Construction equipment producers are expected to boost sales by 6.4% this year after steep declines of 30% to 50% last year. “While this rebound is welcome … there is a long way to go,” says Dennis Slater, president of the Milwaukee-based Association of Equipment Manufacturers. AEM upped its previous 2010 forecast of 5% in its latest member survey. The U.S. trucking-and-hauling category is expected to make the largest 2010 gains, at 26.8%, while cranes and lifting is predicted to have the worst results—an 11.5% decline.