While some rental operations expect this growth to come from increased demand as the construction industry recovers, ARA says the benefits of renting have been magnified in today’s marketplace, resulting in more rental customers. Many construction equipment companies, including United Rentals, say they are seeing a “secular shift” in North America as customers recognize the benefits of rental.  More than 96 percent of those surveyed said they expected annual rental revenues this year to at least equal 2011, with 85 percent expecting an increase and more than 37 percent expecting double-digit revenue growth this year.

To participate by phone, investors and other interested parties can call 866-783-2138 approximately 10 minutes before the scheduled start.

The access code is 54805024. For international calls, dial 857-350-1597. The conference call will also be available on Vulcan’s website, www.vulcanmaterials.com.

The conference call will be recorded and available for replay approximately two hours after the call through Feb. 23.

In the U.S. and Canada dial 888-286-8010 and for international calls, dial 617-801-6888. The access code to hear the recording is 61136046.

“President Obama made clear in his speech that our mission is to build an economy where we reward hard work and responsibility,” said LaHood in a written statement. “Investments in transportation projects like the I-4 Corridor mean job creation and economic growth. We have critical transportation work that needs to be done and Americans who are ready to get to work.”

LaHood’s visit follows President Obama’s State of the Union address, in which he called for using funds saved from winding down the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to pay down the debt and on a transportation bill that would clear the way for nation building here in the United States.

The I-4/Lee Roy Selmon Expressway Connector, or “Crosstown Connector,” is a new, elevated roadway that will connect Interstate 4 with the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway and link two major east-west corridors. This new roadway will significantly improve the movement of people and goods through the Tampa area by reducing congestion.

The project, which is using $105 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds, will provide a truck-only direct access route to the Port of Tampa. The port generates $7.8 billion annually in economic benefits and 96,000 jobs in West and Central Florida, according to the state. The truck-only route also removes truck traffic from downtown Ybor City. In addition, the Crosstown Connector provides an evacuation route for area residents as well as an alternative route for commuters traveling into downtown Tam

“After years of inaction, we are glad to see that both houses of Congress are now making progress on surface transportation reauthorization. It is critical that lawmakers build on the momentum and work together in a bipartisan manner to complete a new multi-year highway bill that restores certainty to federal infrastructure programs and lays a solid foundation for America’s future economic growth.”

The appellate court has set an April 16 deadline for the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to file its opening brief after the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California court refused to suspend judgments and a preliminary injunction Jan. 23 against CARB enforcing the standard.

“In the absence of a stay, fuel producers that have invested in lower carbon fuels are unable to recoup those investments,” the board said of the lower court’s decision.

Two years ago, the American Trucking Associations, refiners and fuel production companies filed suit against the board’s LCFS, which began last year and had been set to become significantly stricter in January.

On Dec. 29, U.S. District Judge Lawrence O’Neill ruled the state’s LCFS violated the Constitution’s Commerce Clause by discriminating against out-of-state sources of ethanol and crude oil. In response to a 2006 state law, the board adopted LCFS three years later to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation fuels 10 percent by 2020.

Several West Coast and New England states that considered adopting California’s standard in recent years appear to be holding off on implementation.

Jill Dunn is a contributing editor to Randall-Reilly Publishing Co., parent company of Aggregates Manager, Better Roads and Equipment World magazines.

The for-hire trucking industry added 5,300 jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis in January, while payroll employment in the entire U.S. economy surged by 243,000 civilian nonfarm jobs, according to preliminary numbers released Friday, Feb. 3, by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The U.S. unemployment rate dropped to 8.3 percent.

Payroll employment in for-hire trucking is up by 51,500, or 4 percent, from January 2011. Employment is up by 89,100, or 7.2 percent, from the bottom in March 2010, but it remains 130,100, or 9 percent, from the peak in January 2007.

The latest report from BLS includes the annual benchmark revision in the size of the U.S. work force, adding 162,000 jobs to the number estimated in March 2011. For for-hire trucking, this meant that the revised BLS figure for payroll employment in December was 1.318 million jobs — 22,000 more than what BLS initially reported for December. The January figure is about 1.323 million.

The BLS numbers for trucking reflect all payroll employment in for-hire trucking, but they don’t include trucking-related jobs in other industries, such as a truck driver for a private fleet. Nor do the numbers reflect the total amount of hiring since they only include new jobs, not replacements for existing positions.

Commercial Carrier Journal (CCJ) is a sister publication to Aggregates Manager, Better Roads and Equipment World magazines.

The current nation is currently operating under an extension of Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), the surface transportation bill enacted by George W. Bush on Aug. 10, 2005. The bill originally expired on Sept. 30, 2009, has undergone a series of extensions since then. The latest extension is set to expire on March 31, 2012.

On Feb. 1, the T&I Committee began consideration of the American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act, a bill introduced in the House by Transportation Committee Chairman John L. Mica (R-Fla.) and Highways and Transit Subcommittee Chairman John J. Duncan Jr. (R-Tenn.). The legislation was approved early this morning.

“No other bill this Congress will create jobs, lower energy costs or improve our deteriorating infrastructure as effectively as this legislation,” Mica said in a written press statement. “With millions out of work, particularly in the construction industry, Americans deserve a long-term transportation, energy and jobs bill from Congress.

“The American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act will be the most significant reform of transportation programs in decades,” Mica continued in the written statement. “This bill will cut red tape, reduce the federal bureaucracy, move major infrastructure projects forward, attract more private sector participation, and give states the flexibility they need to address their most critical transportation needs.

