Below you'll find a number of committee reports and other important developments from NRMCA's 2005 Annual Convention, held in March 2005 in Las Vegas immediately before the CONEXPO-CON/AGG trade show.

NRMCA Chairman-Elect's Remarks

Business Administration Committee Report

Legal Activities Committee Report

Operations, Environmental and Safety Report

Promotion Committee Report

Developing Industry Leaders Program

Transportation Advocacy Task Force

RMC Research Foundation

NRMCA Chairman-Elect's Remarks - Mr. Hale Ritchie, Ritchie Corp., Wichita, KS

    Thank you Jim. Thank you Hardy and Tom. My thanks as well to the other officers and my peers in the industry for electing me to the position as chairman of our great association. I am very honored to have your confidence.

    I am also honored because of the history of my family business. My family has been involved in the construction and construction materials business for nearly 150 years. Whether a family-owned business, like mine, or a public company, all of us in the ready mixed concrete industry share the same issues and concerns. If you know my style, I’m not a person who has any great love for public speaking but I do have a great love for results. I want to give you a sense of my focus for this year to achieve results.

    After all this time of being an ‘activist’ as Hardy called us, I am absolutely certain of one thing - our industry must be absolutely integrated and coordinated in our efforts. Gone are the days of animosities between the state organizations and nationals. There’s too much at stake. In 2004 our industry produced a record 430 million cubic yards of concrete with a record 1.46 cubic yards for everyone person in the U.S. - a growth in the per capita usage of 2%. I believe this came about as a result of the increased focus of our combined promotion efforts and the initiation of the integration of our local and national work plans. The affiliation program between the state associations and NRMCA that the board approved will improve our industry coordination even more. In this coming year I will stress the need to integrate our work plans. I will suggest an industry “strategic and work plan” Congress including both the state associations and NRMCA. I join Hardy in asking you to support the affiliate program by bringing your state association into the program. Let’s bring this industry together.

     To carry the international activism further, I will work with the Iberioamerican and Canadian leadership to make the new Ready Mixed Concrete Organization of the Americas an effective working group. We have so much we can share with one another.

    Speaking of another key area of my interest let me say how pleased I am about our promotion program. The promotion program of our national account field promoters is very successful. As Hardy stated, it’s ‘where NRMCA needs to be’. I concur 100%.

    While the five field promoters are effective, there are only five of them. It raises the question as to the need to add more. Can we add more to reach more of the national accounts, to increase the exposure of these larger users of construction materials to the benefits of concrete?  I say, absolutely, but it takes financial resources. The way to generate these resources is to increase the number of companies in our industry supporting both their state association and NRMCA. To this end, this year I will also focus on continuing to grow the membership in our state and national associations. When someone asks me what percentage of the industry NRMCA represents I answer - we represent 100% of the industry. I will work towards all of our industry actively supporting our organizations efforts.

    Another important initiative I will implement and grow is our fledging public relations campaign. Our industry has long recognized the need to reach the general public. This year I will see that our public relations program, utilizing a formal media relations campaign, gains impetus. We will be educating consumer magazines about the benefits of incorporating concrete products into home design and construction while using concrete’s green building advantage as a ‘news’ hook. Our changed logo and switch from red to green as the official association color is a visible start of demonstrating to the user - no matter who they are - that we are a product that provides them with incredible, flexible, and sustainable benefits. Perception is reality. I will work on making the reality of concrete as a sustainable product to the general public happen.

    Another area of interest for this year is the advocacy work. This year I will ensure that our advocacy activities are heightened to “hit for the cycle” as the baseball phrase goes - getting a solidly-funded highway bill, with a Power Takeoff tax credit, a recognition of the differences in our drivers for hours of service, continue the advancement of the P2P initiative and achieve Equitable Enforcement. I will ensure that our work is done through effective partnering with our state and national partners in the North American Concrete Alliance.

