Quality is a somewhat subjective term, but in certain fields and industries, quality is not only essential, but it is also a vital requirement. And this is especially true in the transportation industry.
And as the Maryland Quality Initiative, or MdQI, puts it in its Mission Statement, the goal is,
“To provide the Maryland transportation industry a forum that fosters coordinated and continuous quality improvement in order to ensure safe, efficient, environmentally sensitive and sustainable systems to meet the needs of all transportation stakeholders.”
Essentially, when it comes to the highway community and transportation industry, ensuring quality at all levels and in every aspect of design, construction, maintenance, and repair means ensuring safety, efficiency, and environmental sustainability.
As one of the largest under bridge access equipment suppliers in North America, McClain and Company has a vested interest and lifelong commitment to fostering quality. This is why we are both excited and proud to be one of the many exhibitors participating in the 30th Maryland Quality Initiative Conference taking place January 31, 2023, through February 2, 2023, at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore, Maryland.
The MdQI Conference: One of the Largest Transportation Conferences on the East Coast
This year’s Maryland Quality Initiative Conference is also their 30th-anniversary conference, and the MdQI Steering Committee has adopted as its theme “Giants in the Industry.”
Along with their focus on addressing the various challenges that the transportation industry is facing today, there will be an emphasis on instilling “an interest in transportation careers and help with the development of our next generation of young professionals, who are the future of transportation.”
And one of the ways they will be carrying out this mission is with their Engineering Challenge and Pinewood Derby Race on Day One of the conference. And to add an extra touch of dazzle and fun, conference participant booths will be judged on the creativity and originality of their booth décor in adherence to the conference theme of 30 Years of Jurassic Park & MdQI: Giants in the Industry.
The team at McClain & Co., Inc. is excited to be an integral part of this year’s MdQI Conference and can be found in Booth 319 in the second row from the main entrances and the Derby Track. If you are planning to visit this year’s conference, you can find more information at the MdQI website by calling (443) 304-9983 or emailing [email protected].
With over 70 speakers from organizations as diverse as the Maryland Department of Transportation, the U.S. DOT, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Cecil County, and dozens of private construction industry firms, there will be valuable presentations taking place over two full days.
America’s Transportation Infrastructure: Aging But Poised for Rehabilitation
“Quality is never an accident. It is always the result of intelligent effort.” – John Ruskin
When it comes to quality in the transportation industry, the emphasis naturally falls on design, materials, craftsmanship, and maintenance. Highways, railways, bridges, and other elements of our transportation infrastructure and industry are not “products’ on a shelf, nor are their construction and repair in the category of consumer-type services.
In fact, the very safety of a nation of commuters and drivers hinges on the quality of our transportation infrastructure. And the economic health and vitality of our society are largely dependent on the quality of our roads, rails, bridges, and highways.
Where quality is either insufficient or degrading, problems can occur.
Highway Bridges
For example, according to the oft-quoted 2021 Infrastructure Report Card from the American Society of Engineers (ASCE),
“There are more than 617,000 bridges across the United States. Currently, 42% of all bridges are at least 50 years old, and 46,154, or 7.5% of the nation’s bridges, are considered structurally deficient, meaning they are in “poor” condition. Unfortunately, 178 million trips are taken across these structurally deficient bridges every day.”
Roads and Highways
Along with the nation’s highway bridges, our roadways have fallen behind in terms of satisfactory levels of upkeep, maintenance, and replacement.
The same report found that,
“Over 40% of the system is now in poor or mediocre condition. As the backlog of rehabilitation needs grows, motorists are forced to pay over $1,000 every year in wasted time and fuel.”
Railways
In addition, the rail network in the United States is divided into two categories: freight rail and passenger rail. Despite freight and passenger rail being part of an integrated system, the ASCE report found significant differences in the challenges faced by the two rail categories.
While freight rail maintains a strong network largely through direct shipper fees, passenger rail requires government investment and has been plagued by a lack of federal support. At the time of the report, the financial state of good repair backlog was at $45.2 billion. The report pointed out that,
“Along our nation’s busiest passenger rail corridor, the Northeast Corridor (NEC), infrastructure-related issues caused 328,000 train-delay minutes, or the equivalent of roughly 700 Northeast Regional train trips from Boston, Massachusetts, to Washington, D.C.”
Public Transit
And to underscore the breadth and complexity of the transportation industry and infrastructure, there are pressing needs within the nation’s public transit networks.
As the Infrastructure Report Card executive summary noted,
“45% of Americans have no access to transit. Meanwhile, much of the existing system is aging, and transit agencies often lack sufficient funds to keep their existing systems in good working order. Over a 10-year period across the country, 19% of transit vehicles, and 6% of fixed guideway elements like tracks and tunnels were rated in “poor” condition.”
The bright light in the midst of this somewhat dim view of the state of transportation is the recent passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act which provides $550 billion in funding for new initiatives to repair roads and bridges, improve public transit, and deliver clean drinking water and high-speed internet, among other provisions.
A Key Part of the Transportation Industry: McClain and Company
For conference attendees, the team from McClain will be available to answer questions, address needs, and present quality solutions. Our decades of experience and knowledge in the highway and railway construction, maintenance, and repair industry provides us with a valuable insight and understanding of our client’s needs.
And as one of the nation’s leading under bridge access equipment providers in North America, we have a deep commitment to quality service, quality operations, and quality equipment.
One of the fundamental realities of highway bridge construction, maintenance, and inspections is the need to access the regions underneath bridge decks. And for the most part, this is made possible with the utilization of specialized under bridge inspection units, or UBITs. This is where McClain has become the dominant vendor in our industry.
In fact, McClain & Co., Inc. was founded 25 years ago in 1998 with the express purpose and mission of providing support services to engineering companies and government agencies for the inspection and maintenance of bridges.
And we have since grown to become one of the largest under bridge access equipment vendors in the greater United States.
McClain & Co., Inc. – Where Quality Resides in All We Do
At McClain and Company, we are wholly committed to incorporating quality and improving quality in everything we do.
With advances in technology, increased federal funding in many arenas, and industry innovations in as highway and bridge repair, construction, maintenance, and rehabilitation work, maintaining quality can be a challenge.
However, the important things do not change. And one of the most important things at McClain is quality of service, reliable expertise, and world-class equipment. In fact, quality is a characteristic that is a hallmark of McClain and Company. And quality extends are beyond the degree of our knowledge, expertise, and high level of service that we consistently provide for our customers. At McClain, quality is equally evident in both the range and selection of our aerial access equipment.
Both the management and staff at McClain & Co., Inc. share in the belief that not only should everything we do for our customers represent the highest level of quality customer service but that we should also provide the highest quality rental equipment.
And this is why we are proud to continually offer a broad selection of world-class brands of aerial access equipment, construction services, and quality traffic control safety services, as well.
At McClain, we like to say that “your success is our success” and we really do believe that this is true. And because of that, our primary goal – and one of the reasons we are so committed to quality – is to ensure that we do all we can to help our clients complete their projects successfully.
Our under bridge inspection unit rentals and other types of aerial access equipment rentals are available to inspectors, contractors, and engineers working on highway bridges and similar structures.
To learn more, you can contact us at [email protected] or call us at 1-888-889-1284 today!