and attend
an unforgettable show. After all, we owe
it to ourselves to recognize the machines
that contribute to the high standard of
living we enjoy today.
1
2
1. Crowds watch as vintage Caterpillar D8 tractors
pull scrapers at a previous Historical Construction
Equipment Association event.
2. Here a vintage D4 pulls a perfectly-matched
Caterpillar No.40 hydraulic scraper at a previous
HCEA Convention held at Albany, Minnesota.
For information or registration for the HECA
Convention and Expo contact Bill Graham,
show chairman at (780) 413-1725 or
(780) 446-4151. Or visit www.hcea2005.com
27
MEETING THE CHALLENGE
Airborne Delivery
PHOTO GRAPHED BY JOHN RODER
Jerry Keeping, right
www.finning.ca
Steve Fladhammer
How do you get a piece of equipment weighing 13 metric
tons to a customer with no road access? For Finning
(Canada), in Terrace, British Columbia, this kind of challenge is met head-on – with helicopters.
Finning customer, Nova Gold Resources Inc. is in
the planning stages to begin development of its Galore
Creek property located about 150 kilometres northeast of
Stewart, B.C., and nearly 500 kilometres north of Terrace.
The Galore Creek prospect is rated as the highest-grade
gold, silver and copper deposit in North America.
This April, Finning (Canada) technicians Steve
Fladhammer and Jerry Keeping began the delivery mission with the tear down of a Caterpillar IT28G wheel
loader and a 312C backhoe into 4.5-metric ton (or less)
segments. The pieces were loaded onto lowboys and
flatbeds. The crew made a six-hour trek up the Cassiar
Highway to the Bob Quinn airstrip.
Vancouver Island Helicopter Ltd. brought in its
Russian-made Kamov helicopter, which is big and powerful enough to carry loads weighing up to 4,500 kilograms.
The disassembled pieces of the loader and backhoe were
tethered for flight to the Galore Creek camp. Eight, 55minute round trips over a day-and-a-half period landed
both machines safely on site for assembly.
Finning’s Fladhammer not only had the job of getting
the two Cats put back together and operating, he had to
get existing equipment on site up and running. “Some of
the pieces of equipment were sitting up there from exploration years before,” he says. And to add to the challenge:
“There was between eight and 12 feet of snow at the
camp,” Fladhammer says. “Everything had to be dug out.
We had to dig down to the tool shed.” The Finning technician spent a week at the Galore Creek camp, getting the
job done.
The future for the Galore Creek prospect is bright.
Along with mine development, plans are in the works to
build a major access road to Stewart, B.C., which will
become the access point to the Pacific Ocean for shipping ore to markets.
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29
EQUIPMENT PROFILE
www.finning.ca
A Nanaimo trio band
together to build
unique machines
Team Effort
BY BILL TICE
Visitors to the dry land sorts at Weyerhaeuser Canada’s North and South Island
Timberlands may be somewhat puzzled by
a pair of machines operating at the Vancouver Island operations. The carriage section
of the machine vaguely looks like a Caterpillar 950G loader. It’s the top half resembling
a prehistoric mammoth that’s mystifying.
Nicknamed the “Bandit”, the two new pieces
of iron are used for strapping, or banding,
log loads at the sorts. The machines were put
in service early this year by Weyerhaeuser to
boast efficiency and improve worker safety.
The Cat 950G is the foundation for the
beasts which were converted at Nanaimo
Foundr y Ltd. in Chemainus. “We were
involved right from the start,” says Fabian
Andersen, the president of the 117-year old
company that specializes in design and
fabrication projects for the forest industry.
“Weyerhaeuser came to us with the idea and
asked if we could help with the project,”
he says. “They had a similar 20-year old
machine at one of the other Vancouver
Island operations so we had something to
go on, but with all of the new electronics in
today’s equipment, we were essentially starting from scratch.”
At the North and South Island sorts,
Weyerhaeuser stacks logs in bunks which
are strapped with wire into bundles for easier and safer shipping. Prior to the Bandits,
strapping was performed by two strapmen
with a strapping truck. Workers manually
cut the wire, threw it over the stack, walked
around to the back to push the wire underneath. The job was completed by hand
tightening and crimping. “This was a time
intensive procedure that was putting the
strapmen at risk in terms of safety. While
they were performing their jobs around
the bunks, they were also exposed to other
heavy duty equipment that works on the sort
deck,” explains Ben Lattanzi, maintenance
superintendent for Weyerhaeuser’s South
Island Timberlands. “With the Bandits, we
only have one operator, and he works from
the safety of the machine’s protected cab,
which also reduces the risk of injury from
tripping or falling.”
