Pavement Maintenance & Reconstruction January 2016

PAVEMENT THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF NATIONAL PAVEMENT EXPO

6 STEPS to Take for Growth › 40

MAINTENANCE & RECONSTRUCTION JANUARY 2016

Check Out Our New Look!

CELEBRATING

of Pa vin

g Main & Pavem ent tenan ce

How Company Culture Impacts Success › 14 How to Market Effectively Using the Internet › 22

What You Can Learn from Successful

How Analyzing Operations Improves Performance & Profit › 26

Contractors E,

T OT

L AR ED CH LOS , ER NC NT E E CE UR H ON TI ROC N E B V E N NC CO E ERE T T F LO ON C AR

A Hiring Approach – Apprenticeship – that Helps the Industry › 32 › › › www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement

PVM0115_01_CoverFinal2_AJ.indd 1

NC

CH

1/6/16 2:36 PM

GET A LOAD OF THIS...

You won’t be disappointed. At GemSeal®, our people, products, and process will make your business stand out.

Our passionate team will help you perform at your best, with results that exceed expectations on every jobsite.

Put us to the challenge and see for yourself.

• The most consistent sealers in the industry • Precision colloid manufacturing • Outstanding quality control • Nationwide locations and support • Delivery right when you need it • A trusted name for nearly 60 years

Sealers • Additives • Paints • Crack Sealants • Patching • Primers • Tools/Equipment

939

GemSeal® is a division of Oldcastle® GemSeal® and Pavement is Our Passion!® are trademarks of Oldcastle.

PVM0116_02-3_TOC_AJ.indd 2

Writeinin0101ononcard card key ForConstructionPros.com/10075409 Write oror key in in ForConstructionPros.com/10073088

1/4/16 8:35 AM

What’s Inside January 2016

FEATURES 14

How Pavement Maintenance Can Be Fun and Successful

Freewheeling marketing targets “best” customers for American Asphalt Repair & Resurfacing Co.

22 Using the Internet to

PAVEMENT DEPARTMENTS

4 Editorial

Pavement Gets a Makeover for its 30th Anniversary Year

76

Hot Mix

8

This Just In

Pavement adds two to Advisory Board

77 NAPSA Report

We Are Becoming a Little Egocentric

Select new products and upgrades

10 NPE Notebook

NPE to Host Exclusive NASCAR Night

Profit Center

62 Safety Series

First in a Series: Starting a Safety Program 64 Contractors’ Choice

Matching Sweeping Equipment to the Job 68 Marketlink

Classified Ads

77 WSA Update

New Year a Time for Internet Check

How one small striping company climbed to the top of Google, and their market, with the help of SEO.

26 How to Fix a

Struggling Company

PCTC Dispatch The Sealant Controversey at the Grass Roots

6

45 Pavement

75 Your Business Matters

When are You a Joint Employer?

Grow Your Business

Survival for Petra Paving depended on learning and implementing what it didn’t know.

32 How to Create an

Apprentice Program for Your Workers

Purpose Contracting structures career paths for employees.

40 6 Steps Every

Contractor Needs to Take for Growth

78 Technology Update

Understanding Engines in the Age of Tier 4 Paving Machines

80 Contractor Snapshot

Brite Line Asphalt Maintenance Pilots a Successful Business

54 Education is Best

81

Index

82 Tailgate Talk

Stop “Selling Price” Alone

ACI Asphalt & Concrete develops software to improve workflow, ease client handling.

Strategy when it Comes to Sealcoating

It’s essential to inform your client about services you will provide and products you will use on the job so there are clear expectations.

ON THE COVER Ditch Runner’s Turbo Pro 500 spray/squeegee machine feature an hydraulically controlled variable speed drive system, 100-gpm piston material pump, an 8-ft. spray bar and 8-ft. squeegee.

Vol. 31, No. 1 January 2016

Published and copyrighted 2016 by AC Business Media Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher.

PAVEMENT

Subscription policy: Individual subscriptions are available without charge in the U.S. only to pavement maintenance contractors, producers and government employees involved in paving or pavement maintenance; dealers, and distributors of pavement maintenance equipment or materials; and others with similar business activities. Complete the subscription form at www. forconstructionpros.com or use your company letterhead giving all the information requested. Publisher reserves the right to reject nonqualified subscribers. One year subscriptions for nonqualified individuals: $35.00 U.S.A., $60.00 Canada and Mexico, and $85.00 all other countries (payable in U.S. funds, drawn on U.S. bank). Single copies available (prepaid only) $10.00 each (U.S., Canada & Mexico), $15.00 each (International). Pavement Maintenance & Reconstruction (ISSN 1098-5875), is published eight times per year: January, February, March/April, May, June/ July, August/September, October/November, December. Periodicals postage paid at Fort Atkinson, WI and additional entry offices.

POSTMASTER: Please send change of address to Pavement, PO Box 3605, Northbrook, IL 60065-3605. Printed in the USA. Canada Post PM40612608. Return Undeliverable Canadian Addresses to: Pavement Maintenance & Reconstruction, PO Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2.

PAVEMENT MAINTENANCE & RECONSTRUCTION is proudly supported by these associations:

www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement • PAVEMENT • January 2016 3

PVM0116_02-3_TOC_AJ.indd 3

1/4/16 8:35 AM

Editorial Allan Heydorn, Editor

Here’s Lookin’ at ... Us! WELCOME TO AN updated and better-looking Pavement Maintenance & Reconstruction. As you spend time with this issue you’ll notice, starting with the cover, that it’s a cleaner, sharper and easier-to-read publication. That’s thanks to April Van Etten, our graphic designer, who tackled this modified redesign effort with gusto.

Some of what’s changed you won’t so much notice as feel, but some you will see including our new headers, sidebar design, and a new

typeface for some of our smaller articles and sections.

You also might see some “space,” which we hope to maintain (though we’ve always got so much good stuff to include that we have a tug-of war with the design folks).

Why tweak the magazine design now? Well, 2016 is our 30th year of publication (look for our 30th Anniversary issue next October, 30 years to the month of Pavement’s first issue). So we simply felt that milestone deserved some recognition.

But just like there’s little value in sealcoating a pavement that is structurally unsound, there’s no sense tweaking the design of a magazine if the content isn’t strong. Over 30 years our goal has been to help businesses grow and become more profitable. We’ve relied on the manufacturers and contractors who form the backbone of this industry to provide insights on what they’ve learned so we can shorten the learning curve for others – and we think the magazine’s longevity and

For more information visit our website at www.skidtools.com

+1 405.598.6547

reputation speak to our success.

So just as you stripe a pavement to make it look better and make it easier to use for your clients, we updated and improved our look to make the time you spend with it easier and more user friendly. Thanks to April and let us know what you think.

TRANSFORMER GRINDER

Specialtiy tooling for the pavement markings & surface prep industry

Transforming your bottom line!

Write in 02 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/10072731

4 January 2016 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement

PVM0116_04-5_Editor_AJ.indd 4

1/4/16 8:36 AM

DS 2000 Water Truck

685 Motor Grader RB-48 Broom

RA-400 PATCHER •

CanBus In-Cab Controls System

•

120” Wide Rectangular Hopper for Easier Loading

•

Heated Components for All-Weather Application

•

300 Gallon Emulsion Tank

•

Side Mount Boom

•

VORTEC System

To find your local dealer, go to: www.

.com

or contact us at: 704.966.3300

Write in 03 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/10075155

PVM0116_04-5_Editor_AJ.indd 5

1/4/16 8:36 AM

Hot Mix

Engongoro, Birchfield, join Pavement Advisory Board The 24-year-old Pavement Advisory Board welcomes two new members to begin 2016 Vincent Engongoro, Roccie’s Asphalt Paving, Stamford, CT, and Lisa Birchfield, Roberts Traffic, Hollywood, FL, will join 17 board members in providing guidance and direction to both Pavement Maintenance & Reconstruction and National Pavement Expo.

Roccie’s Asphalt Paving was founded in 1956 by Rocco Engongoro. After a stint in the army, Engongoro joined his father in the business. Starting on the ground floor pushing a wheelbarrow, Engongoro eventually worked his way through the company and took over as president in 2002.

In 2009 Roccie’s diversified to gain market share providing excavation-related services such as foundations, drainage, road building and demolition along with paving and pavement maintenance-related services.

Roccie’s serves residential (70%), commercial (25%) and municipal (5%) clients in lower Fairfield County, CT, and lower Westchester County, NY. Engongoro says that after an extended recession in the Northeast, 2014 was a comeback year with sales of $2.5 million and an increase to margin providing a 9% net operating profit. He projects 2015 will result in $2.750 million revenue with 13% net operating profit.

“It’s important for my staff and clients to understand I think about this business as more than a means to a paycheck,” Vincent Engongoro Engongoro says. “Involvment in our industry is one way to project that. It shows we care about what we do and who we do it for.”

He has been a regular speaker at NPE and Roccie’s has been named as a Pavement Top Contractor in 2014 and 2015.

“I think it’s important for my staff and my clients to understand I think about this business as more than a means to a paycheck,” Engongoro says. “Involvement in our industry is one way to project that. I think this level of involvement says we care about what we do, how we do it, and who we do it for. This can only lead to more satisfied customers and a staff that feels like they belong to a winning team.”

Lisa Birchfield is current owner of Roberts Traffic, a third-generation womanowned business. “Originally my mom was in the business to make sure her kids got to college, it was just a family business,” Birchfield says.

But when Birchfield took over in 1996, she wanted to grow the company.

“My mom ran the company from a home office and when I took over, I told her I didn’t really want to take this on if it was just going to be a family business,” she says. “I told her we needed to gear up, not just rely on a few family members to do the work. I wanted to know that we could broaden the business enough to manage it as well as be able to replicate ourselves with the desirable outcome to be profitable.”

Today the company does site work, road work and overlays but specializes in aviation striping with about 60% of their total project revenue coming from those airport activities.

“What I enjoy about this work are the challenges,” Birchfield says. “Getting out there, making things fit, helping the contractor and Lisa Birchfield the engineer identify things they may have not recognized. We’re not a change order company, we want to make sure every project is successful.”

Birchfield knows that the striping industry does not come without its challenges as much of the work they do is pushed to the very end of job. “We have a nice narrow scope of work, but it’s a really critical part of every project,” she says. “You can’t get a temporary certificate of occupancy without the striping or move forward unless we’re in there.”

Birchfield says finding the right people willing to do these jobs is an overarching challenge in the industry – but technology can help.

“I took the time to put together a really effective estimating and accounting system,” Birchfield says. “This allowed me to hire and train estimators. I can be assured that my specs and assumptions will be met based on my system.”

“I really enjoy being able to take our trade and point out the uniqueness of it,” Birchfield says. “I hope I can bring enthusiasm and experience to those companies who are looking for avenues to stretch and grow in the industry.”

80 Attend Sweeper Summit The 2015 Sweeper Summit attracted 80 people to three days of education in October in Phoenix, AZ. Open to all 1-800-Sweeper members, vendors and guests, the event featured member benchmarking details and presentations.

Presenters included keynote speaker Dan Barnett, who discussed an easy-to-implement process for keeping an organization’s performance on track to its vision; Harry Barth, Barth Financial Advisors, LLC who discussed asset protection; and Wendy Suzuki, author of “Healthy Brain, Happy Life.”

Attending the 2015 Sweeper Summit are (from left) North American Power Sweeping Association President Sylvia Richards, Asphalt Enterprises; Scott Richards, Asphalt Enterprises; Giovanni Recalde, Atlanta Sweeping & Cleaning; and Claire Moore.

