In the latest development following an abandoned merger between two major global equipment makers, U.S.-based equipment maker Terex Corp. has received approval from antitrust regulators in the U.S. and the European Union to sell its material-handling and port solutions (MHPS) business unit to Finnish-based Konecranes.
In a sign that the trend toward equipment renting is not slowing down, the American Rental Association says the rental industry can expect a compound annual growth rate of 4.9% over the next few years. ARA’s five-year forecast predicts that U.S. rental revenue will top $57 billion in 2020, a significant increase over the $47.6 billion estimated for 2016.
In a major step toward providing a common set of equipment data across mixed fleets, the telematics standard, which is being developed jointly by the Association of Equipment Manufacturers and the Association of Equipment Management Professionals, received approval on July 21 from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) as a global standard.
As the general public is exposed almost daily to marketing that promotes the prospects of self-driving cars, it’s not too much of a stretch for construction professionals to imagine a similar future for autonomous equipment on the jobsite.