Vactor Manufacturing – the leading provider of vacuum excavators for utility, oil and gas, telecommunication and industrial water system applications – has announced its participation in the Association of Equipment Manufacturers’ (AEM) Vacuum Excavator Leadership Group. The group was formed to develop essential marketing, technical and safety resources that will help the vacuum excavator industry segment continue to grow.
Promoting safe vacuum excavator operating practices is the top priority of the Vacuum Excavator Leadership Group. Additional areas of importance include statistics program development and equipment standards development. The group will also identify any means by which AEM may better support vacuum excavator products through existing or potential new programs, products or services.
“Vactor is honored to play such an integral role in this important industry group,” says Ben Schmitt, Product Manager, Vactor Manufacturing. “With more than 19 million miles of buried utilities in the United States, it’s essential that vacuum excavation equipment operators are proficient in the safe and proper use of the equipment to efficiently locate underground utilities while protecting vulnerable and expensive infrastructure. We look forward to sharing Vactor’s insight and deep understanding of vacuum excavation technology and collaborating with our fellow industry leaders in this group to improve operator safety, performance and productivity.”
Vactor Manufacturing produces the full-sized Vactor HXX Hydro-Excavator and the compact Vactor HXX Prodigy vacuum excavator. Vacuum excavation uses high-pressure air or water (hydro-excavation) to loosen soil, providing a non-destructive means to safely locate and uncover underground utilities and precisely excavate an area. The loosened soil is removed through a vacuum hose and deposited into a debris tank for disposal or backfilling. This increasingly popular method of excavation is widely used by utility contractors, municipalities, pipeline companies and other end-users.
The Vacuum Excavator Leadership Group is currently developing a vacuum excavator statistics program covering both truck-mounted and trailer units. Vactor is one of eight vacuum excavator manufacturers participating in the program. To date, the group has accomplished several key initiatives, including:
- Completion of vacuum excavator terminology and definitions
- Illustrations of the vacuum excavators for the standard
- Submission of vacuum excavation pictorials
In addition to its participation in the Vacuum Excavator Leadership Group, Vactor also recently collaborated with AEM to develop a video promoting the safe operation of vacuum excavation equipment. In conjunction with four other vacuum excavator manufacturers, Vactor contributed funding, product expertise and other resources to the association to produce the 19-minute DVD. Vactor also worked with AEM’s technical and safety staff to help develop the video script and donated an HXX HydroExcavator PD vacuum excavator, and expert operators, to be used in the filming of the video. The Vactor HXX HydroExcavator is one of the most popular vacuum excavators in the market.