6 January 2016 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement

PVM0116_06-7_HotMix_AJ.indd 6

1/6/16 2:30 PM

Order Your “Best In Class”

Pavement Preservation Equipment

Model 30 Pavement Router

E-Z Series IITM Sealant Melter

Super Shot 125 with Auto Loader

Place Your Order Just In Time For Spring Crafco cares about you and preserving the service life to maximize efficiency, productivity, cost-effectiveness and safety Crafco is the world’s largest developer of innovative, proven-effective, Super SEALCOATERTM

packaged materials formulated to your needs and the largest producer of state-of-the-art, specialized equipment to apply it.

Crafco is the only manufacturer of pavement preservation packaged materials and the equipment to apply them.

Crafco warranties on all products and equipment

Patcher IITM Mastic Sealant Melter

Crafco provides one of the largest world wide support networks to service you

Use The Best - Use Crafco Products!

The world’s largest and only manufacturer of state-of-the-art pavement preservation packaged sealants and specialized application equipment Write in 04 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/10072573

Magnum Spray PatcherTM

Call to order your products or schedule a demonstration today! phone: (800) 528-8242 | email: sales@crafco.com | www.crafco.com PVM0116_06-7_HotMix_AJ.indd 7

1/6/16 2:30 PM

Just In

Get fast, relevant product information in the Buyers Guide at ForConstructionPros.com 1

1

2

3

2

Global M4 Mechanical Broom Sweeper

Gold Series Six Shooter Manhole Cutter

Global Environmental Products The M4 is a hydrostatic-drive machine designed to take on sweeping conditions such as construction site clean up, state highway sweeping, and road resurfacing including millings, sand and chip seal.

•• Compact design giving maneuverability, visibility, and operator comfort for unsurpassed safety •• Hydrostatic drive offering speeds up to 14 mph in sweeping mode and travel speeds up to 65 mph •• 5.6 cu./yd. hopper, high-dump clearance to 116 in.

Mr. Manhole The Gold Series Six Shooter offers improved cutting surfaces, a heavier frame, a Quick Adjust variable cutting diameter and custom heavy-duty auger drive for easier manhole removal.

•• Attaches to any skid steer capable of a 30-gpm minimum flow and 2,500-lb. minimum lift capacity •• Adjustable cutting diameter from 28 to 72 in. and cutting depth up to 20 in.

•• Completely removes manhole frame and road surface from concrete or asphalt in minutes •• Carbide teeth can be replaced in seconds even on the job

RynoWorks The RY10 Crack Fill Melter / Applicator uses up to 50% less fuel than traditional melter applicators.

•• On-the-fly agitation means contractors don’t need to stop and stir – just agitate right from the handlebars while on the go •• Flame-out sensor means no more downtime because the flame has gone out •• Sealed burner and re-engineered kettle reduce crack filler melting time by almost 35%, getting the job done quickly and efficiently •• Optimized for single-user operation •• 140 lbs., rolls easily onto any trailer

Write in 06 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/12129498

Write in 07 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/12133409

Write in 05 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/12124256

QuikJoint

Peel

™

RY10 Pro Crack Fill Melter

- Roll Out Pavement Joint Seal Strip

Stick

Proven - Productive - User Friendly

     

3

Speeds Installation & Less Labor Non Tracking & No Overspill

Heat Widths

Done Best Job Application Chart

1 in.

Infill of Shallow Cracks Prior to Seal Coating - Over Banding

2 in.

Driveway Joints - Concrete Aprons - Curbs

No Waste & Less Propane

4 in.

Commercial Lots & Compliance with State Specifications

No Wait Time & No Delays

8 in.

Vertical Cold Joints - Full Depth Water Tight & Denser Pavement

No Tar Kettles or Pour Pots

Sq.

4 & 12 in. Pads to Fasten Reflectors - Bumpers - Traffic Markers

Improves Safety & Appearance

QuikJoint is the Best Top Finish on Your Job - Rolls are 50 feet long and Easily Trimmed On Site to Meet Your Application Contact Us: For Orders - Information - Location of Local Stocking Distributor 7968 Wesselman Road Cleves, OH 45002

sales@quikpave.com fax 513.353.4454

 

toll free 888.825.1917 www.quikpave.com

Write in 60 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/10112275

8 January 2016 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement

PVM0116_08-9_Justin_J_A.indd 8

1/4/16 8:40 AM

The proven leader in asphalt & paving.

38AIR %

MORE

Optimax® Blower

THAN THE COMPETITION

2

=

BELTS

GREATER POWER

Pro Crack Cleaner

2 TIMES 74.5 is GALLON THE SIZE OF CAPACITY BAG

COMPETITIVE UNITS

Self-propelled Pro Vac

Visit us at Booth #605 The numbers don’t lie. Little Wonder is proven productivity. Our Pro Crack Cleaner is designed to help you clear crevices quicker. Our blowers move the most air, clearing more debris in less time. And our Pro Vac has the power and strength to carry twice the load of other vacs.

Get proven results. Get Little Wonder.

Get inside the numbers at LittleWonder.com ©2016 Schiller Grounds Care, Inc | LW1602

Write Writeinin00 09on oncard cardororkey keyininForConstructionPros.com/XXXXXXXX ForConstructionPros.com/10074544

PVM0116_08-9_Justin_J_A.indd 9

1/4/16 8:40 AM

NPE Notebook | Jessica Stoikes, Associate Editor

NPE 2016 to Host FREE NASCAR Night NPE attendees have exclusive access to the NASCAR Hall of Fame museum, Thursday, Jan. 28 AFTER A LONG day of seminars, workshops and walking the exhibit floor at the Charlotte Convention center, National Pavement Expo attendees could use a more little fun. That’s exactly what NPE NASCAR Night is designed for.

With your paid registration, National Pavement Expo exhibitors and attendees can attend an exclusive networking and entertainment experience at the NASCAR Hall of Fame on Thursday evening, Jan. 28 starting at 6:30 p.m.

Located across from the Charlotte Convention Center, the NASCAR Hall of Fame is an interactive, entertainment attraction designed to appeal to race fans and nonfans alike. Thanks to NPE NASCAR Night sponsors, attendees have free run of the place with plenty of food and beverages … and four levels of racing simulators, exhibits and interactive fun. NASCAR Night sponsors are Bomag, Crafco, LeeBoy, Neyra, Seal-Rite, 1-800-Pavement Network and Case Construction Equipment.

Highlights of the NPE NASCAR Hall of Fame Night include: • Food, beverages, “moonshine bar” and desserts throughout the Hall of Fame

• Challenges for you and your colleagues; live, simulated competition at eight interactive stations that test your skill, knowledge and performance in all things NASCAR • Try your hand at being a racing radio or TV announcer Anyone registered to attend NPE receives free admission to NPE NASCAR Night. Don’t forget your badge! You’ll need to show it at the door for admission.

a huge indoor/outdoor entertainment mecca with three floors of dining and entertainment.

• RESTAURANTS: 100+ within a 10-block radius of the Charlotte Convention Center • THRIVING NIGHTLIFE: Whisky River, Howl at the Moon, Tin Roof, Double Door Inn and more • HOTELS/MOTELS: More choices within a few blocks of the show

Looking for more reasons to visit Charlotte for NPE?

• MORE THAN 40 NEW SEMINAR TOPICS • 50+ CONFERENCE SESSIONS OVERALL • LARGEST-EVER EXHIBIT HALL featuring Carlson Paving Products, Cimline,

• THE EPICENTRE: Just a five-minute walk from the Charlotte Convention Center, the Epicentre is

NPE 2016 highlights include:

GemSeal, Graco, Sakai, SealMaster, Schwarze Industries, Titan, Tymco, Weiler/CAT Paving and more.

Exhibit Floor Hours: • 4:30-6:30 p.m., Wed., Jan. 27 • 11 a.m. – 5 p.m., Thurs., Jan. 28 • 11 a.m. – 5 p.m., Fri., Jan. 29 • $70,000 IN GIVEAWAYS on the show floor National Pavement Expo is proudly brought to you by

ABOUT THE NASCAR HALL OF FAME Conveniently located across from the Charlotte Convention Center, the 150,000-square-foot NASCAR Hall of Fame is an interactive, entertainment attraction honoring the history and heritage of NASCAR. Opened in 2010, this state-ofthe-art venue will appeal to race fans and non-fans alike.

10 January 2016 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement

PVM0116_10-13_NPENotebook_AJ.indd 10

1/4/16 8:44 AM

NPE 2016

EQUIPMENT SHOWCASE VISIT US AT BOOTH #613

CRACK JET II ASPHALT CRACK REPAIR HEAT LANCE

KM 55 SEALCOAT MELTING KETTLE

KM4-40 – 40 SQ. FT. HEAT-ZONE

2-TON TRUCK MOUNTED ASPHALT HOTBOX

4 TON TRAILER MOUNTED HOT BOX RECLAIMERS

ENTER TO WIN!

2-18X INFRARED ASPHALT RECYCLER

Deposit your ticket at the KM Booth #613 Must enter by 4:00 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 28 TICKET DRAWING: 4:30 p.m. Jan. 28 at the KM booth.

Must be present to win. Giveaway Promotion Official Rules available at the Registration Desk or in the KM International booth.

KM International has long been the leader in infrared asphalt repair. KM International’s dedication to the infrared industry shows in all our asphalt maintenance equipment.

WWW.KMINTERNATIONAL.COM | 800-492-1757 Write in 10 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/10073532

PVM0116_10-13_NPENotebook_AJ.indd 11

1/4/16 8:44 AM

Join our exclusive 800 PAVEMENT Network in your area! Membership is FREE when yo

Get more CALLS and SALES… People will remember your number.

Just one call a month can more than pay you back…

8

See Us

at NPE Booth

822

PVM0116_10-13_NPENotebook_AJ.indd 12

1/4/16 8:44 AM

work and own one of these toll-free numbers n you license one of our numbers.

Here’s what you get: ✔ Exclusive rights to one of our toll-free vanity numbers in your market that your prospects will easily remember – with ALL calls going directly to YOU! ✔ Complete rights to display your vanity number on all your trucks and marketing materials. ✔ Over $50,000,000 in national account work given to network members! ✔ Discount on equipment and supplies from vendors across the USA!

business needs a number.

“Every Why not have the best number for your business? ” Michael Musto, Founder and CEO U.S. Pavement Services & the 800 PAVEMENT Network

800 PAVEMENT Network

NEARLY 200 CONTRACTORS

For complete details CALL 1-800-PAVEMENT (1-800-728-3636) or visit

Act now before your competitors gain the edge!

www.1800pavement.com

Write in 11 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/10071771

PVM0116_10-13_NPENotebook_AJ.indd 13

1/4/16 8:44 AM

Culture

Allan Heydorn, Editor

How Pavement Maintenance

Can Be Fun AND Successful

Freewheeling marketing targets “best” customers for American Asphalt Repair and Resurfacing Co., Inc. “ASPHALT DOESN’T NEED to be just rock and oil,” says Allan Henderson, president of American Asphalt Repair and Resurfacing Co., Inc. And it doesn’t take much time talking with him or reviewing his company’s

marketing approach to realize just how true that is.

Direct-mail postcards that blare “FREE POT hole repair” or “FREE CRACK repair” make it clear that American Asphalt’s marketing approach is, well, a little out there. And then there’s the contractor’s homemade Road Kill Red wine.

“I know we’re different. We’re not down the middle, but it works and we can back it up with the work,” Henderson says. “Sometimes they have to hold me back with some ideas, and we’ve

learned that some approaches are better for some markets than for others, but on the whole it works.”

