Construction Equipment Owner

…and every thing’s going to be all right. Ok, so I might be a little on the optimistic side and potentially making a mountain out of a molehill, but it’s good news on this Friday.

According to Action Economics’ March Construction Spending Report the figures contained in the report reverse the pessimistic view for non-residential construction. It has become evident that February (0.6%) and March (1.9%) experienced gains in non-residential construction spending while December (0.2%) and January (0.1%) only saw minimal dips.

The report when on to state: “This dramatic change in direction has substantially trimmed recession risk, as the earlier reported turn in this measure of business fixed investment was seen as a signal of a broader switch in direction for business spending overall. The turn may still unfold, but there is no longer evidence of it in the official figures beyond a temporary blip in growth for this measure for two months ending in January.”

Despite the positive notes for non-residential construction, residential construction continues to substantially weaken.

Commercial contractors aren’t back to 06-07 levels, but remember those were some of the most successful years ever, and two months worth of modest growth doesn’t signal a continued significant increase in construction spending. However, it does seem to point to facts that indicate the industry is thriving despite what picture some may want to paint.

The lease on my Jetta recently expired and I decided to make a shift in vehicles from my car to a SUV - a Jeep Grand Cherokee. Obviously my gas mileage also made a significant shift and this may not have been the most ideal time to make the leap to a six-cylinder SUV with the ever-increasing prices for fuel. Well, I needed the bigger vehicle to meet my needs of carrying larger loads as I am in the midst of significant remodeling job on my house. So I just have to make peace with the current prices and be more aware of my fuel consumption and take the necessary actions to increase my fuel efficiency.

Though not on the same scale, but contractors are facing a similar situation. You’re not going to shot down your equipment because fuel prices are on the rise, you need to make appropriate adjustments and do what you can to get more out of each drop of fuel. And though it focuses mostly on over-the-road trucks, Volvo Trucks has recently provided some tips for dealing with $4 diesel. Some of the tips are proprietary to Volvo trucks, but others are universal and good ideas to be aware of as you try to extend your time between visits to the pump.

Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama recently spoke at the Building and Constructions Trades’ Annual Legislative Conference where he called for a National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank that will invest $60 billion over ten years and generate millions of new jobs.

I’m encouraged to see one of the presidential hopefuls addressing the needs for increased infrastructure spending. Before I or anyone should jump on the Obama bandwagon after this declaration, I would like to see his outline as to how to accomplish this. As it is always easy to say what you intend to do, actions speak much louder than words.

Still I hope this helps shed some more light on what could become a disastrous problem if not addressed. And having the highest levels of government earmark it as a a major issue has to be at least a step in the right direction. Let’s just hope the momentum continues beyond the Building and Constructions Trades‘ conference.

Watch video of speakers from the conference. Speakers included Sen. Claire McCaskill, Sen. Barack Obama, Rep. John Lewis, James Carville, Admiral Skip Bowman and John Sweeney.

As part of a CONEXPO-CON/AGG & IFPE 2008 recap, the last issue of the Show Vantage featured some of the highlights from the industry’s largest trade show. What was missing from this recap was the JCB Dancing Diggers that many thought to be the most entertaining and show stopping performance from the entire five-day event.

I must say, one of they shows they put on made me stop and watch for a couple of minutes. So, I found video footage an attendee had taken on YouTube and wanted to share it with our audience. For those of you that may have missed this performance, I hope you enjoy this video.

There are also several more videos from CONEXPO-CON/AGG & IFPE 2008 on YouTube. Simly search “conexpo” for a listing.

A news story came across the wire this morning that I found very interesting and wanted to share with the readers of this blog.

General contractor, R.W. Allen, headquartered in Augusta, Georgia took advantage of its recent project - the construction of a high school - to showcase opportunities graduating high schoolers have available to them in the construction industry.

16 high-school students toured the jobsite of the new school to get a better understanding of what is involved in commercial construction and find out the possibilities of joining the R.W. Allen workforce as the company plans on hiring two interns and training them as project managers this summer.

