DAKOTA AG UNVEILS POWER OF FOAM AT GENIE SALES MEETING

Dakota AG Innovations photo Dakota AG Innovations’ Power of Foam Wall Unit installed inside a wash bay.

Dakota AG Innovations was invited by Genie to introduce Dakota AG’s Power of Foam at Genie’s mid-year sales meeting July 19 to 21, 2022, at Genie’s North Bend, Wash., location.

The afternoon of July 19 was spent introducing and training Genie’s regional parts managers (RPMs) on the Power of Foam and Dakota Shine product lines. Participants were given a hands-on tutorial of the products, and the Genie team will be equipped with a kit to give onsite demonstrations when visiting customers interested in learning more about the Dakota Ag product capabilities

Lynn Odland, president, and Jon Odland, vice president, business development, from S.D.-based Dakota AG Innovations were invited by the Genie Global Leadership and North America Sales Team. Those in attendance included Armando Betancourt, director — parts AWP for the Americas; Logan Wood, product manager of Genie parts and service; and 25 others representing Genie leadership and regional parts managers/sales team members. Dakota AG is working with Genie to provide its customers and end-users with a more effective, efficient and proven way to clean their fleet. According to Genie, with these new product lines, equipment owners can save time and effort by cleaning and degreasing and can restore faded paint to its original color and luster, maximizing their asset’s value. “We are excited to broaden our ‘All Makes Product Offering,’” said Wood. “By offering Dakota Shine and Dakota wash solutions, we can help our customers clean and maintain their fleet and keep their equipment looking its best. “The Dakota Ag products will reduce the time to clean machines and maintain overall appearance of the products. This will improve turn-around times to get machines back on rent and retain higher asset value, supporting Genie’s commitment to helping equipment owners maximize the value they realize from their fleet.”

Dakota Shine and Dakota Wash are now available through Genie distribution channels.

About Power of Foam

The Power of Foam is a foam cleaning system that utilizes Dakota AG’s Dakota Wash HD foaming cleaner and degreaser. It is user friendly, biodegradable and will not interfere with wastewater recycling systems, according to the company.

The Power of Foam consists of a wall-mounted and air-operated foamer that sits above a refillable 55-gal. drum of Dakota Wash HD. The package includes a 70-ft. hose with a wand that will apply a layer of foam. Once applied, the foam penetrates, encapsulates and releases accumulated grease, grime and oil buildup. Let the foam sit and work for a couple minutes then rinse.

Dakota Wash HD also will neutralize corrosion in battery compartments. By applying the foam and letting it do the work, the chances of damaging electronics and circuitry will be reduced, the company said.

Genie also is offering to its customers Dakota Shine, a product that has been rehabilitating faded paint worldwide for more than 20 years.

“Our products are proven in the construction, auction and rental world,” said Odland. “It is our goal to get the Power of Foam with Dakota Wash HD into the hands of those that could really benefit from it. We feel that with Genie stocking our products in their distribution centers across North America, the Genie North America sales team will be able to provide our products to their customers and endusers with a higher level of service, while providing better accessibility, ease of ordering and faster turnaround times.”  CEG

Dakota AG Innovations photo Lynn Odland, president, Dakota AG Innovations; Armando Betancourt, director – parts AWP for the Americas; Logan Wood, product manager of Genie parts and service; and the Genie parts sales team stopped for a group photo following the demonstration of the Dakota AG Innovations’ Power of Foam and Dakota Shine product lines introduced at the Genie Parts and Service Mid-Year Sales Event on July 19, 2022.

Dakota AG Innovations photo

Applying Power of Foam with Dakota Wash HD.

Volvo CE to Display Machines, Services at ConExpo-Con/AGG 2023 in Las Vegas

With registration now open for ConExpo-Con/AGG 2023, the Volvo Construction Equipment team announced that both in-person and online attendees will get to experience the company’s newest machines, technology and services — including electric and autonomous equipment — at the Volvo CE booth, F8926 in the Festival Lot.

“Our theme this year is ‘Change Starts Here. We’re Ready for It.’” said Stephen Roy, president, Region North America at Volvo CE. “We’ll be showcasing the machines and services that will help our customers succeed in a fast-changing industry that’s increasingly focused on sustainability.”

Additional details will be released closer to the show, but attendees can expect to see the latest on the industry’s leading lineup of electric construction equipment, as well as more opportunities to hop in and operate machines than ever before.

