NRMCA e-news

National Ready Mixed Concrete Association

PROMOTIONS

Meeting with Mormon Church Officials Yields Concrete Opportunities

A recent meeting with those charged with building and maintaining properties owned by the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-Day Saints (LDS) uncovered many opportunities for the concrete industry, reports NRMCA Senior Vice President, National Resources, Jon Hansen. The meeting, held at an LDS office located within Temple Square in Salt Lake City, was arranged by Matt Wood, Stuart Malley and Doug Johnson with Ash Grove Cement and included Hansen.

"New online construction specifications where shown to those attending, information on how to access those specifications was shared and the concrete industry was asked to comment on those specifications," Hansen said. "Additionally, the church spends tens of millions each year in repair and maintenance costs for asphalt parking lot paving and is looking for concrete industry input on that topic as well."

For more information contact Jon Hansen at jhansen@nrmca.org.

Share Your "What Works" Story at ConcreteWorks This September

The "What Works" session at NRMCA’s ConcreteWorks Fall Convention in San Antonio, TX, is looking for a few more presenters to share their successful concrete promotion ideas. The concept of "What Works" has been around for some time. It offers concrete promoters from across the country the opportunity to share their unique ideas in a fast paced, open format. These rapid-fire 5 to 15 minute mini-presentations highlight some incredible success stories, offer creative promotional models and help inspire promoters to go out and help change the marketplace.

If you have developed a unique approach to promotion or a successful promotion campaign, we would welcome your participation in this year's "What Works" in the Concrete Promotion session.

For more information or to submit your "What Works" idea, contact Doug O’Neill at doneill@nrmca.org.

ASSOCIATION & INDUSTRY NEWS

Deadline Nears for Nominations for 2016 NRMCA Board of Directors

The deadline for submitting applicants for the 2016 NRMCA Board of Directors is Wednesday, July 15. The NRMCA Nominating Committee must select director candidates from regions, member companies and one state association executive director to be elected to the NRMCA Board for the 2016 - 2019 term beginning at the end of the annual convention in San Diego in March 2016.

Please contact NRMCA’s Deana Angelastro at dangelastro@nrmca.org for a nomination form.

OPERATIONS, ENVIRONMENTAL, SAFETY & HR

Federal Labor Officials Propose New Overtime Pay Regulations

Last week, the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division published a proposed rule to change how overtime pay rules (guaranteed through the Fair Labor Standards Act or FLSA) are applied and to whom they can be applied. Currently, executive, administrative, professional, outside sales and computer employees, considered "white collar" workers, are exempt from receiving overtime pay as long as they, in part, receive a salary in excess of $455 per week or $23,660 per year. Specifically, the proposal aims to increase the weekly/yearly minimum pay ceiling levels to be eligible for overtime pay to $921 per week and $47,892 annually. The proposal also aims to increase the highly compensated employees exemption minimum to $122,148, an increase from the current $100,000 level. The proposal also would "establish a mechanism for automatically updating the salary and compensation levels going forward to ensure that they will continue to provide a useful and effective test for exemption." Finally, DOL is seeking comment on whether changes to the "duty tests" (the other factors that determine a worker’s exempt status) are necessary "in order to ensure that these tests fully reflect the purpose of the exemption."

The proposal is estimated to cost the private sector roughly $2 billion in the first year alone. DOL estimates that subsequent years could result in private sector payroll increases of approximately $1.22 billion per year. The proposal is estimated to increase overtime pay for 6.3 million "white collar" workers and 3.7 million "blue collar" workers.

The public comment period on the proposal is open through Friday, September 4. Click here to view the proposed rule and its related materials. For more information, contact Kevin Walgenbach at kwalgenbach@nrmca.org.

Transportation Officials Seek to Revise Safety Measurement System

Late last month, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) published a proposal with suggested changes to its Safety Management System (SMS), which is the program FMCSA uses under its Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) program to identify and prioritize commercial motor vehicle safety interventions. Specifically, the proposal would change certain thresholds to better account for crash risk, reclassify violations for operating will out-of-service, update the Hazardous Materials Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Category (BASIC), and make adjustments to the Utilization Factor.

