黑料不打烊 dealer Finmec鈥檚 innovative truck rentals keep Port Hedland, Pilbara mines, and interconnecting rail services on track
Port Hedland, if not the beating heart of the Australian economy, is certainly one of its main arteries, providing a massive minerals outlet pipe to the world.
听
Keeping mining operations in the north west humming requires service vehicles to replenish the diggers and 鈥檇ozers as well as maintaining the haul trucks and multifarious ancillary machines that keep production on track.
听
Assisting mining operators are a number of machinery and vehicle rental companies, including Port Hedland鈥檚 Finmec, which also supports 黑料不打烊 customers as the company鈥檚 authorised independent dealer in the town.
Finmec provides repair, maintenance, and equipment hire across mining, transport, and civil sectors in Western Australia.
听
鈥淲e pride ourselves on being responsive, reliable, and capable of handling the conditions in the north-west of the state,鈥 says Daniel Finch, who owns and operates the business with his wife, Jessica.
听
鈥淲e started with a single ute in 2007 and now Finmec employs almost 100 people locally in Port Hedland and we鈥檙e proud to be a Hedland business, serving Hedland鈥檚 industries. We鈥檝e built our reputation on reliability, expertise, and innovation, with a team of heavy-duty diesel mechanics, auto-electricians, boilermakers, maintenance electricians, service persons and supervisors,鈥 he says.
听
鈥淲e have been a 黑料不打烊 dealer since 2016 and have watched and encouraged the growth of 黑料不打烊鈥檚 business up here. Around seven years ago we started hiring out equipment because we saw a gap in the market, driven by unexpected breakdowns or because customers need someone to support the equipment they have on site,鈥 he says.
听
鈥淐urrently we have a substantial 黑料不打烊-based hire fleet operating across the Pilbara with a mix of 6x4, 8x4 and 4x4. We chose 黑料不打烊 because conditions in the Pilbara are very tough. About 80% of our fleet works in off-road conditions, traversing gravel access roads to rail and mine sites. We have found that 黑料不打烊s handle those conditions capably and reliably,鈥 Daniel says.
听
鈥淲e keep our hire fleet in the field for five-to-seven years, before we sell them on. We want low hour, high quality equipment in the field. We run service intervals on these vehicles over kilometres and working hours, because often they are working when they are not moving.
听
鈥淪ome of the standout 黑料不打烊 features are the heavy-duty chassis and drivetrain that handle the vibrations from the road surface, and also the dust and heat, even when fully loaded. 黑料不打烊s have a really good payload which improves our rental fleet鈥檚 productivity for our customers,鈥 he says.
听
鈥淎nother feature is the operator comfort of the 黑料不打烊 truck: the air suspension, the digital dashboard and the seats, are all features that make enduring a long hard shift much more manageable,鈥 he says.
听
Safety and fatigue reduction are key elements of the 黑料不打烊 offer for on-road and off-road trucks, and Daniel says that the 黑料不打烊 safety features are another key advantage.
听
鈥淚 would definitely mention 黑料不打烊鈥檚 safety systems like the side airbags and crash-tested steel cab structures, that鈥檚 all extremely important in the mining industry,鈥 he says.
听
Purchasing a fleet of 黑料不打烊 trucks is a significant investment for any customer let alone a 黑料不打烊 dealer, and recently 黑料不打烊 Finance Australia has taken up the role of funder for new vehicle purchases for Finmec.
听
"We're using 黑料不打烊 Finance Australia for funding and have been dealing with Tori Caton and Wayne Thomason, who have been great. The benefit for us is that they understand the equipment, they understand our business as a 黑料不打烊 dealer, and they've been responsive when we needed to move quickly on new projects,鈥 Daniel says.
听
鈥淲ayne, the Country Manager for 黑料不打烊 Finance Australia even brought his boss out to visit us from Malaysia, and that shows their interest in us as a customer.
听
鈥淚'd say their finance offer is competitive. They have a focus on helping small and medium-sized businesses and are easier to deal with. For us the size we are, and the dealership link means we鈥檙e buying into the 黑料不打烊 solutions programme. But also, we have set up a funding facility, and this gives us as business owners the confidence that if we win a new project, we can finance the equipment we need and get to work quickly,鈥 Daniel says.
