This year’s PCA Cement & Concrete Fly-In May 19th-20th in Washington D.C. has been postponed. PCA is continuing to monitor the situation and will notify members of the new Fly-In date once more details emerge.
Terry Holmes has returned to Concord Concrete Pumps as sales director. In this role, he will be available to provide all customers with an amazing purchasing experience backed by decades of experience in helping companies to succeed.
Holmes has been in the pumping and crane industry for well over 35 years. In those years, his experience taught him that quality always pays off. “Quality has always been our priority and that’s why you see the first Concords ever built still pumping every day—while retaining their value,” he says.
At Putzmeister Academy, our thoughtfully designed training programs are focused on the customers getting the maximum value out of their Putzmeister equipment.
Schwing has announced its 2020 service seminar schedule, offering intermediate training for operators/mechanics; advanced training for mechanics; and vector training covering operator productivity, machine diagnostics and data for fleet management. The seminars are held at Schwing’s dedicated training facility in White Bear, Minnesota. Seminars include multi-media training aids and hands-on troubleshooting. Students also receive a service manual on CD-ROM, along with a printed copy of the training manual. Concrete pump owners, operators and mechanics are advised to sign up soon.
Putzmeister America, Inc. is committed to providing its customer base with industryleading support across North America. In collaborative efforts with the direct sales team, Putzmeister has developed a customer advocacy team whose roles will be to ensure the full satisfaction of the accounts in their assigned markets.
The 2019 ACPA Education Conference proved to be another big success, as the concrete pumping industry gathered to learn, network and see the newest in equipment and technology. With the recurring theme of “Pumping Knowledge into Your Business,” this year’s conference was held Oct. 6-7 at the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center in Kissimmee, Florida.
Dramatic changes are in store for the ACPA Operator Training and Certification Program. Referred to as “Certification 2020,” the new program will launch by mid-year 2020 for ACPA operator certification.
“The new training and certification program focuses on elevating the quality and effectiveness of operator safety training and will raise the bar for safety in our industry,” says Christi Collins, ACPA executive director.
Simulators have been used for years to train commercial and military fighter pilots. Yet only recently have they begun to be used in the construction industry as a way of increasing the safety and efficiency of employee onboarding. Concrete pumping companies have historically trained new employees on the job site; the industry has never had a separate training facility, despite the high-stakes nature of learning to pump concrete. That’s about to change with the commercial availability of concrete pumping simulators.
When an incident occurs and people are injured, once the fault is proven to be yours, you should absolutely pay your fair share. I’m not questioning that. But I want to point out that the challenge many companies face today isn’t paying their fair share; it’s paying their unfair share. There are often myriad unseen, uncontested, so-called “injuries”—like general aches and pains and soft tissue issues—that surface after the incident has occurred. These injuries often come with additional expenses from lawyers, physicians and therapists who may appear to be working together to maximize the insurance payout.
With 2020 right around the corner—and because risk management topics never really go out of style—we thought we’d close out a year of risk-management articles with this 2019 risk management roundup: a bite-sized list of takeaways from topics we’ve covered the past eleven months. It’s our hope that as you plan for next year, you’ll dedicate the time you need to making sure you’re managing your risk and becoming a better, safer organization.
As this decade ends, ACPA’s Washington representation has changed. ACPA’s long-time lead advocate, Craig Piercy, has left Bose Public Affairs Group to lead the American Nuclear Society. Patty Power, who started working on ACPA issues nearly four years ago, has taken the mantle from Craig. She started her career in Washington immediately after graduating law school over 35 years ago, and worked on Capitol Hill and in the Administration before launching her career as an advocate. While working closely with Craig over the past few years, Patty has led on ACPA’s interface with North American Concrete Alliance (NACA), dealing with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) on hours of service issues, the Concrete Pump Tax Fairness Act, and lobbying Congress on infrastructure-related issues. The transition will be seamless, even though we will miss Craig!
Location: World of Concrete 2020