Sure does.

American Asphalt is a medium-sized paving and pavement maintenance company based in Hayward, CA. “We let other people do the new construction and then we wait about five years and go back and seal it or fix it,” Henderson says.

The company serves the northern California market, from Bakersfield to the Oregon border, employing 130

14 January 2016 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement

PVM0116_14-21_AmeriAsphalt_AJ.indd 14

1/6/16 2:30 PM

Creating a Work-Life Balance for Employees “Our agreement is ‘You take care of American Asphalt and American Asphalt will take care of you’,” says Allan Henderson, president.

That approach has worked for the contractor, from its Wall of Fame, featuring every company employee and the number of years they’ve been with the company, to the training each person receives and the responsibility each employee is given.

“They are empowered to make decisions in the field, which gives them more responsibility, makes them feel more involved and gives them a sense of ownership,” Henderson says.

Henderson says part of the company’s “asphalt isn’t everything” approach includes requiring employees to take a week off each summer. “We could work seven days a week, but it’s not right to expect people to live that way,” he says. “We’re trying to create a work-life balance so they enjoy their jobs and want to stay with us.”

He says American Asphalt conducts extensive training – including a $50,000 program last summer – to cross-train people so they can step in for each other, which enables people to take that week off. “It really paid off. That training helps them see that we’re concerned about a balance for them. It can’t be work, work, work all the time. We have loyal employees because they enjoy working here,” Henderson says.

He says people do leave the company for other jobs but often they return, recognizing the grass isn’t always greener. “When they want to come back we poll the employees to see if they want them to be hired back. We think that makes sense because they will be working together and the employees seem to appreciate that.”

Allan Henderson, president of American Asphalt Repair & Resurfacing Co., relies on an unconventional marketing approach that enables the California contractor to cut marketing costs, better focus work efforts and manage sustained growth.

about whatever. We’re not a hard sell so we don’t have to shove asphalt down their throat. We get a trust level going and that gives them a confidence level with us and hopefully they decide to give us a try. Once that happens we‘re in good shape because we back up what we say.”

High-end Driveways to Parking Lots Henderson started on a slurry seal crew when he was 19 in Santa Rosa, CA, and eventually worked on large projects including military bases throughout the western states. After seven years the

people and generating $43 million in sales. Henderson says 60% of their work is for private customers and 40% is municipal work. Half of sales are paving and patching, 25% are slurry seal, 10% sealcoating, 10% concrete and 5% striping. American Asphalt runs three paving crews, two slurry surfacing crews, three sealcoating crews, three concrete crews and two striping crews.

“We’re a confident group,” Henderson says. “What we try to do with our marketing is get a one-to-one or face-to-face conversation with the customer. And we don’t just talk about asphalt, we talk One of American Asphalt’s crews, shown here following a job at Facebook headquarters.

Employees are empowered to make decisions in the field, which Allan Henderson says gives them a sense of ownership and generates loyalty.

www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement • PAVEMENT • January 2016 15

PVM0116_14-21_AmeriAsphalt_AJ.indd 15

1/6/16 2:30 PM

Culture

Two of the more sedate yet still offbeat direct-mail efforts. American Asphalt has learned that some edgier approaches might not fit in all markets.

company split, and he stayed with the half that worked in northern California but eventually folded after several years.

So Henderson was on his own, doing high-end driveway work and he convinced three friends to invest $4,000 each (he paid them 100% for each year he used their money until he could afford to buy back their stock).

He worked and lived out of a camper (with a phone line connected to a nearby contractor’s office), soon saving enough money to buy a half-acre yard in Redwood City, 30 miles south of San Francisco.

In 1995 American Asphalt moved to a 2-acre facility in Hayward, and now operates out of a 4 ½-acre yard, “pretty much doubling in size each time we moved,” he says.

He continued to focus on high-end driveways in the San Francisco Bay area

and eventually worked his way up to do parking lots at Oakland Coliseum, Candlestick Park and the Cow Palace among others, then eventually started pursuing and winning small city projects.

He says moving up in job size was a gradual process. “I had worked on large projects before with the other companies so I was comfortable with the scale of work,” he says. “The size of the job didn’t intimidate me.”

Even while he was working in the field, Henderson took an interest in marketing – specifically what he terms “grass roots marketing.” He did some marketing on his own as time allowed but eventually hired someone to take his place on the back of the machine. “I did it so I could concentrate on sales,” Henderson says. “I switched over to sales to keep the monster fed.”

And the more involved he was in sales, the more involved he became in marketing – and he found he liked it.

Marketing to Drive Sales “The more marketing I did, the more involved I got with it and the more I enjoyed it. And the more I realized it could help us make an impact in the market,” Henderson says. “I thought that by marketing we could start getting the amount of work we needed to sustain 10-15% growth each year.”

American Asphalt markets January through March and then hosts its Asphalt Maintenance Seminar in April.

“That markets us to people getting ready to have work done when they’re starting to think about it,” Henderson says.

“Ninety percent of our marketing is done January through June and by that time we have plenty of leads and jobs that we ride out the rest of the year.”

Henderson says the company used to spend significant money on Yellow Pages ads for nine counties, the Construction Blue Book, and Western Mobile Home magazine and that brought in a certain amount of business.

“But we started looking at what

How to Market to Property Managers One marketing tip American Asphalt learned is that each type of client has different needs and expectations – and meeting (or exceeding) those in the proposal stage can go a long way toward winning a job.

Property managers, where “reputation comes into play,” are a case in point. “Property managers like us because we pitch to them that we’ll do all the work for them,” Allan Henderson says. “We do all the legwork and we’ve learned that the more we tell them up front about all the services we offer, the more likely they are to choose us.”

He says property managers are so busy handling so many aspects, often on multiple properties, that anything American Asphalt can do to ease their workload really makes an impact. “Anything that saves property managers time and makes it less likely their phone will ring with questions or problems makes it more likely they’ll use us. So we do all the legwork so property managers don’t have to.”

American Asphalt provides a schedule, all plans and updates, colorcoded maps to show work areas and days, traffic control, and assumes responsibility for notifying tenants or homeowners.

“The more we offer the more they’ll stay with us and not shop our price,” Henderson says.

all our advertising did for us and we found that people who found us in the Yellow Pages were getting three bids. We learned we often got a call because we were first in the pages and had a large ad – but they were comparing bids and taking the lowest one.

“So we started doing more directmail advertising and instead of showing pictures of our equipment we wanted to do something that made them read the marketing piece. We thought one way to do that was to be a little humorous.”

Henderson says he has a hand in coming up with most of American Asphalt’s marketing efforts, but he uses

16 January 2016 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement

PVM0116_14-21_AmeriAsphalt_AJ.indd 16

1/6/16 2:30 PM

CAT F-SERIES PAvERS ®

THE NEW STANDARD Integrated Cat® Grade Control.

• • • •

Operate from any of the four operator consoles Stays on the machine User friendly touchscreen On-the-go sensor selection

Learn more at www.cat.com/F-SeriesPavers

facebook.com/CATPaving youtube.com/CATPaving R

QEXC1880-01 © 2016 Caterpillar. All Rights Reserved. CAT, CATERPILLAR, BUILT FOR IT, their respective logos, “Caterpillar Yellow,” the “Power Edge” trade dress as well as corporate and product identity used herein, are trademarks of Caterpillar and may not be used without permission.

Write in 12 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/10075307

PVM0116_14-21_AmeriAsphalt_AJ.indd 17

1/6/16 2:30 PM

Culture

a designer and freelance writer to help make his ideas a direct-mail reality.

“Sometimes they have to hold me back – the ideas are funny but maybe a little too edgy. And they tell me, ‘that’s a little too much’,” he says. “But they do get attention.”

In fact a couple of ads got attention but not the kind he wanted. The “FREE CRACK filling” and “FREE POT hole repair were sent to a mobile home park which generated some calls from residents unhappy with the approach. “So we try to make sure we’re not going to upset a market,” he says.

The Legend of Tres Vino Banditos “The legend is told of three friendly bandits who roamed the northern hills of Mendocino, Sonoma and Napa counties gathering grapes wherever they could to make wine for themselves. Soon, word of their unusual winemaking methods and surprisingly good wine led farmers to trade their grapes for wine made by the banditos. In 1896 they were falsely accused by the large California wineries of stealing grapes, caught and sentenced to die by firing squad.

Their last request was a bottle of wine each which the friendly banditos shared with their captors. As the judge, jury and executioners enjoyed their wine, the trio (with the help of local growers) slipped off into the countryside. To this day, growers still claim to see the banditos roaming the vineyards, wine caves and wineries bartering for grapes to make their wine.”

Road Kill Red The contractor’s Road Kill Red Reserve wine also came partly out of American Asphalt’s eagerness to bring something different to the industry. “We didn’t want to do cups and koozies and things like that, so one time we gave away yellow rubber ducks for them to float in their parking lot birdbaths. It was a little on the maverick side but it worked,” Henderson says.

And the wine was started in that vein… to give away.

“I’m not a wine maker but I make wine,” he says.

Henderson says they started making the signature wine in 1996 when he was given some free grapes from friends in California’s wine country. He made the first wine himself, then enlisted the support of two friends (hence the Tres Vino Banditos brand, label… and legend, see sidebar above) and for five years the trio grew their own grapes and bottled 44 cases a year.

“Then we started trading asphalt for grapes and because of the high-end wineries around here we started getting some really good grapes,” Henderson says, adding that they now produce 150 cases a year.

“It’s a novelty and it’s become a good marketing tool,” he says. “Our corks read Good Wine, Great Asphalt!”

American Asphalt uses the wine in

a variety of ways, including sending it to prospects, providing it for customer Christmas parties or other events, donating it as prizes and giving it to people who provide referrals. “It can work as a great icebreaker too,” he says. American Asphalt only sells their wine at charity events where the buyer makes the check out to the charity.

He says American Asphalt also hosts an annual “barrel party” each autumn at which customers and prospects are invited to attend a barbecue with music

and the highlight being the Tres Vino Banditos showing customers how to bottle their own wine. “We walk them through it from start to finish and then they put on a custom label and they leave with a bottle of wine they’ve bottled themselves,” Henderson says.

The Impact of Tracking Marketing The free-wheeling advertising approach has been so successful that American Asphalt has been able to reduce its Yellow Pages display ads to just boldface name and number – which enabled them to significantly reduce what at one time was a $120,000-a-year Yellow Pages bill.

He says they’ve been able to reduce their Yellow Pages presence not only because they’ve successfully used other marketing means, but because they make a concerted effort to track what advertising works for them and what doesn’t. They track what kinds of jobs they get from each type of marketing, and that’s played a key role in American Asphalt’s profitability as well as growth and even work-life balance of employees.

“We ask every job where they heard about us – Yellow Pages, our trucks, telemarketing, direct mail, local shows – and by doing that we are able to determine what our best niche is. What marketing approach is working for what niche,” he says.

18 January 2016 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement

PVM0116_14-21_AmeriAsphalt_AJ.indd 18

1/6/16 2:30 PM

THE

PIONEER Maury Bagwell

Call Maury Bagwell or Eric Humphries today to discuss how Neal can help you to become more efficient and more profitable!

770-830-1282 www.nealequip.com

SEALCOAT

OF

INNOVATION

Since 1978, we’ve been blazing the path for mechanized sealcoating equipment and setting standards for high outputs, low maintenance and exceptional durability. Maury Bagwell, plant manager and engineer, developed the patented design of the original hydraulic piston pump in 1984, and sealcoating equipment hasn’t been the same since.