The manual system used three wires to
ensure the bundles remained intact. Because
the Bandit mechanically ties the bundles
tighter, only two strands of heavier wire are
needed to secure the stacks. “We have cut
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL TICE
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EQUIPMENT PROFILE
continued
Left to right: Ben Lattanzi, Matt Laing,
Mark Godard, Fabian Andersen, Neil Roine
“Weyerhaeuser came
to us with the idea and
asked if we could help
with the project,” says
Fabian Andersen, the
president of Nanaimo
Foundry Ltd.
our labour costs by only needing one
strapman, and we have lowered our wire
costs by reducing the number of wires and
installing these wires tighter,” Lattanzi
adds. “The project was initiated by Terry
Boulet, the former maintenance superintendent for South Island Timberlands,
who retired last spring,” he explains.
“Terry wrote up the initial proposal, but
when he retired, I took over the task of
making sure the machine did what we
wanted it to do.”
Nanaimo Foundry’s Andersen, an engineer by trade, studied the older strapping
machine at Weyerhaeuser’s Cowichan
operation and observed the strapmen
complete the task at South Island sort. He
also worked closely with Ken Beaubien,
the current operator of the Bandit at the
South Island sort and the boom supervisor Mark Godard. After completing the
research and consulting with the Finning
(Canada) Engineering Group in Vancouver, Andersen came up with a design
using a new Cat 950G. The plans called
for the removal of the original cab. The
bucket was replaced with a new “walk-in
and stand-up” operating compartment.
Two large spools of wire are mounted on
platforms at the rear of the machine.
“Essentially, we took all of the controls that would have been in the 950’s
original cab and moved them to a newly
designed cab, which we positioned where
the bucket would normally be,” explains
Andersen.
“The cab operates on the hydraulics
that would have operated the bucket,
which means the operator can raise the
cab slightly when moving the Bandit
from bunk to bunk,” he says. “Once the
machine is positioned in front of the
bunk, the “tusks” wrap around the logs
and then the operator pushes a button,
which straps the bundle. The machine
then cuts and crimps the wires before the
operator moves on.”
For machine operator Beaubien, being
exposed to flaking from the aluminum
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“It was a real team effort between Weyerhaeuser,
Nanaimo Foundry, the subcontractors and
Finning,” says Ben Lattanzi, maintenance
superintendent for Weyerhaeuser’s South
Island Timberlands.
wires when operating the machine was a
concern. This inspired another innovative
idea for the Bandit.
At the end of his shift, the operator
was often covered with small fragments
of aluminum. However, during the rainy
winter months, Beaubien noticed flaking
was less of a problem because the wire
was wet. The mechanics at South Island
Timberlands came up with a spray system to keep the wire damp. In the final
design, Andersen enhanced the option
with a system that sprays soapy water on
the wire, alleviating the flaking problem
completely.
One of the biggest challenges on the
project was installing the controls into
the new cab arrangement. “The new
machines are proportionately electronic
over hydraulic, so we spent a great deal
of time getting the controls in the new
cab operating,” Andersen says. “We have
what looks like an elephant trunk full of
18 gauge wire feeding into the new cab.”
He enlisted the help of a couple of other
Vancouver Island subcontractors for the
project. Cowichan Hydraulics Equipment Service and Supply Ltd. played a
significant role in the hydraulics, while
Ammeter Electric Ltd. contributed on the
electrical work.
“It was a real team effort between
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Weyerhaeuser, Nanaimo Foundry, the
subcontractors and Finning,” says Weyerhaeuser’s Lattanzi. “Without all of these
groups participating, we could not have
got this project off the ground.”
The carrier machine was sold through
Finning Nanaimo, which brought general
line salesman Matt Laing, and Nanaimobased product support rep Neil Roine
into the project.
“Terry Boulet called me up and told
me what he had in mind, so we went out
and had a chat about it,” explains Laing.
“We sold a 950G loader without the cab,
but more importantly, we were able to go
that extra mile to meet Weyerhaeuser’s
expectations and requirements.”