The first North American deliveries of the ECR25 Electric compact excavator and L25 Electric compact wheel loader are taking place now, while three additional models were recently opened to reservations for delivery in 2023.

Productivity and uptime technology will be front and center as well. This includes Volvo Assist programs, which offer machine control and on-board weighing technology, and ActiveCare Direct, the advanced telematics system that gives users real-time data and actionable insights about their machines.

Volvo CE also will bring its booth to those who can’t make it to Las Vegas with the Volvo Virtual Events platform that will include machine walk-arounds, educational sessions and chances to interact with people at the show. More details will be coming soon on how to register for the virtual events.

“Both in-person and online attendees will have plenty to take in, no matter how they visit us,” said Roy.

ConExpo-Con/AGG is March 14 to 18, 2023.

For more information, visit conexpoconagg.com and volvoce.com/na. 

A draft rendering of the electric area of the Volvo Construction Equipment ConExpo-Con/AGG 2023 booth.

Soil Connect Celebrates Launch of Its Digital Storefronts at Indianapolis Event

Soil Connect, an award-winning online soil and aggregates marketplace, recently celebrated the launch of its digital storefronts with a pair of events in Indianapolis.

Visitors from the Builders Association of Greater Indianapolis (BAGI), customers and colleagues of Brandeis Equipment, and a host of construction tech companies were on hand to celebrate the launch of the QuickStart program.

Local construction material suppliers in the Indianapolis area — including quarries, concrete recycling facilities, landscape material suppliers, asphalt and concrete plants, and sand and gravel locations — were able to claim their digital storefronts which allow them to sell their products directly to the platform’s growing user base of construction professionals.

In addition to the digital storefronts, the site allows users to create posts that they have soil, aggregates and other building supplies, or that they are looking for the same. Soil Connect allows users to create local connections and work more efficiently. Soil Connect saw a 2,000 percent increase in posts, the company said.

“It was great to see so many customers in Indianapolis and celebrate the first of many regional QuickStart events,” said Soil Connect Founder Cliff Fetner. “The huge increase in volume is a testament to the viability of the platform, and the need for this tool in the industry.”

Visitors from the Builders Association of Greater Indianapolis (BAGI), customers and colleagues of Brandeis Equipment, and a host of construction tech companies were on hand to celebrate the launch of the QuickStart program. In addition to its digital storefront program, Soil Connect continues to invest in and enhance its technology to advance its mission to be a full-stack, end-to-end solution for the construction industry. Most recently, the platform built a new tech stack to support its marketplace, allowing Soil Connect to introduce new services and features to its community, including the ability to triangulate and secure transport for materials within the app, as well as enhancing its Daily Dig job site monitoring service. For more information, visit www.soilconnect.com. 

INDIANA MACALLISTER MACHINERY

Heavy Equipment Rental Locations www.macallister.com Indianapolis HQ 317-545-2151 Fort Wayne 260-483-6469 Lafayette 765-449-8191 Terre Haute 812-478-3155 South Bend 574-288-6622 Washington 812-254-1712 KENTUCKY OHIO CAT

www.OhioCAT.com Richwood 888-446-4658

OHIO OHIO CAT

www.OhioCAT.com Broadview Heights 800-837-6200 800-633-1020 (Rental) Sharonville 800-332-4658 (Sales & Service) 888-736-8440 (Rental) Columbus 888-441-4658 (Sales & Service) 888-736-8441 (Rental) Perrysburg 888-339-4658 (Sales & Service) 888-736-8442 (Rental) Troy 888-330-4658 Youngstown 800-837-6203 Cadiz 800-837-6204 (Sales & Service) 866-639-2283 (Rental) Canton 800-837-6207 (Sales & Service) 888-736-8443 (Rental) Lima 567-242-6831 (Rental) Zanesville 800-837-6205 (Sales & Service) 800-209-1331 (Rental)

BRIDGE from page 1 Merchants Bridge required reconstruction due to speed, clearance and load restrictions. The overall project includes the removal and replacement of the three river-span trusses, seismically retrofitting the existing river piers, and improving the east approach. Work began in 2018 and, when completed in the coming weeks, the new doubletrack bridge will provide reliable, resilient and expanded freight and passenger rail capacity, helping move freight faster, cost effectively and more reliably, providing an alternative to more congested rail hubs like Chicago.