Our units operate up to 100 GPM for 50 percent faster coverage. And, with uniform coverage and no daily flushing required, you’ll limit time spent on each job while boosting your ROI.

See us at the National Pavement Expo booth 639.

Write in 13 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/10072202

PVM0116_14-21_AmeriAsphalt_AJ.indd 19

1/6/16 2:30 PM

Culture

Because it tracks its marketing efforts, American Asphalt was able to identify the work on which the company performs best and now pursues those jobs aggressively.

He says they track demographics, geography, customer type (commercial/ industrial, HOAs, mobile home parks, apartments) to see what marketing approach has worked where “because different things and different approaches work differently for different customers.”

“We cater our marketing to the specific niche, whether it’s shopping centers, residential, mobile home parks,” he says. “We try to fine tune our marketing so we’re shooting with a laser who we’re going after.”

For example, he says shopping centers aren’t interested in loyalty and the wit of their marketing efforts seems to have little impact, so promotions to shopping centers are straight, dollar-and-cents focused. “Shopping centers tend to be owned by real estate investment trusts and they usually want three or four bids ‒ and often they want a consulting company handling the bids,” Henderson says. “They’re looking for the bottom dollar and are never loyal.”

So not only do shopping centers require a different marketing approach – they might not be pursued much at all.

Fewer but Better Jobs That’s because Henderson has examined all the jobs the company has performed and he learned something along the way: That American Asphalt not only performs better on some jobs, but that those jobs are also more profitable.

When he came to that realization he began to refocus marketing efforts.

Henderson says American Asphalt delivers upwards of 3,500 proposals a year – and for most years completed roughly 1,300 jobs – a closing rate of roughly 37%.

“But I’ve peeled the onion back and taken a closer look at the work we end up getting. I divided the work we do into categories – less than $10,000, $10,000$20,000, $20,000-$50,000 and $50,000$100,000 -- and I looked at closing ratios for each of those areas,” he says. “Our

Why Educate Your Customers?

In addition to its direct-mail marketing efforts American Asphalt Repair & Resurfacing hosts a day-long Asphalt Maintenance Seminar each spring, attracting representatives from 120 clients and prospects. The event features a seminar and live demonstrations of various pavement maintenance activities including grinding, dig-outs, crack sealing, concrete repair, fabric overlays, seal coats, slurry seal and more. The conference and demonstrations run until 2:00 p.m. and are followed by a barbecue and a session on ADA upgrades.

“We get a very positive response to the program,” Henderson says. “We want to educate our customers because if we can educate them, they’ll make better decisions on how to fix their asphalt and they won’t just put their work out for low bid.”

best jobs – the ones that contribute the best to our bottom line ‒ are in the $20,000-$50,000 range so now we try to go after those jobs.”

In other words, they target their direct-mail marketing to customers who offer that type of work.

“I realized that we can pursue and bid and win and do a great job on the larger projects and we still pursue them. Those customers are always satisfied but they also are always going to be looking for the lowest bid. But a satisfied customer is one thing; a loyal customer is another story entirely.”

Henderson realized that instead of doing one large shopping center – which ties up crews and other resources and prevents them from doing other jobs – they could be doing 10 smaller jobs – possibly in the dollar range that contributes more to their bottom line.

“If we end up with 10 loyal customers who don’t shop our price, that’s a much more valuable way to work,” he says.

On other jobs, such as the jobs that generate less than $10,000 in billing, American Asphalt actively works to win fewer of those job, for example by raising their prices on that work to slow its growth within the company. “We tend to tell people who don’t fit our customer profile that we can’t do their work and

we raise those prices,” he says “By doing so we can focus on the better job.”

Today this marketing-focused company has cut its marketing budget from $300,000 to $120,000 – because it wants to control growth, it does a better job targeting its marketing efforts to its more lucrative prospects, and because 80% of their work is from existing clients and referrals with only 20% coming from new clients.

“I always figured that with good equipment, great employees and a stellar reputation we’d always be in business, so our motto is ‘every job is our best job’,” Henderson says. “It’s posted on the wall for our employees to see as they walk through the door each morning and that’s the approach we take for every job we do.”

Today American Asphalt is concentrating on trying to keep annual growth to 8-10% a year “to keep a handle on it. I feel that if we get too spread out we’ll lose contact with our estimators and our customers and we would have trouble maintaining job quality. So we just want to grow steadily and under control,” Henderson says.

So now instead of doing 1,300 jobs a year American Asphalt does about 1,100 a year. “And our sales volume is up – and it’s up more profitably.”

20 January 2016 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement

PVM0116_14-21_AmeriAsphalt_AJ.indd 20

1/6/16 2:30 PM

Your custom PavementSaver is made to YOUR specifications.

Designed by operators for operators Handcrafted, professional equipment built to last Write in 14 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/10076247

RoadSaver.com Since 1979 1.800.479.9390 PVM0116_14-21_AmeriAsphalt_AJ.indd 21

1/6/16 2:30 PM

Internet Marketing

Jessica Stoikes, Associate Editor

Using the Internet to Grow Your

Business How one small striping company climbed to the top of Google, and their market, with the help of search engine optimization and social media

IN TODAY’S DAY and age with the Internet, practically everyone could legitimately be your customer. Perhaps you’ve heard of Google? One simple search can put customers across the country in touch with your business.

Still many pavement maintenance contractors haven’t invested the time or resources into building a successful website.

But why not? Reports show that over 81% of consumers conduct online research before making any kind of buying decision and if your company isn’t listed, how can they know you even have a service to offer them?

This is why Zach Lear, owner of California Striping & Sealcoating, made creating a website his top priority when he started his business in 2010. Even if he had no idea where to start.

Lear uses platforms like Instagram and Twitter to communicate to more clients. Adding hashtags to these photos gives them an broader reach as potential customers find his business through these keywords.

“I really had no clue what I was doing,” Lear says. “I knew it was critical for me to get my website at the top of search rankings to generate business, but I had no idea how.”

22 January 2016 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement

PVM0116_22-25_InternetGrow_AJ.indd 22

1/4/16 8:45 AM

A North Carolina-based company found California Striping Services through a Google search.

Winning this business has ensured Lear and his crew will provide pavement maintenance needs to all the Naval bases in the San Diego area and beyond. “It’s crazy how important my whole livelihood is from Google really,” Lear says.

Getting to Know Google Lear spent the better part of two full weeks making phone calls to GoDaddy (a website domain service) and Wix (a website hosting service) to get his website up and running. After investing the time in getting his website up, Lear knew he had to get customers to visit the site, but how?

When it comes to search engine rankings, there are two sides to the story.

There are organic search rankings and those search rankings that are paid for.

Unless your website has zero competition or you have ample amounts of time on your hands, it’s a good idea to start driving traffic to your site with paid ads.

Luckily, Google can be very helpful in creating ad campaigns to help.

“I spent hours on the phone with Google,” Lear says. “They suggested cost per click (CPC) advertising through Google AdWords.”

Google AdWords is the single most popular CPC advertising system in the world. The AdWords platform enables businesses to create ads that appear on Google’s search engine and other Google properties.

AdWords operates on a pay-per-click model, in which website owners bid on keywords and pay for each click on their advertisements. Every time a search is initiated, Google digs into the pool of AdWords advertisers and chooses a set of winners to appear in the valuable ad space on its search results page.

The “winners” are chosen based on a combination of factors, including the quality and relevance of their keywords and ad campaigns, as well as the size of their keyword bids.

“AdWords is a good place for companies to start with search engine optimization (SEO) because your company will show up on top of the Google results,” Lear says. “Even if your website is not what they are looking for, it’s still driving

a lot of traffic to your website, which increases your organic ranking.”

Lear says he started his AdWords campaign very broad, trying to get as many customers as possible to his site. “Basically if a customer typed in anything relevant to parking lot striping, sealcoating, signage, etc, I made sure I was going to show up,” Lear says.

However, he wasn’t seeing the return on his investment that he expected going this route.

Growing “Organically” Although Lear began seeing clicks to his website, he received few phone calls for business (see “Choosing Keywords Carefully”). After receiving a $1,500 bill from Google that first month, Lear decided to try SEO on his own to grow his website organically, or in other words, the hard way.

Organic SEO is the other side of the search ranking coin and is a phrase used to describe processes to obtain a natural placement on organic search engine results pages (SERPs). Some examples of techniques used for organic SEO include using keywords and keyword analysis, backlinking, link building to improve link popularity, and writing content relevant for website visitors.

Lear used his knowledge of SEO to help expand the reach of his company

Choosing Keywords Carefully When Zach Lear started his Google AdWords campaign, he chose words related to his business; California Striping, stenciling, sealcoating, signage, etc. Lear even took into account those consumers who may spell striping with two P’s.

“It was great because my website was getting 1,000 clicks in a week, but I was getting no phone calls,” Lear says. “At the end of the month I had a $1,500 bill and no business. I called Google and asked them what was going on. They said since I had put in California Stripping as a keyword, everyone that’s was searching for strippers in California was clicking through to my website and obviously not finding what they were looking for and clicking out of it.”

Through pay per click (PPC) targeting, Lear was getting charged for each of those clicks. Moral of the story? It’s important to choose your keywords wisely when setting up a Google Adwords campaign.

www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement • PAVEMENT • January 2016 23

PVM0116_22-25_InternetGrow_AJ.indd 23

1/4/16 8:45 AM

Internet Marketing

Small Beginnings Like many businesses in this industry, contractors never quite intended to own their own pavement maintenance business, but it just happened.

The same is true for Zach Lear. Lear went to University of San Diego with a degree in BioScience with a minor in language.

At the time, Lear had no interest in striping, but his father did.

“My father owns a crane company in Northern California (Redding Crane) and always expressed the need for striping,” Lear says. “I didn’t even know what a striping machine was. He bought me a little Titan 1500 for Christmas and I thought ‘great what am I going to do with this!’”

He soon found out.

“I was in Redding at a small ‘mom and pops’ market, I noticed their lot looked pretty faded,” Lear says. “As I approached the counter to complete my order, I gave them my cheesy little pitch “I saw your lot needed to have new lines painted.... funny enough I have a striping machine.”

The rest is history.

Today California Striping and their crew of four employees complete 60% striping, 20% sealcoating, 10% asphalt and 10% what Lear says is “other” work. Lear says they operate pretty much anywhere the money is and just opened up two locations in Granite Bay and Sacramento.

They use one sealcoating spray rig and eight striping machines to complete this work. Lear says they don’t have a paver…yet.

“I never tell a client ‘No’,” Lear says. “I will always find a way to make them happy and it’s just another opportunity under our belts. Our work speaks for itself, we have never had an unhappy customer, and our 5 star ‘Yelp’ rating is proof.”

through keywords he embedded on his own website platform instead of paying Google to do it for him through AdWords. “Using my website and the website hosting page, I embedded keywords myself for SEO searches,” Lear says. “I typed in any keywords relevant to parking lot striping, anything needing ADA compliance. I probably have about 70 keywords on there. I spent time tweaking, going in to different screens, adding keywords on pictures.

I did everything I could to improve our organic rankings. How successful it is really depends on how long you want to spend on it.”

This is hard work and it’s paid off when a company based out of North Carolina found his California-based business through a Google search.

“We signed a deal with Alutiiq who is based out of North Carolina,” Lear says.

“Their business provides services to the federal government and they have the contracts for all the Navy bases in San Diego and the surrounding state (around 40).

“They contacted me through a Google search. We went out, did one job for them and secured their business.