For Roine, who spent many hours on
the project for Finning, the results were
worth the effort. “We were pleased with
the end result, and the customer was
pleased,” he says. “We had worked with
Nanaimo Foundry on other projects in
the past, but mainly liners, buckets and
other attachments,” Roine adds. “This
was definitely the biggest project we have
completed with them.”
Other log handling operations in B.C.
have expressed interest in the Bandit.
With the success at Weyerhaeuser, it may
only be a matter of time before another
joint effort goes on the drawing boards at
Nanaimo Foundry.
Second Life
Nanaimo Foundry has a long, varied,
and at times, tumultuous history in
B.C.’s forest industry. The company
was founded in 1888 in the harbour
city of Nanaimo. In 1992, the company needed re-capitalizing. It was
purchased by a group that includes
current president Fabian Andersen.
“The company was in pretty tough
shape when we bought it,” he recalls.
“We remained in Nanaimo for a few
years, and then as we started to build
the business back up again, we moved
the company to Chemainus and constructed a brand new shop.”
The new facility, which opened in
1999, offers 20,000 square feet of
space and an overhead crane for moving and positioning large components.
Nanaimo Foundry still specializes in
the forest industry, including the pulp
and paper sector, but has also completed projects for construction and
cement companies.
In addition to custom design, fabrication and machining services, the
company has a construction side. NF
Installations is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nanaimo Foundry, specializing
on installations for the forest industry. “We have the design, supply, and
installation capabilities all within one
company,” notes Andersen. “That
diversity has helped us build Nanaimo
Foundry back up, and will take us into
the future.”
FIELD TEST
Multi Tasking
W
Challenger MT 865 shows
power and adaptability
BY JIM STIRLING
eather is the farmer’s friend and foe,
often during the same growing season.
But the elements were conspicuously uncooperative last fall when grain farmers in
Alberta’s Peace River country were trying to
lift their crops.
“It was a terrible harvest, so wet. We couldn’t get a truck or a
Super-B in the fields. We were just slogging through the mud,”
recalls Gerry Wells. Now he knows enough to never tweak the
weather Gods’ noses. But he recognizes his new Challenger
MT 865 tractor mounted on tracks becomes a very useful ally
when the weather gets bad and ground conditions get worse.
“I’ve only put about 300 hours on it, but so far, so good.
The flotation’s there so the tractor won’t rut the ground,” Wells
explains. “You can’t beat it for soft conditions. And I like the
way it’s agile and fast in the field with a good range of speeds,”
he adds. The northern Alberta farmer has dedicated his working lifetime to farming and seen many descriptions of equipment and machinery come and go. His operations spread
across about 9,000 acres in the region of Wanham, near the
Peace River, some 50 miles north of Grande Prairie. He grows
canola, wheat, some barley and grass seeds like creeping red
fescue.
Experience is invaluable when drawing up a shopping list
of machinery requirements. “I wanted a tractor to have horsepower, be close to the ground and felt tracks were the way to
go,” the farmer explains. The 865 has the power in spades,
with 500 gross horsepower from the Caterpillar C16 electronic
engine. Wells is experienced with wheeled tractors. “I’m not
happy with [wheel] traction,” he explains. “There’s a power
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PHOTOGRAPHY BY DUSTIN DELFS
hop in some conditions (because of) tire pressures.” And the
memories of last fall’s rains and ruts remain painfully fresh.
Wells wanted the horsepower kick the 865 delivers for
strong performance on a variety of tasks. “The Challenger can
run my grain cart, which means pulling about 60 feet of equipment,” he says. “It can get over a lot of area in a short time.”
And more acres per hour translate into improved productivity,
Wells adds. “The tractor can move right along – it has a transport speed of about 25 miles an hour. It’s practical to access
scattered areas, but can idle way down for seeding.”
Options on Wells’ MT include 36 inch tracks, the extreme
belt option and an Auto-Guide satellite navigation system.
“You just punch in the co-ordinates and off it goes, perfectly
straight, all governed by the machine’s global positioning system,” he says. “All you have to do is turn it around at the end
of a pass. There’s no overlap in seeding and therefore it’s more
cost effective. You’re not wasting seed or fertilizer.” He also
appreciates the easy-to-read display terminal located next to
the operator’s console. “It provides several types of information on the tractor’s performance including the hydraulics,
GPS system, power demands and fuel consumption right in
front of your eyes like a TV screen. It’s a very useful tool.”
