by Marc Herbst
How many miles do you have on your car?
That is a question often heard when trying to determine the value of your vehicle. The miles driven on the dashboard’s odometer provide valuable information. The odometer, an instrument that registers the distance traveled by a vehicle, helps determine the car’s resale price. Plus, if you regularly use the odometer to set maintenance milestones, such as tire rotations and oil changes, you can lengthen your car’s lifespan and continue maintaining its value.
Unlike our personal vehicles, the wear and tear of heavy equipment isn’t measured over distance traveled. Bulldozers, payloaders, or tractors do not track their usage with odometers. Instead, these work vehicles track hours, not distance, when the machinery operates. The measurements, however, share similar purposes. Both assist in scheduling maintenance routines to ensure the reliability and safety of the vehicle. The construction equipment’s hour meters help flag appropriate times to replace filters, change fluids, and exchange other parts.
According to the Federal Highway Administration, the average use of a car is 14,463 miles annually, or nearly 1,200 miles a month. In comparison, according to several industry sources, the realistic average number estimate for using a compact wheel loader is 1,000 hours. However, the hours of equipment use aren’t the sole measurement of progress on a job site. The equipment’s operators’ and field employees’ hours worked are equally essential measurements.
Our employees are vital for the success of all construction projects. The union brothers and sisters are especially integral to our region’s premier quality and safety standards at work sites. Regardless of the miles driven in their cars to get to work or the hours operating the construction equipment or working alongside the building apparatus, our trade partners’ work performance is the measure of success.
Heavy construction industry leaders closely monitor employment hours. Reviewing historical trends helps establish best practices and expectations in formulating cost bid estimates for future jobs. It also helps gauge the industry’s health in the past and moving forward, as we can compare and contrast the industry’s viability. Most importantly, achieving a threshold of hours worked for the union members allows them to qualify for health, pension, and other employment benefits. Based on actuary studies considering past employment levels, our regional industry average long-term employment projection is 1,600 hours for the upcoming construction seasons.
Our elected officials and other public policymakers should remember these measurements, especially those who present themselves as ardent backers of organized labor. While difficult choices must be made as economic trends and factors, such as inflation and recessions, wreak havoc on funding programs, the focus cannot drift away from our workforce’s impact in feeding the economic engine.
One primary industry measurement is money, dollars anticipated to be spent on projects that will employ our unionized workforce, enhance our safety and quality of life, and continue to bolster the economy. Regrettably, New York lags its Northeastern peer states, where capital programming trends show more than a 24% increase in the first-year implementation of the federal bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). Worse, for the Long Island region, the state’s current spending plan will see less than a one percent increase in the next five years, calculating in inflationary rates it will result in an actual loss. This occurs as our region’s pavement conditions skyrocketed from 13.7% (2002) to 40.6% (2022) in fair to poor condition.
Without a measured response from our public officials, we can anticipate the public avoiding poor roads – less miles traveled, less heavy equipment operated meaning less hours worked, and fewer union workers employed which translated to less benefits and hours. It’s nearly impossible to measure the ripple effects that lost time will have on our economy and on our hardworking families.