Trevor Chase, senior product specialist at Caterpillar, discusses what Caterpillar has on display, trends he’s seen in the industry and more.
Green Industry Pros: What’re you showcasing here at Equip?
Chase: We did launch our 255 and 265 in October of last year, but what we have here now is our new 275 and 285 our standard machines and our XE, which is that next level of hydraulic performance and engine performance.
We’re finishing our launch of all of our products. We’re definitely excited about the 285 because it’s something we haven't had, and something that we've wanted, and we know that the industry has moved in that direction. It’s all new. We have been working on this and trying to incorporate more than a decade of customer input and industry input to make sure that we provided the machines that people were looking for.
Green Industry Pros: And what were some of the challenges you’re hearing from the end users?
Chase: There are three big challenges we see. One is we can’t get labor or good help. Second is that jobsites are smaller, so we need to make sure our machines can go into these smaller sites. Third is better asset utilization. Make the machines so I don’t have to have six different machines on my jobsite for the different tasks I do.
Customers and operators were saying, solve these problems for us and that’ll be the best for my business. It’s about what's best for the people that are out there, and how we can solve their problems and ease their pain.
Green Industry Pros: And how’s Equip been for you so far?
Chase: It’s been fantastic. We love Equip. I’ve got landscaping roots myself, so I love coming here and seeing all the different things. What I really like about Equip is it’s great to see younger people coming in interested in all of the industries that these pieces of equipment serve.
It’s not the way it was 25-30 years ago when I was in (landscaping) and you still got looked down upon. Now there’s a lot of pride in it. There is technology and math and science and all these great things that go into it. This show is a great way for the industry to get together and see what’s going on out there.