The other part of this field test is dealer commitment. Wells
says Finning (Canada) has re-invigorated its commitment to
agricultural equipment in the region.
“The equipment has to be out in the marketplace for the
long-term and that’s happening now and I think the product
quality’s certainly there,” he says. “[The Finning rep] has been
really excellent and we’ve been very happy with the service
back-up,” Wells adds. “He’s looked after our best interests and
understands what we want.”
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Go Anywhere
The MT, in the MT 800 series of Challenger tractors, stands
for multi terrain. Equally apt is multi-talented. Plowing windwhipped northern Alberta snow isn’t the number one design
purpose for the MT 865. But with grain fields firmly under
winter’s grip, the machine demonstrated that versatility this
winter. “We put a 14 foot blade on it and it worked really well
around the farm yard,” says Jerry Mazurek. For the coming
summer, he’s confident the tractor will prove its mettle in the
field with more conventional tasks, including pulling a trailer
with a 57-foot Flexicoil air drill.
With his father, Mazurek operates the family farm at
Eaglesham, about half way between Grande Prairie and
Peace River. The grain producing operation, covering an area
of 2,700 acres, has come a long way since the family first
homesteaded the area in 1939.
“Today, there’s pressure in the grain industry to get out in the
fields earlier each spring,” Mazurek explains. “At that time
(in the spring), we need to keep our soil compaction levels
down so we chose this tracked machine.” Three distinct
types of soil on the Mazurek farm compound the compaction
challenge. “We’ve got sandy soils, white clay and gumbo
and our operations are up to 15 miles apart,” he explains.
“From what we’ve seen, we’ll get excellent flotation on all
our soils with the Challenger.” Pulling power was another
factor in choosing the MT 865. Horsepower is needed to get
through the area’s uncompromising gumbo terrain, Mazurek
adds. Furthermore, he estimates fuel efficiency will improve
with less passes due to the larger size and capacity of the
Challenger MT. “I feel the 865 can get the job done.”
35
INDUSTRY HIGHLIGHT
MINING IN BRITISH COLUMBIA
Ready for
Takeoff
I
B.C.’s mining industry is gearing up for
a renaissance in activity and exploration
BY BILL TICE
t’s not quite a Tsunami, but the booming economies of
Asia are producing a ripple effect across the Pacific that is
hitting the shores of British Columbia in a very good way.
Demand for raw materials is high, prices are rising and
the province’s mining sector is looking forward to a period of recovery and growth. The long overdue resurgence
is far-reaching and long-term, industry insiders suggest.
“We are seeing decade-high prices, major demand for minerals from China and other countries and we are experiencing
rapid growth here at home,” says Jim Cox, vice-president of
operations for Ledcor CMI (Civil, Mining and Infrastructure),
a division of the Ledcor Group of Companies. “Everything is
in place for us to have a sustainable mining industry in B.C. for
at least five to 10 years.”
The company was quick to capitalize on the upswing in
the market. Last year, it entered into a joint venture with Vancouver-based Gibraltar Mines Ltd., a subsidiary of Vancouverbased Taseko Mines Limited to re-open the Gibraltar open pit
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copper mine near Williams Lake, B.C. “The Gibraltar mine had
been maintained in standby condition for the past few years
due to poor market conditions for copper,” Cox adds. As operator, Ledcor hired 47 staff employees and 187 hourly personnel for the operation. At 35,000 tonnes per day, the mine is
expected to produce an average of 70 million pounds of copper
and 980,000 pounds of molybdenum concentrate annually.
The reopening of the Gibraltar operation in October last
year was a clear signal the mining sector’s comeback is officially underway. “We are emerging out of a time that was pretty
tough for the mining industry in this province,” says Michael
McPhie, president and CEO of the Mining Association of BC
(MABC). “We saw a lot of mine closures in the late 1990s and
the last few years have been difficult, but we are definitely seeing resurgence in the industry.” Exploration spending was up
by more than 300% in 2004, to $130 million from just $29
million in 2001,” he says. “In addition to having the Gibraltar
mine re-opening, we had two new coal mines come on-stream
in the northeast sector of the province.”
Eleven new mines are in the works in the province. Four
are currently in the pre-application stage and seven others are
going through environmental reviews. In total, more than $2
billion in investment is expected in new mines. According to
the MABC, mining is a $4 billion industry in the province.