    You probably have recognized that the items I have mentioned are the same initiatives we have started already as spelled out in Vision 2010. I’m a firm believer in perseverance to succeed.  The work of our trade association is different than our businesses or many other businesses for that matter. Our associations need an involved, sustained, energetic effort to succeed.

    Once the vision is spelled out by the leadership then dedicated professionals are needed to sustain the effort - that's where the professionals of our association come into play. I will provide the support needed by our association professionals to sustain the efforts to achieve the Vision 2010 goals. We have a great group of people working in our association, some of the best I’ve ever worked with. I am very proud and honored to be working with them this year.

    Hardy spoke about the need for younger people to enter our industry and become the new leaders of our companies. I will see that the Developing Industry Leaders program continues to add more participators to this year’s inaugural class.

    I want to ensure that the people in this class which becomes our ‘shadow’ board are allowed to contribute and learn the leadership process. I want the development of involvement in our association to be transparent. NRMCA welcomes everyone’s involvement.  It’s not a closed organization. This year I will work with the association professionals to reach down into the middle managers and professionals in our industry to learn more about the offerings of the NRMCA and how they can become involved. These people are the future leaders of our companies and the industry. They need to be educated about the opportunities that can be created through association work.

    Of course what I’m referring to here is communication. I will also work with the association’s professionals to find the most effective ways of internal communication to the industry. In today’s information overload society, it’s a challenge to identify what needs to be looked at relative to everything else. We will continue to search for the most effective ways to reach everyone in our industry—not just the top people. There are so many great programs, initiatives, and opportunities that can be explored by all 150,000 employees in our industry. I pledge to you to keep communicating and communicating effectively. Part of the responsibility of the office of chairman of the association is to provide the leadership to support the Concrete Industry Management program and its expansion to other universities. The possibilities of this program to excite young people to enter our industry are so promising.

    We are in competition for the ‘best and the brightest’ young minds with other industries. It is incumbent upon us to create environments that attract these young people. Look at the High School Essay contest winner in your Business Session brochure from Anne Garboczi. I love the approach of her essay. It forecasts the ready mixed concrete industry successes and advancements. Truly visionary. This is the 8th year we have held this contest, borrowed from the Tennessee state association program and every year I’m amazed at the creativity. In these eight years though we’ve not been able yet to get one of the contest winners to accept the scholarship to MTSU. Perhaps this is the year with Anne.

    Jane and I want to thank all of you for your confidence and also ask you for your help. Hardy asked us all to become activists in our association work. Let me reinforce his statement and ask you as well to become an activist - it is the vehicle for moving an industry forward. Thanks again for giving me this opportunity. I pledge to work hard in facilitating our wonderful staff in achieving our Vision 2010 goals. Thank you.

Business Administration Committee Report - Bill Steele

    The committee has several active task groups supporting its overall mission of new developments and techniques in the area of financial and administrative management, encouraging more effective management techniques with a view to improving the rate of return on investment and enhancing the quality of industry business practices.

    The committee has six distinct task groups to help organize and address key issues affecting the ready mixed concrete industry:  Compensation Survey Task Group, Industry Data Survey Task Group, Financial Reporting Standards Task Group, Insurance Task Group, and Recruiting and Training Task Group. The committee recently added the Information Technology Task Group after the IT Committee stood down at the Board of Directors meeting in September. The task group will be overseeing this year’s IT Survey during the summer and deal with industry IT initiatives as necessary.

    Our Insurance Task Group continues focusing on teaching producers how to market themselves to insurance companies to help hold the line, or possibly reduce insurance premiums. The group also coordinates with the NRMCA Safety Committee establishing best practices for safety and insurance. The past two years significant emphasis has been placed on insurance issues during the October Business Administration Conference.

    On the heals of the recently completed work on the standard chart of accounts and glossary of terms for the industry, the Financial Reporting Task Group has spent the past year encouraging increased use of the chart by ready mixed producers. Approved by the Board of Directors last year in Orlando, the chart of accounts helps producers better organize financial data for enhanced reporting and analysis. It also maps well to the layout and account group structure in the Industry Data Survey.

