Unwavering mission

For 70 years, SC&RA has supported the lifting and moving industry as it has gone about the unenviable task of reshaping the planet so that humans can live more efficient, more sustainable, more fulfilling lives.

The companies that would eventually make up SC&RA were represented by just 75 people at the first Heavy-Specialized Conference of the ATA (American Trucking Associations) on December 6, 1948, at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C. From that meeting, the Association would soon be born – comprising over 1,300 member companies in 46 nations around the globe today.

Seven decades since post-World-War-II laws and regulations started to affect specialized transportation, the descendants of those first meeting-goers, some of whom still embody family/company names, continue to carry the torch and endeavor daily not just to move and build the world, but to advocate for the industry and their fellow SC&RA members in operating safely, legally and profitably around the world.

Era-defining change

Over the years – through era-defining political, cultural, social and industrial change – SC&RA’s mission hasn’t wavered. The duty then is the duty now: to help members run more efficient and safer businesses by monitoring and affecting pending legislation and regulatory policies at the state and national levels; to research and report on safety concerns and best business practices; and to provide yearly forums where these and other relevant member issues can be properly addressed and advanced.

It goes without saying that the Association is only as successful, only as functional, as the people it encompasses. It’s been that way for 70 years, and it will continue along that path for many years to come. To all of the hard-working men and women who’ve made SC&RA what it is today, we say Thank You.

Looking back, we thank the hundreds of member companies, and the thousands of people they employed, for choosing to support the Association, their fellow members and the industry at large – while at the same time building, moving, lifting and shaping the world around them – ultimately advancing the human experience.

Looking around, we thank every single member company and individual who has made it a priority to be a part of today’s SC&RA. We are who we are, and we’re able to do what we do, because of you. You carry on your shoulders what so many of those original founders carried on theirs – many of them likely hoping in those early years that their efforts, and thus the integrity of the industry, would continue on through the men and women who proceeded them.

Looking ahead, we know (from looking behind) that specialized transportation, machinery moving and erecting, industrial maintenance, millwrighting, manufacturing and crane and rigging operations will always be complex, always represent challenges. But we also know that, because of the people who make these sectors go, there will always be innovation, experience, expertise, work ethic and vision to keep the industry moving ever forward. And for that, we thank you in advance.

Embracing change

We can’t say for sure what the next 70 years will bring, but we do know that the industry is changing. Automation, ELDs, virtual technology, drones, smart infrastructure, the Internet of Things, electric vehicles, renewable energy, RFIDs – just some of the instrumentation we see emerging within the industry at the present time.

We still need to solve the worker shortage, and continually address an ever-increasing global population, and how construction and transport fits into, around and within that reality.

But something tells me we will meet these challenges with all the foresight and experience it takes to properly see them through – for one simple reason: we have the right people in place. In fact, we always did.