Author: Steve Guglielmo

According to an article from LPGasmagazine.com, American Welding & Gas (AWG), an independently owned producer and distributor of industrial, medical and specialty gases, purchased Medical Gas Supply, which does business as Bestway Welding Supply. “The AWG brand is nationally recognized for excellent customer service, loyalty to employees and, above all else, operating with integrity,” says ​​​​​​​Ernest “Cotton” Speed III, president of Bestway. “I can’t think of a better partner to help Bestway’s employees usher in this next phase of growth.” Speed has participated in the sale of more than a half-dozen operating businesses in the industrial, medical and specialty gases space. After…

Members of the Compressed Gas Association (CGA) are global leaders in the production, storage, distribution, and application of hydrogen and other industrial gases. CGA is recognized around the world in forums such as ISO, NFPA, and the United Nations as subject matter experts on industrial gases technical and safety practices. Its standards are frequently adopted by national and international regulatory, code, and standards bodies. In addition to its existing library of hydrogen standards, we are bringing our unique expertise in hydrogen to the development of new standards for emerging applications in the hydrogen-powered transportation space to ensure our members are…

By Jay Spielvogel, Venator Sales Group “The greatest sales call our new reps make is on us during the interview.  Everything goes down-hill once we hire them.” “At best our new sales people are glorified pre-sales relationship managers. They deliver quotes and proposals without any qualifying or critical thinking.” Unfortunately, these are all too common complaints we hear from sales managers across the globe.  In truth, very rarely is the interview a “great” sales call on the part of the sales rep.  More likely it was simply the culmination of a “bad” buying process, where we end up getting exactly…

FMCSA Publishes Pilot Program to Allow Pause in Driver Duty Window.  The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has published a notice of pilot program to allow temporary regulatory relief from the agency’s hours-of-service requirement that all driving by drivers of property-carrying commercial motor vehicles be completed within 14 hours after coming on duty. 85 Fed. Reg. 55061 (September 3, 2020). During the pilot program, known as the Split Duty Period Pilot Program, participating CMV drivers would have the option to pause their 14-hour on-duty period (also called a driving window) with one off-duty period of no less than 30 minutes…

FMCSA Head of Enforcement Discusses New HOS Rule. On an industry webinar held August 27, head of the Federal Moto Carrier Safety Administraiton’s Office of Enforcement Joe Delorenzo discussed the upcoming changes the agency’s driver hours of service rule. The new requirements are scheduled to go into effect on September 29, 2020. Mr. Delorenzo said the FMCSA estimates the new changes will save the industry $270 million per year in compliance costs. Short-haul drivers. The new rules allow a CDL or non-CDL driver to operate within a 150 air-mile radius and return to the work reporting location within 14 hours…

The Compressed Gas Association (CGA) announced on LinkedIn that it is moving its office.

Harris designed a new set of equipment with Camo Regulators and a Special Ammo box. When you purchase the @HarrisProducts Camo Kit, the proceeds will support a veteran through the @workforwarriors program! pic.twitter.com/TsqoSF2dp0 — Atlas Welding Supply (@atlaswsco) July 31, 2020 Other August 15 Connection Items: In Memoriam: James McGarry McKenna Jim O’Connor Retires from Norton Company EspriGas Promotes Schrantz, Expands Role of Sawyer Butler Gas Products Opens New Location Holston Gases Acquires Todays Gases A COVID-19 Update from Haun Welding Supply Airgas Offers Free Welding Classes for Teachers George Ratermann’s Number One Message to Customers CPV Manufacturing Introduces Game…

GAWDA extends its condolences to the friends and family of James McGarry McKenna, who passed away on Friday, July 31, 2020, after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. He was 86. James was the beloved husband for over 62 years of Marie Staab McKenna;  loving father to daughters Linda Smith (husband Gary), Carol Lee Woodley (husband Dan), Mari Beth King (husband Rob), and son Garry McKenna, Jr;  proud grandfather of Tyler King (wife Anna), Courtney Smith Massee (husband Luke), Kara King Brunelle (husband Parker), Colby Woodley (deceased), Kelsey King, Leah Woodley, Morgan Smith, and McKenna Woodley, and proud great-grandfather to…

In times of economic turmoil, GAWDA members have long turned to the association’s Chief Economist Brian Beaulieu and his team at ITR Economics. ITR, which produces a quarterly report for GAWDA members each quarter (this quarter’s can be seen on pages 106-117), hosted a members-only podcast entitled Looking Past the Fear and The Noise: 2020-2022. Alex Chausovsky, ITR’s Director of Speaking Services, hosted the webinar, a recording of which can be found on GAWDA.org’s Member’s Only section in the ITR folder. Alex spent the hour-long recording explaining the impact that the “Dual Black Swan Events” of COVID-19 and the collapse…

In the 4th Quarter 2019 issue of Welding & Gases Today, we debuted a new feature called “Search Engine Trends for the Gases & Welding Industry.” This feature is designed to help readers understand the terms and searches that are ranking highly in Google Trends. Part of developing a comprehensive digital marketing campaign is understanding how customers and potential customers are using the Internet to find your products and your website. The graphs and information below all come from Google Trends, which analyzes the popularity of search queries in Google Search across various regions and languages. The graphs scale “Interest…