Hire and Rental News - August 2018

On Friday evening, 4 May, at 5.30pm on the eve of a Queensland long weekend, Atlas Copco dealer Compressed Air Light and Power Rental of Moree received a phone call from a rental customer advising they had just rolled a 2015 Metal Halide Atlas Copco QLTH50 lighting tower while the mast was fully extended. Assuming responsibility, the supervisor in control of the asset on the work site had become distracted during pack up of the asset prior to relocation and did not lower the mast. As a result – the tower flipped on its side while under tow. Fortunately there was no injury to bystanders. Without another tower immediately available and heading into a Queensland Labour Day long weekend, the customer’s 24/7 worksite was looking like it would need to stop night shift until business hours resumed the following Tuesday. Picking up the service baton, HRIA member Joff Cannington owner of Compressed Air Light and Power rang Redstar Equipment at Rocklea in Brisbane immediately he received the call that Friday evening at 5.30pm. According to Joff, the clients’ only other alternative was to wait for Redstar to open on Tuesday; freight the new tower; do the pre-delivery on another new machine and get it on site by Thursday. Redstar came to the service party and agreed to send in Dave Moselen (National Dealer Manager for CFC Distribution – Atlas Copco distributors) first thing INDUSTRY NEWS 8 HIRE AND RENTAL NEWS • AUGUST 2018 Going above and beyond the call of service duty A rollover lighting tower accident on the eve of a long weekend looked set to halt work on a Moree worksite until the following Tuesday but quick action on the Atlas Copco dealer’s part resulted in a service call above and beyond the call of duty. Saturday morning (7.30am) to scavenge a set of lights from another Atlas Copco tower in stock owned by Compressed Air Light and Power, awaiting freighting. An Uber driver collected the lights at 9am Saturday morning, taking them to West Toowoomba (at a cost of $200) where they met a truck driver to ship the tower lights some 580kms to Narrabri, to arrive the same day at 5pm. In the interim, the light tower involved in the job site mishap needed attention; it had suffered a partially operating mast, damaged tow hitch and squashed mudguard. Some quick modifications to the mast in a nearby workshop; a new steel pod to position the latest 4 x 500 watt LEDs on, a shifting spanner to bend the mud guards off the tyres, a visit from the local electrician, and the unit was operational again by Sunday lunchtime. “Thirty six hours after the incident over a long weekend to operational was a bloody good result,” Joff Cannington said. “Plus the client received the added benefit of being upgraded from Metal Halide to the latest 2000 watt LED spec technology. We decided to turn a bad situation into an opportunity and upgrade the light quality for efficiency. I retired the damaged Metal Halide lights and replaced all four with new LED lights from Redstar. The total cost of extracting parts was $550 delivered to Narrabri, including Uber fares. “This was a great example of willingness and passion for the rental game on behalf of Redstar. It was a long weekend. There was little in the deal for Redstar. They weren’t making a sale. We had the problem. Add to the mix the willingness shown by Redstar with some technology and a quality well-built Atlas Copco product; the customer was back in the game,” Joff said. “Redstar offered to open on Saturday 7.30am and strip parts off the new machine I owned there. I did not ask them to open Saturday. That says a lot about the Redstar staff culture; how their back / front office people think and act. “In the rental game you need suppliers like that. Show me other national equipment distributors that have that operating culture,” Joff said. “In the end the client only had 12 hours of downtime to manage which they did by picking up a second tower and relocating it during the night shift.” Specialising in fixed-speed diesel equipment, Compressed Air Light and Power (Walgett, Moree, Narrabri and Caroona) is a proud authorised dealer for Atlas Copco portable energy products. This includes portable compressors, generators, pumps and lighting towers. Contact: 0267 527222 or visit website: www.atlasenergy.com.au “Dave has excelled as a Director of Technology and as a Director of Client Services for several years,” Point of Rental CEOWayne Harris said. “His combination of technical knowledge and awesome customer service is not easily found. It is, however, perfect for our commitment to innovation and customer service.” New Regional Director for Point of Rental With 15 years hire industry experience, Dave Cameron will become the new Regional Director for Point of Rental’s Australasian office. “My aim is to establish Point of Rental as the undisputed technology leader in the rental/hire category in the Australasia region. People sit at the heart of the plan; great products and a great team providing outstanding service and support to our customers” Cameron said. Visit: www.pointofrental.com.au Exceptional service from its dealer and lighting tower supplier Redstar ensured a customer only endured 12 hours of downtime after an onsite accident