Companies and private-equity firms are reportedly interested in buying the business, named Volvo Rents. The business may be worth between $1 billion and $1.5 billion, according to two sources that spoke to Bloomberg under anonymity.

At this point no final decision to sell have been made.

Volvo Rents operates 130 stores in North America. The company is said to be exploring the sale of the business “as it shifts its focus to profitability from sales growth.”

The article notes Volvo’s 2011 stated aim to top the heavy equipment industry in operating margins.

Thursday night, a truck with an oversized load struck a portion of the I-5 bridge near Seattle, Washington, sending a section of the bridge and three drivers tumbling into the Skagit River below, according to our sister site Better Roads.

Thankfully, no one was killed in the collapse, but rescue teams are searching the river for others just to be safe. The collapse was triggered when a semi carrying a tall load hit an upper portion of the bridge.

And here’s the troubling part: Washington state’s transportation secretary Lynn Peterson  has said that the I-5 bridge, which was built in 1955, is “an older bridge that needs a lot of work.” In fact, the Federal Highway Administration’s National Bridge Inventory listed the bridge as being “functionally obsolete,” which means that the bridge has an outdated design including narrow shoulders or a low clearance.

More bad news, according to the Better Roads 2012 Bridge Inventory, there are many more bridges in the same condition or worse as that of the I-5. Better Roads reports that 970, a full 30 percent, of Washington’s bridges are either structurally deficient or functionally obsolete.

The Obama administration has taken infrastructure needs seriously, budgeting $40 billion for a “fix-it-first” program that will update and repair bridges that need attention most like the I-5. And in the last week, the President signed a memorandum that slashes the approval and review times for infrastructure projects in order to speed up the process of such repairs.

A full investigation of the bridge is being carried out by the National Transportation Safety Board.

You can watch video of the rescue effort below.

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YouTube user and blogger RetroChromeX posted this recently-found footage of the 1946 Indianapolis 500, noting that, because of the outbreak of World War II, this was the first time the storied race had been held since 1941. And people were excited: 175,000 of them turned out to cheer on the 33-driver field. Interestingly enough, this was the first Indy 500 where drivers used radio communication to the pit crew

The video starts with a bit of a humdrum parade of classic cars at the beginning, but be patient, the action does ramp up. British driver George Robson won the race in the no. 16 car by a full 44 seconds. Tragically, Robson would die 4 months later in another race.

The footage is shot from the infield and it’s clear that the guy holding the camera is in the process of figuring out how to capture cars speeding past at over 100 mph. Nonetheless, he gets the hang of it and the clarity of the video is nothing short of amazing considering it’s 67 years old.

RetroChrome also makes this interesting note about potential Nazi hunting in his blog:

“Rudolf Caracciola failed to qualify after he blacked out and wrecked during his trial. Most of the press said he had been hit by a bird in the temple. But another rumor out there is that he was shot. Rudolf was not only German, but also a member of the National Socialist Motor Corps during the war, and although he never joined the Nazi party it was close enough for a lot of Americans at the time.”

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When tornados struck Tuscaloosa on April 27, 2011, a spontaneous army of tens of thousands of volunteers fanned out to help their neighbors.

It was a few days short of six months ago that I wrote about Hurricane Sandy and how volunteers should respond in the wake of catastrophic natural disasters.  Those of you who are heading to Oklahoma soon might do well to read it here first.

Nineteen months before that I blogged on our old website about how our hometown, Tuscaloosa, Alabama responded to the tornadoes that killed 51 in this city, 238 in the state, and destroyed thousands of homes on April 27, 2011.

So after the terrible events of Monday in Moore, Oklahoma, I don’t have any new advice to offer except this: There is power in simply doing something. It doesn’t matter what, or how much. Just do something. Disaster fatigue is not an acceptable response.

Paralysis sets in when we think somebody else has the problem covered, or we think the tragedy is so big and our efforts are so small that they don’t amount to anything.

