Shear Commitment to a Modern Fleet
Hire Equipment News - September 2009
The D&G Hoist and Crane Hire acquisition of the tower crane and hoist assets of Verticon on June 1 to form D&G Verticon Hoist and Crane Hire was arguably the biggest shake-up of the tower crane market in Australian history, and marked the first time that an industry player was strong in both the east and west cost markets.
In addition, it raised the possibility of a serious attempt to reduce the number of ageing cranes in the Australian market. These cranes have retained work on price and been a serious impediment to the introduction of new equipment.
D&G Verticon Hoist and Crane Hire owners are showing just how serious they are about delivering on their promise. While the full clean-out will take some time, the first decisive steps have already been made to reduce the number of brands and models of crane in the fleet and to reduce its average age.
All seven Comansa cranes that operated in New South Wales have been sold to an Asian customer, along with all spare parts and associated equipment. These were larger cranes with 70m and 74m jibs, in the 13-15 year age range, nearing the end of their useful life and starting to have reliability issues. They are being replaced by 1-4 year-old Potain MC310 (12-tonne and 16-tonne capacity) cranes relocated from D&G's Perth fleet.
To date the Queensland branch (which is now the head office for d&G Verticon Hoist and Crane Hire) has sold an Alimak 20/32 man and materials hoist and a Favco M310DF to Australian costumers, and has sold 130 Favco mast sections to an offshore South Pacific customer for use supporting a roof over a dry dock.
This has allowed the uppers of eight Favco 350 and two Favco 750 cranes to be scrapped. The slew rings are cut in the D&G Verticon Hoist and Crane Hire yard and sent away for scrap (see cover picture of Cranes and Lifting Magazine September 2009 - PDF print at the end of this article).
While the bulk of the cranes were in poor condition and unhireable, three of the Favco 350 units were hireable assets that had been upgraded to meet Queensland safety requirements. However, D&G Verticon Hoist and Crane Hire managing director Gino Decesare said: "Hiring out cranes that are 30 years old just doesn't fit with our business model. We are all about new and reliable equipment and we want to offer customers new cranes. We definitely won't spend good money refurbising an old crane."
Some older Liebherr electric hammerhead cranes are also being offered for sale, and may also be scrapped. The seven Yong Mao cranes in the D&G Verticon Hoist and Crane Hire fleet will be retained for the time being as they are less than a year old and have had a substantial amount invested in bringing them up to Australian Standards.
Some restructuring has taken place since the acquisition, with Graham Hadley appointed as national hoist manager and Queensland state manager, Jason Hotop appointed as national crane manager, Mark Hardie becoming New South Wales state manager and Hamish Peat becoming Victorian state manager.
Former Verticon chief financial officer Chris Hipwell has taken on a similar role with D&G Verticon Hoist and Crane Hire and is based in the Queensland head office. Decesare is looking forward to using Hipwell's wealth of experience to improve systems and reporting in D&G and sister company Northern Suburbs Crane Hire, and the current plan is to consolidate the three companies into a single entity by the end of the 2010 financial year.
The loss of a tender for the Gold Coast Hospital forced D&G Verticon Hoist and Crane Hire to reduce staff numbers in Queensland, but this will be offset be recruitment in NSW and Victoria as more equipment is relocated into those markets. Should D&G be successful in its tender to the Fiona Stanley Hospital, this should see a rebound in the Perth market.
The Queensland branch, with its large modern facilities, has been the marshalling point for the bulk of the fleet rationalisation.
Greg Keane - www.cranesandlifting.com.au
cover picture and article Cranes and Lifting Magazine September 2009 - PDF
