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Free Material Kits Enhance Construction Safety Meetings & Training
By Kimberly Hegeman - Wednesday February 20, 2013As a construction business owner, you should be fully aware of the importance of safety. But safety isn't just a topic discussed once and then left on the shelf to collect dust. Safety is an ongoing discussion. Safety procedures should be updated for each different jobsite. Safety should be reviewed to make sure employees and processes are working safely as intended. Safety should be taught and then reviewed, many times. In a poll of ForConstruction.com visitors back in May 2012, we asked readers to let us know how often they meet to discuss safety on the jobsite. Here's what respondents said: 7% More frequently than daily 31% Daily 14% More frequently than weekly 28% Weekly 21% Less than three times per month In another... -
The Rental Show Highlights New Season of Growth
By Jenny Lescohier - Tuesday February 19, 2013
I've been going to The Rental Show for 17 years. When I attended my first show -- 1996 in Anaheim, CA -- there was no such thing as United Rentals, the first wave of consolidation had yet to hit, and no one had even heard the phrase "Tier 4." It's hard for me to believe so many changes have happened and so much time has passed. Those of us who've been in the industry for many years have seen a few cycles of growth and retraction. Thankfully, the past few years have taken us on another upswing, evidenced by what we saw at this year's Rental Show, held at the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas. There was definitely a palpable energy, a feeling of optimism that you could see and hear upon entering the show floor. Official... -
Construction Industry Reacts to State of the Union Address
By Becky Schultz - Wednesday February 13, 2013Construction industry leaders are wasting little time in expressing their opinions about President Obama's State of the Union address last night. Already two major industry associations have issued statements. Pete Ruane, president and CEO of the American Road & Transportation Builders Association , was largely positive in his comments, expressing appreciation to the President for highlighting "the link between a strong, properly-functioning transportation infrastructure network and economic competitiveness." According to Ruane, "[The President's'] call for increased investment in roads, bridges and transit systems has been echoed repeatedly by scores of congressional leaders from both parties, the nation’s governors, and state and... -
NPE 2013: Strength More than Survival
By Allan Heydorn - Wednesday February 13, 2013It's been almost three weeks since National Pavement Expo 2013 ended in Nashville -- enough time to let the euphoric buzz pass and take a hard look at what at the time seemed a very good show. And after letting things settle a bit what I've realized is... NPE 2013 was every bit as strong as it seemed at the time. Attendance was up 43% over 2011 in Memphis and up nearly as much over 2010. And the contractors who attended took way more sessions than in the recent past -- possibly a result of a new pricing structure that reduced the per-session cost the more seminars a contractor signed up for. The free Roundtables were crowded, all the coffee mugs sponsored by STAR Inc., Blacklidge Emulsions, and the Asphalt Sealcoat Manufacturers... -
Time to Focus on Worker Retention
By Becky Schultz - Wednesday January 23, 2013With the economic recovery slowly picking up steam, staffing agencies are starting to see an interesting shift in those applying for new positions. In a recent article in The Washington Post , HireStrategy CEO Paul Villella indicated that calls to his company's office during the fourth quarter of 2012 were increasingly coming from those who were already employed but seeking new opportunities. He had not seen such a high volume of these requests since early 2008. The article cited the driving force behind this shift as "a workforce that has grown weary of the corporate belt-tightening that was commonplace during the recession." At a time of frequent layoffs, employees were happy to have a job, making them willing to accept "austerity... -
Business Strategies for Construction Businesses in 2013
By Kimberly Hegeman - Monday January 21, 2013
This blog post was written exclusively for ForConstructionPros by nationwide equipment financing company Balboa Capital. Now that 2013 is upon us, every business owner wants to start the new year with a positive outlook. For those in the construction industry, the new year has shown positive signs for business due to a higher demand for housing across the nation. With growing job markets, many people will be starting new jobs, and they’ll want to move to cities where those jobs are located. Recently, a leading construction information resource reported that the amount of single family housing units will increase by 21 percent, and that fewer foreclosures will stabilize housing prices. PCA Report Predicts All 50 States... -
As Demand Rises, So Will Equipment Lead Times – and Costs
By Becky Schultz - Wednesday January 16, 2013It's no secret that construction equipment dealers were especially hard hit during the recession, with machine sales declining as much as 60% at its peak. Dealers desperate to unload inventory collecting dust on their lots were willing to cut deals – even to the point of losing money – just to get the equipment off their books. Such is no longer the case. The construction equipment market has seen a resurgence, as rental companies and construction firms alike move to replace aging equipment fleets. Forecasts indicate ongoing growth in U.S. equipment sales , with wheel loaders, backhoe-loaders and rubber-tracked loaders leading the charge. Global demand for construction equipment is expected to continue its upward momentum, as well... -
Protect Your Business From Fraud
By Kimberly Hegeman - Wednesday January 16, 2013
We are all well aware of how fraud and identity theft can harm our personal lives. But construction business owners should also be aware of how fraud can hurt their businesses and what steps they should take to protect their companies from fraud. Blog: Don't Ignore Corporate Identity Theft RBS Citizens Financial Group, Inc. , a Providence, R.I.-based commercial bank holding company, is working to educate business owners and make them aware of areas of vulnerability. “During and just after the holidays is when many fraud schemes pick up, as more people feel stretched with greater year-end expenses,” says James Gifas, head of RBS Citizens Treasury Solutions. “As we look ahead into 2013, companies may have blind spots they may... -
JCB Machines to Help Unearth History
By Becky Schultz - Tuesday January 15, 2013
Back in the 1930s, Reginald Mitchell, an engineer born in Staffordshire, UK, made his mark by designing the Spitfire , a warplane widely used during World War II. Now, a Staffordshire-based manufacturer is preparing to aid in efforts to recover lost remnants of the historic planes. As World War II drew to a close, a number of unassembled planes are thought to have been hidden in the ground by American engineers across three sites. After a 17-year search led by aviation enthusiast David Cundall, a bid to excavate for crates believed to contain more than 30 of the Spitfires is about to get underway at Rangoon International Airport in Burma. Online games developer Wargaming is funding the efforts. As a fitting contributor to the... -
Manfredi Forecasts 2013 Construction-Equipment Sales to Grow 5.4%
By Frank Manfredi - Monday January 14, 2013
The 2013 construction equipment market will benefit from improvements in housing, continued high levels of demand from the energy sector and improving non-residential construction investment by manufacturers. Overall I expect 2013 growth of 5.4 percent compared with 2012. I expect the slowdown that began in the second half of 2012 to extend into the first half of 2013 and most of the 2013 growth to occur in the second half. I believe rental companies will continue their aggressive re-fleeting in 2013, however, most of those purchases will be for aerial platforms. The first half of 2013 is likely to be down 5 percent to 7 percent compared with the first half of 2012 because of difficult comparisons. The first half of 2012 grew at a...