Last month’s bipartisan passage of “Cement Sector Regulatory Relief Act of 2011” (H.R. 2681) by the U.S. House of Representatives was overwhelmingly called a triumph by construction industry leaders.
Read MoreMonth: November 2011
Value Added Sales – Finding the true value in each sale
Value added or “up-selling” has been foundational to the success of many concrete companies and continues to be a solid source of potential profit generation. The scope of value added is not just product orientated, but also involves a true understanding of customer needs. Many customers still miss the full potential value of concrete and services you can provide.
Read MoreCourt refuses to indulge claims of ‘meal period’ driver plaintiffs
A group of mixer truck drivers sought $6 million in a class action lawsuit, alleging former employer Granite Rock Co. violated California labor laws requiring off-duty meal periods or payment for duty-free meal periods. A Santa Clara County Superior Court decision issued last month suggests that instead of being awarded back pay and legal fee largesse, Driscoll et al. vs. Granite Rock plaintiffs and their counsel were handed their lunches.
Read MoreCommand Alkon ‘Replenishes’ concrete, bulk materials product suites
Sources: CP staff; Command Alkon Inc., Birmingham, Ala.
COMMANDoptimize, offering real-time fleet and plant management to improve ready mixed concrete dispatch operations’ efficiency and profitability, was center stage at the 2011 Command Alkon Customer Conference.
Read MoreNAHB Improving Markets Index expands to 30 metropolitan areas
Source: Rock Products staff
The number of improving housing markets continued to expand for a third consecutive month in November, rising from 23 to 30 on the latest National Association of Home Builders/First American Improving Markets Index. The list dropped two metropolitan areas and added nine new ones—Fort Collins, Colo.; Hinesville, Ga.; Davenport, Iowa; Monroe, La.; Lima, Ohio; Williamsport, Pa.; Corpus Christi and Tyler, Texas; and, Cheyenne, Wyo.
Read MoreInternational Precast ships first Canadian CarbonCast job
Source: AltusGroup, Bethlehem, Pa.
CarbonCast high performance insulated wall panels were erected for the first time in Canada at the new Cineplex Galaxy cinema in Chatham, Ontario, by International Precast Solutions, River Rouge, Mich.
Read MoreCRSI recommends return to inch-pound markings
Source: Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute, Schaumburg, Ill.
At a meeting on November 9, the CRSI Board of Directors urged all producer members to revert to an inch-pound bar marking system for all sizes and grades of deformed reinforcing steel products. CRSI members produce more than 90 percent of domestic reinforcing steel.
Read MorePenny’s Concrete effects Universal recycled motor oil switch
Source: Universal Lubricants, Wichita, Kan.
Shawnee Mission, Kan., ready mixed producer Penny’s Concrete has adopted American Petroleum Insitute-licensed and Society of Automotive Engineers-grade Eco Ultra recycled oils and coolants across its 150-truck fleet. Universal Lubricants bills itself as the only domestic producer of recycled motor oils, maintaining a closed-loop by collecting, re-refinining, blending, packaging and re-distributing its own truck lubricants. “The average 60-quart recycled motor oil change translates to a savings of 24 new barrels of oil,” notes CEO John Wesley.
Read MoreNCMA’s promotion-wise Check-Off program climbs Capitol Hill
Sources: CP staff; National Concrete Masonry Association, Herndon, Va.
By Don Marsh
Reps. John Shimkus (R-IL-19) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI-2) have introduced a bill enabling creation of a Concrete Masonry Board to oversee a generic promotion, research and information awareness program on behalf of U.S. block producers and importers. Operating with up to 25 members under Secretary of Commerce authority, the board could support the program—modeled after other industries’ “check-off” initiatives—by assessing producers or importers 1 to 5 cents/concrete masonry unit sold in the United States.
Read MoreDickinson Ready Mix charged by booming ND oil field business
Source: CP staff
Unlike other companies upgrading their facilities in anticipation of an improving economy and the resulting surge of new and returning business, North Dakota’s Dickinson Ready Mix was in the fortunate position of never having gone through a significant downturn as many other construction-related operations did.
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