Mcneilus Prepares Major Mixer, Plant Delivery To Colombia’s Argos

McNeilus Companies Inc. has scheduled shipment by mid-February of 70 10.5-yd. standard mixers and eight Con-E-Co 5-yd. All Pro model batch plants to Concretos

CP STAFF

McNeilus Companies Inc. has scheduled shipment by mid-February of 70 10.5-yd. standard mixers and eight Con-E-Co 5-yd. All Pro model batch plants to Concretos Argos S.A. in Barranquilla, Colombia. The mixers are en route from a McNeilus facility in Puebla, Mexico, while the plants are under production at Con-E-Co’s Blair, Neb., headquarters. We have made it a priority to cultivate relationships with Latin American producers [and] believe that market is perfectly suited to our products, says Mike Wuest, executive vice president of McNeilus parent Oshkosh Truck Corp.

The equipment will be deployed along The Route of the Sun, a highway linking Bogota to the northern port city of Santa Marta. We had to increase our mixer fleet to undertake this project, notes Concretos Argos Maintenance Director Jesus Vinas, adding that the 70 mixers supplement 15 McNeilus units already delivered. The 1,000-km Route of the Sun is one of 25 federal infrastructure projects launched under Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, who with U.S. backing has positioned the country for infrastructure investment and economic development.

Concretos Argos is part of Medellin-based Cementos Argos, Latin America’s fourth-largest powder producer. The company entered the U.S. in 2005, acquiring Ready Mixed Concrete Co. of Raleigh, N.C., expanding the following year with a deal for Southern Star Concrete of Texas.