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March 28, 2015 • Vol. IXX • No. 7 • 470 Maryland Drive • Ft. Washington, PA 19034 • 215-885-2900 • Toll Free 800-523-2200 • Fax 215-885-2910
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Inside
World of Asphalt Breaks Attendance Records...8
Don Smock Conducts Sale in Indiana...88
Kentucky Dam Lock Job Reaches Milestone The Tennessee River sees a high volume of barge traffic carrying mostly coal (11.3 million tons) and crude materials (10.7 million tons) like rock from nearby Vulcan Quarry and sand mined out of the Ohio River near Paducah. Farm products make up about 10 percent, or 3.8 million tons, of the goods shipped. Shipping by water is generally a very efficient process, except when a lock creates a bottleneck. The existing lock at the Kentucky Dam does just that, creating some of the longest delays for commercial tows in the country. Last year barges queued up more than 9 hours on average, but in January, Don Getty, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District project manager of Kentucky Lock Addition, said the average delay was more than 14 hours. At 600 ft. (183 m), the existing lock is too short for most barges to get through all at once. Tugs often bring 15 barges in a tow to Kentucky Lock. Spanning up to 105 ft. (32 m), the tugs have to break apart to get through and then tie back together — which is dangerous, according to Getty. It also extends the time to 2-1/2 to 3 hours. “Kentucky Lock has some of the longest delay times in the country; last year there was a 9 hour, 35 minute wait, see LOCK page 89
The completed sheetpiles for the three cells of the upstream cofferdam. The contractor is currently excavating within the cells in preparation for filling them with concrete and stone.
ELFA Report Shows BusinessVolume Up 12 Percent Rit chie Br os. At trac ts More Th an 3,40 0... 90
Table of Contents ............4 Truck & Trailer Section .... ..................................41-49 Recycling Section ....53-68 Attachment & Parts Section ......................79-82 Business Calendar ........87 Auction Section ......86-97 Advertisers Index ..........98
The Equipment Leasing and Finance Association’s (ELFA) Monthly Leasing and Finance Index (MLFI-25), which reports economic activity from 25 companies representing a cross section of the $903 billion equipment finance sector, showed their overall new business volume for January was $6.7 billion, up 12
Charge-offs were unchanged for the tenth consecutive month at an all-time low of 0.2 percent. Credit approvals totaled 78.6 percent in January, unchanged from December. Total headcount for equipment finance companies was up 1.0 percent year over year. Separately, the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation's Monthly Confidence Index (MCI-EFI) for February is 66.3, a slight increase from the January index of 66.1 and the highest level in the last highway and transit sector were at risk because of three years. Washington gridlock. ELFA President and CEO “Despite challenging weather conditions in much William G. Sutton said: “To of the country, both the number of workers and their begin the year, equipment average weekly hours rose last month to the highest finance activity picked up where levels since the recession,” said Ken Simonson, the it left off for most of 2014. New
percent from new business volume in January 2014. Volume was down 48 percent from December, following the typical end-of-quarter, end-of-year spike in new business activity. Receivables over 30 days were 1.1 percent, up slightly from 1 percent the previous month and from 1 percent the same period in 2014.
Construction Firms Add 29,000 Jobs Construction employers added 29,000 jobs in February and 321,000 over the past year, reaching the highest employment total in six years, as the sector’s unemployment rate fell to an eight-year low of 10.6 percent, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials cautioned, however, that construction jobs in the
see JOBS page 94
see ELFA page 96