Beyond Fuel – FREE Book

May 27, 2025 Book, General

Beyond Fuel is a powerful and provocative call to pause, reflect, and rethink the industry’s green transition. In this insightful collection of essays, veteran journalist and DemolitionNews founder Mark Anthony pulls back the curtain on the global shift from diesel to electric and hydrogen-powered construction and demolition equipment. While politicians and manufacturers paint a picture of seamless transformation, Anthony highlights the uncomfortable truths hiding behind the PR gloss.

This isn’t just about fuel—it’s about power. Power wielded by industry giants who can afford to innovate, and the absence of it among the small manufacturers, skilled diesel engineers, and developing nations left scrambling in the wake of change. With razor-sharp analysis and heartfelt urgency, Anthony explores the risks of creating a two-tier world: one with gleaming machines and another with rusted-out dreams.

Beyond Fuel challenges the reader to confront a key question: can we build a cleaner, smarter future without sacrificing fairness, diversity, and the skilled hands that built the industry in the first place? This book doesn’t offer easy answers, but it dares to ask the right questions—before the diesel grows silent for good.

You can download the book FREE HERE.

Alternatively, you can listen to the audio book version HERE.

The Break Fast Show #943

May 30, 2025 Video

In today’s show: CASE unveils its latest compact excavators; how Liebherr is pioneering hydrogen technology; we’re out on site with Hitachi; and Caterpillar’s 100-year celebrations continue.

PLUS in Mark’s Morning Monologue: Four is too many.

Join host Mark Anthony LIVE for The Break Fast Show – the ONLY daily LiveStream built exclusively for demolition, construction, and equipment fanatics worldwide.

Breaking news. Expert views. Unmissable videos. Raw opinions. If it matters in the industry, we’re talking about it – LIVE.

Test your knowledge with the Mystery Machine, have your say in the Question of the Day, and don’t miss Mark’s Morning Monologue – a no-holds-barred take on the hottest topics.

And when the show’s done, the conversation’s just getting started. Stick around for The Craic, our legendary after-show chat!

Set your alarm. Grab your coffee. It’s time to break fast, and to break new ground.

The Break Fast Show #942

May 28, 2025 Video

In today’s show: We’re taking a closer look at the XCMG XE500 excavator ; Caterpillar’s timely “Built to be Rebuilt” philosophy; we’re in Scandinavia with a JCB wheel loader; and we’re powering back to Bauma 2025 with a hydrogen-fuelled machine from Manitou.

PLUS in Mark’s Morning Monologue: Employer’s Dream, Employee’s Nightmare. What happens when some workers care too much while others care too little.

Join host Mark Anthony LIVE for The Break Fast Show – the ONLY daily LiveStream built exclusively for demolition, construction, and equipment fanatics worldwide.

Breaking news. Expert views. Unmissable videos. Raw opinions. If it matters in the industry, we’re talking about it – LIVE.

Test your knowledge with the Mystery Machine, have your say in the Question of the Day, and don’t miss Mark’s Morning Monologue – a no-holds-barred take on the hottest topics.

And when the show’s done, the conversation’s just getting started. Stick around for The Craic, our legendary after-show chat!

Set your alarm. Grab your coffee. It’s time to break fast, and to break new ground.

Fallen Giants

May 27, 2025 Long Form

I’m not a Manchester United fan. Let’s get that out of the way up front. I support West Ham, and have done for more years than I care to count. And for most of those years, I dreaded our meetings with Manchester United. They didn’t just beat us. They dominated us. Humbled us. They humiliated us. You’d go into the game already resigned to the likely outcome. It wasn’t just the quality of their players or the brilliance of their manager; it was something more intangible. An aura. A sense of inevitability. Manchester United weren’t just a team; they were a force of nature. They were, quite simply, the gold standard.

Funny thing is, I used to feel the same way about the UK demolition industry. For a long time, it was feared and revered; respected, and admired. Not just here, but around the world. Our methods were studied. Our equipment was envied. Our expertise unmatched. Clients wanted a British firm not just because we were good, but because we were the best. Like Manchester United, we had built a legacy. And like Manchester United, we thought that legacy would last forever.

But that’s not how the world works.

This article continues on Demolition Insider. Please use the link below to access this article FOR FREE.

The Break Fast Show #941

May 27, 2025 Video

In today’s show: Yanmar adds a new ride-on dumper model; why Kobelco is Australia’s Number One; the JCB 3CX is the apple of Orchard’s eye; and in our latest look back at Bauma 2025, we’re checking out the latest product offerings from Dynapac.

PLUS in Mark’s Morning Monologue: From the theatre of dreams to the rubble of regret. How the UK demolition sector allowed its global leadership to slip away.

Join host Mark Anthony LIVE for The Break Fast Show – the ONLY daily LiveStream built exclusively for demolition, construction, and equipment fanatics worldwide.

Breaking news. Expert views. Unmissable videos. Raw opinions. If it matters in the industry, we’re talking about it – LIVE.

