DETROIT (AP) — Fiat Chrysler recalled more than 1.4 million Ram pickups in the U.S. and Canada because tailgates with power locks can open while the trucks are moving.

According to a report in The Boston Globe, the recall covers Ram 1500, 2500 and 3500 pickups from the 2015 through 2017 model years.

Dealers will fix the tailgate locking mechanism at no cost to owners. The recall is expected to start Sept. 14.

Click here for the full story in the Boston Globe.

Louisville, KY – Team registration has opened up for the 2018 Hardscape North America Installer Championships competition is now open. The championships will be held at HNA Oct. 17-19 in Louisville, Kentucky.

The Hardscape North America Installer Championships, now in its sixth year, are intended to test and recognize the skill, dedication and passion of hardscape contractors from Canada, the United States and Mexico.

The championship is restricted to hardscape contractors. Each team member must be employed in the hardscape industry in North America as a professional installer of segmental retaining wall, clay and concrete pavers. Each team member must sign, date and agree to the terms and conditions of the required HNA Installer Championship Team registration form.

The early bird team registration fee is $150 and available until Oct. 6, 2018. The fee is increased to $200 per team following this date. Each team that competes will get $150 of their Championship registration fee refunded after the event. Teams may download registration forms on the HNA Website.

At the HNA 2018 final competition, 24 teams will have their understanding of industry best practices and guidelines tested in a race against the clock and other top installers in the industry. Regional Installer Championships are currently in process in cities across the United States and will go until the final competition in Louisville. Winners from each regional competition will advance to the championship.

This year, five Regional Installer Championships are taking place in cities throughout the U.S., leading up to the final competition in Louisville. Winners from each regional competition will advance to the championship. A full list of regional competitions and winners so far is available at the bottom of the article.

Preliminary rounds are scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 18. The final Championship round to determine the 2018 National Champion will take place at 10 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 19 in the HNA Outdoor Arena.

The HNA 2018 Champions will receive a prize package valued at approximately $10,000. The package includes a $2,550 cash prize, an iQMS362 16.5-inch Masonry Saw w/16.5-inch diamond blade (valued at $2,750), a Weber MT CF3 Pro forward plate compactor (valued at $3,600), their name engraved on the HNA Installer Championship Cup, a plaque and recognition in various media including Interlock Design Magazine, Hardscape Magazine and HNA website.

The HNA 2018 second place team will receive a $1,300 cash prize, an iQ360xr 14-inch Masonry Saw w/14-inch diamond blade, includes iQ Smart Cart & iQ Rolling Table (valued at $2,100), a plaque and recognition in various media including Interlock Design Magazine and HNA website.

The HNA 2018 third place team will receive a $650 cash prize, a plaque and recognition in various media including the Interlock Design Magazine and HNA website.Fourth place team will receive a plaque and recognition in various media including Interlock Design Magazine and HNA website.

The following regional competitions have and are taking place:

• National Collegiate Landscape Competition, Graham, North Carolina - March 14-17 (Winning Teams: 1st Spokane Community College; 2nd Alamance Community College)
• New England Region, Providence, Rhode Island - March 14-15 (Winning Team: Mike Darling Construction LLC)
• Central Region, Fort Worth, Texas – Aug. 24
• Southeast Region, Buford, Georgia – Aug. 24
• Southwest Region, Chandler, Arizona – Sept. 8

During a time when many businesses were struggling to stay afloat, B&B Group took an unconventional approach – slashing services.

The company, which was founded in 1990, used to be a full-service landscape maintenance company but in 2008, when the Great Recession hit, management took a hard look at where the company was heading.

“We took that time to kind of reinvent ourselves in terms of what are we passionate about? And what are we good at? And it was snow removal and irrigation. We cut all other services out,” says Kevin Mangin.

Mangin oversees business development and operations for snow and ice removal at B&B Group headquartered in Indianapolis. The company serves the greater metropolitan area and surrounding counties.

Clients fall under two primary categories: snow and ice management, offered to commercial clients only, and irrigation and outdoor lighting, which is a mix of commercial and residential customers.

“We talked to our key tenured guys, and we just found that our guys really aren’t passionate about mowing,” Mangin says. “And there’s a lot of people that mow. We weren’t necessarily better than anybody else, so those services just got cut, so we could focus our investment resources and our time into the two things that our guys are passionate about.”

Read more in the July Issue Here.

MILWAUKEE, Wisc., – Briggs & Stratton Corporation announced that it has acquired certain assets of Hurricane, Inc. of Muskegon Heights, Michigan, a designer and manufacturer of high-quality, rugged stand-on leaf and debris blowers. Terms of the transaction, which accelerates the company's diversification into commercial products, were not disclosed.

"Hurricane brings high-quality products with differentiated capabilities around air flow and handling which make the lawn and turf care professional more productive and able to tackle even the largest jobs more efficiently and easily," says Harold L. Redman, Briggs & Stratton's senior vice president and group president - Turf & Consumer Products. "The acquisition brings Briggs & Stratton and its family of brands one step closer to its goal of filling a landscaper's trailer with everything needed to start and finish a job in as little time and with as little effort as possible to maximize their profitability."

"Briggs & Stratton continues to generate strong growth serving commercial customers in lawn and turf care, job site, and on an OEM basis with an expanding line of innovative commercial engines," states Todd J. Teske, Briggs & Stratton's chairman, president and chief executive officer. "This investment follows our recent acquisition of the assets of Ground Logic, Inc. which produces stand-on commercial spreaders and spreader/sprayers for fertilizer and pesticide-herbicide lawn applications. Both have expanded our product line and will enable us to take advantage of synergies in manufacturing and supply chain. We will be able to leverage our broad base of dealers and distributors to accelerate growth of these products."