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ACCESS IN ACTION • AUGUST 2016

ACCESS IN ACTION

CALENDAR –

MEETINGS

AUGUST

SA General Meeting – HRIA & EWPA

Thursday, 4 August 2016

5-8pm Heatlie Engineering

NSW Meeting – EWPA

Thursday, 18 August 2016

7am Rydges Hotel, Parramatta

NT Meeting – HRIA & EWPA

Wednesday, 31 August 2016

Air Powered Services, Winnellie NT

5.30pm – 8.30pm Yard Tour & BBQ

SEPTEMBER

QLD HRIA & EWPA combined meeting

Thursday, 8 September 2016

Sunshine Coast, QLD

6pm – 10pm General Meeting

WA Trade Night – HRIA & EWPA

Wednesday, 14 September 2016

LiftRite Hire & Sales, Canning Vale

5.30pm – 8.30pm Yard Tour, Displays, BBQ

VIC General Meeting – EWPA

Monday, 19 September 2016

OCTOBER

National AGM – EWPA

Thursday, 20 October 2016

South Australia

NOVEMBER

SA AGM – HRIA &EWPA

Thursday, 3 November 2016

SA General Meeting – EWPA

Tuesday, 15 November 2016

DECEMBER

NSW AGM & Xmas Dinner – EWPA

Thursday, 1 December 2016

For more information visit:

www.ewpa.com.au

JOIN the EWPA today

- contact

02 9998 2255

The Benefits of Membership

BE INFORMED

– stay up-to-date with the latest

industry information on legislation, Standards and WHS

requirements

STAY SAFE

– Gain regular updates on industry

incident reports and EWPA actions

NETWORK

– be part of a vibrant and cooperative

industry

Issues affecting the European market: the economy has been slow

and sluggish; there is a lot of uncertainty around. Northern Europe is

really good and Southern Europe is beginning to bounce back. But

the uncertainty means people are afraid to invest too much.

Getting finance can be difficult. Inflation is low in most of these

countries but costs still rise. Rental rates across Europe are generally

stagnant and although costs are rising, you can’t get more for your

machine. Finance in Europe is cyclical. You can get it when you don’t

need it; but when you need it, you can’t get it. At the moment, in

most of northern Europe you can get finance, in central Europe its

tough, in southern Europe you can’t. And this is affecting the amount

of equipment bought and market growth.

Technical demands are growing. Secondary guarding is just one of

many things creeping in and people are having to fit these systems,

often retroactively. In the UK, all the big contractors demand

machines are fitted with anti-crush technology. Inspection and

tests – maintenance: there is a new standard being developed. Skill

shortages are a big factor especially for maintenance so much of this

work is being outsourced.

And then there is the sustainability of powered access rental – in the

face of poor rates and rising costs. We collect data on rental rates –

for about the past 15 years and make comparisons year on end. Data

shows machine costs have gone up; labour; delivery trucks; fuel,

energy, property and property taxes have gone up; and changes to

safety appointments on machines are all extra costs. In the face of

all these rising costs, our comparison data shows rental rates for the

past 10 years have been decreasing. Trend is generally downwards

and has been generally downward for 20-30 years. You get less for a

Rough Terrain articulated boom than you did 25 years ago. It does

raise the question: how sustainable is the industry.

However there are solutions. Companies have gotten more efficient.

It used to be when the market was good everyone got fat and happy.

Those days are long gone. Today to make money, no matter how

good the company – you’ve got to be efficient. Companies are having

to work smarter; more things happening like getting more machines

on each truck for delivery; one of the good trends is in specialist

equipment – hybrids and spider lifts. This gives an edge for a while

until everyone dives in and then the price drops again.

Product trends now appearing include:

• Spider lifts – been around for a long time but growing;

• Electric and hybrid lifts – their introduction is being driven by

emissions regulations;

• 3.5t self-drive truck mounts – always strong in Italy and Germany;

• Higher platform capacities – on bigger truck mounts;

• Low level self-propelleds – replacing scaffold towers;

• Telematics/Security – diagnostics and usage + remote monitoring;

• Direct electric drive – AC;

• Approved attachments – pipe racks etc are catching on.

Visit.www.vertikal.net

A European story

Publisher of UK based Cranes & Access magazine;

Kran & Buhne in Germany and host of Vertikal Days

since 2007, Leigh Sparrow gave a run-down at HIRE16

of the state of the market in Europe – covering

trends, equipment, economy and issues affecting the

rental market across the continent. Here’s an excerpt

summary for those that didn’t make it to the show.