“In TRRA’s 133-year history helping to ensure the smooth movement of rail freight, our company has never built a bridge, but today we’re marking a critical milestone in the final steps to deliver our first major bridge infrastructure project — a project that will dramatically improve the flow of both freight and passenger rail traffic through the bi-state St. Louis region,” said Asim Raza, chief legal officer, director of corporate affairs of Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis.

As a design-bid-build project, reconstruction of the bridge uses innovative project delivery methods that have improved safety and speeded completion while limiting bridge and river traffic outages. The new spans were all constructed in Wisconsin and shipped to St. Louis for final assembly on the Missouri bank of the Mississippi River and each has been floated into place immediately after the old spans were floated out.

Removal and installation of the three new trusses required three separate 10-day rail outages, and three separate river channel outages. The first of these outages began on Sept. 13, 2021, in preparation for the first truss to be moved into position and floated into place on Sept. 17. The second truss was installed in early March 2022. The final truss was floated into place and installed on Aug. 26 and 27, with a portion of that process viewed by approximately 130 on board the riverboat cruise that provided the opportunity to witness that piece of history. Representatives from TRRA and Walsh Construction, the general contractor for the project, provided an overview of the project, its significance to the nation’s freight network and the steps involved in placing the trusses.

The replacement of this vital rail artery has been identified each year for the past several years as the region’s top freight infrastructure priority by the St. Louis Regional Freightway, which is nationally recognized for its innovative and collaborative approach to creating a priority projects list that identifies key infrastructure projects and advocates for funding for them.

In 2020, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) awarded TRRA a $21.45 million Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) grant toward replacement of the Merchants Bridge. TRRA is providing 90 percent of the construction costs, making this project a model for publicprivate partnerships.

“The Merchants Bridge has been our highest priority project because of its significance in the nation’s freight network,” said Mary Lamie, executive vice president — multi modal enterprises of Bi-State Development, which launched the St. Louis Regional Freightway in 2014 with a key goal of advancing infrastructure projects that support the movement of freight through the bi-state St. Louis region. “Its completion will not only strengthen a vital link in the nation’s freight network, it also reaffirms we are on the right path with our approach.”

Joining Walsh Construction as part of the project team for the nationally significant Merchants Bridge project is TranSystems and Burns & McDonnell, who are serving as the project engineers. The steel was fabricated by Veritas Steel in Eau Claire, Wis.

For more information, visit thefreightway.com.  CEG

Walsh Construction and Trey Cambern Photography photo The $222 million project to replace the Merchants Bridge that links Missouri and Illinois near downtown St. Louis is nearing completion.

St Louis Regional Freightway photo

DEMAND from page 1 corporate optimism expressed by other construction companies across the United States.

“Demand for both new and used equipment continues to be at high levels and sales backlogs remain at record levels,” said Ryan Greenawalt, chairman and CEO. “Our organic physical rental fleet utilization and rates on rental equipment continue to improve and tightness of supply continues to buy inventory values across all asset classes.”

He attributed the rosy picture to “industry tailwinds” from the passing of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, saying it is driving further demand for construction machinery.

“In our material handling segment, labor tightness and inflation are driving the adoption of more advanced and automated solutions while also driving the market to record levels,” said Greenawalt.

Multiple Factors at Play

The U.S. construction equipment market specifically is experiencing a high compound annual growth rate (CAGR) because of increased building activities for infrastructure development.

That is the conclusion of a study conducted by India-based market research firm BlueWeave Consulting.

“The U.S. construction market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 6 percent during the forecast period of 2022-2028,” researchers reported. “The growing demand for construction equipment in this region is fueled by increased construction activities for infrastructural development as a result of government and private investment.”

Because of this considerable investment, the infrastructure segment of the construction equipment market holds the biggest market share, said BlueWeave.

In fact, “explosive” is how one industry legal expert terms the global growth in demand for heavy machinery.

He attributes the explosion to economic and geopolitical developments.

Chief among industries seeing a significant uptick in machinery demand is the mining sector, said attorney James. R. Waite.

The uptick is driven by demand for lithium, graphene, cobalt, nickel and other components for batteries, electric vehicles and clean technologies, he said.

“Further bolstering the mining industry is increased demand for precious metals and traditional commodities, especially in Latin America, Asia and Africa,” Waite said in an article in Engineering News Record. “In construction, demand for equipment and parts continues to skyrocket as countries around the world begin a new push to update roads, bridges and other infrastructure.”

