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...

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...

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...

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 h...

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...

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 construct...

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...

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 di...

In the latest episode of The Contractor’s Best Friend podcast, longtime construction expert Brad Humphrey talks about proactive safety with Morgan Grigsby, Caterpillar’s safety expert, and Jason Hurdis, Caterpillar’s global market professional for quarry and aggregates. According to Grigsby, the construction safety talk on jobsites is shifting away from what was done incorrectly, to what’s going w...

In this episode of The Contractor’s Best Friend, construction expert Brad Humphrey sits down with Sam Meeker, Caterpillar’s dozer and compact track loader specialist, to talk about what construction contractors should consider when buying or leasing heavy equipment. Sizing and intended applications are a good start, but there are other considerations, as well. The pair delves into more of the comp...

As the use of cameras in work vehicles, including heavy equipment, continues to increase, their use brings up a host of issues, from improved safety to questions about how operators are impacted on the job. It's what host Brad Humphrey calls "the good, bad and the ugly of cameras in vehicles." Humphrey is joined for this episdoe by Caterpillar safety expert Morgan Grigsby and Lonnie Fritz, Caterpi...

Whether moving rock, gravel or other heavy loads on the jobsite, each payload cycle is an opportunity to increase profits and decrease costs. 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 and Lonnie Fritz, Caterpillar’s senior market professional con...

In the latest episode of The Contractor’s Best Friend Podcast, longtime construction expert Brad Humphrey talks about 3D Factory Grade Solutions with two heavy construction specialists from Caterpillar. He is joined by Lonnie Fritz, Caterpillar’s senior market professional construction industry expert with a focus on heavy construction and roadbuilding and Sam Meeker, Caterpillar’s dozer and track...

In this episode, construction guru Brad Humphrey talks with Jason Hurdis, quarry and aggregate expert and Lonnie Fritz, heavy construction and road building expert for Caterpillar. Every piece of equipment eventually slows down and becomes no longer viable for the jobsite. Contractors should keep track of a machine's number of hours to get a better idea of when it might need to be replaced. There'...

In this episode, construction guru Brad Humphrey talks with Jason Hurdis, quarry and aggregate expert and Lonnie Fritz, heavy construction and road building expert for Caterpillar. They discuss the importance of capturing the true operating cost of each machine on the construction jobsite. Construction companies, no matter the size, need to establish a budget for equipment maintenance throughout t...

In this episode, construction guru Brad Humphrey talks with Jason Hurdis, quarry and aggregate expert and Lonnie Fritz, heavy construction and road building expert for Caterpillar. The three discuss fuel efficiency and how contractors can be more fuel efficient on the jobsite through the use of data. It's important to measure fuel usage, determine where fuel is being used and create a plan of acti...

In this episode, construction guru Brad Humphrey talks with Jason Hurdis, quarry and aggregate expert and Lonnie Fritz, heavy construction and road building expert for Caterpillar. Fewer people are growing up with a farming, mechanical or construction background like in years past. It's no small hurdle, but most contractors are dealing with it today: teaching construction skills to young and new w...

In this episode, construction guru Brad Humphrey talks with Jason Hurdis, quarry and aggregate expert and Morgan Grigsby, safety expert for Caterpillar. There are several aftermarket safety devices and techniques that can be applied to construction equipment that can greatly enhance the overall safety of the construction jobsite. 

In this episode, construction guru Brad Humphrey talks with Jason Hurdis, quarry and aggregate expert and Lonnie Fritz, heavy construction and road building expert for Caterpillar. It's a no brainer -- you want your most experienced equipment operators performing the most complex tasks on the jobsite. What about new workers, though? To help develop and promote newer workers, it's important to intr...

In this episode, construction guru Brad Humphrey talks with  Lonnie Fritz, heavy construction and road building expert and Scott Hagemann, grade control, technology and connectivity expert for Caterpillar. Long past are the traditional grade stakes that once dotted a construction jobsite. Now, lasers and other technologies can do that job. That's one of many examples of technology changing the lan...

In this episode, construction guru Brad Humphrey talks with Jason Hurdis, quarry and aggregate expert and Lonnie Fritz, heavy construction and road building expert for Caterpillar. The top four causes of injury on a construction jobsite have remained the same for many years: falls, struck by an object, electrocution and being caught between equipment. Listen for best practices to stay safe on the...

In this episode, construction guru Brad Humphrey talks with Jason Hurdis, quarry and aggregate expert and Morgan Grigsby, safety expert for Caterpillar. There are many equipment upgrades available today that can help enhance the safety of construction workers and operators on the jobsite today. Communication, visibility and planning also come into play to keep everyone on the jobsite safe. 

With the ongoing construction workforce labor shortage, it's difficult to find equipment operators. One technique many contractors are using to combat that challenge is by using equipment with improved operator comfort.