Test your knowledge with the Mystery Machine, have your say in the Question of the Day, and don’t miss Mark’s Morning Monologue – a no-holds-barred take on the hottest topics.

And when the show’s done, the conversation’s just getting started. Stick around for The Craic, our legendary after-show chat!

Set your alarm. Grab your coffee. It’s time to break fast, and to break new ground.

Who will speak for you…?

May 23, 2025 Long Form

We live in an age of instant gratification. 280-character posts on Twitter or X, as we now call it. Short-form vertical videos that barely register as they flicker across our retinas. Global news reduced to political soundbites and clickbait headlines.

I read just such a headline yesterday. It came out of Australia and it stopped me in my tracks.

“BHP says the return of unions is the definition of unproductive.”

For those unfamiliar, BHP is a mining giant. In this instance, they’re talking about extracting iron ore in Western Australia. And they know a thing or two about productivity. Australian mines are finely tuned machines; extracting as much as possible, for as little as possible. Productivity is their middle name. It’s in their DNA.

So when the world’s biggest mining company starts publicly fretting about a potential loss of productivity, people pay attention.

But here’s the thing. There’s more to this story than a single line in a press release.

This article continues on Demolition Insider. Please use the link below to access this article FOR FREE.

The Break Fast Show #940

May 23, 2025 Video

In today’s show: Liebherr sets its sights on conquering the Australian mining sector; Caterpillar’s energetic outlook on the sites of the future; CASE’s click and dig function takes the strain out of repetitive tasks; and in our latest look back at Bauma 2025, we’re checking out the latest product offerings from Gehl.

PLUS in Mark’s Morning Monologue: Who will speak up for you?

Join host Mark Anthony LIVE for The Break Fast Show – the ONLY daily LiveStream built exclusively for demolition, construction, and equipment fanatics worldwide.

Breaking news. Expert views. Unmissable videos. Raw opinions. If it matters in the industry, we’re talking about it – LIVE.

Test your knowledge with the Mystery Machine, have your say in the Question of the Day, and don’t miss Mark’s Morning Monologue – a no-holds-barred take on the hottest topics.

And when the show’s done, the conversation’s just getting started. Stick around for The Craic, our legendary after-show chat!

Set your alarm. Grab your coffee. It’s time to break fast, and to break new ground.

Locked up tight…

May 22, 2025 Long Form

Are equipment manufacturers restricting your right to repair?

Are we, as an industry, walking into a trap? A trap laid – deliberately or otherwise – by equipment manufacturers? Are we on the brink of a new era where we’re not just discouraged from maintaining our own equipment but actively prevented from doing so?

For years, construction equipment manufacturers – much like their counterparts in the automotive sector – have had us over a barrel when it comes to parts. “Failure to use genuine parts will invalidate your warranty,” they warn. It’s written into purchase agreements, lease deals, and operator manuals.

Setting aside the fact that these parts are for a machine that YOU own and YOU paid for, it has always irked me that manufacturers go out of their way to ensure you pay top dollar for replacement parts and consumables. You can shop around for the machine itself, comparing models from various brands and sources. But once they have you locked in, they slam the door shut to ensure any parts added to your machines are supplied by them, and them only.

This article continues on Demolition Insider. Please use the link below to access this article FOR FREE.

The Break Fast Show #939

May 22, 2025 Video

In today’s show: JCB Pothole Pro goes to work in Canada; need to manage attachments? John Deere has got you covered; we’re down on the beach with Mammoet; and in our latest look back at Bauma 2025, we’re revisiting the Develon stand.

PLUS in Mark’s Morning Monologue: Locked up tight – Are plant owners and operators walking into a repair and maintenance trap?
Join host Mark Anthony LIVE for The Break Fast Show – the ONLY daily LiveStream built exclusively for demolition, construction, and equipment fanatics worldwide.

Breaking news. Expert views. Unmissable videos. Raw opinions. If it matters in the industry, we’re talking about it – LIVE.

Test your knowledge with the Mystery Machine, have your say in the Question of the Day, and don’t miss Mark’s Morning Monologue – a no-holds-barred take on the hottest topics.

And when the show’s done, the conversation’s just getting started. Stick around for The Craic, our legendary after-show chat!

Set your alarm. Grab your coffee. It’s time to break fast, and to break new ground.

When the free market, isn’t

May 21, 2025 Long Form

As children, we’re fed a series of white lies and untruths: Carrots help you see in the dark. Cracking your knuckles leads to arthritis. Watching too much TV will turn your eyes square.

As adults, we’re told a different set of fibs: Politicians have our best interests at heart. Trickle-down economics works. Hard work always pays off. And then there is, perhaps, the greatest falsehood of them all: The market sets the price.

We are taught that in a capitalist free-market economy, prices for goods and services are determined solely by the invisible hand of supply and demand. That sacred phrase “the market sets the price” is etched into every economics textbook, every political speech, and every justification for soaring prices or stagnant wages.

But that idea, like Santa Claus watching who’s naughty or nice, falls apart under scrutiny.

This article continues on Demolition Insider. Please use the link below to access this article FOR FREE.