NRMCA has argued since the inception of CSA and the SMS that crash risk needs to be evaluated on a more comprehensive scale and that not-at-fault crashes should be excluded from a carriers’ and drivers’ safety ratings. FMCSA is accepting comments on the proposal through Wednesday, July 29.

Click here to view the proposed changes. For more information, contact Kevin Walgenbach at kwalgenbach@nrmca.org or Gary Mullings at gmullings@nrmca.org.

Registration Open for November Safety Course in North Carolina

Registration for NRMCA’s Safety Course to be held November 17-19 in Charlotte, NC, is now open. This 2.5 day course teaches participants about OSHA safety compliance, beginning with why safety is so important and details the reasons why an effective safety program actually saves money through loss prevention and control. Participants learn about electrical safety, machine guarding, fall protection, hazard communication, confined spaces, personal protective equipment, fire fighting and evacuation, maintenance shop safety, chute handling, fleet safety, pre-trip inspection and more.

Click here for registration options, hotel reservation information and NRMCA staff contacts.

SUSTAINABILITY

NRMCA Contributes to NIST Community Resilience Planning Guide

Communities built to last start with comprehensive planning. For the past year, NRMCA Senior Vice President of Sustainable Development Lionel Lemay and Tien Peng, vice president of sustainability, have played an active role in the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) resilience planning for the built environment. Along with other stakeholders, this planning identified consistent performance goals and metrics for buildings and infrastructure to enhance community resilience, culminating in the release of the Community Resilience Planning Guide (Guide) out for public comment last month. The Guide will identify practices to enhance resilience and gaps that must be addressed to enhance community resilience. It will also provide a starting point for stakeholders to advance from current practices and will provide the basis for convening a Community Resilience Panel (CRP) representing the broad spectrum of the stakeholder community, including NRMCA.

Concrete structures can play a vital role in strong communities. Builders, architects and designers have come to recognize that more durable public buildings, private homes, and businesses often built with concrete to resist damage from natural disasters, reduce the impact entire communities have on our planet.

Click here for more information on the NIST Guide or contact Tien Peng at tpeng@nrmca.org.

GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS

NRMCA Advocacy News Roundup Updated Through July 3

Media articles on Congress, transportation infrastructure, regulation, taxes and other subjects, each of which relate to the ready mixed concrete industry, are updated each week by NRMCA's Government Affairs staff. To access the most recent compilation of articles for June 29 - July 3, 2015, please click here.

If you would like to receive this weekly updated link in a separate e-mail, or if you have questions or comments about the roundup, contact NRMCA’s Jill Landry at jlandry@nrmca.org.

PRODUCTS & SERVICES

July Internet Spotlight is Book on Improving Concrete Quality

The NRMCA July Internet Spotlight, which will be good through Tuesday, August 4, is Improving Concrete Quality. While there are many books on concrete technology it is hard to find a book that is focused on the subject of improving concrete quality. This book discusses concrete quality measurement as well as the tangible and intangible benefits due to improved quality. This book will be of significant value to concrete producers who will come away with readily implementable steps to reduce variability and attain a more consistent product thereby seeing performance benefits and cost savings.

Use Discount Code: ISJY15 to Order Improving Concrete Quality online today and receive 20% off the member price. Regular member price is $75, Internet Special $60, plus shipping.

CALENDAR

A Look Ahead

*Please note that e-mail and direct links to each event listed below can be accessed from NRMCA's Web site.

July 13, Free Webinar

Streets & Roads Team Building & Situation Analysis

Email: Jacques Jenkins, 240-485-1165

July 20, Free Webinar

Streets & Roads Promotion for DOTs, Counties & Municipalities

Email: Jacques Jenkins, 240-485-1165

July 31, Free Webinar

Winning Initial Streets & Roads Projects in Counties & Municipalities

Email: Jacques Jenkins, 240-485-1165

August 14, Free Webinar

Streets & Roads Elected Official Advocacy

Email: Jacques Jenkins, 240-485-1165

August 24, Free Webinar

Roller-Compacted Concrete for Streets and Roads

Email: Jacques Jenkins, 240-485-1165

September 20 - 22, San Antonio, TX

ConcreteWorks & Board of Directors' Meeting