Since that job we’ve done all the Navy bases in San Diego, sealed the Navy Seal base on Coronado Island and are gaining business across the country from them.

“It’s crazy how important my whole livelihood is from Google really.”

It’s been a year since Lear has cancelled his Google AdWords paid services. His ranking on Google is second, only after one very large striping company in the San Diego area who has been around for years, he says.

“Most large companies need three quotes for work, and I’m second so that’s what I really looked at,” Lear says. “Now due to my organic ranking, I don’t really have to do anything to improve any further. If I somehow was bumped down to the fourth or fifth spot, I may try to do something with Google to improve, but spending any money now would just be a waste.”

Zach Lear used organic keywords embedded on his website to help improve his rankings on the Google search results page instead of paying Google for cost-per-click advertising.

24 January 2016 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement

PVM0116_22-25_InternetGrow_AJ.indd 24

1/4/16 8:45 AM

Getting Social Another side of the Internet realm that business owners can use to their advantage is social media. This can be a great way to generate business and traffic to your website, yet again few contractors invest the time needed to grow business with these free tools.

Lear says contractors who are not investing time in their website or social platforms are really inhibiting their potential for growth.

“Start any kind of social media site, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, for your business and that way consumers have more of a broad spectrum of ways to look for and find your business,” Lear says.

Lear knows that taking advantage of these forms of media absolutely is a competitive advantage for his business as he’s one of the few pavement maintenance contractors that engages through multiple platforms.

And while hashtags may seem cliché, they can be the only way companies know how to look for and find your services. Lear uses as many hashtags as he can think of to tag his photos and it’s paid off. Lear always ask customers how they found his business and would have had a huge miss with one if his biggest clients, Disney, had he not used hashtags.

“The head guy at Disney that handles all their maintenance told me he was clueless as to what to search for when researching companies to do some striping and typed ‘Stenciling LA’ into Google,” Lear says. “How he found me, this huge contract I now have, was through a hashtag that I put on one of my pictures that he found on Google that directed him to my website.”

This new school mindset is what Lear feels also differentiates him from his competition when he does make contact with potential customers.

“I’m a younger guy and all my competitors are old school construction guys,” Lear says. “I can talk to a customer over the phone, listen to their needs and give them a quote that I’ll stand behind. A lot of these older guys will demand to see the job, need to know the exact measurements and make the customer feel inconvenienced.

“Paint is cheap. I’d rather talk to them

like a person, win the business and deal with the rest later. The biggest pain of these jobs is loading the equipment, getting to the jobsite and getting everything prepped and ready. What we excel at is not making customers sweat the small stuff.

If we get there, see a customer needs something we didn’t include on the quote, I’m not going to charge them. We’re already there, it’s going to take three minutes to do it and not cost much more. Why not do it, get a positive review and a happy client.”

California Striping also uses social media to extend the reach of their business by posting photos of their work and using hashtags as search terms for potential customers to find through Google.

our w y t that o n ek . men s , w g pave for you n o i t n i i o v d d r con ese can h e r een pr at we t a we wh eb t h e . We’v . See h 3 g r e tou 192 ugh h o w be to e since r e o t t ima as t mat N o ment h any cl o e pav s up t d n st a

vancebrothers.com Write in 15 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/10075104

www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement • PAVEMENT • January 2016 25

PVM0116_22-25_InternetGrow_AJ.indd 25

1/4/16 8:45 AM

Operations

Allan Heydorn, Editor

How to Fix a

Struggling Company

Survival for Petra Paving depended on learning and implementing what it didn’t know THE STORY OF Petra Paving Inc. is a classic story of a contractor knowing how to work in the field, starting a

business, and then almost … almost… losing it all.

But because Chris Tammany, owner/ operator at Petra Paving, wasn’t afraid to learn what he didn’t know and because he was willing to apply what he learned to his business, his company today is a leading paving and sealcoating contractor in southern New Hampshire.

Tammany credits attending his first National Pavement Expo in 2000, which led to his hiring a local consultant, with starting Petra Paving’s turnaround.

Today the 12-person company runs three crews (prep crew, sealcoating crew and paving crew) doing both commercial and residential sealcoating, pavement repair and paving. Tammany says

26 January 2016 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement

PVM0116_26-31_PetraPaving_AJ.indd 26

1/4/16 8:45 AM

Chris Tammany says Petra Paving is “miles apart from our competition. We’re uniformed, all our equipment is lettered identically and that lettering matches the lettering on our letterhead.

Our estimates are computer generated in the pickups and left with the customer. We’re a very professional operation.”

70% of the company’s paving work is residential (30% commercial) while 90% of their sealcoating work is residential (10% commercial).

Tammany’s route to Petra Paving is similar to that of many contractors. He started his own sealcoating and striping business at age 19, eventually working as a subcontractor for Petra Paving. When the economy slumped in 1988-1989 he condensed his work week to two or three days while Petra Paving condensed its week to three or four days. On the days he wasn’t working for his own business, he worked on a crew for Petra Paving.

In the winter of 1991 the owner of Petra called Tammany and they met over a cup of coffee.

“He said he was all done with paving and if I wanted he’d help me buy the business from him. Either that or he was going to shut it down and sell his equipment,” says Tammany, who has served on Pavement’s Advisory Board since 2009. So he took out a second mortgage on his newly built house and in 1992 became the owner of Petra Paving, Inc. He was 23 years old.

“I pretty much ran it the way the previous owner had because that’s what I knew. I was just trying to get my wits about me. I didn’t know much and it was a scary time to say the least,” he says.

He put himself on the crew and ran the company with four people. As the business seemed to be doing okay, he slowly upgraded his equipment and he started learning about the business of paving and pavement maintenance.

Why to Use a Separate Prep Crew Petra Paving runs three crews: a paving crew (five people), a sealcoating crew (two people) and a site preparation crew (two people) that works in front of the paving crew tearing out old asphalt, removing damaged base, adding new base to grade and compacting.

Owner/operator Chris Tammany says that crews used to do their own prep work but Petra Paving tested using a crew focused on preparation and found it to be significantly more efficient.

“When we had one crew doing everything on a job we realized a lot of time was lost in the transition from prep to paving,” Tammany says. “Having one crew devoted to prep work makes not only the prep crew more efficient but other crews more efficient as well because they’re doing the same job over and over again. The paving crew can pull onto the site and start paving, which is what they’re best at and the prep crew is already off to another jobsite doing what they’re best at.

“The biggest bonus is having the dirt crew doing prep every day and that’s all they’re thinking about. The same two guys have worked on our dirt crew seven years and when you get the same people working together for a while it’s easier. Everyone knows what the other guys are going to do and they learn to do it well.”

Then came 1997-1998, when the economy started to pick up. Before he knew it, Petra Paving had more work that they could handle. In fact they had so much paving work that he stopped pursuing sealcoating and sold off that part of the business.

He examined crew productivity and equipment and invested in dump trucks, trailers and a key piece of equipment: a skid steer loader that when used with its attachments was flexible enough to take the place of multiple pieces of equipment for the preparation of paving work.

“We were trying to figure out how we could send a crew out to a site and do more than one thing and the skid steer

with all its attachments was the answer,” he says. “We were trying to figure out how we could get more work out of the crews we had.

“The tragedy was the prices we were charging weren’t enough to cover our daily nut – though we didn’t know that at the time,” Tammany says.

“I came from a mentality of if we wanted to make more money we have to get out of bed earlier, work harder, work longer and basically just do more work.

So the more work we did the greater in debt we got.”

But he didn’t know that at the time, he just knew his company was in trouble.

“The end of 1999 came and I’m scratching my head wondering what

Because it collects and analyzes job costing data, Petra Paving estimators can bid a 1,000-sq.-ft. driveway, for example, by going to the computer where there’s a built-in starting point for how much it will cost Petra’s crews to complete that job. That information includes how much the paving crew can produce, what the prep crew will cost us on that size job etc. The estimator then adjusts the rough bid by incorporating the specifics of the job. www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement • PAVEMENT • January 2016 27

PVM0116_26-31_PetraPaving_AJ.indd 27

1/4/16 8:45 AM

Operations went wrong, because that year we did twice the number of driveways we did the year before but at the end of December I still owed $80,000 and my checkbook was empty. I realized I needed help.”

Plus he had another, unexpected problem. By not offering sealcoating he had unwittingly created an opportunity for competitors to make inroads into his market.

“We were getting bigger and were doing a lot of work, but outside companies started to come in to our market because me and another local contractor couldn’t keep up with the work,” Tammany says. “We were allowing outside contractors to come in to compete with us.”

At that point he realized that to protect his business and defend his market he would have to split the crew and offer both paving and sealcoating services, which he did. And then he attended NPE in Louisville to try to fix Petra Paving.

Looking for “the Cure” Tammany says that at his first NPE in 2000 he attended sessions presented

by Brad Humphrey and Jeff Stokes, partners at the time in Pinnacle Performance Group. “Like a lot of contractors I waited for them in the hall after one of their classes,” Tammany says. “I’m there looking for ‘the cure.’ I figured I’d go to National Pavement Expo and learn what I was doing wrong or go home and have a yard sale and figure out something else to do for a living.”

He says Humphrey and Stokes opened his eyes with one question.

“Looking back it was so rudimentary,” he says. “They asked me, ‘How much does it cost you to be in business for a year?’ I had no idea and had never thought of the question let alone the answer.”

Humphrey and Stokes explained that was the first thing Tammany needed to figure out.

“They explained that once I knew

How Petra Paving “Works” NPE Chris Tammany credits National Pavement Expo with helping him save his business, but he knows he and his employees work hard when attending so they can take back what they need or bring new ideas to the company.

His approach is to bring as many as half his employees to NPE and having them take different classes. Once they get home, they would get together to compare notes and exchange information. Then group decides what they’re going to try to implement.

“You can’t do everything at the same time so you have to pick and choose,” he says. “I think some people that go there come back with so many ideas they freeze up because they don’t know what to do first, then they end up doing nothing.”

His suggestion: Compare notes, list out what you learned that you’d like to implement, rank the ideas and then tackle the first one. Once that’s done or at least well on its way, move on to number two.

“Go home and do at least one thing you learned at the Expo,” he says. “Then come back and do it again next year.”

He says he often signs up for seminar topics he took several years ago but didn’t get much out of at the time. “Sometimes the sessions didn’t mean much to me then but I take them now and I think ‘wow’. And that’s because my business is in a different place,” he says. “I didn’t get much out of it before because I wasn’t ready to, but everything now makes sense.”

Tammany says that as valuable as attending the conference can be, he thinks “submerging yourself in 100% of the people in your profession and talking about what works and what doesn’t work” might be even more valuable. “It is a great place to build relationships with people who do what you do but who aren’t your competitors,” he says. In fact he has developed a network of contractors across the country he stays in touch with throughout the year.

how much it cost me to be in business for a year I could figure out how many days were in my typical season, then I could divide the total cost of the year by the number of days I had to work. That would tell me how much I had to earn each day to cover my nut -- to break even for the year. Then I could break it down to an hourly cost. Back then that was a real eye opener. It seems so basic now but back then I had no clue.”

The summer of 2000 Tammany didn’t change much as a result of what he learned at NPE. “We kind of went into that season figuring I just had to do more work.” But, as he eventually learned, “more work” isn’t always the solution and in fact just doing “more work” can dig your hole deeper.

At the end of 2000, and still in trouble, Tammany realized that he needed to apply what he’d learned at NPE in Louisville.

“It was sink or swim,” he says. “We either hired someone to help us or we weren’t going to make it. That much we knew.”

