NRMCA, with the support of the RMC Research & Education Foundation, continues its project to not only gain a better understanding about your mixer driver recruitment and retention challenges, but to also develop materials to support your efforts to build and maintain driving staff. We can do a better job if we understand the facts better. Now in its second year, we can begin to report trends. The survey is 100% anonymous. We ask the region of the country where your business operates since hiring is local and we separate data as such. The window for participation closes Thursday, June 30.

 

 

In recent years, NRMCA has developed and fine-tuned an approach for measuring paving promotion effectiveness that focuses on tracking outcomes through an online system that is simple but powerful. In addition to NRMCA, the California Nevada Cement Association is using this system with great success and the approach is now being adopted by the state association in Ohio, now called Ohio Concrete. Tracking promotion success in this manner is popular with promoters and appreciated by stakeholders. Information is available on request for NRMCA members and staff of other concrete promotion organizations that are interested in hearing about  benefits of "real-time" promotion effectiveness tracking and the collaborative gains available when multiple organizations make use of this approach.

The First International Interactive Symposium on UHPC (Ultra High Performance Concrete) will bring together material science and concrete professionals, structural/bridge engineers, students, producers and building enthusiast for a three-day conference at the Des Moines Marriott Downtown Hotel July 18 – 20. The symposium will include offsite tours of a variety of UHPC applications in bridge construction and demonstration projects. Over 75 papers from internationally renowned experts on the topic of UHPC and concrete will be presented. Interactive panels and thematic workshops will present recent UHPC activities and innovations and offer insight into topics related to:

 

• UHPC basics, introduction to the material

• Latest developments in UHPC material design and characterization 

• Architectural applications with UHPC

• Structural design and component modelling

• UHPC applications for bridges and infrastructure

• Rehabilitation and retrofitting applications with UHPC and other aspects to further spread the theoretical knowledge and practical experiences

The Concrete Preservation Institute is partnering with the National Park Service, Pacific Historic Parks, and the U.S. military to preserve the historic mooring quays along Battleship Row in Pearl Harbor and train/job place transitioning military service members in concrete industry companies. It is seeking a $250,000 grant offered by American Express in partnership with the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Public voting from now until July 5 will determine which National Parks get the grant funding.

Earlier this week, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) published a final rule requiring all passengers/occupants traveling in commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) on public roads to wear seat belts. Prior to the final rule, the regulations merely stated that each seating position on CMVs manufactured on or after July 1, 1971 must have a seat belt, but only required the driver of the CMV to actually have to use the seat belt. The final rule now requires both drivers and passengers alike to use seat belts. As well, the responsibility for passenger compliance to use seat belts will be that of both the driver and the carrier. Specifically, the new language, found in Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) section 392.16 (Use of seat belts) (49 CFR 392.16), reads:

(a) Drivers. No driver shall operate a property-carrying commercial motor vehicle, and a motor carrier shall not require or permit a driver to operate a property-carrying commercial motor vehicle, that has a seat belt assembly installed at the driver’s seat unless the driver is properly restrained by the seat belt assembly.

(b) Passengers. No driver shall operate a property-carrying commercial motor vehicle, and a motor carrier shall not require or permit a driver to operate a property-carrying commercial motor vehicle, that has seat belt assemblies installed at the seats for other occupants of the vehicle unless all other occupants are properly restrained by such seat belt assemblies.

The rule becomes effective Monday, August 8.

 

Last week, with an unanimous decision in the case of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that jurisdictional determinations on private property made by the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) can be challenged in court. The court’s ruling paves the way for private citizens and companies to potentially move forward at a more reasonable pace to develop their own land both before and after the Corps makes determinations about such land as a "water of the United States". Prior to the ruling, developers’ plans were frequently hindered and stalled for long periods of time, or indefinitely, due to a jurisdictional determination made by the Corps or Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) when the land in question was determined to be a "water of the United States" regardless of it being wet or dry in different seasons.

The court’s ruling will now likely call into question elements of the joint rule promulgated by the Corps/EPA known as the "Waters of the United States" or WOTUS rule. The WOTUS final rule determined what can be considered under the Clean Water Act, a "water of the US" and thus under the jurisdiction of the federal government, amounting to a very large jurisdictional expansion. The WOTUS rule is currently stayed nationwide while multiple legal challenges to the rule work their way through the court system.

Does your facility need to report to the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) Program? Have you run the calculations to determine if your facility does? Do you know what the requirements are and/or how to report if necessary? Now’s the time to obtain answers to all of these questions. Remember, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) TRI Program "tracks the management of more than 650 toxic chemicals that may pose a threat to human health and the environment." Specifically, "U.S. facilities in certain industry sectors must report annually how much of each chemical is released to the environment and/or managed through recycling, energy recovery and treatment." This information is then submitted annually to EPA and compiled in the TRI. 