But, he said, upgrades are especially pressing in the United States, where roads, bridges, rail and other infrastructure projects are finally starting to receive significant government funding.

“That will directly benefit the heavy equipment industry, but it also will see logistical issues mount and supply shortages become more acute,” said Waite.

He predicts the war in Ukraine and sanctions against Russia will drive up energy costs in the United States and elsewhere.

What the Future Holds

Waite also predicts regional consolidation specifically in the southeastern United States, where the state of Georgia is gaining a reputation as global hub for innovation in construction equipment.

“Six of the world’s top 10 equipment manufacturers have identified the state as the new Silicon Valley of equipment manufacturing,” said the heavy equipment industry attorney. “Georgia’s business-friendly climate and a host of strong structural advantages have provided a strong boost to manufacturing and the heavy equipment industry in particular.”

Georgia provides significant tax breaks for manufacturers and job creators, augmented by a generous state R&D tax credit.

The state also offers a skilled labor force, low rates of unionization, a top-tier university and technical college system, a superb manufacturing infrastructure and a worldclass transportation system, he said.

Despite global issues including inflation, rising interest rates and the war in Ukraine, the heavy equipment sector is among industries continuing to make headway.

Waite said the industry has successfully leveraged global economic, infrastructure and geopolitical conditions to considerable advantage.

“As a result,” he believes, “the industry is poised to continue thriving for the foreseeable future, driven by demand in multiple, only partly overlapping, industries, including mining, construction, energy and agriculture. States that seek to attract more heavy industry should follow Georgia’s businessfriendly example.”

MarketÊs Cautious Optimism

Early this year, the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) weighed in on the construction equipment market’s expansion, saying that a number of challenges could present obstacles.

Short-term factors such as the lingering pandemic, ongoing supply-chain issues and persistent labor shortages were chief among AEM’s list of challenges.

Secondary to those issues that have emerged to dampen enthusiasm were deglobalization and inflation.

“The last recession we experienced ended the longest period of economic expansion in the United States, and that recession lasted from February 2020 to April 2020,” said Benjamin Duyck, AEM director of market intelligence.

“Two months, in traditional economic terms, can’t even be accurately described as a recession,” he said. “However, this economic disruption has impacted us all greatly, and we are still dealing with the aftereffects today — labor shortages, supply chain problems and higher interest rates.”

The responses to AEM quarterly member surveys for the past two years have been positive in regard to how quickly they expect to recover to pre-COVID-19 levels.

“But the data for this last quarter is moving again in the other direction, largely due to the headwinds we’re facing with inflation, workforce issues and supply chain disruptions,” said Duyck.

Though inflation is a little lower, it has risen gradually, with a 9.7 percent increase in the last quarter of 2021.

Talent acquisition also is a troublesome factor for both ag and construction equipment manufacturers.

AEM’s most recent quarterly member survey found that hiring remains a major issue.

In fact, 84 percent of all respondents have experienced issues in this area, while 90 percent of all ag members surveyed are affected.

Members are strategic in addressing hiring challenges, incorporating internships, educational partnerships, higher wages, bonuses, marketing and recruitment efforts, flexible hours and outsourcing.

But the association believes workforce will remain a prevalent issue for equipment manufacturers for the foreseeable future.

Supply-chain problems plaguing ag and construction equipment manufacturers also remain a major issue.

“COVID-19, followed by growing numbers of employees leaving the workforce, have led to both shutdowns and scarcity of products,” he added.

In response, the supply chain has adjusted production downward to meet expected lower demand.

Plus, there’s the fact that shipping companies cut schedules, expecting a drop in demand for shipments.

And though demand in some aspects of the economy dropped, the decrease was not evenly spread over all industries and all workers, AEM noted.

“While people still continued to spend money on homes and consumer purchases, interest rates remained low, and the U.S. experienced an expansion in monetary supply,” said the association. “Furthermore, workers and businesses were supported by the government. All of this, combined with the scarcity of products and higher demand results in inflation, adversely impacting supply chains.

An eventual scarcity of products coupled with higher demand resulted in inflation making its way up the supply chain.

At the same time, factories could not expand easily due to bottlenecks in the chain

An uptick in machinery demand in the mining sector is driven by demand for lithium, graphene, cobalt, nickel and other components for batteries, electric vehicles and clean technologies.