Construction Industry News

SAUK CENTRE, Minn. (May 21, 2024) — Laurie Engle, Felling Trailers’ inside trailer sales consultant, is retiring after 32 years. In the fall of 1991,Merle and Kathy Felling (founders of Felling Trailers) were in the midst of an office expansion. The local contractor running the expansion was Engle’s husband. Like in many family-owned businesses, Engle was lending a hand to complete the project, working on painting and staining.

MOLINE, Ill. (May 17, 2024) — In its updated forecast, the American Rental Association (ARA) indicates that the United States equipment rental industry’s growth projection has increased since last quarter. The most current projections indicate 9.7% increase in 2024, totaling $79.2 billion in construction and general tool rental revenue. This is an increase from last quarter’s projection of a 7.9% increase totaling $77.3 billion.

LAS VEGAS (May 20, 2024) — At the Advanced Clean Transportation (ACT) Expo, Hino Trucks announced that it is the exclusive distributor for Tern, a dedicated zero-emission truck brand, along with their inaugural truck model — the RC8, a battery-electric Class 8 tractor tailored for the U.S. market.

HOUSTON (May 14, 2024) — Skanska USA has been selected to construct a new $54.5 million building at Rice University for the Jones Graduate School of Business that will support the school’s growing student and faculty population. The university and project teams celebrated the new project with a groundbreaking on May 9 to unveil the design of the new facility.  

Garner, Iowa (May 17, 2024) — Stellar Industries, a 100% employee-owned and -operated manufacturer of mechanic trucks, cranes, tire service trucks, hooklifts, trailers and service truck and van accessories, received the president’s “E” Award for Exports. This award was given to Stellar to recognize its significant contributions to an increase in U.S. exports. Stellar was one of 30 U.S. entities recognized at this year’s ceremony.

RICHFIELD, Wis. (May 16, 2024) — Hy-Brid Lifts, an industry provider of aerial lift equipment, announced Gary Coke as director of sales covering the south-central U.S. Coke’s responsibilities include providing customer support as well as continuing the growth and channel development of the Hy-Brid Lifts line of low-level scissor lifts.  

CHICAGO (May 15, 2024) — The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) announced its 2024 Award of Excellence winners, more than 100 of the most exemplary projects in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry and adjacent disciplines. Projects from across the globe were recognized in over 20 categories and subcategories, including Best Tall Building, Innovation, Urban Habitat, Repositioning and Equity, and Diversity and Inclusion.

WEST FARGO, N.D. (May 15, 2024) — Bobcat Company, a global equipment and worksite solutions brand, has enhanced two of its North Dakota manufacturing facilities with the installation of 14 stationary, natural gas-powered fuel cells from HyAxiom Inc., a global fuel cell and hydrogen solutions provider. These units will operate in parallel with the commercial power grid while carving a pathway to decarbonization by producing clean energy for the facilities’ operations.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month and CONEXPO-CON/AGG, North America’s largest construction trade show, is shining a light on mental health issues in the construction industry.

NEW YORK (May 14, 2024) — QBE North America announced the release of its 2024 Commercial Construction Risk Report, uncovering key risks and emerging challenges within the commercial construction industry. Highlighting cybersecurity threats, financial challenges and labor shortage as significant concerns, the report sheds light on the industry's unique risks threatening project timelines, budgets and safety.

MONROE, Wash. (May 7, 2024) — Brokk, a global manufacturer of remote-controlled demolition machines, recently opened a distribution center in Hamilton, Ontario. While Brokk has had a sales presence in Canada for more than 30 years, the new facility marks an expansion of its network. The new location will be run by Jim Bennett, who joined the Brokk team in Canada as warehouse and logistics manager.

May 8, 2024 — Volvo CE has taken a 22% ownership stake in VizaLogix, a U.S.-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) company specializing in digital, brand-neutral solutions for machine monitoring, servicing and tech support in multiple industries.

The deal supports the Volvo CE strategy to grow services that customers are looking for as digitization and data take on increasing importance among construction and mining fleets and equipment dealers.

MCCONNELLSBURG, Pa. (May 8, 2024) — Oshkosh Corporation, a provider of purpose-built vehicles and equipment, announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire AUSACORP S.L. (AUSA), a privately held international company and manufacturer of wheeled dumpers, rough terrain forklifts and telehandlers for the construction, material handling, agriculture, landscape and specialty equipment industries.

WASHINGTON (April 30, 2024) — Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) announced the findings from its 2024 Safety Performance Report, an annual guide to construction jobsite health and safety best practices. The report was unveiled to coincide with Construction Safety Week, May 6-10.

ST. LOUIS (May 6, 2024) — Tarlton Corp., St. Louis’ largest women-owned general contracting and construction management firm, was named 2024 General Contractor of the Year by the American Subcontractors Association Midwest Council at the organization’s 31st Annual Awards Gala on April 20. The designation is voted on by members of the ASA Midwest Council.

GARNER, Iowa  (May 3, 2024) — Stellar Industries, a 100% employee-owned and -operated manufacturer of mechanic trucks, cranes, tire service trucks, hooklifts, trailers and service truck and van accessories, has donated a UR10 collaborative robot to North Iowa Area Community College’s (NIACC) Industrial Automation and Robotics Technology (IART) program. The collaborative robot, also known as a cobot, has a value of $130,000.

STOCKHOLM (April 23, 2024) — Hexagon, a global provider of digital reality solutions combining sensor, software and autonomous technologies, announced the acquisition of Xwatch Safety Solutions. Xwatch provides machine control hardware and software technologies designed to enhance safety protocols on construction sites.

BEDFORD, Mass. (April 23, 2024) — Total construction starts fell 1% in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.06 trillion, according to Dodge Construction Network.

Geisenheim, Germany (April 25, 2024) — Topcon Positioning Systems has announced that a new manufacturing facility will be built in Geisenheim, Germany, near Frankfurt, for the company’s Topcon Electronics operation. The announcement was made during a groundbreaking ceremony on April 16.

PHOENIX, Ariz. (April 24, 2024) — Created to serve the growing need for training in the construction industry, Small Giants has announced the launch of an educational program called the Academy for Construction Excellence.