If that’s what you’re thinking, you’re wrong on both counts.

The biggest tragedy of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 was that so many people thought the government was going to come rescue them. Volunteers with boats were turned away, many forced back by government officials.

The biggest triumph that emerged from Tuscaloosa in the days after the April 27 tornado was that nobody turned anybody away, nobody asked permission, nobody waited for the government to tell them what to do. As I wrote in the second link above, by the time the sun rose the morning after the tornado, tens of thousands of regular folks had formed up into spontaneous, self-organizing squadrons and fanned out across the city. If they weren’t clearing debris or chainsawing trees, or stockpiling clothes and blankets at local churches they were bringing water and food to the people who were. And it wasn’t just the locals. I saw license plates from six different states pouring into our torn up little town.

In the chaos that followed the Tuscaloosa tornado this volunteer army kept at it for weeks. In time the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the National Guard, the state and local governments and big contractors put enough boots on the ground that the need for volunteers diminished. This will happen too in Oklahoma. But it takes time for the official response to ramp up.

For now, Moore, Oklahoma, needs your help, as do the volunteers who are already there. It doesn’t matter what you can do. Even if you don’t have construction or medical skills, you can hand out bottles of cold water. You can bring food. If you can’t be there you can donate money or supplies to the Red Cross or Samaritan’s Purse or any of the hundreds of organizations in the vanguard of this effort.  Say you don’t like the Red Cross or the Baptists? Get over it. That’s how losers think.

There’s a Facebook page now, serving as a clearinghouse for information Moore, Oklahoma volunteers and victims. And if you’ve lived through one of these disasters, you know the Humane Society does a great job of finding lost pets and animals and getting them back to their owners or new homes.

With all the scandals brewing at the Internal Revenue Service and our elected leaders hacking away at each other, there’s a feeling of resignation about. The government is off the rails.  Nobody can do anything about any of it and nobody will. Nothing in Washington D.C. will change.

But you can change things in Moore, Oklahoma. Look around. Figure out what you can do, and do it. Get off the bench, step up to the plate. The coach wants you in the game.

Titled “Modernizing Federal Infrastructure Review and Permitting Regulations, Policies, and Procedures,” the memorandum, and the Obama administration’s entire focus on improving infrastructure in the U.S., is “intended to grow the economy, accelerate job creation and improve U.S. competitiveness through the nation’s infrastructure,” the Better Roads report reads.

Beyond the goal of decreasing project approval times, Obama notes his goals of “expanding innovative mitigation tools; developing more targeted and relevant environmental reviews; providing more public input opportunities; and improving collaboration with State, local and Tribal governments.”

The memo also lists best-management practices and the government offices and agencies, chiefly the Department of Transportation, that will be involved in the effort.

Volkswagen’s Jetta TDI clean diesel model is rated at 42 mpg highway and 30 mpg in the city.

Diesel is certainly rising in popularity here in the States, but a recent report from Automotive News really shows just how oblivious to the fuel the majority of Americans are—even when they buy a car that requires it.

Volkswagen sent a notice to its dealerships last week that it will begin refitting 209,500 diesel vehicles in the United States with modifications that will prevent drivers from mistakenly fueling the cars with gasoline instead of diesel.

Apparently so many Americans are putting gas in their diesel VWs that it’s “become an occasional source of tension” between the automaker and its customers, Automotive News reports. Misfueling causes failure in high-pressure fuel pumps and eventually the car just shuts down.

Beyond the inconvenience, customers were angered to find that misfueling also voids their warranties.

In fact, so many customers complained of this that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened up an investigation only to find that operator error was the culprit.

Cars covered by the refitting include the 2009-12 TDI models of the Jetta, Golf and Jetta SportWagen. The refitting will include installing a misfueling guard in the tank and a fuel filler neck cap. What seems a bit unfair about all of this is that VW will pay for the parts and installation.

