SC&RA Annual Conference Set For April 12-16 in Phoenix, Arizona

The Specialized Carriers & Rigging Association (SC&RA) will hold its Annual Conference, April 12-16, at the Wild Horse Pass Resort& Conference Center in Phoenix, Arizona. The Annual Conference is expected to attract more than 500 attendees from all facets of the industry.

The 5-day schedule includes numerous educational sessions, networking events and committee meetings. Among the anticipated highlights are the Products Fair with as many as 58 exhibitors; Rigging and Hauling Jobs of the Year Competitions; the Annual Awards and Recognition Dinner; golf, tennis and fun run events; and the Pandora's Box Dinner/Dance.

Educational sessions will feature five acclaimed speakers:

Opening General Session Speaker Doug Lipp ~an internationally acclaimed expert on customer service, leadership and diversity ~is the author of five books and a featured guest on National Public Radio and Bloomberg Business. His presentation on The Changing Faces of Today's Customer, based on his book of the same title, will examine how businesses can
attract and retain an ever expanding base of diverse customers and employees.

Larry Winget is one of the United States' top business speakers and author of Shut Up, Stop Whining and Get a Life, a recent number one title on The Wall Street Journal list of best-selling business books. Known as the "Pit Bull of Development," Winget will make two presentations: Hardcore Self-Help That's Funny! and Success Is Simple, Money Is Easy, and Life Is a Hoot!

Garrison Wynn, host of PBS television specials and national radio programs. His presentation, Making the Most of Difficult Situations: Changing Markets, Changing Times, will examine the challenges everyone faces and show how to laugh at our problems while using them as catalysts for success.

Robert Stevenson is a former Morehead Scholar and All-American athlete who has owned several companies, sold internationally in more than 20 countries, and established and maintained hundreds of accounts worldwide while managing a worldwide sales force. His presentation will offer winning strategies on becoming an extraordinary person.

Donald Malecki is a Principal of Malecki Deimling Niedlander & Associates, LLC, an insurance risk and management consulting firm. His presentation will be Buyer Beware - Know Your Coverage Features, Limitations and Potential Exposures.

Dica Launches Safety Texturing on all Outrigger Pads

(Panora, IA) -- DICA, www.dicausa.com, the Industry leader in safety, has announced "Safety Texturing" for all its Outrigger Pads for 2005. This new feature greatly enhances outrigger foot-to-pad and pad-to-ground traction. This increased traction translates into enhanced safety for the operating crew. The new safety texturing coupled with DICA's totally engineered pad, with load capacities up to 70 tons per pad, make this pad a must-have for every job site.

Lightweight, Reliable, Non-Conductive, Moisture Resistant, Durable and Long-lasting are a few of the characteristics of the DICA pad. In fact, a recent customer exclaimed, "This is the last set of pads I'll ever have to buy!"That is a strong value statement for the owners and operators of companies who are currently investing valuable man-hours building or refurbishing their own pads. Not to mention the fact that they can now rest easier knowing they have a totally engineered and safety rated outrigger pad for their sophisticated equipment.

Necessity is the mother of invention and the first pads Dick developed were a fiberglass-plywood combination that greatly improved the situation. Through continual development Dick ultimately developed an Ultra High Molecular Weight (UHMW) based plastic pad.

DICA has tens of thousands of pads in use today. The bulk of these are used by Electric Utility Companies but in the last several years Crane operators, Concrete Pumpers, Tree Care Experts, Fire Departments and Well Drillers have seen the value in the DICA pad and have implemented them into their fleets.

Safety Resources Unlimited

Safety Resources Unlimited (SRU), an Oklahoma based crane training company has celebrated its first anniversary in their new 6000 sq. ft. training center. The new facility is located on two acres at 4800 SW 20th street in Oklahoma City, OK. It has been a busy and successful year for the company, which was founded in 1999.

During the past year SRU has added two onsite cranes to provide hands on training & practice. The cranes are used for various training programs and to provide CCO practical testing on demand. In November of 2004 a practical examiners workshop was hosted in the new training center. Twenty-one examiner candidates from around the U.S. received the required training to become NCCCO certified examiners. SRU's trainers are CCO certified operators & practical examiners.