A year ago, the Committee began holding bipartisan hearings and meetings around the country to gather input from state and local officials for a bill to reform and improve federal transportation programs, Mica said.

“Since then, we have worked to incorporate as many ideas from our Republican and Democratic colleagues as possible,” he said. “With today’s extensive and open debate, we have adopted many amendments, including 21 Democratic amendments, and we will continue to work with our colleagues as this bill moves forward.”

He likens this step forward to the progress that has been made on a long-term Federal Aviation Aviation (FAA) bill. “Some thought our committee would never complete a long-term FAA bill, but we have reached a bipartisan bicameral agreement on that critical measure,” Mica noted. “The President also recently signed a bipartisan pipeline safety bill that we sent him. We can also find common ground on this essential legislation to move our country and economy forward.”

Duncan points out that job creation is the No. 1 priority for voters across the United States, and he says this bill gives state governments a long-term funding stream that will put Americans back to work by improving our Nation’s highway and transit systems.

“In the last Congress, the President and Democratic leaders were unable to bring their reauthorization proposal to the floor,” Duncan said in the written statement from Mica’s office. “Their proposals for funding the bill were unrealistic.  I can assure you that this bill is realistic and will ensure that the Highway Trust Fund does not go broke.”

The American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act authorizes approximately $260 billion over five years to fund federal highway, transit and safety programs, consistent with current funding levels. This will provide long-term stability for states to undertake major infrastructure projects. The bill also includes provisions to improve programs for freight and passenger rail transportation, and calls for funds collected for maintaining the nation’s harbors to be invested for that purpose – not redirected for other unrelated government expenditures.

In addition, this legislation contains no earmarks. The last surface transportation law approved by Congress in 2005 contained over 6,300 earmarks.

The House is expected to consider H.R. 7 later this month.

According to Mica’s office, The American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act improves transportation programs in a number of ways, including the following:

Program Reform & Consolidation

Currently, there are more than 100 federal surface transportation programs, many of which were created during the last 50 years to expand the scope of the original programmatic goals. Many of these programs are duplicative or do not serve a national interest, according to Mica.

The American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act reforms surface transportation programs by consolidating or eliminating about 70 programs that are duplicative or do not serve a federal purpose.

Increased State Flexibility

The American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act eliminates a number of mandates that prevent states from being able to fund their most critical infrastructure needs.  The bill ensures that states will no longer be required to spend highway funding on non-highway activities, although they will be permitted to fund such activities if deemed to be priorities. The bill also delegates more project approval authority to states.

Cutting Red Tape & Streamlining Project Delivery

Due to the federal bureaucracy and red tape, the project approval and permitting process creates needless infrastructure delays and cost increases. According to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), highway projects can take up to 15 years to complete, and a lengthy project approval process accounts for a majority of these delays.

The American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act streamlines and condenses the project review process by cutting bureaucratic red tape, allowing federal agencies to review transportation projects concurrently, and setting hard deadlines for federal agencies to approve projects, in addition to providing states with more approval authority.

More information from the markup of H.R.7 can be accessed here, including information regarding amendments.

(For a PDF of the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act, click here.)

(For the 14-page summary of the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act in a downloadable PDF format, click here.)

Click here for the report, Federal Surface Transportation Reauthorization:Moving Beyond SAFETEA-LU, by Joung H. Lee, associate director for finance and business development, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and deputy director, AASHTO Center for Excellence in Project Finance.

Mica is the chairman of the T&I Committee.

More information, including details on amendments, will be forthcoming later today, according to a written press statement released in the early morning hours Feb. 3.

For a PDF of the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act, click here.

For the 14-page summary of the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act in a downloadable PDF format, click here.

Ritchie Brothers Auctioneers will sell more than 9,100 heavy equipment items and trucks – the most items the company has ever sold at a single auction – at its unreserved public equipment auction in Orlando, Florida, from February 13-18, beginning at 8 a.m. daily. Customers can bid on-site, online at rbauction.com or by placing proxy bids by phone or in person.

This auction is open to the public. Registration to bid is free, though a refundable bid deposit may be required. Interested buyers can go to the auction site to inspect, test and compare items beginning February 10 at 8 a.m.

“The auction attracts one of the largest, most diverse audiences of consignors and bidders from around the world,” says Steve Kriebel, regional sales manager for Ritchie Brothers Auctioneers. “Because of this, the selection of equipment featured in the auction is plentiful and there is something available for all types of buyers everywhere.”

Thousands of late model equipment items from manufacturers such as Caterpillar and Volvo will highlight this year’s auction. Attendees can expect to see products such as forklifts, loader backhoes, wheel loaders, articulated dump trucks, motor graders, motor scrapers, crawler tractors, crawler loaders, pavers, skid steer loaders and multi-terrain loaders.

For more information about the auction, visit rbauction.com. For information about selling equipment, call 863-420-9919.

Wacker Neuson has been the exclusive manufacturer of Gehl and Mustang branded compact excavators and all wheel steer loaders since 1999.

Christopher Barnard, president and CEO of Wacker Neuson Corp., says that the the termination of the Gehl contract is consistent with the company’s strategy in North America, which he says is “to focus resources and products on the further development of the Wacker Neuson brand for its unique and extensive combined product offering of compact equipment as well as light equipment.”

Barnard adds in a written statement: “This increased focus on this broad product range will enhance our ability to better support Wacker Neuson’s extensive North American distribution system.”