Thomas Caster has been appointed vice president and business line manager, wheel loaders, of Volvo Construction Equipment North America Inc., Asheville, NC, the sales, marketing and product support subsidiary of Volvo Construction Equipment, Brussels, Belgium. The announcement of Caster’s appointment was made by J. P. Roszell, president and chief executive officer of Volvo Construction Equipment, North America, and is effective immediately. Caster will be responsible for Volvo wheel loader marketing activities in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Caster began his career in the construction equipment industry in 1973 when he entered a three-year apprentice program with Akerman Inc., an excavator manufacturer. From 1976 through 1984 he served as a technical product support engineer at Akerman’s factory in Eslov, Sweden, and in 1985 moved to the company’s headquarters in Waukesha, WI, to assume responsibility for Akerman service and parts sales in North America. In 1992 Caster became director of service for VME Excavators (Volvo purchased Akerman in 1991), and from 1995 until 1998 was area sales and marketing director of Volvo Excavators in North America. Since then, he has been product manager for Volvo Construction Equipment North America’s wheel loader group.