Vegas, Big Iron, and Bigger Lessons: Lyons & Hohl at CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2026
There are a few events in the construction industry that you hear about for years before you finally go. CONEXPO-CON/AGG is one of them.
This past March, we loaded up 12 of our team members and headed to Las Vegas for the largest construction trade show in North America. For most of the crew, it was their first expo of any kind. And while the equipment alone would have been worth the trip, what pulled us to the show this year was something a little more personal. Our brand-new fuel and lube truck, built by our partners at Summit Truck Bodies, was going to be on display right there on the show floor.
Our Truck on the Big Stage
We have a full story coming on this soon. But for now, we will just say this: seeing our brand-new fuel and lube truck on display at Summit Truck Bodies' booth was a genuinely proud moment for our team.
Founded in 2003 and headquartered in Wathena, Kansas, Summit Truck Bodies is a factory-direct manufacturer of custom service and lube truck bodies. Every truck they build is a collaboration, shaped by the people who will actually use it in the field. Our relationship with Summit goes back to 2016, and this latest build is the most refined one yet.
The new fuel and lube truck was designed specifically to support high-volume fueling and preventative maintenance operations during third shift, so our crews arrive every morning to machines that are ready to go. No downtime. No delays. That kind of operational efficiency matters to us more than just about anything.
Once the truck is delivered and in service, we will be sharing the full story behind the build, the partnership, and what went into making it. Stay tuned.
Having that truck represented on the floor of the biggest construction expo in the world was a reminder of how far that partnership has come. We are proud of what we built together with Summit, and grateful they gave it the spotlight it deserved.
Learning from the Best: Wally Adamchik
One of the most underrated parts of any major expo is the educational programming. Our guys took full advantage, attending multiple sessions throughout the week.
The one that stuck with us most? Wally Adamchik'sShut Up and Dig presentation on giving better feedback to your team.
We have followed Wally for a few years now, and he never disappoints. The guy brings incredible energy and makes every lesson land. In this session, he introduced the SBI Method: Situation, Behavior, Impact. A simple, practical framework for delivering feedback in a way that is clear, direct, and actually changes behavior.
We are walking away with that tool in our back pocket and plans to put it to use right away across our leadership team. Strong feedback culture is something we are actively building at Lyons & Hohl, and sessions like this give us the language and the structure to do it better.
Big shoutout to Wally Adamchik, CMC, CSP, MBA. If you haven't followed him yet, do yourself a favor. We're already hoping to work with him more in the future.
The Show Itself: You Have to See It to Believe It
People will tell you CONEXPO is big. That is an understatement.
The sheer scale of the show is something you genuinely cannot appreciate until you are standing in the middle of it. We are naturally drawn to the heavy equipment side of things, and there was plenty to take in.
One of the most jaw-dropping sights on the floor was a Komatsu 700 loader paired with a Komatsu HD605 truck. The loader weighs in at 97 tons. Both machines are in a completely different class than anything in our own fleet, but seeing them in person is a different experience than looking at specs on a screen. You just have to stand next to one.
And then there was the CAT display.
CAT yellow runs through our veins, and their show performance did not disappoint. Their skilled operators put on a full orchestrated demonstration featuring a 160 grader, 980XE and 938 wheel loaders, a 730EJ dump truck, 336 and 325 excavators, 963 track loader, and D3 and D6XE dozers. The precision of those operators was remarkable. Every movement deliberate. Every pass clean. It was less a demonstration and more a performance, and a real treat to watch.
Foley CAT Showed Us How It's Done
Wednesday night, our local CAT dealer Foley Cat treated us to a reception at the Wynn Hotel and Casino. Everything about the evening was top notch.
The food, the drinks, the atmosphere, and the people in the room made it one of the highlights of the week. For a number of our guys, it was their first experience in a setting like that, and it was a great one to share together as a team.
The Hoover Dam: A Different Kind of Inspiration
On Thursday morning, we took a break from the show floor and drove out to Boulder City for a full tour of the Hoover Dam, including the inside.
We went in as construction people. And we came out with a renewed appreciation for what this industry has been capable of for over a century.
The Hoover Dam was built between 1931 and 1936, in the middle of the desert, without the equipment, technology, or safety standards we take for granted today. More than 21,000 workers contributed to the project. At the time, it was one of the most ambitious engineering undertakings ever attempted in the United States.
Walking through the inside of it, seeing the turbines and the infrastructure that has powered a region for nearly 90 years, it was hard not to be moved by it. We all walked away with a deep appreciation for how remarkable it is to look back 100 years and see what was accomplished with so much less, and then look at what our industry is capable of today. It gave all of us a real sense of pride in being part of this craft.
It also gave us a few hours completely away from work, just our team, exploring something incredible together. Those moments matter. They are the kind of experiences that build culture in ways that a meeting never could.
Vegas Lights
Of course, being in Las Vegas, we were not going to keep our heads down every minute.
Our guys took time to experience the Strip on their own terms, walking the lights and checking out the Sphere up close. It is genuinely unlike anything else. A spectacle in the truest sense.
A Grateful Team
Trips like this are not something every company does for their people. We know that.
We are grateful we were in a position to give 12 members of our team an experience like this, many of them for the first time. The industry knowledge they brought back, the sessions they attended, the things they saw on that floor, those are investments that compound. They come back sharper, more motivated, and more connected to each other.
A special thank you to Summit Truck Bodies for bringing our new truck to the show. Seeing it on that stage meant a lot to this team.
CONEXPO 2026 was a great reminder of why we love this industry. And it left us fired up to get back to work.
Pride in our People. Pride in our Work.