Mining jobs are the highest paid in the resource sector, averaging $94,500 per year, including benefits in 2003. The PricewaterhouseCoopers 2003 Mining Report outlines mining accounts
for 6,000 direct jobs and 12,000 indirect jobs in B.C. Provincial revenues from mining increased to an estimated $115.9
million in 2004 from $53.9 million in 2001. Meanwhile, provincial mineral tax revenues rose to $107 million in 2004 from
$44.7 million in 2001, according to the MABC.
“The next few years are going to be a very exciting time
for B.C.’s mining industry,” says Pat Bell, the minister of state
for mining. “The current government recognizes that mining
can, and should, play a key role in the economy of this province,” he says. “We asked the industry what we needed to do
to ensure that B.C.’s mining industry would be competitive
with other jurisdictions, and then we implemented programs
to make this happen.” Bell explains the elimination of provinwww.finning.ca
“The supply chain is enjoying
strong growth as the B.C. mining industry continues to grow,”
says Vin Coyne, chairman of the
BC Mining Suppliers, Contractors
and Consultants Association.
cial sales tax on equipment and the corporate capital tax are
fuelling industry growth. The government recently introduced
the Mining Plan for B.C. “This is a detailed document with 57
action steps designed to enhance the mining industry, and it is
a great tool for the province in developing our mineral resources,” Bell explains. The MABC’s McPhie says the February provincial budget commits $18 million to the plan and sends a
positive signal to investors. “The latest budget has generally
had a positive impact on the mining sector, and although we
still feel there is some work to do, we think it is a move in the
right direction.”
The service and supply sector is also picking up on the
wave of increased activity. “The supply chain is enjoying
strong growth as the B.C. mining industry continues to grow,”
explains Vin Coyne, chairman of the 175-member BC Mining
Suppliers, Contractors and Consultants Association. “Higher world prices for minerals, growing demands from Asian
markets, and the favourable business climate created by the
current B.C. government are the major contributing factors.”
Coyne adds suppliers benefit from a “two for one” spin-off
from increased mining activity – one supplier job is created
for every direct industry job.
Brent Davis, Finning (Canada)’s general manager, mining,
coal and base metals agrees. “We are adding customer support people as well as mechanics in all of B.C.’s mining areas.”
Finning is delivering a fleet of eight 785C 150-ton trucks, to
the Imperial Metals Corporation operation at the Mount Polley mine near Williams Lake. Also, Teck Cominco’s Highland
Valley Copper mine south of Kamloops has ordered more
equipment, including five 793 240-ton trucks, he outlines. “If
you take into account our traditional mining business at Elk
Valley Coal in Sparwood and Kemess Mines north of Smithers, we are seeing excitement in all areas of the mining sector.
The key indicators are pointing to a high level of activity for
quite some time,” Davis says. “This increased activity is great
for everyone involved.”
37
The DeCiccio’s (Clockwise from left rear):
Velda, Troy, Neil, Todd, Ronica, Bill, Martha
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COMPANY PROFILE :: Marnevic Construction Ltd.
Northern Alberta oilfield
contractor prospers by
focusing locally
Fox Trot
BY CHRISTOPHER SPENCER
F
ox Creek wasn’t much more than a dot on the
map when Victor (Bill) DeCiccio first saw the
community in 1967. He was contracted to do
some Cat work in the area for an oil company
and expected to be home in Drayton Valley
within two weeks.
“There were only 50 people,” he remembers. Fox Creek really
was in the middle of nowhere, a stopping point on the long journey between Edmonton and Grande Prairie. There was a gas station and not much else.
By the time DeCiccio’s two-week contract was due to expire,
the population of Fox Creek was up to 53. Oil companies were
drilling for black gold under the muskeg, and needed contractors
to build roads. He decided to stay in the newly incorporated village, and was soon joined by his wife Martha and son Neil.
Marnevic Construction Ltd. officially came into being on Nov.
1, 1968. The name demonstrated that this would be a true family
company. “Mar” for Martha, “Ne” for Neil and “Vic” for Victor.
Along with one employee, DeCiccio operated Caterpillar D4’s in
the local oilfields, building firewalls and fixing washouts.
To expand the new business, DeCiccio looked around for a
good deal on a grader. He found one at an auction sale in Kelowna and drove it as far as Golden, near the Alberta border, at a
steady pace of 25 miles per hour. Taking the slow route saved the
company money, because then it didn’t have to pay road trucking taxes to the British Columbia government. At Golden, Bill
loaded the grader on a lowboy and had it trucked the rest of the
way to Fox Creek.