    Last October, following feedback from participants and members of NRMCA, the BAC voted to move the Compensation Survey to a schedule of every other year. Since the last one was done in 2004, the next survey will be in 2006. Since the Information Technology Survey also alternates every other year, the committee decided to stagger the two surveys, ensuring that along with the Industry Data Survey, no single year would have more than 2 surveys done. Respectively, 2005 will have the Industry Data Survey and the IT Survey, 2006 will have the Data Survey and the Compensation Survey.

    For the 2004 Industry Data Survey, 155 companies responded, slightly down from the previous year’s participation level of 166 companies. The average sales reported doubled from $22 million for 2002 to $44 million for 2003, indicating an impact of larger companies in the survey results. After sliding for three straight years, the average pre-tax profit per yard rose from $1.58 in 2002 to $2.30 in 2003. The BAC will continue to develop reporting tools and educational programs aimed at increasing overall industry success.

    The 2005 form for the industry data survey is now available for input and we encourage your companies to participate. You can contact NRMCA for the forms.

    This year’s BAC Conference is scheduled for October 16-19 at the Napa Valley Marriott in Napa, CA. We encourage your Finance, IT and HR managers to participate in this as well, as the programs continue to receive great reviews with each passing year.

    For more information on the Business Administration Committee or how to join the BAC, you may contact NRMCA staff liaison, Michael Forster.

    Mr. Chairman – this completes my report.

Legal Activities Committee Report - Henry Batten

    The impetus behind the formation of the Legal Activities Committee is the increasing awareness that the concrete industry is under siege by well-heeled members of the plaintiff’s bar. You no doubt are familiar with some of the more spurious lawsuits involving concrete and sulfate attack, silicosis, mold, etc. These lawsuits are primarily centered in Western states, however, there is a concern that the litigation is creeping east, state by state. Thus, NRMCA has decided to create the LAC in a manner that will best support the meaningful exchange of information and formulation of industry views so that member companies are better able to respond to future legal claims.

    The principle purpose of the Legal Activities Committee is to provide for the discussion of legal issues and exchange of information concerning litigation faced by the ready mixed concrete industry. The work of the Legal Activities Committee will be guided by an Executive Committee, which will act as a manager of information obtained from subcommittees assigned to manage specific areas of litigation, such as sulfate attack or silicosis. Each litigation subcommittee will be chaired by an attorney and all of the subcommittee members will be bound by a Common Interest Agreement. Common Interest Agreements ensure confidential communications and protect attorney work product and attorney client privileges. The subcommittee members will be able to exchange legal briefs and memoranda, discuss litigation strategies and review the common factual, technical and procedural issues that arise in given areas of litigation.

    In addition, the Legal Activities Committee recently voted to support the establishment of a National Ready Mixed Concrete Legal Resource Center. The Legal Resource Center will be the industry clearinghouse for information concerning legal issues commonly faced by the ready mixed concrete industry. In its early stages the Legal Resource Center will be run by NRMCA staff. The Center will be tasked with setting up and maintaining a concrete construction case data bank that will catalogue legal briefs, memoranda, trial court rulings and appellate court case decisions addressing the applicability of key legal theories and defenses. The Center will also gather news articles, seminar materials, studies, and technical publications that help support industry positions. Also, as requested, the Center will compile information about expert witnesses commonly used in cases brought against ready mixed producers. Thus, the LRC will perform an invaluable service by gathering and distributing reliable legal and technical information, thereby saving companies and their attorneys from having to start from scratch in defending a claim.

    The Committee was asked to evaluate a proposed Building Standards Institute study for its value as a litigation tool in defending against lawsuits arising from the effects on concrete of soils containing sulfates. The Institute has asked that the RMC Research Foundation contribute $75,000 toward funding Phase 1 of a study on the effects of sulfate on concrete in residential foundations. Phase 1 of the study, which is proof of concept, will cost a total of $300,000. It is estimated that it will cost another $1.2 million (to come from various industry sources, including the RMC Research Foundation) to complete the study. The completed study, which will utilize mainly standard and industry accepted techniques, was found by the LAC to have significant value as expert material in sulfate litigation. A recommendation in support of funding Phase 1 has been forwarded to the RMC Research Foundation.

