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With accurate bidding and quicker completion, Pioneer’s specialized trucks eliminate uncertainty on the job site.
We all know that using the right tool for the job improves efficiency, time and safety, but have you ever stopped to think how heavy machinery might fall into this category? As tools of a larger variety, trucks are equally important to ensuring efficiency, accuracy and the bottom line.
Blower and slinger trucks, available through Pioneer’s Contractor Services division, not only get the job done right the first time (and quickly!), but they can eliminate the necessity for additional laborers who would need to use skid steers and wheelbarrows to get a similar job done. The trucks’ versatility removes the need for additional equipment or additional manual effort. Take, for example, the process of spreading mulch, soil or aggregates. These trucks can automate spreading everything from a large amount of small materials, such as mulch, gravel or soil, to large rocks and can sling up to four tons per minute, placing materials in hard-to-reach areas. Specialized trucks precisely target the desired location, minimize waste and optimize resources. Materials are distributed evenly and reliably. No more concerns about hard-to-reach locations.
Blower Trucks vs. Slinger Trucks — What’s the Difference?
Pioneer’s blower trucks operate by moving material via hoses with enough air power in them to reach sites as far as 300 yards away. These hoses can also extend to green spaces on rooftops of multi-story buildings.
Slinger trucks come equipped with high-speed conveyor belts that project material from the truck’s bed to a chosen location on the job site. Mechanisms enable the trucks to place materials up to four inches in diameter as far as 120 feet with exceptional precision.
Increased Accuracy in Bidding
One of the most difficult parts of bidding is pinning down labor costs because so many variables can change these expenses. If a small firm loses a couple of crew members to a cold or flu, there’s the cost of hiring people from a temporary labor pool, which adds to the hourly wage. Weather and other conditions can also hold up jobs, adding to the cost of getting the job done, but blower and slinger trucks take all the guesswork out of bidding because they don’t rely on a large crew.
When Pioneer bids the job, the price doesn’t change, which enables contractors to bid with confidence. By eradicating surprise billing concerns, its certainty can open the doors to small- and medium-sized landscape contractors.
Ease Labor Shortages
While nearly 70% of survey respondents of the 2023 State of the Industry survey conducted by Landscape Management magazine reported they were optimistic about the year’s revenue outlook, nearly three-quarters of respondents (73%) also stated labor shortages had impacted their businesses in 2022.
Slinger and blower trucks allow contractors to get the job done with a smaller staff, mitigating labor shortage concerns. Compared to the cost of manual labor, blower trucks save contractors roughly 30%—and they complete the task faster too. This reduction in labor requirements translates to significant savings. Each truck can place as much as 60 yards per hour. A person using a 10-cubic-foot wheelbarrow might be able to load and spread two yards in the same time frame.
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A Case Study: $150,000 in savings
Pioneer’s blower trucks can help builders make developing green roofs and sky-high atriums very cost-effective, saving money for builders and their customers. On one project in Denver, a construction contractor used Pioneer to place 440 tons of soil in a fourth-floor courtyard. The project took eight business days to complete and required only two men from the contractor’s crew to be on site.
Pioneer’s materials placement was more than twice as fast as the approach used on a 200-yard space on the same construction site. To get the soil up to the green roof area, the landscape contractor used a telescoping forklift that could lift approximately one ton at a time. From there, an eight-man team shoveled the material into wheelbarrows and unloaded it into the vegetation beds and planters. It took the team eight days to get that part of the job done.
Pioneer’s blower truck saved the landscape contractor time and labor costs. The truck also saved additional expenses, as the contractor would have had to hire a crane at the rate of $15,000 each day to hoist the soil up to the other green roof area on the site. The contractor estimated that the job would have taken a large crew of men some 10 days to complete, meaning that Pioneer’s blower truck eliminated $150,000 in expenses.
Both slinger and blower trucks are available through Pioneer’s Contractor Services division, which allows contractors and businesses clarity on projects. Between increased speed, cost-effectiveness and versatility, this heavy machinery is a valuable and economical choice when dealing with bulk material distribution and application.
