One average, how many pieces of auto care literature do you see every day? Four? Five? Whether it’s one or one hundred, the importance of vehicle maintenance and repair is stressed every single day. Most of these articles are about domestic vehicles, but heavy equipment and industrial vehicles need maintenance and repair too! If you’re in any form of construction field and own or rent out industrial vehicles, here are some things to know about maintenance and repair!

Why should I care about construction equipment?

For starters, without construction equipment, your house probably wouldn’t exist. But in all seriousness, if you work with any type of construction equipment, it’s maintenance and proper functioning should be your number one concern. In 2015, the global construction market was valued at an estimated 145.5 billion dollars. That’s a huge number for heavy equipment revenue, so with that, you would definitely think that maintaining heavy equipment components was an important thing to stay on top of.

What’s the most common cause of equipment failure?

Anything in the world can cause part, or multiple parts, of your equipment to fail. But the most common cause of equipment failure is an error on the part of the user that is not covered under the machinery’s warranty. Most pieces of construction equipment have an estimated lifetime of about 15 years, but that’s not taking any error or wear and tear into consideration. If your equipment is left out to the elements or suffers a fall or a bump, complications could ensue that may not be covered under your warranty. Heavy equipment servicing is often available, and at a low cost if you’re keeping up with regular maintenance and car of your machines.

Can you fix a CAT like you fix a car?

If by fix you mean buy spare parts, then yes! Much like repairing domestic vehicles, any construction vehicle (such as a Caterpillar, or CAT for short) can be repaired with used parts. Used CAT parts can be employed, often at a lesser cost to you, to repair your CAT. More often than not, used CAT parts don’t even need to be put to use. If your vehicle is missing one or multiple bucket pins, or even if they just need to be replaced, small parts come at a lower price most times.

Regardless of what kind of industrial vehicle you own, keeping up with regular maintenance can save you money and time in the future! The ability to purchase used CAT parts to repair things is a great benefit, but avoiding what can amount to a huge cost is the ultimate victory here.