INDUSTRY PEOPLE
explains there is a tendency for smaller operator to let
that slide, as it were.
“Most of the guys just can’t see that far, and it’s very
hard to get them to see 10 years down the track, but we
are getting there. The bigger operators are always ok,
because they are able to take one truck out of the fleet for
repairs and it’s not a big deal. It’s the smaller operators,
the one-man-band guys, often can’t let go of the vehicle.
He encourages them to overlook the extra weight in
favour of getting the longevity out of the liner, and also
explains that if each truck can get an extra load per day
because of the liner, then it wouldn’t take long to pay off
the investment.
From a safety perspective, too, Richard explains that
there are variables such as tipping on an uneven ground,
which happens frequently.
“A guy will turn up on-site and tip the truck,
“I say to them, this is going to take half an
“The load isn’t coming out he’ll be parked on uneven ground. The load
hour to patch. Three hours at the most to fully
and he thinks ‘Damn. I’ll
isn’t coming out and he thinks ‘Damn. I’ll
line a truck.”
back-slam it.’ And the next
back-slam it.’ And the next thing you know
“Another major factor in all of this is that they thing you know the truck
the truck rolls over. It happens all the time.”
worry about tare weight. They worry about rolls over. It happens all the
If we return briefly to our lone contractor
what the liner is going to weigh as it will add time.”
at the start of this story—who is thinking
to that overall weight. They often say ‘Have
of
jumping
in
the back to get the rest of the load off—
you got a thinner liner’. A typical liner on a seven-metre
he’ll
need
to
think
again. Health and Safety laws prohibit
trailer is quite big, but the liner would only add 280kg to
operators
from
entering
the trailer, and you can see why.
the weight. Then they ask if we can put a thinner liner in
for 140kg. And I tell them to take a lighter lunch,” Richard
“How do you get it out? You put a liner in it. Plain and
laughs.
simple.”
You can be forgiven for thinking that what’s actually
happening in the above proverb is that a fisherman is
giving away his craft, his skill-set. His livelihood. Why
would anyone want to teach someone else their specialist
craft so they could do it themselves? Wouldn’t it be more
profitable to be the sole supplier, and everyone buys from
you?The Boakes muse about the changes they have seen
take place in the businesses that have taken on the BOA
solution. Some of the changes are an unexpected by-
product of self-sufficiency. Businesses report immediate
improvement, even, in the morale of contractors who are
no longer sitting around with that tepid cuppa.
It seems that to teach a man to fish is a great business
model after all.
w w w. c a m m a g a z i n e . c o . n z
CAM March 2019
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