This weekend’s quick toolbox tip reminds paving crew members to do more than clean equipment. Mark it up for visibility. Here’s what we mean by that.
If you read The Asphalt Pro regularly, you know all our paving experts believe in taking the time to clean up equipment. This is best done at the end of the shift when the paver, rollers, plate compactors and other machines are still hot, so you can more easily wipe material off. If you give in to fatigue and leave the cleaning for morning, you’ll have much more difficult scraping and hammering to do.
Our experts want you to take the time to wipe down equipment for many reasons, including but not limited to:
- Safety (visibility of decals, reflective tape)
- Quality (visibility of gauges, indicators)
- Quality (ease/smoothness of motion)
- Public perception (fewer complaints/targeting of your crew)
Our experts also suggest using vibrant, high-visibility paint to help your crew find their way. Have you already painted the guide bar and chain at the front of the hopper to help your paver operator?
Don’t forget about the tow point cylinder gauge. The small indicator that points to the gauge can get lost in the background of the paving day. Paint it a high-visibility color, too.
Paint a target or arrow on the hopper insert to help guide haul truck drivers.
What other areas of the paving train do you recommend highlighting for the crew’s benefit? Share those on our social media post to help your colleagues. And if there’s a foreman or mechanic on your team that needs to read this weekend’s tip, be sure to send this to him.
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