Hot Mix October 2005

PMI to offer industry-specific contractor coverage
Pavement Maintenance Insurance Agency (PMI), a new full-service insurance agency, now offers a complete line of insurance products and services specifically for pavement maintenance contractors, according to Scott Cerosky, president.

"One of the difficulties pavement maintenance contractors have had over the years is that they have traditionally been lumped into risk categories where they do not belong," Cerosky says. "The result was their premiums were too high for the type of work they really do."

He says that PMI developed what is called the "Clean Streets Program" to address the coverage needs specific to the power sweeping, line striping, sealcoating, and catch basin industries.

Cerosky said PMI has implemented unique underwriting and rating criteria such as: non-auditable general liability policy with broad form additional insured coverage, seasonal lay-up credited auto policy, North American Power Sweeping Association Certified Sweeper and GPS System credits, mobile equipment rating for sweepers and tank trucks on the auto policy.

"Our goal at PMI is to keep up to date with the latest changes within the pavement maintenance industry so that we can offer our program participants the most comprehensive and competitive insurance package available," Cerosky says. "We remain active with the trade associations and participate in the many roundtable discussions and seminars offered at the Pavement expos."

He says PMI plans to develop and issue various loss control material, write insurance-related articles (see page 30), and speak at upcoming trade shows. (Cerosky will present sessions at both National Pavement Expo West, Nov. 17-19, and National Pavement Expo, Feb. 15-18, 2006.)

"This is all in an effort to continually provide the pavement maintenance industry with the highest level of insurance expertise," he says.

JCB acquires Vibromax
JCB, a global manufacturer of construction equipment, has acquired the German-based Vibromax Compaction Equipment GmbH, according to John Patterson, managing director and CEO of the JCB Group.

"There is a great deal of synergy between JCB and Vibromax," Patterson said. "The Vibromax products expand JCB's all-important construction equipment range and we are very excited about the growth potential for the future."

He said the company will be known as JCB Vibromax and will be managed as part of the JCB Group. Local management will be retained in Germany and North America, and the products will be marketed as JCB Vibromax and will carry the JCB logo.

Vibromax manufactured about 2,500 pieces of equipment a year in Germany, including a full line of single-drum soil compactors, vibratory tandem rollers, tampers, plate compactors, and trench rollers.

The acquisition was expected to be completed in September.

Ingersoll-Rand opens Road Institute West
Ingersoll-Rand, Davidson, NC, announced it will open its Road Institute West campus Nov. 15 in Phoenix, AZ.

The new campus, featuring state-of-the-art media resources, high-speed data ports at each student work station, and an outside demonstration area, complements Ingersoll-Rand's Road Institute in Chambersburg, PA.

AASHTO marks highway system anniversary
In recognition of the 50th anniversary of the interstate highways system next year, the American Association of State & Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) has launched a website to honor the event.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 in June 1956, the legislation credited with creating the modern U.S. interstate highway system.

The website, www.interstate50th.org, will expand over the next year and will include facts, a history of the system, personal stories, and unique engineering feats of the 47,000-mile network.

Next summer it will feature a daily report of a cross-country convoy retracing the route of the two-month 1919 military convoy in which then Lt. Colonel Eisenhower traveled from Washington, D.C. to San Francisco.