So Petra Paving spent what was “a pretty good chunk of money for us back then,” and brought in a local consultant, George S. May, who though he didn’t have a background in the paving and pavement maintenance business, took Tammany through a process similar to what he’d learned at NPE. “We literally were saved by NPE and consultants,” Tammany says. “There’s no question we would not be around today had we not learned and put in place what we were taught. Once we started making some changes it didn’t take us long to see how that was going to help us. Then we realized that what we were learning from the consultant was the same thing we learned at NPE so we started to attend more shows.”

Petra Paving headed back to NPE in 2001, learned some more basics, then came home and started implementing some of what they’d learned. Tammany says understanding and learning how to create a budget was a first step. That was closely followed by collecting and analyzing all data related to what it costs for each aspect of the job to be done, including the time it takes, the number of crew

28 January 2016 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement

PVM0116_26-31_PetraPaving_AJ.indd 28

1/4/16 8:45 AM

THE KLEEMANN EVO-LINE:

EFFICIENCY MEETS PERFORMANCE.

YOU CAN‘T STOP EVOLUTION. Whether you are working in hard or soft rock, in recycling of concrete or asphalt, in a single or a multiple stage crushing process, as a professional contractor, you need reliable, efficient and high performance equipment.

This is what you find in the Kleemann EVO product line. Be it a mobile impact, a jaw or a cone crusher, Kleemann‘s innovative drive concept and intelligent material flow technologies make for the best possible efficiency and high performace crushing results.

SEE IT! Inside C6127 Outside 31100

ROAD AND MINERAL TECHNOLOGIES WIRTGEN AMERICA . 6030 Dana Way . Antioch, TN 37013 (615) 501-0600 . www.wirtgenamerica.com Write in 16 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/10835557

PVM0116_26-31_PetraPaving_AJ.indd 29

1/4/16 8:45 AM

Operations

people deployed, the amount of time equipment is on the job etc. Essentially basic—though detailed—job costing.

“Some of it was inaccurate because we didn’t have much data to start with.

But we were a lot closer than we were before, and we started to really collect data which we realized would help us in the future.”

what size jobs we do really well on so we could pursue those – and that was something we had no idea about before.

“If you’re not job costing you can’t figure out what your sweet spot is. And if you don’t understand which jobs make you the most money you have no idea what jobs to go after.”

Implementing Job Costing Tammany says that learning what job costing is, what it can do and how to costout a job is both the best thing and the scariest thing that has happened to him.

“It’s the best thing because it enabled us to make money and become a profitable company. It’s the scariest because once you do it you know you have to get out of bed and earn $495 or whatever it is an hour to cover your nut,” he says. “That’s a scary number when you spread it out over a week and that’s before the cost of material. It really is daunting.

“We’re very diligent now for all our costs,” he says. “Now through everything we learned at NPE we know our costs on each job to the penny.”

So, instead of bidding a job based on what the market calls for – or what the competition is bidding – all Petra Paving work is bid at cost-plus. “In other words, the cost of the job to be done plus the profit we expect to make above and beyond the cost,” he says.

“That makes things difficult for us because we are always getting calls from people who want to know what we charge per square foot,” he says. “We just tell them ‘every job is different’ and we can’t tell them a price until we come out to view the job and do an estimate.”

Job Costing Identified “Sweet Spot” He says that after they had collected and studied a good amount of job cost data, they applied that data to the various types of work Petra Paving typically performs.

“You record all job costing data so you can translate that to historical data,” Tammany says. “That helped us learn where our sweet spot was. We learned

Chris Tammany not only enjoys being in the field but he knows Petra Paving is a better company when he’s guiding the crew. “My forte is out in the field,” he says. “Our square-foot-per-hour is much higher when I’m out there on the job than when I’m not on the job so I need to be out there.”

He says that by collecting and examining job costing data they realized that Petra Paving was losing money on almost 30% of the work they performed.

“We realized we have to not do that work anymore or at least we have to price it so it’s profitable,” he says. “You have to be willing to lose those jobs.”

In addition, job costing data enabled Petra Paving to establish “basic” prices for certain kinds of jobs. Those basic prices now serve as a starting point so that every estimate doesn’t have to be created from scratch.

For a 1,000-sq.-ft. driveway, for example, Petra Paving’s estimators can go to the computer where they already have a starting point for how much it will cost Petra’s crews to complete that job. That information includes how much the paving crew can produce, what the prep crew will cost on that size job etc. The estimator then adjusts that rough estimate by incorporating the specifics of the job.

“It gets us in the ballpark right away

but because all jobs are different – a straight shot driveway vs. one with curves or with concrete walkways along the sides – we adjust the bid to the specific project. But we have a starting point,” Tammany says.

In 2001 Tammany decided to establish a full-time staffed office that has made the company more efficient and has helped set Petra Paving apart from competitors. “We used to use an answering service and most other guys just use an answering machine still,” he says. “We made the decision that when people called they were talking to a live representative of Petra Paving. And people are really happy when they get a real person from the company on the phone.”

Today that “real person” is Linda Alfonsi, operations manager, who serves as the in-office touch point for customers, handles Petra Paving’s financials, processes estimates and also schedules the jobs.

Alfonsi joined the company in 2003 (and is co-presenting a QuickBooks session at NPE 2016 with Gail Shaw, D & G Sealcoating and Striping) and since then Petra Paving has made huge strides in its job costing, estimating – and ultimately profitability. “We’ve really wrapped our head around job costing and really understand it and we live by that,” Tammany says.

So much so that at the end of each day he and Alfonsi sit down and examine the job costs from the previous day’s work. And every Friday Alfonsi pulls “flash reports” to make sure the company is on track with its needs and projections.

“We do it every week,” she says. “Now we know if that week was on track and we also know at the end of every month if we’re on track.”

Tammany says it’s rare they’re not on track.

“Very rarely at this point do we ever get surprises,” he says. “Because of what we learned and because of all the systems and procedures we have in place, we’re very rarely out of whack.

We’ve pretty much learned what to do to take out all the surprises.”

30 January 2016 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement

PVM0116_26-31_PetraPaving_AJ.indd 30

1/4/16 8:45 AM

Write in 17 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/10074343

PVM0116_26-31_PetraPaving_AJ.indd 31

1/4/16 8:45 AM

Hiring

Allan Heydorn, Editor

How to Create an

Apprentice Program for Your Workers Purpose Contracting Asphalt structures career path for employees

“One of our focuses is to hire from within the company, and to hire family members,” Randy Larson says.

“We now have three brothers. That started with one and that turned into three and now we have three of the cousins too so that turned into six. They are the backbone of my labor force.”

“GOOD WORKERS ARE hard to find.

We learned that the hard way by making some hiring decisions we regretted afterwards. I think everyone’s made those,” says Randy Larson, president of Purpose Contracting Asphalt, Franksville, WI. So he decided to do something about it. That something, in addition to taking a hard look at his company and altering its internal hiring efforts, involved the development of an apprenticeship pProgram designed to interest young people in joining the construction industry. The program, still in its infancy

after only two years, offers people a specific path to a long-term and successful career – not just “a job.”

Purpose Contracting Asphalt is a one-stop shop for customers from base work, stone and drainage to installation and repair of asphalt and concrete.

The 18-year-old company employs 15 people and generates 75% of work from asphalt and 25% from concrete “but we’re flexible enough that we can adjust that as we need to,” Larson says.

He says 60% of the work is residential, 40% commercial/industrial, both new construction and rehab.

Why to Become “the Employer of Choice” Larson says that like many contractors, he had a “wake-up call” when an employee came to work one day in a condition where he shouldn’t be out on a job. That employee was fired, and the event set off a chain reaction that eventually led to creation of the appprenticeship program.

“The first thing we decided was that we needed to up our game a little bit,” Larson says. “We want to be the employer of choice, not the employer who is bottom fishing. We want to hire

32 January 2016 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement

PVM0116_32-39_Purpose_AJ.indd 32

1/6/16 2:31 PM

ON YOUR TRUCK OR

BEHIND IT SEAL-RITE HAS You COVERED.

SR-700 TRAILER WITH OPTIONS

SR-1,000 SKID

6,000 GALLON STORAGE TANK

Write in 18 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/10074574

PVM0116_32-39_Purpose_AJ.indd 33

1/6/16 2:31 PM

Hiring professionals, guys who have pride and who take ownership, so that means we have to be a better employer.”

He says being the employer of choice can mean different things to different people. Purpose Contracting offers a competitive wage and benefit package, which is where Larson says a quality employer has to start. The company also provides free uniforms. “I’ve had employees come to us and say they talk with people from other companies who have to buy their own uniforms. It’s a simple benefit but it makes an impact.”

But perhaps the most-important step they’ve taken is to improve their communication efforts to make the employees’ job easier.

“We try to take the guesswork completely out of the equation,” Larson says. “It’s a labor-saving effort because when seven guys show up at a job they’re not trying to figure out what they’re supposed to do. Instead they show up and they know when and where to start removing asphalt.”

Those communication efforts include: • Providing jobsite photos taken when doing the estimate • Identifying jobsite challenges – such as overhead lines or dead end streets – that will impact the way a crew approaches a job • Including a Google Earth shot of the property • Revisiting the site and painting on the pavement directions such as where saw cuts are to be made or pounding stakes to mark property lines

• Providing MapQuest directions for everyone who drives a vehicle.

Maps are provided to the job, to the disposal site, to the closest asphalt plant, to closest gravel pit etc.

“Our communication is very, very thorough,” Larson says. “Detailed instructions make their job easier so we provide them as much detail as we can, and they like that. No one ever has to call me and ask a question about those kinds of things. It’s all in the file they get for the job.”

Establishing a Formal Hiring Process Purpose Contracting also instituted a formal hiring process in 2011 that has protected the contractor from hiring 10-15 people a year it otherwise might have hired.

The first step is performing background checks. “We diligently perform these checks now but previously we had not done that – we just believed what they told us,” Larson says.

Purpose Contracting relies on Wisconsin Circuit Court Access, which he says is pretty thorough. In addition they rely on their insurance agent to run a check of an applicant’s driving record, which the insurance agent does as part of his service to Purpose Contracting.

Purpose Contracting also requires a

Randy Larson, president, and wife Sandy, vice president

physical and drug and alcohol testing, each of which costs $80. All pre-employment screening general takes one day.

“The key is to make the hiring decision in advance so you’re not in a situation where it’s against your better judgment to hire someone but you’re in a situation where you need to so you just go ahead,” Larson says. “So always keep trolling so you’re not making a hiring decision based out of desperation.”

Apprentice Program Offers Career Path Larson says he’s worked on his apprentice program approach for two years, but he says he’s had the idea since 2003.

He spent the years researching the idea and trying to figure out how he can make it work. He studied an apprentice program for plumbers and masons run

One of the most important steps Purpose Contracting took was when Larson decided the contractor needed to become “the employer of choice” for people looking to work.

34 January 2016 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement

PVM0116_32-39_Purpose_AJ.indd 34

1/6/16 2:31 PM

THE RACE TO PAVEMENT PROFITS

REGISTER TODAY:

NationalPavementExpo.com

SEE MORE. DO MORE. Register now for the largest event specifically designed for paving and pavement maintenance professionals —NEW— FOR 2016

NPE NIGHT at NASCAR Hall of Fame HT TO

BROUG

Y YOU B

6 1 0 2 , 0 Y 27–3 ARLOTTE, NC

JAHANRLOUTTAE CRONVENTION CENTER, CH

6:30-9:30 p.m. Thursday, January 28 Food, beverages and full access to NASCAR Hall of Fame Free with your NPE badge!

