Haulotte's HA 46 RTJ articulating boom.
Haulotte's HA 46 RTJ articulating boom.
Haulotte's HA 46 RTJ articulating boom.
Haulotte's HA 46 RTJ articulating boom.
Haulotte's HA 46 RTJ articulating boom.

Interview with Maxime Gerard: Extending Engine Life

Sept. 27, 2017
As part of a series of interviews with aerial equipment manufacturers, Maxime Girard, product manager for the Americas, Haulotte, speaks about Haulotte’s “stop emission system”; its onboard diagnostic system; future environmental trends; and more.

As part of a series of interviews with aerial equipment manufacturers, Maxime Girard, product manager for the Americas, Haulotte, speaks about Haulotte’s “stop emission system”; its onboard diagnostic system; future environmental trends; and more.

RER: What have been your most recent technological developments on your equipment?

Girard:  Stop Emission System

Haulotte has recently released the Stop Emission System. The Stop Emission System automatically stops the engine if it has been idle for 90 seconds and restarts the engine by engaging the foot pedal.  When operators are working at height, the engine often runs for no reason, resulting in the hour meter counting hours unnecessarily. The system reduces use of the engine and peripheral components by up to 20 percent, thereby extending the life of the engine and assuring higher residual value. In addition, by decreasing fuel consumption, operating costs are lowered, and the overall noise level is reduced, allowing operators to work in sensitive areas (hospitals, schools, office buildings, etc.).

Activ’ Lighting System

Haulotte has also introduced the Activ’ Lighting system to the market this year. Loading and unloading the boom on a truck is always a delicate procedure, especially when there is limited visibility, such as at dawn or dusk. To simplify this procedure while enhancing user safety, Haulotte developed an innovative and ultra-high-performance lighting system, ACTIV’Lighting System-Safe Load. Located at several points around the machine, this lighting system illuminates controls and the area around the boom. Only offered by Haulotte, this is a unique feature becoming an essential element for the safety of both men and equipment.

Activ’ Screen

In case of a problem or malfunction, it is always more advantageous to have easy and instant access to the information necessary to intervene or remotely troubleshoot with a technician. Haulotte released the ACTIV’Screen on-board diagnostic system, a comprehensive tool that provides access to: details and the complete malfunction resolution procedure, machine settings, preventative maintenance alerts and service intervals, and modifications of general settings such as interface language and units of measurement. Haulotte ACTIV’Screen acts as a genuine assistant, supporting users daily in carrying out maintenance operations. It gives the operator access to key real-time information on the function and status of the machine.

In general, what trends do you see coming up in aerial equipment?

Girard: Like in other industries, engine regulations are going to be more restrictive in the near future. It has already started with Tier 4 final engine regulations. We think that the AWP industry is going to focus more and more on alternative power solutions such as hybrid or full electric machines.

How will the next version of the ANSI standards change things in the aerial equipment market? What changes are you making in manufacturing to conform to those incoming standards?

Girard: The new ANSI Standards will bring several changes but the two most impactful are the following:

  • The wind force which will have to be taken into consideration in the stability calculation and tests. This will require heavier machines to be stable enough to work outside. Generally speaking, rental companies will have to clearly identify which machines are able to work both inside and outside or inside only. It means that if their customers, the users, have to work outside, they must have outside rated machines in their fleet, especially for slab electric scissor lifts.

As an example in Europe, where you can find inside only and inside/outside rated scissor lifts, some rental companies ask for indoor/outdoor machines, to be sure that they are offering the safest machines.

Load sensing: the machine will detect overload, resulting in movement’s cut-off and alarm. We expect that if the users are not trained well-enough, rental companies will have to deal with more service calls in order to educate their customers, especially because of the load sensing system that may cause some misunderstanding at least during the first months after the regulation’s effective date.

The new ANSI standard is going to be really close to the European (EN280) regulation. Haulotte, as a French based company, has been doing this since the beginning. This is not a big change for us as bringing more safety to our customers is part of our DNA. Essentially, we are going to sell equipment in North America that has been sold everywhere else in the world for more than 30 years.

What new safety developments and safeguards have you made on your equipment?

Girard: Activ’ Shield Bar: Operators at heights face a number of dangers, particularly crushing risks. To prevent these risks and protect operators, Haulotte has developed the ACTIV’Shield Bar 2.0 (standard or optional depending on models). This secondary guarding system is now fully integrated into the upper control protection cover to guarantee better ergonomics and enhanced robustness. Thanks to the push-forward principle bar, which provides a “safety gap”, workers are protected from any risk of crushing without compromising productivity.

          The Activ’shield Bar, Stop Emission system, and Activ’Lighting system are now part of the new Haulotte standards. They will be standard on all our new booms and future releases. Our goal is to continually improve the level of safety on our machines while offering new technologies and solutions to make them greener and more cost effective.

Any new developments in training?

Girard: Haulotte offers various product training throughout the year. Customers can view a calendar of our current training schedule online and register by emailing our trainer. More information is found at this link: http://www.haulotte-usa.com/service/training  

In general, what are your expectations for the aerial market in the foreseeable future, in North America and internationally?

Girard: We expect a slight decrease of the worldwide market in the next few years, driven by North America. But globally the market will remain at a high level.