Contractors and other construction equipment buyers responded to increased work and expanded tax breaks by ordering record numbers of new machines. Final tallies of equipment shipments are expected to be up 10 to 15 percent for the year. Contractors buying new and used construction equipment in 2018 and over the next five years will reap some hefty tax breaks: Section 179 and bonus depreciation now allow contractors to deduct 100 percent of the cost of new and used equipment in the first year they put the equipment into use. Another provision of the new tax law increased the maximum depreciation deduction on Section 179 property from $500,000 to $1 million and increased the cap on the equipment purchases from $2 million to $2.5 million.
Long-awaited rules governing crane operations took effect in November, including a requirement that operators be certified on the type of crane they are running. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s final rule says crane operators must be certified or licensed on the equipment and receive ongoing training as necessary to operate new equipment. The rule applies to a range of equipment, including mobile cranes, tower cranes and articulating cranes, such as knuckle-boom cranes.