Sponsored by:

ER LL EV A H T I IB T EXH S E SIONS G S G I E B S  CE FEREN N O C YS EAWA  50+ V I G T do!

MEN see and more to aurants, EQUIP ore rest

C



Come

te – More

arlot to Ch

nightlife,

m

PLAN NOW TO ATTEND NPE 2016!

NationalPavementExpo.com

ALSO BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

PVM0116_32-39_Purpose_AJ.indd 35

1/6/16 2:31 PM

Hiring Purpose Contracting’s Apprentice Program creates a career path that starts with safety, then moves to labor with opportunities up to management.

Hiring and Developing Your Labor Force Purpose Contracting Asphalt’s President, Randy Larson, will provide the “how to” details of his hiring process and apprenticeship program at National Pavement Expo, Jan. 27-30 in Charlotte, NC. His session, scheduled for the afternoon of Jan. 27, will walk contractors through the process he uses to find, hire and develop the employees he wants in his company. He’ll discuss advertising tips, resume insights, and how (and where) to conduct the all-important job interview, how he always “trolls” for new hires – and you’ll learn how it’s all worked. Larson will also discuss what that first day on the job should be like ‒ once you’ve made a new hire ‒ to make that person a longterm employee. For details visit www. nationalpavementexpo.com.

by Associated Builders & Contractors and he adapted “bits and pieces” from there. Then he added elements that are specific to the paving and pavement maintenance industry. By fall 2014 he was ready to give it a try.

There are four elements to Purpose Contracting’s Apprenticeship Program: Safety, Laboring, Heavy Equipment Operator, CDL Truck Driving and Management Growth.

“One of the things I wanted to accomplish was to provide a road map for people who might be interested in this industry,” he says. “We want to give them a career and most often people looking for work in this industry don’t see that.”

Safety. “This is the first stop on the map,” Larson says. “The number one thing they have to learn is safety; that’s the number one rule. Then you go from there.”

Laboring. Larson says skilled laborers are in high demand so people who learn the skills of a laborer are starting with the basics. People learn how to shovel, rake, lute; use a sledge hammer, pickaxe and pavement saw;

how to operate a plate compactor and how to use a laser transit.

Heavy Equipment Operator. Once an employee is adept in the laboring stage, Purpose Contracting starts teaching him (or her) how to operate heavy equipment, including skid steer, excavator, towing trailer, tractor, paver and roller and even how to maintain equipment. They also learn how to chain down equipment (including OSHA and FHWA requirements) and how to tow a trailer.

CDL Truck Driving. The goal of this apprenticeship stage is to enable the employee to get his (or her) CDL. Training involves driving dump trucks, towing fundamentals, equipment hauling fundamentals and learning how to haul to and from hot mix plants and quarries.

Larson says a company dump truck that has an automatic transmission enables those who don’t know how to drive a stick shift to learn how to drive it so they can pass the CDL test and obtain their temporary CDL. “Once they have that we team them with an experienced driver who rides with them and offers basic truck driving tips,” Larson says.

Those tips include: • When tying down equipment put the binders on the driver’s side so the driver can see them in the mirror and can see if something is coming loose • Always get out of the truck after dumping a load to make sure the tailgate is latched. “That’s probably the number one rookie mistake,” he says.

“We also ask them to check to make sure the taillights are visible when they’re back there.”

• Know the height of your truck and watch signs for tolerance of bridges so you know it’s safe to drive beneath them.

Management Growth. Once employees have obtained a CDL the next step is to groom them for growth into management.

“When I give someone one of the apprentice brochures they can walk themselves through the whole process,” Larson says. “They can see they have a pathway because we want to give them a future. Like anyone else they need to see some growth ahead. We don’t want them to think ‘here’s a shovel and a rake’ and that’s what they’ll be doing for 10 years.”

Larson says there’s no schedule or timetable for an employee to move from one level to the next.

“It’s up to them based on how they progress through the company. We don’t set a time line because people learn at different rates,” he says, adding that it’s the road map to a career – not the schedule – that’s important.

“By giving them the road map they’re not just taking on a dead-end job. We’re giving them some hope and a future.

It builds loyalty and builds long-term employees,” Larson says. ”Nobody likes to hire a new staff every spring… you want the good people to keep coming back. This idea not only promotes loyalty it promotes longevity.”

Selling a Construction Career Larson says one of the toughest parts of the program is reaching potential apprentices, so Purpose Contracting has gotten creative.

36 January 2016 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement

PVM0116_32-39_Purpose_AJ.indd 36

1/6/16 2:31 PM

3 Cost Effective Pothole Solutions for Distresses/Repairs Caused by Winter Weather MASTIC ONETM • Prepackaged, hot applied, polymer modified asphalt with engineered aggregate • Service life 5+ years • Open to traffic in minutes • Apply in all temperatures; need dry conditions; 2-person crew using patcher; no compaction required MAGNUM SPRAY INJECTIONTM PATCHER

Pour Hot Mastics and Go with Mastic One

• Aggregate coated by asphalt emulsion • Service life of 2-5 years • Open to traffic in minutes • Apply in all temperatures; in dry or wet conditions; 2-person crew using spray injection patcher; no compaction required HP ASPHALT COLD PATCHTM • Fast, easy, cold-applied • 2-7 times longer life than AC hot- or cold-mix • Apply in all temperatures; in dry or wet conditions; 1-person crew; no mixing, heating or

Spray Patch and Go with Magnum Spray Injection Patcher

special equipment

Use The Best - Use Crafco Products!

The world’s largest and only manufacturer of state-of-the-art preservation packaged sealants and specialized application equipment Write in 20 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/10072573

Throw and Go with HP Asphalt Repair Call to order your products or schedule a demonstration today! phone: (800) 528-8242 | email: sales@crafco.com | www.crafco.com PVM0116_32-39_Purpose_AJ.indd 37

1/6/16 2:31 PM

Hiring

In 2014 Randy and his wife Sandy, vice president, composed a letter and printed a brochure and sent it to 17 high schools within a 35-mile radius of the company. They sent the letter to the attention of the Guidance Department and asked guidance counselors to pass it along to the principal or shop teacher if the guidance counselor wasn’t the correct person to receive it.

“We got only one response, from Union Grove High School,” Larson says.

“The counselor passed the letter along to the shop teacher who invited us to speak to a group of students who were going to sign up.”

Larson says he was shocked when he arrived to speak and found 18 boys and two girls waiting for him. “The meeting went well,” he says. “Truck driving and equipment operation garnered the most interest among the students.”

At that first meeting there were 15

juniors and five seniors and the school invited Larson back this spring. Larson’s hoping some of the juniors will be back – and he hopes a new group of juniors will be in attendance. And Purpose Contracting sent out a second round of letters to area schools late last year.

But Larson recognizes that once he reaches the 17-year-old he still needs to convince him (or her) to forego college, take a path different than their friends are taking, and join the construction workforce.

“Not everyone is college material, that’s not news to anyone. And not all families can afford college. But maybe this person is a hands-on guy who can fix a manure spreader in the field but who’s all thumbs when he sits behind a desk at a computer. This industry is a perfect opportunity for that person. All they need is a path to a career,” he says.

Larson says that when he does

Rely on Reelcraft Photo courtesy of Neal Asphalt Sealcoating Equipment

Most complete line of reels for:

Made

ü Release agent hose ü Sealcoating machines ü Emulsion spray hose p ü Tack coat sprayers Air/water hose reels Built better to

in USA

CA33112 L

perform better!

ü High quality ü Durable performance ü Longest service life

Pavement reels For short lengths of release agent hose p F4525 OLPBW

www.reelcraft.com

800-444-3134

Write in 21 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/10074385

Once an employee has mastered the laboring phase he can start learning how to operate heavy equipment.

identify a potential young employee he can now tell him that working in this industry isn’t a job, it’s a career with an actual path to growth.

“There’s two things I hit on when talking about this. First is the fact that working in construction is a legitimate alternative to education. I remind them that in four years their friends will have a college degree and be $100,000 in debt. In turn people who join the company will in four years already have made more than $100,000, so there’s a $200,000 swing there and that’s a lot of money for some people and some families.

“The other selling point is ‘earn while you learn’. They get to earn money while they’re learning a trade and a variety of skills,” he says. “They can tell their family there’s a path to management position if that’s what they want and they can go home and tell people they’re learning how to operate a skid steer or a laser transit. ‘Having a job’ becomes learning skills to become a journeyman in the construction industry. It’s something to be proud of.

“The workers we hire are only as good as we train them to be, so by bringing them through the apprenticeship program, by mentoring them and teaching them and by showing them that what they learn puts them on a path to a career, we’re giving them something exciting and something they can be proud of,” Larson says.

“We have to promote the construction industry and this is just one way for me to do my part.

Everyone involved in the construction industry has to do their part.”

38 January 2016 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement

PVM0116_32-39_Purpose_AJ.indd 38

1/6/16 2:31 PM

RUMBLER Advanced Audible Road Treatments visit our website for more info

www.roadproonline.com

405.598.6547

RUMBLER Write in 22 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/10072731

PVM0116_32-39_Purpose_AJ.indd 39

6200HD 1/6/16 2:31 PM

Operations Allan Heydorn, Editor

6

Steps Every Contractor Needs to Take for Growth

ACI Asphalt & Concrete develops software to improve workflow, ease client handling MORE THAN 20 years ago when ACI Asphalt & Concrete worked with its database of customers, owner Jim Bebo was frustrated with the old customer relationship management (CRM) system where he needed to enter the customer’s name into his system as many as five times.

Well, he doesn’t have to worry about that anymore because ACI Asphalt has developed a single-entry software program – “really a work flow and business operation system, not a software system,” Bebo says – that integrates virtually all aspects of a contracting business. And not only is ACI making the system available to the industry, the contractor is willing to share what it learned along the way as they developed, tweaked, tested and implemented its PROCRU software program.

Headquartered in Maple Grove, MN, ACI Asphalt & Concrete employs 80 people who focus on commercial work and town home developments. In peak season, the full-service asphalt and concrete contractor runs a dozen crews including two paving crews, three sealcoating/cracksealing crews, three concrete crews, two infrared crews and one crew each for patching, milling and grading. The variety of work combined with upwards of 3,500 crew visits to jobsites a

year necessitated the use of some type of streamlined management tool.

Years in development, the PROCRU software integrates all sales, management and operations information in one place, then makes that information available to all employees depending on their level of responsibility. The information is collected in the software to provide information to employees and to generate reports ACI management relies on to fine-tune their operation.

The software’s original version, scrapped and rebuilt starting in 2008, included an estimating platform, a proposal development platform and a job costing platform. The current version adds missing pieces that ACI deemed essential including a scheduling component, more specific job costing, and a restructured customer database that functions more as customer relationship management than just a database. It enables ACI to connect companies, company contacts and jobsites together or reconnect them as contacts move from company to company without losing the history of each ‒ and all while entering their information only once. The software also creates invoices and connects to QuickBooks financial software for invoicing.

“All the things we added and improved were created out of problems, failures and challenges,” Bebo says.

Here’s just some of what ACI learned along the way – information the ACI team says can benefit every contractor.

Information 1 Share Among Employees

PROCRU’s program starts with transparency. ACI collects a huge amount of information, plugs that information into its system, then makes that information available to employees.

Based on the level of responsibility, each level of employee is given information about the job, the day’s work schedule, the costs and equipment use, and even gross profit.

“If you want to empower people you have to share information with them and most owners don’t want to do that.