VW’s newest models already have these safeguards. Beginning in 2013 the automaker began using diesel tanks that only accept diesel fuel pump nozzles.

“As diesel engine passenger vehicles become more popular, auto manufacturers have seen an increase in the number of misfueling cases where diesel engine vehicles are mistakenly fueled with gasoline,” according to VW’s notice to dealers. “The resulting fuel system contamination can lead to costly repairs that are not covered under warranty.”

Customers should begin receiving notifications to bring their cars in on May 28.

The latest data shows that while women aren’t occupying carpentry, plumbing or the other intensive labor occupations that make up the majority of the construction jobs available, they are taking ownership of construction firms at a quickly-increasing rate.

In 1997, the U.S. Census counted 152,871 construction firms owned by women. Ten years later, that number had skyrocketed 76 percent to 268,809. More evidence comes from the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City’s Inner City 100 list which included several construction businesses owned by women.

And given the industry’s many struggles as of late with labor shortages, a growing interest in the industry by a previously untapped demographic is welcome news.

Lenore Janis, president of the National Association of Professional Women in Construction, mainly attributes the growth in women’s influence in construction to a requirement set by the Office for Federal Contract Compliance Programs in 1978 that mandates federal contractors employ women for no less than 6.9 percent of the total construction work hours on any federal project.

Genevieve Withers, 52, is the CEO of Pipe Wrap, a company that provides a “quick fix pipe repair kit that could be used to quickly and easily stop emergency leaks.” Withers encouraged more women to enter the industry. ”Most men will listen,” Withers told CNN Money/Fortune. “If a woman is in this industry and she has a good product and she knows she does, then there should be no reason on this green earth why she can’t succeed.”

Read the full CNN Money/Fortune article, which contains more interviews with women in the industry, by clicking here.

The bill retains the new guest worker program, called the “W-Visa,” that would make a maximum of 200,000 visas available each year. Construction trade groups including the Associated General Contractors of America, Associated Builders and Contractors and the National Association of Home Builders spoke out against the program because it limits the industry to no more than 15,000 of those visas per year.

The Washington Post editorial board argues, this “artificially low limit on visas for low-skilled workers, especially in the construction industry, could create an incentive for ongoing illegal immigration.”

But manufacturers like construction equipment maker Caterpillar will be happy to hear that at the last minute, Senators agreed to a compromise in the bill that would increase the number of highly skilled foreign workers, such as engineers, allowed into the U.S. through H-1B visas from 65,000 per year to 110,000. Plus, there is the possibility that number could increase to 180,000, depending on unemployment levels.

However, tighter H-1B conditions will be applied to companies whose foreign labor accounts for 15 percent or more of their skilled workforces.

The millions of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally, if they arrived here before December 31, 2011, have not left since then and do not have a felony or more than two misdemeanors on their record, will be able to apply for “registered provisional immigrant status” six months after the bill becomes law.

Applicants will also be subject to a $500 fine. Unless the individuals seek a green card or become permanent citizens they must re-register under provisional immigrant status every six years for another $500. After 10 years, the $500 fine increases to $1,000.

Children brought to the U.S. can apply for green cards in five years after the bill becomes law.

President Barack Obama called the legislation “largely consistent with the principles of common-sense reform I have proposed and meets the challenge of fixing our broken immigration system.”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he will bring the bill to the Senate floor early next month for debate. How the bill will fair in the House of Representatives is unclear. The bill will be heard in a meeting of the House Judiciary Committee today.

Setting trusses is considered new construction and since they are not sheet goods or packaged goods this job requires a certified operator.

After hearing objections and concerns from “a number of parties” the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has announced its intent to extend the deadline for compliance with its new crane operator certification rules by three years to November 10, 2017.

The extension will allow the administration time to address raised concerns through a new draft of the rules at a later date and ensure that the requirements being updated don’t “cause disruption to the construction industry.”

The proposed extension would also extend the existing phase-in requirement that employers ensure that their operators are qualified to operate the equipment to the same date.