The community was growing rapidly and Marnevic kept
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pace. In 1969, the company built a small shop to handle maintenance. Previously, all repairs were done in the field, with only
an old parachute to close in the machine. Four years later, son
Neil returned from Edmonton after studying accounting and
business administration and took over the office duties from
Martha. Marnevic purchased bigger Cats to supplement the D4s
and added scrapers to its growing fleet of equipment. The company always tried to acquire new units before existing machines
became uneconomical to operate.
“The older equipment has to help us make payments on the
new stuff as well,” (Neil) DeCiccio says. He is cautious about
expanding, as his priority is to make sure Marnevic’s finances
remain in good order. “Part of our philosophy is that we do try
to keep our payments within a reasonable amount. Right now,
when the oilfield is very busy, it would be easy to go out and
buy four or five brand new pieces of equipment. But, if we do it
that way, we’re running the risk that, if the oilfield crashes, how
do we come up with the money to make the payments? Since
Finning took over, we’ve talked to several of the salesmen and
they always work with us and with Cat Finance to give us good
rates,” he adds.
The DeCiccios understand that providing construction services in a resource-based economy can be a risky business. In the
early ‘80s, the combined effects of declining oil prices and the
National Energy Program forced many competitors into receivership. “In the early years, there were always rumours that Fox
Creek would be a ghost town by 2000,” Neil DeCiccio says. “Of
course, that time has come and we’re still here.”
39
COMPANY PROFILE :: Marnevic Construction Ltd.
“In the early years, there
were always rumours
that Fox Creek would
be a ghost town by
2000,” says Marnevic
Construction Ltd.’s Neil
DeCiccio.
Marnevic succeeds by concentrating on
the local market and avoiding bidding
wars with larger companies. “Most contractors, they’re staying in hotel rooms
and traveling across the province,” says
Todd DeCiccio, who takes care of the
operations and safety side of the business.
“We pretty well stay within an 80-kilometre radius of Fox Creek, so our guys are
home every night.”
Todd represents the third generation of
the DeCiccio family to take an interest in
the company. His brother, Troy, is focusing on mechanical engineering. Family
and community are important themes
at Marnevic. “Our jobs are such that our
workers can go home at night and be with
their families,” says Martha, the matriarch of the clan. “We’re having fun and we
enjoy Fox Creek,” she adds. “We participate in helping the community and we’re
very proud of the employees we have.”
That spirit is reflected in the floats the
DeCiccios have built in the Marnevic
shop. Between 1989 and 1991, the company won three awards at the Klondike
Days parade in Edmonton.
There have been a lot of changes in the
37 years since Bill launched the business.
Instead of one employee, there are now 50
full-timers on the payroll, with additional
temporary jobs during the busy season.
Marnevic maintains more than 35 pieces
of machinery and 10 trucks. In 1975, the
company purchased a rock crusher to
provide gravel surfacing for all-weather
roads, the start of what the DeCiccios like
to call their “Flintstone era.”
What’s next for the company? “The
future depends on these grandsons of
mine, whether they want to expand and
move on, or stay and be like the rest us,”
Bill muses. “As far as I’m concerned, we
make a damn fine living here so why
should we move on.” Todd doesn’t think
ver y much of the idea of moving on,
either. “I don’t see any reason why I would
leave. I grew up here and I enjoy the small
town. I went to university in the city, and
I’m definitely not a city person. I would
have a hard time working in a bank or
something where you are doing the same
thing everyday.”
Fox Creek, population 2,500, has
changed a lot since Bill had his first look
at the place. There are schools and playgrounds, hiking trails and plans to build a
skateboarding park for teenagers. Nearby
lakes offer top-notch fishing and boating.
In the winter, the DeCiccios spend a lot of
their recreational time at the curling rink,
where Todd and Troy provide the sweeping power for a championship foursome
skipped by Neil.