Safety Resources Unlimited offers training courses in all areas of mobile crane operation and maintenance. They are strategically located 3 miles north of Will Rogers World Airport and within walking distance of many area hotels and restaurants.

Grove boosts truck crane line with new model

Grove announces the new model TMS800E, increasing Grove's number of truck crane offerings to four.

Rated at 70 t (80 USt) the unit will have a 39 m (128 ft) four-section full-power boomand a 17 m(56 ft) bi-fold lattice swingaway as standard. The boom has Grove's MEGAFORM curved shaping which eliminates excess weight and increases capacity compared with more traditional boom shapes. Available inserts of 6 m or 12 m (20 ft or 40 ft) increase tip height to 70 m (230 ft).

Power for the unit comes from a 336 kW (450 hp) Cummins diesel engine which drives a 10-speed automatic-shifting manual transmission. The unit also features air-ride suspension front and rear that provides a smooth, comfortable ride at the rated highway speed of 105 kmh (65 mph). Up to 8 t (9 USt) of counterweight in four sections is hydraulically installed and removed to allow axle weights to be optimized for your particular roading requirements.

One of the many features of this model that is different from the others in the truck crane range is the new cabs. Both the chassis and superstructure cabs of the TMS800E feature a brand new cab design, more rounded for better visibility, and with state-of-the-art ergonomic controls, similar to the latest cabs on the GMK line of all terrain cranes. The superstructure cab also tilts to 20 degrees for greater operator comfort.

Truck cranes remain firm favorites for North American users and according to David Birkhauser, senior vice president of sales at Manitowoc Crane Group; CONEXPO 2005 was the perfect place to remind the industry of Grove's premier position:

"The new TMS800E is the result of an intensive IPD [integrated product development] program. We've listened hard to what our customers wanted, incorporated their needs into our design and produced a crane to meet their demands."

Davit Crane with Hoist

Beaverton, Oregon: Allied Power Products, Inc. (APPI) has announced the release of a newly designed material handling davit crane equipped with a Columbia HD650 AC electric wire rope hoist.

Specifically designed and manufactured by APPI to meet US Department of Commerce requirements for performance, operation and safety, this davit crane is perfect for material handling and maintenance service applications with long lift distances.

The maximum lifting capacity of the APPI Model 4FFM Davit is 400 lbs. The Columbia hoist on this unit comes with 115 feet of 5/32's wire rope and has an average lifting speed of 25 feet per minute. An upper limit switch and a removable remote pendant control are included.

APPI has been providing winches, hoists and lifting systems to commercial, industrial and government users for more than 20 years.

Tadano America Corporation has been expanding and reorganizing for growth

Tadano America Corporation, under the direction of its new president Mr. Kenichi Sawada, has been expanding and reorganizing for growth.

Two new sales territories have been created for the expansion of Rough Terrain, All Terrain, and Truck Crane sales in North America. Mr. Harry Lawrence has been added to manage the Eastern Region and Mr. Craig Warren now manages the Southwestern Region. Both Mr. Lawrence and Mr. Warren report to Mr. Ronald Dogotch, Vice President and General Manager.

Boom Truck Sales are being managed by Mr. Hidetoshi Iga, who has added Mr. Bryan Dammann as the Sales Manager. This department handles the sales of Truck Loader and Boom Truck cranes.

A Used Crane Department has been created and Mr. Denis Roberts has been added to manage it. This department handles both the sale and purchase of used cranes.

The Service and Parts Departments have been combined and expanded into a single Customer Support Division to improve communication and collaboration with our customers and dealers. This division is jointly managed by Mr. Takahiro Ikeda (primarily in charge of service) and Mr. Trevor Clark (primarily in charge of spare parts). A new focus on training has been established by the appointment of Mr. Steve Zatezalo as a Technical Instructor. He will train our employees, customers, and dealers in the proper and safe operation and repair of our cranes.

These changes illustrate and confirm the commitment and dedication Tadano has for strengthening its presence in North America.