Pit & Quarry

Caterpillar opened the Black Hills Engineering Design Center in Rapid City, South Dakota. The 17,000-sq.-ft. facility serves as a hub, supporting Caterpillar teams worldwide across machines, engines, electrification and autonomy, according to the company. At the facility, teams use extended reality and digital prototypes to collaborate across continents, catch issues earlier and move faster, which Cat says reduces the need for costly builds.

Ben Osborn knows the feeling well. Most equipment dealers experience it sooner or later. It’s the moment when, after months of time and effort to secure a complex plant sale, a competitor swoops in and puts the deal on the brink. “It’s gut-wrenching,” says Ben Osborn, director of Superior Industries products at Tractor & Equipment Company (TEC).

Over the years, I spent many summers supporting pits, quarries, paving operations, concrete delivery teams and related field activities across the Northeast. Fuller One trend became impossible to ignore: When the first major heat wave of the season arrived, safety incidents tended to rise. What stood out most was that incidents were not always direct heat illnesses.

It’s not uncommon for folks to change lanes in the aggregates industry. Producer personnel will hop over to the equipment supply side from time to time, joining a manufacturer or dealer company. The transition sometimes goes the other way, too. Woodcock Stephen Woodcock made one of these shifts in 2024. After a decade and a half as a producer, Woodcock joined Dibble Equipment – a dealer – as project manager.

This year’s Pit & Quarry Roundtable & Conference brought industry leaders from across the U.S. and Canada to LaPlaya Beach & Golf Resort for education and networking in Florida. The opening-night reception provided attendees the chance to catch up with old friends and make new contacts. Among those on hand were Scott Alexander of Quikrete (left) and Håkan Holmgren of CheckProof.

Ross HD Construction Equipment Hyundai North America promoted Mike Ross to president. Ross succeeds Stan Park, who recently retired after serving as president since November 2021. In his new role, Ross will lead the company’s business strategy, dealer network development, customer support operations and continued growth across the U.S. and Canada. Ross joined Hyundai in 2020 as vice president of sales before being promoted to COO.

Aggregate production was up 6 percent in the first quarter this year, according to U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) estimates. First-quarter aggregate production totaled 481 million metric tons, with totals up in seven of the nine geographic divisions USGS tracks. Only the Middle Atlantic (down 3 percent) and South Atlantic (down 0.3 percent) produced fewer aggregates in the first quarter. Production was up the most in USGS’s Mountain division (up 27.3 percent).

George Reddin “The price increases seen over the last two years were, one, covering inflation. Producers have got to at least cover their inflation, and inflation in the construction industry was arguably higher than CPI (Consumer Price Index) overall. … People also realize the rock in the ground has a long shelf life. It’s a scarce resource, and people aren’t chasing volume. They’re chasing price because they’ve learned what it means to the bottom line.

Martin Marietta agreed to combine with Lhoist North America in a deal valued at $13.5 billion. Lhoist North America operates a network of 20 quarries and production facilities and 45 distribution terminals, producing high-calcium lime, dolomitic lime and industrial mineral products while serving end markets such as domestic steel manufacturing, infrastructure and heavy nonresidential construction, environmental applications and agriculture.

MSHA’s Surface Mobile Equipment Rule became effective in January 2024, with a July 2024 compliance deadline. Kontul Because enforcement has been ongoing for about two years, it’s worth reviewing the data for metal/nonmetal mines and considering trends in enforcement. Perhaps the best place to start is by considering 30 C.F.R. § 56.23002(a), the provision requiring metal/nonmetal operators to implement a written safety program.