We all know sharing equals caring, but apparently sharing also equals a whole bunch of cash for those involved, as well. We’ve touched on the vast opportunity of heavy equipment sharing in the construction industry a lot, recently, with the rate equipment rentals on the rise and the launch of EquipmentShare, a peer-to-peer equipment rental company recently entering the market. Now there’s another peer-to-peer equipment sharing company making news and it’s got a heavy hitter backing it financially.
Yard Club, a San Francisco based company, has just announced that Caterpillar, Inc. has started strategically financing the startup equipment rental company. Like Uber or AirBnb, where regular everyday Joes can offer their personal property up for rental, Yard Club will allow contractors to rent their idle equipment to other contractors in need. Although Caterpillar is now involved, the service will not be limited to only Caterpillar products, so no need to worry if you’d like to take advantage of the opportunity and don’t currently use Cat products.
Currently Yard Club only operates and rents out of San Francisco, but with Caterpillars backing, their plan is to rapidly expand their concept to other parts of the country.
For renters, Yard Club promises to only rent high quality machinery that has been thoroughly inspected, while also offering the benefit of lower costs. All available machinery can be browsed through right on their apps that are available on both Android and Apple devices.
The owners of the equipment are able to set their own rental prices and can rest easy knowing that Yard Club verifies that the renter has insurance and they are protected by a Master Rental Agreement. Both the owner and contractor are held to the Yard Club Code and violators can have their access removed. Around 20% of the full rental cost does go back to Yard Club as their commission.
Android App (Free) | Yard Club, Inc.
iOs App (Free) | Yard Club, Inc.
Yard Club Announces Strategic Financing from Caterpillar | Yard Club, Inc.
Last summer, Hilti announced that they had developed their first exoskeleton designed for construction tradespeople in a partnership with Ottobuck, a prosthetics, orthotics, and exoskeleton provider. Earlier this month, Hilti officially released the exoskeleton, announced more details, and published its retail price on their website.
Cat Phones is known to make some pretty rugged smartphones, the kind of phone you don’t have to worry about on the jobsite – even without a case. Licensed by the construction equipment giant, Caterpillar, the phones are made by the UK-based Bullitt Group. The company recently announced the release of their new flagship smartphone model, the CAT S62 Pro.
The construction technology world has been no stranger to acquisitions and mergers in recent years, as many larger players are gobbling up startups and other specialty software to quickly grow their offerings and expand their value to their customers. The latest acquisition comes from a somewhat surprising source, however, as Stanley Black & Decker, the power tool and storage company, has acquired Buildup, a task management, punch list, and inspection software company.
Father’s Day 2021 is June 20, so you better get started on gift ideas if you want to impress dad this year. Whether your father is contractor, handyman, or DIYer, we’ve got a lot of great ideas for him this year.
For more more gift ideas, be sure to check out our past Father's Day Gift Guides from 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 or our Ultimate Construction Holiday Gift Guides from 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020
Procore, the construction management software company, has been rumored to be interested in filing for an IPO since at least 2019. In the Spring of 2020, Procore ended up delaying its plans to go public after it received $150million in funding and a valuation of around $5 million, citing interest in raising more money amidst an uncertain economy during the heart of the coronavirus pandemic.
It’s that time again to begin Construction Junkie’s annual search for the best construction podcast! Now in our 7th year of the competition, we’re noticing a considerable increase in construction-related podcasts from every sector.
While still new in the construction industries, robots are typically designed to perform a specific task in a highly precise and efficient way, like the rebar tying robot, Tybot or the brick-laying robot Hadrian X. More recently, though, robots are being imagined as platforms for 3rd party companies to develop hardware and accessories to attach to the base robot, like the Boston Dynamics robotic dog, Spot. I recently came across a new robot, called Baubot, which hopes to one day perform tasks using every tool on a typical jobsite.
Autodesk announced the impending release of 3 new products, combining the best of all of their existing products and adding new features, at last year’s virtual Autodesk University. Those products (Build, Takeoff, and BIM Collaborate) are now fully available on a global scale, with Takeoff being the most recent release.
Last summer, we learned that Travelers Insurance believed that using Procore as a project management tool helped contractors reduce risk on their projects so much that they were willing to help pay for them to join the platform. That deal was previously limited to customers in 10 US states, but Travelers and Procore have collaborated to further expand that program.
“You make a better door than a window!” is what I imagine loader operators constantly yell at the bucket in front of them (or maybe I’m just projecting based on my experience of having the habit of sitting right in front of the TV as a kid). Either way, operators may not be yelling that in the future, as equipment manufacturer, Doosan, has introduced what they claim is an industry first “transparent” bucket.
Just over a year ago, I was introduced to an early prototype of the SkyMul SkyTy, which is a robotic drone with a rebar tying attachment designed to autonomously locate and tie rebar on the jobsite. After a year of tweaks and advancements, SkyMul is now on their third prototype and they showed off those improvements in a new video.
[sponsored] OnTraccr, a new productivity app for construction, is looking to make their software accessible to everyone, by making it as simple and easy to use as possible, while still giving your company the valuable data it needs to survive in our constantly changing industry.
It seems a little odd to be talking about air-conditioning when much of the United States hit some incredibly low temperatures in recent days, but a product that I learned about recently is just too exciting to ignore. Announced at CES 2021, a research company has unveiled an air-conditioned hard hat (ACHH) that can reduce the ambient temperature up to 22 degrees Fahrenheit!
Like most of the other electric machines that have been announced previously, Volvo promises that this midsized, 14 metric ton excavator will have the same performance as a similarly sized diesel version. The X03 is currently in the concept stage, so Volvo does not have immediate plans to bring it to market, but it shows the possibilities that electronics on heavy machinery can allow for.
No matter the industry, robots are highly efficient at performing repetitive tasks. We’ve seen that firsthand in the construction industry in recent years with the emergence of bricklaying, rebar-tying, and overhead drilling robots. These robots not only offer consistency, but help to reduce muscular-skeletal injuries caused by long term stress on muscles and joints. A newer robot hitting construction sites is Canvas, a semi-autonomous robot that promises to provide Level 5 finish on drywall.
At last year’s virtual Autodesk University, Autodesk announced a trio of new products: Build, Quantify, & BIM Collaborate. Build, the platform that combines the features of PlanGrid and BIM 360, is officially available on a global scale as of today.
Spot, the famous robot dog from Boston Dynamics, has been officially for sale to the public for less than a year, but the company has already announced major upgrades for the growing platform. Yesterday, February 2nd, Boston Dynamics held a launch event for 3 new Spot products: Enterprise, Scout, and the Spot Arm.
2020 was a challenging year in many respects, but none greater than from a safety standpoint. The coronavirus pandemic placed the notion of “people over profits” under the microscope, while also balancing the needs of their employees to continue to make an income under difficult circumstances. While the pandemic was a large part of the construction safety conversation last year, there were several other developments to take note of for your projects in the future.
As more and more battery powered heavy construction equipment is being released to help lower noise and emissions on the jobsite, I shouldn’t be that surprised to hear about a battery powered crawler crane – but, I still am.
In the midst of fierce discourse over the bipartisan infrastructure bill lies a unique opportunity for the United States.