The Contractor's Best Friend

In this episode of The Contractor’s Best Friend Podcast, longtime construction expert Brad Humphrey sits down with Jason Hurdis, Caterpillar’s global market professional for quarry and aggregates, to discuss a workforce issue in the industry: workers who are talented but show a lack of consistency, absenteeism, motivation or other issues. 

In the latest episode of The Contractor’s Best Friend Podcast, longtime construction expert Brad Humphrey talks with Jason Hurdis, Caterpillar’s global market professional for quarry and aggregates and Lonnie Fritz, Caterpillar’s senior market professional construction industry expert with a focus on heavy construction and roadbuilding, about the challenges of hiring workers. Many contractors are giving former employees a second chance on the jobsite to help fill workforce gaps. 

In this episode of The Contractor’s Best Friend, construction expert Brad Humphrey sits down with Jason Hurdis, Caterpillar’s global market professional for quarry and aggregates and Sam Meeker, Caterpillar’s dozer and compact track loader specialist. The three discuss how to get the maximum value for heavy equipment when doing a trade-in. One way to do this is with telematics, which can track and record maintenance and related records for machinery. The process involves more than looking up the trade-in value, they said. 

One of the hottest topics in the construction industry today is finding workers and training. In this episode, construction expert Brad Humphrey talks about finding the time to train employees. He is joined by Jason Hurdis, Caterpillar’s global market professional for quarry and aggregates and Lonnie Fritz, Caterpillar’s senior market professional construction industry expert with a focus on heavy construction and roadbuilding. When adverse weather strikes, slowing work productivity on the jobsite, it's the perfect time to train employees, they said. 

In the latest episode, longtime construction expert Brad Humphrey is once again joined by Caterpillar Safety Expert Morgan Grigsby, as well as Lonnie Fritz, Caterpillar’s senior market professional construction industry expert with a focus on heavy construction and roadbuilding, to talk about jobsite safety. The use of smart cameras is improving safety on jobsites by increasing visibility around heavy equipment. Equipment operators are given the right information at the right time to make decisions to improve the safety around them. 

Construction expert Brad Humphrey sits down with Lonnie Fritz, Caterpillar’s senior market professional construction industry expert with a focus on heavy construction and roadbuilding, to discuss the importance of implementing intelligent compaction technology on the jobsite. Compaction technology benefits contractors who move, grade and compact materials to specified moisture and density levels. 

Ever wondered how to create preventative maintenance plans for your jobsite heavy equipment? Construction expert Brad Humphrey sits down with Jason Hurdis, Caterpillar’s global market professional for quarry and aggregates and Lonnie Fritz, Caterpillar’s senior market professional construction industry expert with a focus on heavy construction and roadbuilding, to talk about how proper maintenance plans can save money and remain competitive. 

In Part 2 of this podcast series on jobsite safety, construction expert Brad Humphrey sits down with Jason Hurdis, Caterpillar’s global market professional for quarry and aggregates and Lonnie Fritz, Caterpillar’s senior market professional construction industry expert with a focus on heavy construction and roadbuilding, to talk about how technology and equipment can improve security. As construction industry equipment theft continues to be a problem, the latest technology can help prevent such theft and keep crews safe. 

In the latest episode of The Contractor’s Best Friend Podcast, longtime construction expert Brad Humphrey talks with Jason Hurdis, Caterpillar’s global market professional for quarry and aggregates and Lonnie Fritz, Caterpillar’s senior market professional construction industry expert with a focus on heavy construction and roadbuilding, about keeping construction jobsites safe from equipment theft and other issues. More than ever, construction contractors are concerned about jobsite access and crew safety through the use of cameras, radar and other technologies. 

In this episode of The Contractor’s Best Friend Podcast, construction expert Brad Humphrey talks about the effort to lower the impact of CO2 emissions on the environment through the reduction of fuel use. He speaks with Jason Hurdis, Caterpillar’s global market professional for quarry and aggregates, about how minimizing the use of diesel fuel on the jobsite directly lowers the amount of carbon dioxide produced. Construction bids more frequently require an estimate of CO2 produced, which is produced based on fuel use on the site. Hurdis describes the phase-in of alternative power on the jobsite to reduce emissions.