It’s the start of a new year, and I guarantee this is going to be a good one. Last month I recapped our 2022 developments, including Rock Products’ partnership with Burgex Inc. – the Utah-based consulting and data-analysis company – that resulted in an entirely reimagined version of Rock Products’ Aggregates Atlas; the launch of Cement Products magazine and the…
Read MoreCategory: Editorial
A Banner Year
It was certainly a banner year for Rock Products. Looking back, 2022 was highlighted by advertising growth, new partnerships and strategic expansion of media offerings. At this year’s AGG1 show, we announced a partnership with Burgex Inc., the Utah-based consulting and data-analysis company. This partnership resulted in an entirely reimagined version of Rock Products’ Aggregates Atlas, which along with Burgex’s…
Read MoreAnnouncing ‘Women in Aggregates’
A woman’s place is in the aggregates industry. We are pleased to announce that SEMCO Publishing – parent company of Rock Products, Cement Products, Concrete Products, The ASIA Miner and North American Mining magazines – has launched Women in Aggregates, womeninaggregates.com, a new group dedicated to supporting women working in the aggregates industry. The initiative follows the efforts of similar…
Read MoreCat’s Sharon Holling Retires
One of the construction and aggregates industry trade press’s most ardent supporters has moved on, after Sharon Holling of the Caterpillar Trade Press Relations team announced her retirement. She served more than 45 years with the company. Her help and dedication has been beneficial to me personally as a long-time aggregates industry editor, and I can state the obvious: she…
Read MoreWelcome to The Aggregates Almanac
Welcome to the 2022 edition of the “Aggregates Almanac: The Ultimate Information Resource for Quarry Operators.” Published now for the sixth year in a row, feedback from our readers indicates that this publication is widely used and valued; and retained as a go-to information source. Rock Products’ Benchmark 2022 survey indicated that aggregates operators are highly interested in: Equipment upgrades.…
Read MoreRefuting the Flawed MSU Silicosis Study
Rock Products to the rescue. A controversial study by a Michigan State University (MSU) research assistant – “Evaluation of Silicosis, Asthma and COPD Among Sand and Gravel and Stone Surface Mine Workers” – that suggests an increase in doctor visits for shortness of breath among long-term sand and gravel mine workers in the state compared to the rate for production…
Read MoreJust …. No!
If I had any hair to tear out, this month I would be tearing my hair out while yelling, “Just … No!” First, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has launched a new enforcement initiative to “better protect the nation’s miners from health hazards resulting from repeated overexposure to respirable crystalline silica.” MSHA said that…
Read MoreThe Labor Shortage
The aggregates industry had a labor problem before the rest of the country had one. Finding people to get their hands dirty has always been a challenge for producers, whether it is heavy equipment operators, truck drivers, diesel mechanics or laborers. The labor problems that the rest of the country is experiencing has its roots in a number of factors.…
Read MoreAGG1 Hit It Out of the Park
AGG1 was held March 29-31 in Nashville, and the show hit it out of the park. More than 11,000 aggregates and asphalt-paving professionals filled the sold-out Music City Center exhibition floor. It was good to see everyone in person again. Congratulations to the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association for a great convention that preceded the show; and for its…
Read MoreThe Wrong Thing
There isn’t a book of sage advice that exists for operations to refer to when running their aggregates business. But if there was, I am quite sure there would be a line in there somewhere that reads, “When MSHA inspectors come to your site to do their job, don’t use a loader filled with rocks and dirt to force the…
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