The community and the company
grew up together. It is a relationship that is
likely to continue for a very long time.
www.finning.ca
TROY DECICCIO, JOURNEYMAN MECHANIC;
A CAT 988B (RIGHT)
Bill’s Business
BACKHOE BILL SEIZES AN OPPORTUNITY. GORD COPE EXPLAINS HOW BILL
LANDS A NEW PIECE OF EQUIPMENT AND HIRES HIS FIRST EMPLOYEE
Opportunity
Knocks
It was a beautiful spring Saturday in
central Alberta. Bill Bako had just finished
digging a basement with his Cat 320CL
excavator and was taking a coffee break
in his F 150. All around the subdivision,
the air was filled with the whine of electric
saws and the sharp crack of hydraulic nail
guns as construction crews
assembled homes.
Bill glanced up as Jac k
Armstrong, the developer,
pulled up in his 4 x 4 and got
out. Bill pointed to the roll
of blueprints under Jack ’s
arm. “How are the plans for
Phase III going?” Jack nodded toward a distant cloud
of dust rising from the landscape. “The scrapers are just
finishing up with the topsoil.
We need to get the crews in to
start the roads.” Bill finished
his coffee. “Great. I should
be done here in time to start
basements once the roads are
poured.”
Jack shook his head. “You
might have to wait. My dozer
crew took a job in Fort McMurray. I don’t have anyone
to cut the roadbeds. You know
anybody with a dozer? I can promise eight
months solid work.”
Bill thought for a moment. “Sorry, no.
But if I hear of someone, I’ll let you know.”
That evening, Bill took advantage of the
nice weather, having his buddy Wayne
over for a barbecue. He told his accountant
about Jack’s problem. “My worry is that I’ll
be idle for a couple of months unless he
finds a dozer soon.”
www.finning.ca
Wayne came up with an idea. “If Jack
is guaranteeing eight months work, you
might want to think about getting a D7
yourself.” Bill laughed. “Great plan, Einstein. How am I supposed to operate two
machines at once?”
“My neighbor’s son, Ricky, just got his
certificate for dozers and he’s looking for
work.” A smile broke out on Bill’s face.
“Give me his number.”
Monday morning, Bill went to see Paul,
his Finning customer account manager. “A
new D7 would cost $505,000,” Paul said.
“A rent-to-purchase contract with Cat
Financial requires at least 20% equity to
flip. You can build that up with a seven
month rental, which is $17,600 per month,
plus carrying interest. At the end of seven
months, you have $123,200, which is over
the 20% threshold. After that, we can put
you on a 48-month purchase agreement at
$9,800 per month.”
“What are my monthly expenses? ”
asked Bill. Paul chewed his pencil in
thought. “The ownership payments are
$17,600 per month. Fuel is $100 per operating day, maintenance is going to run you
$500, taxes $1,000, salary for your operator, $5,000, insurance $600 and miscellaneous stuff $500.”
That afternoon, Bill and his wife Brenda looked at cash flow for the dozer. “It’s
going to run $26,000 a month until I flip
the contract,” said Bill. “At $1,300 per day
going rate, I’d need at least
20 days to break even.” He
shook his head. “Pretty tight.”
“You’ve been doing quite
well this last year with the
e xcavator,” said Brenda.
“We’ve got a nest egg of over
$80,000 in cash. You could
put $50,000 on the D7 and
reach the 20 % threshold
three months early.” Bill
smiled. “You’re right. After
that, monthly costs drop by
almost $8,000, and if we get
a quiet month, we can use
the interest only payment
option.”
The next day, Bill went to
see Jack with his plan. “Bill,
you’re a lifesaver,” said the
developer. “You can start
immediately.” Bill closed
the deal with Finning and
Ricky showed up at Phase
III to crew the new dozer. “If you ever need
more guys, I got a whole gang of pals dying
to work local,” said Ricky. Bill stared out
at the subdivision rising around him, and
then slapped Rick on the back. “I may just
hold you to your word on that!”
Next Column: Bill starts to expand.
41
Count On Us
May 31, 1960
Customer support is a long-standing, or to be more precise, a
72-year Finning tradition. Here, Finning mechanic Bill Wilshire
(left) reviews a 30-day service report with a customer from
the District of North Vancouver. The report, part of the Finning
service department’s Production Maintenance Check Plan,
helped this new Cat 955 Traxcavator get through the year
without a single hour of downtime.
www.finning.ca
USED
EQUIPMENT
For quality used equipment call 1-888-FINNING, or
search for more equipment online at finning.ca and
www.CatUsed.com
AG TRACTORS
• 1998 Cat 85E stock# TR155917 price $150,000
a/c, cab, stereo, 30” belts 82%, bogies 75%. Grande Pr.