    The Committee was also asked to evaluate a proposal to the RMC Research Foundation to contribute $48,000 dollars toward funding a study that documents floor performance issues from the perspective of the concrete industry. The study, which would be performed by the Strategic Development Council of the Concrete Research and Education Foundation, would form the basis for a new ACI Committee 302 standard. The LAC is currently evaluating the value of this study.

Operations, Environmental & Safety Committee Report

    The OES Committee is divided into three active task groups: Environmental, Safety and Operations. The task groups work independently but coordinate their activities thru the OES chairman & staff liaisons. Let me start with the OES Plant Safety Contest, which is the most popular of all the association awards. This program is co-sponsored by  Concrete Producer magazine. Last year, more than 600 plants received an Excellence in Safety certificate. The certificate serves as daily reminders to our drivers and plant personnel of their safety accomplishments.

    The Safety benchmarking survey reported a record number 155 million employee hours. Information from this survey greatly helps the association in communications with OSHA. Some 44 plants entered into the SAFE partnership agreement over the past year. .  Employees at these plants have received education and training in crystalline silica in the workplace and driver wellness.

    In the health arena, OSHA published its court-ordered proposal to manage hexavalent chromium in the workplace. Lafarge North America and Rinker Materials allowed employees at four facilities to be tested for exposure to hexavalent chromium through a research study funded by the RMC Research Foundation.

    The safety task group provided expertise into formulating comment from the association and particularly Tom Hethmon with Rinker Materials and Tim Walter with Lafarge North America are recognized for their input.

    The Safety and Operations task group combined to develop a Rollover Prevention Program for the ready mixed industry. To date this has been one of NRMCA best selling publication for 2005.

    The “Safety Course for the Ready Mixed Concrete Industry” was held on three different occasions. The Washington Aggregates and Concrete Association hosted the first course and the two additional courses were held and the RMC Foundation Education Center in Silver Spring.

The Environmental Task Group:

    In the past year, the Environmental Task Group conducted the NRMCA Environmental Course for the Ready Mixed Concrete Industry in Alpharetta, GA and Dallas. At the Dallas class, 23 attendees were the first to achieve the designation of Certified Concrete Industry Environmental Professional. The next course is scheduled for May in Southern California in partnership with the Southern California Ready Mixed Concrete Association. Additional help with compliance assistance was offered in Charlotte, NC and in San Jose, CA, with the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act Compliance Workshops.

    NRMCA members praised the worthiness of this new idea of compliance assistance through hands-on workshops. NRMCA staff coordinated with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to offer regulatory relief through the Audit-Disclosure Policy. The issue is of concern because producers may not be completing their reports that are required in the 1987 law. This policy allows those who have not done their environmental reporting to do so without the fear of fines or other reprisals. NRMCA staff continues to work with the EPA on burden reduction efforts as well as participation in stakeholder dialogue sessions to make concerns within our industry known to the regulators. This effort is made possible through NRMCA’s partnership with the EPA through its Performance Track Program.

    Participation in this program allows NRMCA to participate with EPA as it seeks to develop incentives for producers who implement an Environmental Management System into their operations. Negotiations continue with EPA to finalize the new AP-42 for ready mixed concrete production. The study, funded by the Ready Mixed Concrete Research Foundation, determined that truck mix plant emissions are 80% less than values listed in the current version of AP-42. This effort will lead to revision in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s AP 42 Emission Factors for Concrete Batching Facilities.

    The Ready Mixed Concrete Research Foundation also funded the development of a guide to help ready mixed concrete producers and construction specifiers meet the requirements of the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). The contractor developing is making great progress and the document is scheduled for release in late April.