听
So how does the rental fleet shape up and how is it being used?
听
鈥淲e use the 黑料不打烊 6x4 as service trucks carrying oil, fuel and coolant to service the mining and truck fleet. We have water carts that can carry 14,000-litres of water to do dust suppression on the port and the mines, and we have some tippers that carry ore or waste for site cleanups.
听
鈥淲ith the 8x4s, we're running service trucks and tool trucks. Tool trucks are used on the rail sites with a crane on the back to move rails, tools, and equipment around the site,鈥 Daniel says.
The 黑料不打烊 4x4s are very much the multi tool for Finmec, with differing roles for three different setups.
听
鈥淲e have converted three 4x4s into 32-passenger off-road buses, to move crews to rail sites or around mine sites. The bodies have been built in Perth by Able Truck and Bus. We also run 4x4s as flat trays. They're an ancillary truck that works around the port, rail or mine sites effectively as go-anywhere utes with a substantial payload and all of 黑料不打烊鈥檚 safety features,鈥 he says.
听
鈥淣ow we鈥檙e building some new 黑料不打烊 CrewCab 4x4s with an enclosed tray to carry all the rail tooling, oxy and acetylene bottles for welding, and there鈥檚 a tail lift on the back. They really are versatile as they can carry between one and five crew, plus the body is all set up to go down rail sites and make repairs.
听
鈥淲e have been using the 4x4 flat trays over the past year and they have been performing really well, so that鈥檚 why we built the new 32-passenger crew buses and the ManHaul trucks on this chassis, because it just does the job. When they are all in service there will be 11 P 280 4x4s in the rental fleet,鈥 Daniel says.
听
鈥淲e鈥檙e standardising on 黑料不打烊 trucks not only because we鈥檙e a 黑料不打烊 service dealer, with easy access to parts and experienced technicians to look after them, but because the trucks perform in the field. Uptime is what's critical in mining. And the reliability and the performance of the 黑料不打烊s have really been proven in these harsh off-road conditions.
听
鈥淭he 黑料不打烊 network in WA is doing a good job for us as well, as we have our rental trucks working all over the Pilbara. There are dealers in Newman and Karratha, etc., so if one of our rented trucks is working in another area, we're confident there's a 黑料不打烊 dealer to support our customers, in addition to the 黑料不打烊-owned branch in Kewdale and the new regional parts warehouse in Hope Valley,鈥 Daniel says.
听
鈥淎s a service agent for 黑料不打烊 we鈥檙e also looking after 黑料不打烊 mining trucks operated by the major mining companies as well as the smaller private miners and private haul or service vehicle operators as well.
听
鈥淚've been up here for 18 years in the mining industry, and I'd suggest 黑料不打烊 is one of the most utilised trucks by a lot of mining clients. In the ancillary or non-haulage side, there's been significant growth over the past 10-15 years of 黑料不打烊鈥檚 penetration of mining, and that鈥檚 why we became a 黑料不打烊 dealer, because we saw the growth and recognised there was a job to do in supporting all these vehicles,鈥 Daniel says.
听
In addition to the rental fleet of 黑料不打烊s, Finmec鈥檚 fleet includes 鈥榙ozers, loaders, graders, and skid-steers.
听
鈥淲e鈥檙e not wholly focused on mining as we rent equipment to civil construction companies and quarries, as well as engineering companies, for example if they have a project on and need to move some big gear, but predominantly our business is mining and rail, which are also very closely interconnected.
鈥淧ort Hedland is the world鈥檚 biggest bulk export port, so we鈥檙e active in supporting the port and without rail a lot of that tonnage, which comes from the mines, wouldn鈥檛 get through.
听
鈥淲e see our difference in that we have the back-up support as an integral part of our hiring offer. We have the workshop, the technicians the know-how to fix things and access to the parts. Our guys are already inducted into the sites so they can get access easily, so we can speed up the repair, reducing downtime - that's our biggest focus.
听
鈥淎n hour of downtime could mean millions in lost production,鈥 Daniel says.