• 1997 Cat 85D stock# TR156119 price $135,000
35” belts 65%; 4 remotes, case drain. Red Deer.
• 1997 Cat 45 stock# DP155258 price $98,000
a/c, erops, stereo, 4 remotes, pto, 3pt hitch. 200 pto hp.
• 1996 Cat 75C stock# TR158127 price $107,100
Cab, a/c, 4 hyd case drain, 30” belts 65%. Grande Pr.
•1995 CASE 7210 stock# TR158095 price $58,000
deluxe cab, mfd, 3 remotes, 540 / 1000 pto. Edm.
• 1997 Cat 65D stock# TR157780 price $124,500
Cab, a/c, 4 remotes, case drain. Grande Pr.
• 1994 JD 8570 stock# TR157640 price $69,000
cab, 1 owner, 3 remotes, case drain, 24 spd trans. Edm.
• 1989 JD 8560 stock# TR157591 price $60,000
deluxe cab, 4 valves, diff lock, 24 spd. Leth.
• 1994 Cat 85C stock# TR155869 price $125,500
deluxe cab, case drain, 4 valves, pto 35” belts. Edm.
cab, perf monitor, pto, 4 remotes w/ case drain. Gr. Pr
a/c, pto, cab, Cat ID monitor, 4 hyd valve. Edm.
EXCAVATORS
• 1997 Cat 330BL stock # DP157066 price $145,000
cab, 48” dig, wb chuck blade, hyd thumb.
• 1997 Cat 330BL stock # TR159373 price $114,000
cab, ac, qc, dig bkt, clean up bkt.
• 1998 Cat 345BL stock # DP153495 price $175,000
erops, ac, reach boom 22’8”, 84” cu bkt, hd catwalks.
cab, ac, qa, thumb, 42” dig bkt, chuck blade, cat walks.
cab, fin qa thumb, 36” dig bkt, catwalks.
• 2000 Cat 330BL stock # TR157047 price $ 185,000
cab w/ac, 48” dig bkt, wb chuck blade, qc, hyd thumb.
BACKHOE LOADERS
• 1998 CAT 416C stock# TR157557 price $46,000
cab w/htr, gp bkt, e stick, kwik, 4x4. Red Deer.
• 1998 CAT 426C stock# XF100490 price $53,000
• 2002 CAT 420D stock# TR158173 price $83,900
a/c, 42” cu bkt, 24” dig bkt, quick coupler, Grande Pr
• 1998 CAT 416C stock# TR157651 price $50,000
erops, mp & 42” cu bkt, qc, dig bkt.
• 1999 JD 310SE stock# TR156982 price $50,000
erops, gp bkt, 24” dig bkt, e stick, 4 wd. Calgary.
DELIMBERS FORESTRY
• 1994 KOM PC300-5 stock# TR157549 price $65,000
fops, a/c, fire supression, forestry guard.
• LB LS2800C II Stock# TR158592 price $73,500
cab, rops; forestry guard, fire supr, std carbody. Houston.
• 1995 KOM PC220-6LC stock# DP158174 price $60,000
cab fops, a/c, fire supr. rock grds, steel rolls. Gr.Pr.
• 1997 KOM PC200LC-6 stock# DP157859 price $65,000
forestry cab, a/c, TJ 762C processing head. Edm.
• 2002 VALMET 530T stock# DP157855 price $250,000
erops; forestry guard; Valmet 370 proc. head. Edm.
• 1992 LB LS3400C stock# TR157846 price $59,000
cab w/ ac, fops, catwalks, rock grds. fire supr. Vernon.
TRACK TYPE TRACTORS
• 1991 CAT D8N stock# DP158091 price $177,000
erops, jobber cab, oilfield guard. ex-hyd pump. Gr. Pr.
• 2002 CAT D7RIILGP stock# IP158137 price $417,000
erops, a/c, brush guard. Grande Pr.
• 2001 CAT D6MXL stock# IP157875 price $187,000
erops, a/c. pat dozer, u/c 80% avg. Edmonton.
• 1997 CAT D6RXL stock# TR157636 price $181,500
fops cab w/canopy sweeps. a/c, diff steer. Calgary.
• 1999 CAT D7R stock# TR157515 price $348,000
cab w/ac, HD engine side guards. Edmonton.
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Home Base Special Delivery Power Nap

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