The Operations Task Group

    The 2004 Fleet Maintenance Benchmarking Survey has been completed. Participants of the survey have each received a free copy of the report. The 2005 survey form is on the NRMCA website.

    The operations task group, has suggested comments to the Federal Motor Carrier safety Administration on behalf of the industry in regards to the current Hours of Service litigation. The task group has also included input into NRMCA Guide and PowerPoint presentation for HOS in New Drivers training workshops. HOS Seminars have been presented at the Safety Course, Dispatcher Course, OES Forum & Expo and Plant Manager’s Course to help members understand their responsibilities under the new regulations.

    The 2004 OES Forum & Expo was held in San Francisco on October 3-5.  The event was highlighted by “Producer to Producer seminars. An overflow crowd of more than 300 attendees were on-hand for last year’s event and tours, The event included a once in a lifetime cruise to inspect construction of the new Oakland Bay Bridge, many seminars and a trade show. The committee has selected San Antonio, TX, October 2-4, as the site and date for the 2005 OES Forum & Expo. Discussions are ongoing with the Business Administration Committee to combine our activities in 2006 to establish a new Mega- Fall Event for Chicago in October of 2006.

    Finally, many committee members have volunteered personal time to conduct the highly successful NRMCA Plant Manager Certification programs in Silver Spring, MD and Salt Lake City. 

The Joseph E Carpenter Award

    In 1988, the then Operations and Equipment Maintenance Committee decided to honor past committee chairman Joe Carpenter by instituting the Joseph E. Carpenter Award. Recipients are singled out for their outstanding lifetime contribution to the industry in the fields of operations, environmental and safety. Nominees may be ready mixed concrete company employees, manufacturers or suppliers to the industry or association staff members.  Nominations are tendered and reviewed annually, prior to the final approval by the OES Committee at the autumn OES Forum & Expo.

Past winners of the Carpenter Award are Marshall E. “Doc” Rinker, James Zurbrigen, Dick. Ahern, Bob Tews, Dick Gaynor, Dick Anderson, Monte Stewart , Bill O’Connell, Warren Goehringer, Richard DeBoer, Steve Thomas, Scott Hammersley and  last year’s co-award winners Larry Roach and Doug Ruhlin. This year the committee decided to honor a very special individual.

    The 2005 recipient of the Joseph E. Carpenter Award is Mr. Tommy Stephens, of Stephens Manufacturing in Tompkinsville, Kentucky. Tommy Stephens, president and CEO of Stephens MFG, passed away on March 21, 2004 in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.  Tommy’s father, Bill Stephens, started Stephens Mfg. in 1957. Tommy ran the company with the same family principles that it started with, customer service and a “treat others like you want to be treated” attitude. He served on the Monroe County Hospital board, was vice chairman of the Concrete Plant Manufacturers Bureau  and served on numerous committees for NRMCA and CONEXPO-CON/AGG. Tommy was a longtime supporter of NRMCA and the Operations, Environmental and Safety Committee. Accepting the award are Tommy’s wife Pat, daughter Julie and brother Max.

Promotion Committee Report - James Schelzi

    The past year has been an exciting time of increasing influence and achievement for NRMCA’s promotion program. Glenn Ochsenreiter leads the field promotion staff that expanded to five Resource Directors in 2004 with the addition of Vance Pool and Phil Kresge to the existing team of Dan Huffman, Brad Burke and Mike Zaldo.

    The new promotion program demonstrated in its first year, 2003, that relationships with key national account specifiers could be established by offering our services as industry resources to assist with their concrete issues and challenges.

    I’m pleased to report that results over the past year confirm that strong new business opportunities are being created through these national account relationships. We have seen conversions to concrete on numerous projects and a number of leading accounts are moving forward with tests of new concrete applications—a necessary prerequisite for national roll-out. We have been opportunistic in demonstrating the “green” benefits of concrete to national accounts that are under growing environmental pressure. In particular, we have shown strong industry leadership in the promotion of pervious concrete that is increasingly recognized as an enormous opportunity for ready mixed producers across the country.

