Lattatudes
Lattatudes
EDITORIAL
Editorial Director, Marcia Gruver Doyle, mgruver@rrpub.com
Editor-in-Chief, John Latta, jlatta@rrpub.com
Executive Editor, Tina Grady Barbaccia, tbarbaccia@rrpub.com
Editor Emeritus, Kirk Landers, kirk.landers@att.net
A view from
across the pond
Truck Editor, Jack Roberts, jroberts@rrpub.com
Construction Editor, Tom Jackson, tjackson@rrpub.com
Contributing Editor, Tom Kuennen, expwys@expresswaysonline.com
Contributing Editor, Dan Brown, danbrown4@msn.com
DESIGN
Art Director, Sandy Turner, Jr., sturner@rrpub.com
Graphic Designer, Kristen Chapman, kristenchapman@rrpub.com
PRODUCTION
Senior Production Director, Leah Boyd, lboyd@rrpub.com
Advertising Production Manager, Linda Hapner, lhapner@rrpub.com
Production Director, Leah Boyd, lboyd@rrpub.com
Production Director, Diane Klischer, dklischer@rrpub.com
PROJECTS
Project Director, Jennifer Brady, jennifer.brady@rrpub.com
PUBLISHING/ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF
Senior Vice President / Construction Division, Dan Tidwell
Executive Publisher Construction Division, Michael Porcaro
Executive Publisher Construction Division, Joe Donald
Controller, Paige T. Fair
ADVERTISING SALES
Listing on page 43
CIRCULATION
Circulation Director, Stacy Stiglic, sstiglic@rrpub.com
HONORS
2011 Jesse H. Neal Award Winner
Three-time Jesse H. Neal Awards Finalist
Boger Award Honorable Mention
Richard E. Lowell President’s Award
Multiple ASBPE Awards
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Mike Reilly, Chairman, CEO
Brent Reilly, President
David Wright, Chief Administrative Officer
Shane Elmore, Chief Process Officer
Linda Longton, Vice President, Editorial
In Memoriam:
H. Pettus Randall II (1911 - 1971) - Founder
H. Pettus Randall III (1945 - 2002) - Chairman
I
t wasn’t postcard Paris. It wasn’t one of those enchanted springtimes the city
can unfold. It was cold, windy, cloudy and it rained a lot. It was, to say, the least,
unpredictable weather. At least three times I sheltered from a heavy rain, small
hail and biting wind combo only to find less than ten minutes later it was clearskied, hot, a little bit humid and eye-squintingly bright. But only for ten minutes,
then back into the cycle. Ah, but it was Paris.
This year’s huge Intermat international construction equipment show in the tough
northern suburbs of the city was something of a hard week to read without the
metrics, and I won’t have those in time for this column. It had an uneven feel. There
were good days and ordinary days for vendors. Some parts of good days were better
than others. The weather probably had something to do with it, and this is Europe
where Paris is so easy to get to that a lot of visitors probably planned an overnight
trip and could choose their day. Outside exhibitors including the big cranes and live
earthmoving demonstrations, suffered a little bit with the weather, but there were
enough sunny hours to keep them relatively happy.
The show left no doubt that the global market for construction equipment is a
huge factor in what happens right here at home. Russia was a big surprise, getting
a lot of attention as perhaps the quickest-growing market. Brazil and India are
not far behind. Consider that China is about 51 percent of the global market for
construction equipment. And the show was packed with Chinese manufacturers
big, small and in-between, looking at any and all markets.
It can be an odd show for Americans as you head to booths with the familiar
name of a major U.S. OEM only to find there is no-one there from stateside and the
machinery on display is to be sold only in Europe and Africa. It helps you realize the
truly global reach of these big players.
But by and large American companies seemed to
be pretty happy with the traffic to their booths. I got
the impression I was seeing the slow climb out from
recession continuing to be a steady, predictable, bankable
process. Some of the profit and production numbers
for American corporation were impressive, and their
optimism, including an increasing commitment to
spending R&D money, was equally encouraging. I’ll think
they’ll come home well satisfied. I did.
Ah, Paris. The bistros and the boulevards, the
by John Latta, Editor-in-Chief
museums and the Metro, the wines and cheeses. Ah,
oui. But man, it’s good to be home.
jlatta@rrpub.com
Better Roads May 2012 3