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Rural utility co-ops face many challenges: increased electricity demand, increased costs, difficulty finding skilled workers, rapid industry/technology transformation and much more. As a co-op based in Coshocton, Ohio, The Frontier Power Company is no stranger to these difficulties.
Recently, Frontier Power and its workers took on the task of upgrading its internet infrastructure to fiber optic. As the organization got started, it ran into a few problems. First, utility poles in rural Ohio are often difficult to reach with traditional equipment, making the upgrade process time-consuming and inefficient. On top of this, the process often causes service disruptions for the co-op’s customers, resulting in lost revenues and potential damage to the organization’s reputation.
Thankfully, Frontier Power found a solution through the Skylift Pioneer material handler. With off-road capabilities, the Pioneer allowed workers to reach utility poles and perform the upgrades up to five times as fast, all while eliminating disruptions in service to its customers.
The Challenge: Efficiently Upgrading Rural Utility Infrastructure
Frontier Power recently took on a large-scale project to upgrade its internet infrastructure by installing fiber optic cables. This initiative required replacing thousands of poles, which brought on many logistical challenges. Primarily, with no nearby road access, traditional equipment used for these upgrades (including bucket trucks and traditional digger derricks) did not have the ability to service these poles easily.
Prior to working with Skylift, Frontier Power had two approaches to overcome these issues:
- De-energize lines and have workers manually climb poles to perform the necessary work. This was time-consuming and required planned outages for customers, which hurt the organization’s revenues.
- Build access roads to get bucket trucks and derricks to the poles. While this limited planned outages, it was still very time-consuming and expensive.
Using either of these methods, Frontier Power could only get to about one to two poles a day on average. Frontier Power knew it needed a different approach.
The Solution: The Skylift Pioneer
After reviewing potential options, including backyard easement machines and UTVs, Frontier Power identified Skylift’s Pioneer as the ideal solution. With an off-road chassis, the Pioneer is a material handler designed to tackle rugged terrain and service utility poles in locations inaccessible to traditional equipment. It also had a boom configuration that matched the traditional equipment used by Frontier Power, reducing the training required to operate the machine.
After seeing that the Pioneer would have everything it needed to complete the job, Frontier Power’s decision was solidified after a visit to the Skylift facility.
“Nick from Skylift invited us to their manufacturing facility, where we toured the plant and saw the entire production process. This visit solidified our decision as we were impressed with the operations and the level of customer service. The Skylift team made us feel welcome and made it clear we would receive excellent customer support. After the tour, we discussed our needs in detail and were confident that the Pioneer was the right fit for us.” - Kyle Cramblett, Operations Manager, Frontier Power
The Pioneer Specs
- Bucket carrier
- All-terrain capabilities
- 53-foot vertical reach
- 1,000-pound material handling jib
- 76 HP diesel engine
- 10-gallon fuel capacity
The Results: Increased Efficiency & Cost Savings
After implementing the Pioneer, Frontier Power’s crews managed to increase the average number of poles upgraded from one to two per day to three to five poles per day. On average, this more than doubled Frontier’s productivity, sometimes allowing them to increase efficiency by up to five times.
On top of this, the organization was able to keep lines energized during maintenance and upgrades. This minimized disruptions for customers, maintaining better customer relations and avoiding revenue losses associated with the planned outages.
Lastly, this allowed Frontier Power to keep all the work in-house. Because of logistical challenges like the ones faced by Frontier, co-ops often outsource work, which can be costly. The Pioneer allowed the organization to avoid these costs and ensured all tasks were completed to its high standards.
Kyle from Frontier Power says, “I have already recommended it to others. Many co-ops outsource similar work due to a lack of suitable equipment, which is costly. By handling this work in-house, we saved significant expenses and ensured the job was done to our standards.”
Learn More About Skylift’s Products
If you’re interested in Skylift’s easement equipment, reach out to Skylift today. Organizations may qualify for special grants that can significantly lower the purchase price of the Pioneer or other Skylift equipment. Reach out to us today to learn more, and experience Skylift’s dedication to customer service and easement expertise.