Here are a few specific achievements from the program over the past year:

•      We were the influence behind Safeway’s interest in pervious concrete and the driving force behind its decision to test the concept with a large grocery store parking area in Denver - the most visible and potentially influential pervious project in America.

•       NRMCA has had  strong success in establishing a variety of deep relationships within Wal-Mart in Bentonville, AR, and with many of its consultants as well around the country. Their high perceived value of our services is reflected in the comment made by its chief architect, who noted in a room full of construction material vendors in January that NRMCA had become “a member of the Wal-Mart team.” That status has enabled us to give them confidence in the retailer's decision to require NRMCA plant certification for ready mixed vendors in its national specification and to reinforce their prior decision to roll out integral color floors in new stores - more than 700 planned in 2005.

•       In the last year, NRMCA has reviewed the specifications of 15 national accounts and influenced beneficial changes in eight of them—and some of the other seven are still under review by accounts.

•      NRMCA is again setting a high standard for providing the industry with the tools and collateral to effectively promote ready mixed concrete. One innovative step was to sponsor a new Concrete Promotion Collateral Committee which now has more than 50 promoters participating from member companies and local, state, regional and national organizations. The concept is simple: ask the industry what collateral it needs and then involve them in development to make sure the results meet the need. A recently completed project demonstrates how well this approach works: more than 17,000 copies of the NRMCA’s Pervious Concrete brochure were purchased by industry organizations before the first printing.

•      NRMCA promoters are offering more and more training and educational seminars. For example, more than 300 promoters that have been trained to make maximum use of the  CPA software in 20  full-day training sessions offered in 2004. Hundreds of additional architects and engineers have also been directly educated by our staff. We now  offer education seminars for professional credits to architects and engineers on LEED, pervious concrete, conventional concrete pavements and a growing number of other concrete-related subjects.

•       NRMCA field promoters gave presentations at 31 state and regional meetings and events in the past year and have frequently brought industry partners into national account opportunities during that time.

•       A final significant promotional step I’ll mention is the recent launch by NRMCA of www.concreteparking.org. The plan is for this industry website to become the most comprehensive commercial resource for information on all elements of concrete parking, including pervious, conventional paving, whitetopping and parking structures. This site will also support national, regional, state and local promotion programs through referrals to site visitors seeking more information.

All in all, it has been a busy and exciting time for promotion at NRMCA and we look forward to a productive rest of 2005.

Transportation Advocacy Task Force - Lynn Downey

Entry-Level Driver Training Compliance Seminars - February 8, 2005 Entry-Level Driver Training Seminar in Phoenix, AZ.

    Pursuant to the TATF’s previous directive, staff has developed this seminar and offered it twice thus far. Staff worked with TATF Chairman David Chavez and the Arizona Rock Products Association to hold the most recent offering in Phoenix, AZ on February 8, 2005. The course had 15 participants and the feedback received from all of those in attendance was overwhelmingly positive.      

  Staff is looking to hold another seminar in the fall of 2005. Courses have already been held in the western and northeastern United States, so logical future venues include the southeastern or midwestern regions of the country.

           Transportation Issues Update Given by Staff/Establishment of Task Force Policy: 

A.     Drivers’ Hours of Service - HOS Rulemaking: On July 16, 2004, a federal court of appeals threw out the hours of service (HOS) rule in its entirety, deeming it “arbitrary and capricious”. On September 30, 2005, Congress extended the enforceability of the vacated HOS rule for one year or until the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) finalizes a new HOS rule, whichever comes first. On January 24, 2005, FMCSA issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) essentially re-proposing the same HOS rule that went into effect on January 4, 2004. The comment period closed on March 10, 2005. NRMCA filed comments (attached) reflecting the direction given staff on this issue at the previous TATF meeting in San Francisco and summarized the specific provisions. Staff also prepared comment guidelines to assist member companies with their comment filings.