On August 9, 2010 OSHA issued a final standard on requirements for cranes and derricks in construction work. To meet the standard, employers were required to either certify crane operators themselves using an evaluation program that has been approved by a third-party agency, or use a third-party testing agency.

The standard gave crane operators to meet one of four qualification/certification options by Nov. 10, 2014.

During a recent meeting hosted by OSHA on the new rules attended by contractors, industry organizations representatives of several crane manufacturers, there was little agreement on the definitions of “certification” and “qualification” and who has the right to decide whether an operator is qualified or not.

There was also concern over how operators will be tested and what they will be tested on. Many raised the concern that a lot of time and money could be wasted testing crane operators who are, in their employer’s opinion, fully “qualified” to operate but have yet to be certified.

Between now and 2017 and the process of addressing concerns about the new rules, the agency plans to post a list of frequently asked questions on its Cranes and Derricks in Construction website to provide additional clarification and address some comments and concerns raised by stakeholders.

But what many likely didn’t see coming was a renewed interest in diesel. For decades now, it’s been a fuel viewed as dirty and expensive. Nonetheless, new diesel engines, especially like those from Volkswagen, have proven to be clean, fuel-efficient powerhouses that quickly win over whoever is in the driver’s seat.

We’ve written a ton of articles in recent months about diesel’s resurgence  even wondering aloud whether 2013 will be “The Year of the Diesel”. But we’d like to go a bit further into that resurgence and diesel’s future as well as discuss how that future will be affected by Chrysler’s announcement that it will offer the first modern half-ton pickup with a diesel in the 2014 Ram 1500.

That’s why on Thursday, May 30th at 12 p.m. CT, we’ll be hosting a live chat on Twitter with guests Allen Schaeffer, the executive director of the Diesel Technology Forum, and Bruce Smith, editor of our sister publication Pro Pickup. Allen will be chatting via the Diesel Technology Forum Twitter account @DieselTechForum and Bruce will be tweeting from his personal account, @4x4editor.

We’ll have plenty of questions for our guests, but we want to hear from you as well. To submit a question for the chat, fill out the form to the right if you’re on our #EQWchat page, or click here to visit that page.

In the past two years, registrations of diesel cars and SUVs jumped 24 percent in the U.S. and this year Chrysler announced that the 2014 Ram 1500 was announced, and during a recent  Reddit Q&A, Ford was flooded with questions about diesel.

Despite the fact that VW doesn’t yet sell a truck here in the U.S., two of the most popular articles we’ve posted to our site have dealt with the prospect of the automaker doing just that, largely because readers know it will likely have a diesel option. The first article simply asked readers if they’d be interested in a VW pickup and the second, even more popular post, dealt with VW’s diesel-powered Amarok R Style concept pickup. The response on our Facebook page was positive as well.

Will 2013 be looked back on as “The Year of the Diesel?” Will this renewed interest lead to diesel becoming the world’s top transportation fuel, as ExxonMobil predicts? Will diesel vehicle sales continue to climb? What effect will the Ram 1500 have on the half-ton truck market?

Join us at 12 p.m. CT on Thursday, May 30th as we try to answer those questions, and any questions you may have, live on Twitter.

Guests

Allen Schaeffer is the executive director of the Diesel Technology Forum, a non-profit educational organization dedicated to raising awareness about the economic importance and essential uses of diesel engines. The forum represents engine and equipment makers, key component manufacturers, fuel producers and emissions control technology manufacturers. Be sure to follow Allen and Diesel Technology Forum on Twitter at @DieselTechForum.

Bruce Smith is the editor of Pro Pickup, a sister site and publication of Equipment World focusing light-duty trucks, gas and diesel for the construction contractor. Content includes aftermarket products, new truck tests and reviews, maintenance, installations, tire tests, truck-related news, shop skills and technology issues. Be sure to follow Bruce on Twitter at @4x4editor.