Ask a group of equipment owners to describe the benefits of onboard technology, and you’ll likely hear comments about improved fuel efficiency, increased productivity and reduced downtime. The team at Timmy Hall Timber & Construction in Robertsdale, Alabama, agrees with those answers, but they’d like to add one more—happier operators.
“New, modern technologies keep his workforce in place—keep them happy and more satisfied,” says Lin Roberts, a sales representative for Cat® dealer Thompson Tractor who works with company owner Timmy Hall. “The operator can run all day and not be stressed out and fatigued.”
That’s important for operators like Derek Ashley, who arrives on the job at 6:30 in the morning and works 12 hours a day, five days a week.
“Newer technology is a lot simpler,” he says. “With AccuGrade™, being able to lay out the platform of our job is a lot better.”
Supervisor Josh Jacobi agrees. “It pretty much runs itself,” he says of a technology-equipped Cat machine. “You click a button and it works.”
For Hall, it’s all about staying competitive—and keeping his tight-knit group of talented operators on the job is a lot easier when machines feature the latest technology.
“Technology is what’s kept me in business,” he says. “GPS, for instance, has made the job so much easier to operate. It makes my job run real smooth.”