        HOS Legislation - Staff continues to lobby for the passage of legislation sponsored by Rep. John Boozman (R-3-AR), which would allow drivers up to two hours of off-duty time for rest and meal breaks to be taken within the 14-hour on-duty period, after which drivers may not drive. Enactment of such legislation would provide a degree of operational flexibility for concrete delivery professionals and the industry. Rep. Boozman’s legislation was not included in the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman’s mark of the surface transportation reauthorization bill, therefore Rep. Boozman filed it for consideration as an amendment to the highway bill on the floor of the House of Representatives. However, due to staunch opposition of the measure from the Teamsters and various safety advocacy groups, Rep. Boozman was uncomfortable with the amendment’s prospects for success on the day of the debate and instead chose to withdraw his amendment when it came up for debate. Staff will continue to work with Rep. Boozman on the issue and will now focus its lobbying efforts to include this provision in the Senate version of the surface transportation bill or in the upcoming highway bill conference committee.

    Electronic On-Board Recorder Rulemaking - On September 1, 2004, FMCSA issued an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) concerning the mandatory use of  Electronic On-Board Recorders (EOBRs) to verify compliance with the HOS regulations. This ANPRM was issued in response to the District of Columbia federal appellate court’s July 16, 2004 decision to throw out the HOS rule in its entirety. The court cited EOBR use in its ruling specifically, ruling that the agency did not adequately follow Congress’ instructions to “deal with” the EOBR issue. NRMCA filed comments on the rulemaking, clearly voicing the industry’s opposition to an EOBR mandate. These comments are available for viewing on NRMCA’s website at www.nrmca.org.

    Supporting Documents Rulemaking - On November 3, 2004, FMCSA issued a Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (SNPRM) regarding supporting documentation used to verify drivers’ records of duty status (daily logs). The SNPRM largely reiterated existing law, however, it proposed a requirement that would force motor carriers to install a logbook verification “system” using supporting documentation. NRMCA filed comments stating that such a system should not be applicable to concrete delivery professionals or any other short-haul drivers as they are usually able to qualify for the 100 air-mile logbook exemption contained in 49 CFR 395.1 (e) and thus do not have to maintain a log on a regular basis. NRMCA’s comments on this SNPRM are available online at www.nrmca.org. 

B.     Truck Weight Restrictions - Safe Highway and Infrastructure Protection Act (S.95) 

          Senators Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Mike DeWine (R-OH) recently introduced S.95, the Safe Highway and Infrastructure Protection Act (SHIPA), which would expand the interstate highway system truck size and weight limits, including the bridge formula weights, to the entire National Highway System (NHS). The bill includes a grandfather provision that would allow any trucks legally and actually operating in excess of the SHIPA weight limits on specific routes as of June 1, 2003 to continue to do so, however, the SHIPA weights would apply to any newly designated or constructed NHS roadways. Staff is lobbying for the defeat of this provision and NRMCA members have written over 300 letters to their Senators to date on this issue. Staff was instructed to keep working proactively to liberalize truck weight restrictions, either by advocating an increase in the bridge formula weights on the interstate highway system or a specialized hauling vehicle permit program.  Staff will research the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Specialized Hauling Vehicle study docket to obtain studies that may be useful in this effort.   

         *Staff tentatively scheduled the next meeting to be held in conjunction with NRMCA’s Operations, Environment and Safety (OES) Forum and Expo on Sunday, October 2, from 3:30 to 5:30 P.M.  Staff also noted that additional conference calls may be held prior to the next meeting should special events related to transportation issues occur.

Developing Industry Leaders program - Peter Brewin

RMC Research Foundation - Vice Chairman Christopher Crouch

    Good Morning, I am Christopher Crouch, Vice Chairman of the RMC Research Foundation and I am pleased to give this report on the foundation’s activities and progress As you no doubt know, the foundation’s formal mission is “To Promote Education and Research in the Concrete Industry.” We are a 501 (c) (3) organization and, by virtue of this, all contributions to the foundation, whether they be corporate, individual or association, are fully tax deductible.

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