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Construction may be one of the world’s oldest sectors, but it remains one of the most important – and largest – today. However, globally, it still typically performs with slim margins of roughly 5% earnings¹. Meanwhile, productivity growth has languished at just 1% per year over the last two decades.¹ With little margin for error, controlling costs is therefore vital when it comes to shaping a successful construction site. However, between weather forecasts and material costs, this can often seem like a losing battle in what is often an unpredictable operating environment.

With that being said, there are choices you can make to seize back control. The more proactive and forward-looking these decisions, the more likely it is that they can prevent potential issues from becoming critical. That is certainly the case when it comes to construction equipment, which is one area of a site that is under your control. Plus, its performance can have a huge impact on both your bottom line and your timelines – two factors that can help any site make the most of its margins.

What is preventative maintenance?

In a journey to becoming more proactive, preventative maintenance should be your first stop. That’s because, in short, preventative maintenance is about taking action today to help avoid unexpected failures in the future. With equipment, this means helping to ensure it is working as it was designed by the manufacturer so that it can operate effectively under the demanding conditions on site.

For example, with diesel engines, protecting against fuel injector deposits – including those on injector nozzles and hidden deposits inside injectors (known as Internal Diesel Injector Deposits, or IDIDs) – can be key to helping injectors work effectively. This in turn helps to promote healthy performance of the injection system, thereby helping to ensure equipment reliability, preventing loss of load-pulling power and wasted energy.

The intended result being to avoid unplanned downtime and lower maintenance costs, which for construction sites can kickstart a virtuous cycle by helping to meet deadlines and stay on budget.

On the surface, it may seem like equipment maintenance needs are generally dictated by how an individual chooses to operate it and, indeed, human factors like driving style can have an impact on the performance and lifespan of most assets. However, dig a little deeper, and it quickly becomes clear that what you put inside your equipment is important, with fuel being a prime example. Which is hardly surprising when you consider that the component using this fuel – the engine – is arguably the most important part of each machine, given its influence on everything from productivity to fuel economy.

Alongside the right engine oils and lubricants, your choice of fuel can have a notable say on these outputs. A poor quality fuel is ultimately more likely to contribute to detrimental conditions, such as a higher risk of deposit formation on critical engine parts, putting wider operational goals at risk as a result. These goals include that of increased efficiency, which 47% of businesses identify as one of their biggest onsite challenges – making it surprising that only 16% claim to manage their fuel “very effectively”².

And, of course, concerns surrounding costs are a factor. Procurement typically accounts for 40-70% of a construction company’s total spend, and while this figure may be primarily focused on materials, it also includes fuel purchases¹. When you add to this the fact that more than 50% say they could reduce operating costs by 10% or more each month if they were able to manage fuel usage costs effectively, then the opportunity cost of not acting proactively on fuel is clear to see². The question remaining now is: how do you pick the right fuel?

The engine technologies used in modern construction equipment have continued to advance with the industry and technology developments. The fuel that keeps them running must evolve in turn. What sets today’s advanced fuels apart from their conventional counterparts is often their formulations – that is, the specific combination of active ingredients they include and how these are balanced as part of the fuel’s formula. For instance:

Together, these ingredients add up to a deeper, wider clean, helping to: protect against deposit-build-up; enable reliable engine performance; and simplify housekeeping and storage.

Driven by the need to improve operating performance and reduce emissions, diesel engines are constantly advancing. But the components that make up these engines – from fuel injectors to EGR systems – are highly sophisticated and, therefore, require additional protection to perform at their best.

In an industry where costs are increasing, businesses simply can’t afford unplanned expenses or unexpected breakdowns risked by poor protection of these components – so it’s vital that they look after the equipment already under their control. Protection that the right fuel can provide, so long as it has the advanced technology needed to overcome the construction industry’s harsh operating environment.

¹_{Francisco Marques, Gonçalo Ribeiro, and Erik Sjödin. “.” McKinsey & Company. April 19, 2023.}

² _{Ricardo study Prevalence of Medium and Heavy Duty IDIDs and EGR Deposits Report no RD21 001158 1. The interviewees were industry representatives including technicians and workshop managers with experience of IDIDs and/or EGR deposit issues, across various countries.}

_{A version of this article was published by Construction Briefing in November 2023. You can read the article .}