Heavy equipment management practices and problems in Thai highway contractors

Purpose - This study is intended to investigate the current practices and problems in heavy equipment management as well as to identify practices capable of alleviating equipment management problems for highway contractors in Thailand. Design/methodology/approach - Equipment management practices were identified and analysed by SPSS using a questionnaire survey. ANOVA test was used to reveal significant differences in equipment management practices among different contractor sizes. Relationships between equipment management practices and problems were also revealed. Findings - The equipment management practices vary, to some extent, among different contractor sizes. While practices of medium and small contractors tend to be similar, practices of large contractors are different from those of smaller contractors. Large contractors often put more emphasis on outsourcing strategy for equipment management. Moreover, large contractors frequently dispose of or replace equipment as soon as the equipment becomes inefficient before incurring high repair costs. Conversely, smaller contractors tend to mainly emphasise on the company finance and the budget availability as they often rely on purchasing strategy, especially buying used machines. Overall, equipment practices of large contractors were found to be more successful than smaller contractors in minimising equipment management problems, including long downtime duration and cost. Originality/value - This research is of value for better understanding practices and problems relating to heavy equipment management among different contractor sizes. The study also highlights practices that are capable of reducing problems relating to heavy equipment management for highway contractors.