All facilities that handle toxic chemicals, including ready mixed concrete plants, are required to calculate the quantities that were handled and if any quantity is over an allowable threshold, that chemical and amount need to be reported under the program. Should a facility need to report, the reporting deadline is July 1, 2016.

A Southern state college is planning to roll out a parking lot overlay program for the first of its 44 asphalt parking lots in 2017, about four years after attending an NRMCA luncheon seminar on the topic, reports NRMCA Senior Vice President, Local Paving, Jon Hansen.

"When I recently met up again with the facilities director, along with the NRMCA producer member that has maintained contact with the college, the director apologized for the length of time it has taken for him to put his parking lot overlay program together," Hansen said. "At the same time, I thanked him for not forgetting about us and what he learned during the luncheon in 2013."

The first scheduled project in 2017 will be approximately 80,000 square feet of paving. NRMCA has begun a preliminary Design Assistance Program (DAP) workup.

NRMCA now seeks applications for the prestigious 2016 Excellence in Quality Award program. A company must be a NRMCA Producer member in good standing to participate. Companies can enter as a company or a division. Applicants are asked to respond to a multiple-choice type application form that generates their score, which is then evaluated by NRMCA staff. Companies or divisions that achieve a score of 75% or greater will be recognized at NRMCA's ConcreteWorks in September in Nashville, TN.

There are several advantages to participating in this award program:

1. It provides recognition to the companies that maintain high quality standards; 

2. The award criteria can serve as an excellent quality improvement tool for companies; and

3. Companies have used the award criteria for conducting internal quality audits.

NRMCA’s Developing Industry Leaders (DIL) program is accepting nominations through Monday, June 15, for a limited number of middle managers to challenge themselves by thinking about an issue our industry faces. The goal of the DIL project is to broaden participants’ understanding of the ready mixed concrete industry at a more strategic, long-term, level while giving them the opportunity to also work on a team with a diverse group peers from across the country. This peer-centric program, with its accompanying industry mentorship, allows participants to not only make lifelong, career friends, but to also gain insight into a specific national challenge.

This program differs from other association programs in that individuals are placed on a team. Each DIL team chooses a separate topic to research and address over the fall and winter months. The group first meets at ConcreteWorks, where it is expected to attend various committee meetings so it can gain insight from senior managers from many perspectives. The DILs then return home to continue their work via conference calls, e-mails and Webinars with their team. The DILs reconvene in March at NRMCA's Annual Convention where individual teams formally present their findings during NRMCA’s semi-annual membership meeting. After that, the DILs are invited to become active on a committee of their choice so they can bring expertise with fresh, new insight to the working body.

 

There is no fee for the DIL program, nevertheless, DILs are expected to attend ConcreteWorks in September and the Annual Convention in March.

June 28 - July 1, Centennial, CO

Plant Manager Certification Course

Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

 

June 23, Webinar

Seven Things You Can Do To Place More Concrete in Buildings

Email: Lionel Lemay, 847-918-7101

 

June 28, Ronkonkoma, NY

Building Green With Concrete

Email: Tien Peng, 206-913-8535

 

June 30, Fairfax, VA

Building Green With Concrete

Email: Tien Peng, 206-913-8535 

 

September 18 - 20, Nashville, TN

NRMCA's ConcreteWorks 2016

Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

 

October 4 - 7, Silver Spring, MD

CCSP Module I: Concrete 101

Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

 

October 11, Webinar

Recruiting & Hiring Top Performing Ready Mix Sales Reps

Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

 

November 7-11, Silver Spring, MD

Annual "Short Course"

Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

December 6, Webinar 

Sales Performance Assessments and Reviews... for Ready Mix Sales Managers

Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

 

December 13-16, Anaheim, CA

Plant Manager Certification Course

Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

The NRMCA June Internet Spotlight, good through Tuesday, July 5, is the Concrete In Practice Single Set. The CIPs are brief technical topics developed for customers of ready mixed companies and address testing, best practices, special ready mixed concrete products and troubleshooting topics. The following six topics have been recently revised for updated content: 

• CIP 8 – Discrepancies in Yield
• CIP 16 – Flexural Strength of Concrete
• CIP 17 – Flowable Fill
• CIP 31 – Ordering Ready Mixed Concrete
• CIP 33 – High Strength Concrete
• CIP 36 – Structural Lightweight Concrete