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NSSGA reveals new strategic plan at annual convention
The National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (NSSGA) launched a new three-year plan during its annual convention in Las Vegas, in which it addressed issues critical to the future of the aggregates industry and the future of America’s infrastructure. The convention's general session featured former secretaries of the U.S. Department of Transportation – Ray LaHood, Norman Mineta and Mary Peters — addressing transportation reauthorization. They offered insights on achieving passage of a long-term resolution. NSSGA's new strategic plan, called Rocks Build America, outlines four key objectives: 1. Strengthen NSSGA’s legislative advocacy leadership role and effectiveness in the construction materials sector. 2. Successfully advocate for members’ interests on health, safety and environmental issues of national importance. 3. Expand NSSGA’s internal and external communication strategies to support its priority objectives. 4. Articulate NSSGA’s value proposition; increase producer membership and revenues. “My number one priority as NSSGA’s chairman is to drive aggressive implementation of Rocks Build America,” said Paul I. Detwiler III, NSSGA chairman and president and CEO of New Enterprise Stone &… Keep Reading
Terex rocks the house with ZZ Top
Terex Corp. had a large presence at ConExpo and hosted a party at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino featuring ZZ Top. The band played all of its hit songs, performing in the Hard Rock's concert venue – The Joint. Terex also held a press conference, in which Ron DeFeo, chairman and CEO, said he is very optimistic about his company's future, noting that "2013 was a year of improvement" and adding that he expects 2014 to be even better. Kieran Hegarty, president of the company's Materials Processing division, outlined the division's new offerings, including its CRJ3750 portable jaw plant, which offers large capacity with high mobility. Other new offerings include the LJ-TS V-Series horizontal screen, J-1170 jaw crusher, Powerscreen Trakpactor 320SR impact crusher and Terex Washing Systems Aggresand 206 washer, a larger model in the Aggresand range. Terex also promoted its new Environmental Equipment division, which is expected to announce "a slew of new products introductions" this year. Keep Reading
Dirty Jobs star promotes industry careers at Cat event
Television personality Mike Rowe, from the show Dirty Jobs, spoke at an event hosted by Caterpillar Inc. The company said it employs 18,000 service technicians in North America, and many will be leaving soon owing to retirement and other factors. And these employees will be difficult to replace. So Rowe is working with Caterpillar to address the negative image of this career path. His MikeRoweWorks Foundation promotes hard work and supports the skilled trades in a variety of areas. Primarily, the foundation awards scholarships to young men and women who have illustrated both an interest and an aptitude for mastering a specific trade. Qualified candidates include those students who want to advance their education through an accredited trade school or apprenticeship program, exhibit high work ethics and need financial assistance. During his talk, Rowe cited unemployment among veterans. "It's almost scandalous the unemployment rate among returning veterans," he said. And he noted that MikeRoweWorks is helping. Also during the event, Rowe discussed his Skilled Trades initiatives and shared copies of… Keep Reading
Panel discussion concludes Dire States tour
Case Construction Equipment addressed the problem with this nation’s crumbling infrastructure during a lively panel discussion titled Dire States and a Call for Change. On hand were Jim Oberstar, former U.S. congressman and chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee; Janet Kavinoky, executive director, transportation and infrastructure, U.S. Chamber of Commerce; Dan McNichol, author and infrastructure expert who recently toured the country to survey America’s infrastructure and raise awareness to the need for investment/development; and Jim Hasler, vice president, Case Construction Equipment. It was a fitting end to McNichol’s infrastructure road trip. The Case booth featured the battered and rusty 1949 Hudson he drove to help illustrate his point. Companies waste millions of dollars when poor road conditions cause their trucks to be delayed. “If we don’t make these investments, business suffers,” Oberstar said. “There is a business cost for failure to act.” The panelists agreed that change is needed now. They urged those listening to get involved in their communities, contact their congressional representatives and demand change. At… Keep Reading
I Make America promotes Harley-Davidson giveaway
As part of its push to advocate for pro-manufacturing policies that create U.S. jobs, I Make America is giving away a custom-painted 2014 Harley-Davidson Road King. The motorcycle debuted at the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) booth at ConExpo-Con/Agg, and it will now tour the country as part of a campaign to increase supporters and member company engagement in I Make America. The bike will visit AEM member companies from next month through September. “This giveaway is part of AEM advocacy’s broader goal to get member companies and their employees engaged in I Make America and raise awareness of its mission to advocate for the interests of the equipment manufacturing industry,” said AEM President Dennis Slater. “This year, the equipment manufacturing industry faces major legislative hurdles, including: passing a long-term highway bill; opening up global markets for our exports; protecting our nation’s renewable fuel standards; and a comprehensive energy plan to boost U.S. competitiveness,” Slater said. “Every voice counts, and by building up our support for I Make America, we… Keep Reading
Volvo announces new products
Volvo Construction introduced the L250H loader, which is Tier 4 Final. In addition to a variety of other new offerings, the company is touting its equipment rebuild program. Also, Volvo's booths feature appearances by Dakota Fred from the TV show Gold Rush, as well as the GaiaX concept compact excavator. Company president Martin Weissburg noted that this year Volvo is celebrating 60 years of making wheel loaders. Keep Reading
Ultimate Uptime from John Deere
The new Ultimate Uptime customer support solution from John Deere is designed to improve customers’ profitability by maximizing productivity and uptime while lowering operating costs. “When we ask customers what they want from us, we hear one answer more than any other: uptime," said Mark Germain, director, customer and product support, John Deere Construction & Forestry. "Downtime hinders their productivity and reduces their profitability. So we created Ultimate Uptime to keep their fleet running and their productivity high.”The Ultimate Uptime Base Package, included with almost all John Deere machines, includes pre-delivery set-up and follow-up inspections, along with three years of John Deere WorkSight’s uptime optimization benefits. The defining component of Ultimate Uptime, John Deere WorkSight includes: • JDLink Ultimate telematics, which alerts customers and dealers of hours, location, geofencing, diagnostic trouble codes and maintenance tracking. • Machine health prognostics analyzes data from JDLink, fluid analysis and machine inspections, then e-mails the dealer and customer with recommended solutions to avoid downtime. • Remote diagnostics and programming enables dealers to read… Keep Reading
Case Construction updates, expands product line
To a crowd of 100 journalists, Jim Hasler, vice president, Case Construction, discussed the company's presence at ConExpo-Con/Agg, including a completely updated and expanded product line. And Peter White, director of global product quality, detailed Case D Series Excavators, which feature Tier 4 Final engines, as well as greater power and performance. Also saying a few words was country-western singer Kip Moore, who will be working with Case to bring attention to the need for improvements in the U.S. infrastructure. Keep Reading
Terex Washing Systems launches larger washer
Terex Washing Systems is using ConExpo-Con/Agg to announce its new larger model in the Aggresand range -- the Aggresand 206 washer. The unit will make its official debut at the Hillhead show this June in Buxton, England. The larger Aggresand model shares all of the unique modular features of the Aggresand 165, including ease of transportation, pre-wired controls and rapid set-up time. On display at ConExpo is the company's FM120BW bucket wheel dewatering system. It brings together traditional dewatering buckets and hydrocyclone technology on one chassis. It is well suited to high-wearing, abrasive sands, as the buckets reduce wear on the rubber-lined centrifugal pump and cyclones. Keep Reading