The partnership formed between R.W. Allen and the Columbia County school system is one that could become extremely valuable to the general construction firm. With time being the major investment, R.W. Allen has created inroads to the majority of its future employee pool. It also allows the company to take a proactive approach to hiring as it is prospecting and recruiting the most skilled potential employees as opposed to accepting the candidates that approach the company.

I would encourage any contractor large or small to explore what options are available to you to get in front of the local students. Even if it is a one-day job fair or a larger venture, the more information and insight you can provide students before they graduate, the more you will grow your potential pool of future employers.

On the same day that New York City came out with a requirement that contractors may no longer raise or lower large cranes on construction sites unless a buildings inspector is present another crane collapsed in Miami.

Two workers where killed and several others where injured when the 14,000 pound crane plummeted to the ground. As of now, there is no known cause for why the crane failed. Winds where said to have been gusty but it is not known what, if any, cause this may have had.

Add this crane accident with the New York crane crash and several deaths in 2006 and this segment of the industry will most likely be put under an immense magnifying glass.

There has been a lot of talk about what 2008 will bring in terms of construction spending. From the chatter I’ve heard, the response has been reluctant to positive about the upcoming year. On the high end, I have not seen anyone calling for a record year and I don’t think anyone in their right mind would expect this. On the flip side, the good news is that I’ve yet to hear anyone calling for doom and gloom (As a note, I must say I am generally speaking towards non-residential construction as is the focus of this website).

I spoke with Ed Sullivan, Chief Economist for the Portland Cement Association at the 2008 World of Concrete and he is more on the reluctant side of the fence. Overall for the concrete industry, he believes the residential side of the industry will still be down with a possible turn-around in sight. He also sees some hot non-residential segments for 2008 such as the hotel industry.

Speaking of a more positive outlook is Ken Simonson, chief economist for the Associated General Contractors. He notes that employment and spending in non-residential continues to rise despite a slowdown in other construction markets.

So what’s going to happen? I can’t say for sure. The buzz has continually gotten louder about the industry finally hitting a decline. Yet I’ve seen spending on non-residential construction continually buck predictions of decline over the past few months and there are strong indicators that public construction and other non-residential segments will continue to stay strong. I’m going to stay on the positive side of this discussion and expect the industry to continue to prosper.

The ink was barely dry on my post about Ron Roberts and his Filthy Rich Contractor Blog when I was made aware of another blog that I want to bring to your attention - The RentalMetrics blog.

The RentalMetrics blog is written by Doug Mitchell, founder and Chief Deliverer of Results of RentalMetrics. The blog is full of “red meat” for the heroes that rent iron and move dirt.

There is a lot of good information and resources here for those in the construction equipment rental industry. I encourage our rental audience to check out the blog as I’m sure you’ll find it a valuable read and worth exploring.

Thanks to Kelly for bringing this blog to my attention. Don’t worry, this isn’t going to turn into a blog about other blogs you should read. I only plan on highlighting the better ones and will make sure this blog is also at top of your must-read list.

I want to take this opportunity to welcome Ron Roberts and the Filthy Rich Contractor Blog to the construction blogging community.

Ron, for those who don’t know, is a contributor to the ForConstructionPros.com website and other Cygnus Business Media publications. That’s not the only reason I’m highlighting his blog though. From reading his articles, it easy to see that he is a wealth of information and should have a lot of great things to share on his blog. So I would recommend subscribing to it, just like I know you’ve done with this blog.

Again, welcome. In my opinion, the more discussion that is created about the construction industry, the better.

With a growing population of Spanish-speaking employees in the construction industry the importance of effectively communicating with these employees also grows. For those looking for help in this area without having to completely learn a new language, there is a new book that is aimed at those in construction. “Spanish for the Construction Trade,” authored by William C. Harvey and published by Barron’s Educational Series, this 313 page reference book provides essential words and phrases in chapters on specific construction situations. Additional information contained in the book includes pronunciation, greetings, numbers and time, and common verbs. A vocabulary for general topics such as health, clothing, the weather, tools and materials, and measurements is also provided. In addition there are also segments on Latino traditions, beliefs and general ways of life.

A google search of the book title will bring up several websites where you can find this book priced less than its $14.99 retail price.