The dramatic run-up in the price of diesel fuel has highlighted the impact of fuel efficiency on profits for onsite installers. “Just a few years ago not many equipment owners were talking to us about fuel consumption,” says Peter Robson, excavator product manager for Komatsu. “Today, we can have a very lengthy conversation about it.”Fortunately, today’s excavators, backhoes and compact loaders do more work with less fuel than the models of 10 or even five years ago. Much of the efficiency increase is driven by federal regulations requiring new off-road diesel engines to meet a series of increasingly stringent standards
