Northern S&G veteran named NRMCA Driver of the Year

Sources: National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, Alexandria, Va.; CP staff Edward Folkersma, a 34-year veteran of Northern Sand and Gravel in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., is the 2022 NRMCA Ready Mixed Concrete Delivery Professional Driver of the Year. A national panel of industry judges selected him from a large pool of nominees representing producer members from across the United States.…

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Survey finds increasing mixer driver recruitment, demand equilibrium

20 NRMCA 150

The National Ready Mixed Concrete Association Mixer Driver Recruitment & Retention Survey shows an improved, year-over-year outlook for ready mixed concrete producers to maintain a healthy delivery professional pool. In 2019, 47 percent of respondents turned away orders due to lack of mixer truck drivers, down from 60 percent in 2018. The number of producers citing mixer driver vacancies dropped…

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Research contrasts resistivity test vs. w/c ratio to gauge permeability

A new Ready Mixed Concrete Research & Education Foundation report reflecting work at the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association’s College Park, Md. laboratory addresses the lack of a consistent and cost-effective concrete permeability test method. “Reliability of Resistivity Tests of Concrete” authors evaluate mix design and specimen preparation factors that impact resistivity measurement; their conclusions can be incorporated in standards…

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NRMCA mobilizes salute to concrete delivery professionals

Sources: National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, Alexandria, Va.; CP staff

National Mixer Driver Appreciation Week, October 5-9, will afford ready mixed concrete producers and their allies an opportunity to acknowledge the hard work, dedication and customer service of delivery professionals across the industry. NRMCA announced the event in conjunction with a rescheduling of this year’s National Mixer Truck Driver Championship to September 2021. The competition is a major draw of the ConcreteWorks Conference and Expo, originally set for September 25-27 in Colorado but moved to October 7-8 in virtual format. 

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NRMCA shifts ConcreteWorks 2020 conference to virtual format

Sources: National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, Alexandria, Va.; CP staff

NRMCA is mapping a late-September schedule of general or education sessions, committee meetings, plus keynote presentations on current political and economic issues as part of a ConcreteWorks 2020 reformatting from an in-person to online conference. The association is also planning a virtual exhibition allowing members to conduct business with plant and fleet equipment manufacturers. In lieu of a National Mixer Driver Championship—perennially the top ConcreteWorks feature—NRMCA will conduct a Mixer Driver Appreciation Week. 

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Maschmeyer, Ozinga, Miles pros top Mixer Driver Championship pool

Sources: CP staff; National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, Alexandria, Va.

Luis Martinez, an Orlando-based delivery professional for Maschmeyer Concrete Co., took the 2019 National Mixer Truck Driver Championship, staged October 5-6 in Kissimmee, Fla. during the NRMCA ConcreteWorks 2019 conference. He received a $5,000 check from NRMCA affiliate, the Truck Mixer Manufacturers Bureau, which was among 22 sponsors of an event featuring a record pool of 96 drivers tackle eight-station driving course and six-point ability challenges, plus written exam. 

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Mixer driver recruitment survey: New-hire ranks rise, vacancies persist

Source: National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, Silver Spring, Md. 

The 2019 NRMCA Mixer Driver Recruitment and Retention Survey shows the estimated industry driver pool increasing for the first time in two years, from 75,000 in 2016-2017 to 77,000 last year. Among survey respondents, 95 percent report driver vacancies—equating to nearly 10,000 unfilled driver positions through the end of 2018—versus 27 percent the prior year, while 60 percent turned away business due to lack of drivers available for material deliveries. 

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NRMCA seeks Driver Recruitment Survey responses by month’s end

Sources: National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, Silver Spring, Md.; CP staff

The NRMCA Workforce Development Committee is encouraging producer participation in one of its top annual deliverables: the Mixer Driver Recruitment & Retention Survey, open here through June 28. Members aim to eclipse a 2018 survey sampling of 183 producers representing an estimated 26 percent of the industry driver pool. 

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Construction-specific ELD accounts for mixer, pump driver hours exemptions

ELD ii best crop

A developer of market-specific tools for fleet operators and drivers bound by Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration hours of service rules cites the first electronic logging device programmed with functionality to reflect the agency’s HOS rule exemptions for mixer and concrete pump drivers. GeoSpace Labs timed the February release of its construction-specific ELD with FMCSA’s formal announcement of exemptions for concrete delivery and placement vehicles; it waives drivers’ 30-minute break requirement and relaxes the reset period from 14 to 12 hours.

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