That’s a big hurdle for many people to overcome,” Bebo says. “But not knowing is the biggest anxiety. Just like owners want to know how their investment in the company is doing, employees want to know they have work, that the company has work well into the future and that the work they are doing is profitable for the company.”

Tom Hastings, ACI/PROCRU technical director, says each ACI employee accesses PROCRU via a company-issued

40 January 2016 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement

PVM0116_40-44_ACI_AJ.indd 40

1/6/16 2:31 PM

PROCRU phone app helps track payroll.

laptop, iPad or iPhone. Each level of employee (laborer, foreman, manager, salesperson etc.) has a different “dashboard” on the device, which gives employees access to only the information they need to do their job.

Field employees get to see how their work compares to estimated hours for labor and equipment and estimated material quantities to what was actually used. Service line managers, salespeople, project managers and management team see this information in hours, quantities and dollars including gross profit. “An employee’s performance improves knowing the metrics based on the goal to beat the estimate and this lets everyone know when they are winning,” says Troy Ludgate, chief operating officer.

and Track 2 Know the Cost of Each Job

The crux of the PROCRU software is its detailed job costing and reporting.

To expedite the process of costing, two apps were developed. One for costing equipment and materials and the other for reporting labor. Both are reported

directly from the field.

The iPad app used by the foremen downloads all job information, such as, labor, equipment and materials needed for the job. All customer information and communications, special notes, site maps, etc., is at a foreman’s fingertips. When the work is completed for the day, the foreman enters the materials and equipment used for the day through a series of taps and dropdowns. He can add any special notes, if needed. This information is then pushed directly to the PROCRU costing module.

The iPhone app records each employee’s time in real time. The simple process works like this: When an employee gets to work, they pull the day’s scheduled work from the software using the phone app. Employees choose the first job they are going to, tap START, which punches them in for the

The software provides an integrated overview of the job schedule.

day. The app will ask for a work code, and with a few quick taps and selections from dropdowns they will pick what they are doing such as mobilizing, patching, paving, milling, etc. They punch in and out of these work codes and jobs throughout the day. At the end of the day, they punch out and send the information back to the server and the PROCRU costing module. That completes the costing for the day.

While allowing employees to access the software with these apps, access is limited to only the information needed to perform their work for that day, keeping all other data secure.

“These two apps have revolutionized the costing and reporting times for this software and our industry, not to mention the increased accuracy of job costing and the labor savings by real time reporting,” Hastings says.

“Accurate job costing is essential,” Ludgate says. “Most contractors don’t know what the costs of their job are.

They get to the end of the year and if they have more than they started with then they had a good year.

We know within 24 hours exactly how well that job did for us and what all the specific costs were, how they compared to estimated costs, what the change orders were and what, if anything, we need to fix.”

Already loaded into the program are detailed material costs, labor costs, equipment utilization costs – basically any cost specifically associated to a job. When salespeople access the proposal component to put together a bid, the costs are right there and are loaded right into the bid.

www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement • PAVEMENT • January 2016 41

PVM0116_40-44_ACI_AJ.indd 41

1/6/16 2:32 PM

Operations ACI runs two paving crews, three sealcoating/ cracksealing crews, three concrete crews, two infrared crews and one crew each for patching, milling and grading. The variety of work combined with upwards of 3,500 crew visits to jobsites a year necessitated the use of some type of streamlined management tool.

“We want all the details in there from the start, as many details as we can get because if we do it properly up front, that gives us great information at the end of the project,” Hastings says.

“Every company loses sales because “The program also tracks historical salespeople don’t get back to a customer information that way. The salesperson in a timely manner about a job they can see if we did a job for that client in bid,” Ludgate says. “It’s not that the past and we can see exactly what that salespeople want to forget to call about job involved including what our billing a proposal, it’s that we all have too much was, how close it was to the estimate and to do, especially in the heart of the how much material and how many man season when everyone is so busy. hours were required.”

“This allows us to increase our closing Once a lead is generated, the specific percentage because we’re able to follow information of the company, contact, through all the way on the sales process. and site is given to the It allows us to put out ACI receptionist for more bids and the failentering and generatsafe auto-reminder takes ing a job number. “One the human element out if person enters this inforit. So forgetting or having mation for consistency too much to do doesn’t and she is our ‘enforcer,’ mean you’ll drop the making sure all proceclient.” dures are being followed Ludgate says that and that all necessary over the last four information is entered years, with only one correctly. The proposal is additional salesperson, now ready to be built by ACI has significantly the salesperson.” increased the dollars of The details of a project proposals it has sent to are entered by the salesprospects. During that person into the proposal time, overall sales are builder module with a growing at doublefew clicks and choices digit rates annually At the jobsite the software app from dropdowns. “Mateand he attributes enables crews to track start and rial, labor, equipment and a good portion of stop time on each job segment. trucking costs are all prethose increases to the loaded so actual costs are PROCRU system. accurate for the estimate. The salesper“We’ve virtually eliminated clients son adds the margin percentage, clicks calling us saying ‘your salesman never ‘view proposal’ and a proposal is ready called us back’,” Ludgate says. for the customer’s approval,” says Steve Stone, ACI/PROCRU sales representative.

Schedule Quickly The software includes automatic & Involve All Parties reminders e-mailed to clients who Because scheduling is one of the have not responded to proposals and it biggest challenges every contractor includes reminders to the salespeople faces, ACI made sure the scheduling that they haven’t heard from a prospect component operated smoothly and about a proposal sent out. connected all parties involved in a job

3

– ACI managers, foremen, field workers and the project managers. Hastings says that after a proposal is accepted, the scheduling system takes over. “Within 72 hours of receiving the customer’s acceptance, we’re talking with them to schedule a date,” says Joyce Jakel, ACI scheduling. The scheduling department works with all service line managers, project managers, salespeople and the customer to find the best date and once that’s determined, the system makes the information available to the appropriate people via a download through the app to the foremen’s iPad or field workers’ iPhone.

“Scheduling can get very detailed in each phase of the job, in fact each phase of each job can be scheduled and details can be added along the way,” Jakel says.

All 4Document Change Orders

Another improvement for ACI – and an area most contractors need to work on – is that the number of change orders has increased dramatically under the system. Bebo says that in the past many ACI change orders got lost in the shuffle of end-of-day paperwork. “But the work itself, the change, still got done. It got done but we didn’t get paid for it and I know from talking to contractors that this happens all the time,” Bebo says.

To solve that problem and to generate the revenue that it should from all of its change orders, ACI built into the software a process that enables change orders to be entered and approved at the jobsite on a foreman’s iPad. “Our customers can sign it right on the iPad or we can e-mail it to them for approval right from the site,” Bebo says. “Volume from change orders has gone up substantially.”

42 January 2016 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement

PVM0116_40-44_ACI_AJ.indd 42

1/6/16 2:32 PM

& Maintain Your 5 Manage Customer Relationships

Because the initial impetus for ACI Asphalt’s entire PROCRU software program was its customer database, it’s no surprise that the customer relationship management system ACI developed is an advanced design that allows ACI to connect the jobsite, company and the company’s contact all together. “It’s designed so we can track all the history of each of those parts,” Hastings says. “Also, because people move around a lot in this industry, we can connect and disconnect all those things so we don’t lose any history.”

The system includes an automated reminder that brings to attention any customer or property the contractor has done work for in the previous two or three years. “It tells us, for example, that the last time we sealcoated their property was three years ago, so we reach out to them and let them know it’s time to sealcoat again,” Ludgate says.

He says every three weeks ACI sends an e-mail blast to this list reminding property managers it’s time for work to be done. He says this has brought in a good amount of business that, just as happens with many contractors, otherwise might have fallen off the radar in the midst of a busy season.

Something with the 6 Do Information You Collect

Bebo says that the key to the success of the PROCRU software – and the key to success with collecting any information regardless of how you collect it – is to do something with it.

“Many contractors I talk to do collect information but they never reconcile it – whether at the end of the job, the quarter or even the end of the year.

There’s almost no value in collecting this type of information if you don’t reconcile it,” Bebo says.

“Since we’ve been using this program we have been within 3% plus or minus for our sales goals every year,” Jim Bebo, Owner, ACI Asphalt.

“Our software forces reconciling all that information and managers can track things like equipment utilization which helps us decide if we need additional equipment. And we can even test and adjust labor rates. I know what our trends are, I can see what our business needs are, we rely on this for forecasting – and we report to everyone two days a week so they know where we are in our goals,” he says. “Since we’ve been using this program we have been within 3% plus or minus of our sales goals every year.”

Not only does the system force reconciling information, Bebo’s management team examines and reacts to the information within days of the completion of each job. “Within 24 hours we know how a job was done,” Ludgate says.

To make it easier to do something with the information, ACI Asphalt’s software produces reports that management can use to compare the job estimates with the actuals of a finished project. ACI meets each Monday with the sales staff to evaluate performance, discussing not only where the company performed well but where it could improve. On Wednesdays the service line managers meet and look at the same report.

“We can see if our material costs are in line and if our labor costs are in line and if our equipment utilization and costs are in line,” Ludgate says. “If they aren’t, we then figure out why and apply what we learn to the next job.

By integrating job costing, estimating, scheduling, operations and billing ACI Asphalt has reduced its amount of rework has fewer customer complaints, and has doubled its sales in four years.

ACI Asphalt & Concrete built an automatic reminder into their system so that once a proposal is sent out to a customer, the salesperson gets an e-mail reminder to nudge the customer about the proposal. Within 72 hours of acceptance of a proposal ACI is talking with the client and internal managers to add the job to the ACI schedule. www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement • PAVEMENT • January 2016 43

PVM0116_40-44_ACI_AJ.indd 43

1/6/16 2:32 PM

Operations “This is important for us and for every contractor because there are only two things we can control: Our labor costs and our material costs,” he says.

“As a result of this report we can safely say we’ve added 1 ½ -2% of gross margin annually since 2008 because we’ve tracked our costs and work to control what we can control.”

And that’s done in as close to real time as possible, Ludgate says, not waiting until the offseason to evaluate and make changes. “When we do a job on Tuesday by Wednesday afternoon we know exactly how we performed on that job and everyone in the company can see it,” Ludgate says.

He says the figures that seem to make the most impact on employees at all levels are estimated man hours, material use and equipment utilization vs. actuals “because we can see how we performed.”

“That helps us tweak our estimating so we’re more accurate when we bid jobs because past performance has been factored into the hours, material use and

VI

S AT SIT U

NPE 03

TH 5 BOO

B

equipment use and we can alter that if we need to,” Ludgate says.

“Basically this software does everything that consultants for years have been telling contractors they have to do.

But contractors just don’t have the time,” Bebo says. “It took us years to develop it but it’s worked.

“Most contractors do some of this, or at least they do some of it to some extent. That’s a start, but to take full

All the information collected about a job is combined into a project form that provides a detailed look at the result of the finished job.

advantage of the information you collect you need to have systems put in place to analyze it and make course corrections when you need to,” Bebo says. “That approach has made a huge impact on the success of our business over the last few years.”

MAP YOUR STRATEGY FOR SUCCESS WITH GO iPAVE Patching & Repair = 2,580 SF

A

C Parking Stalls = 159

D Sealcoating = 65,644 SF

Special Instructions for Crews

Tools for success: • Airplane Photography • 100% Coverage of the U.S. & Canada • Add, Subtract & Edit Measurements • Save Measurements & Photos • Create Detailed Site Diagrams

Map your success on Go iPave today. Get your free Go iPave trial.

Visit www.GoiPave.com/promo and use code PMT22 Write in 23 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/10076739

44 January 2016 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement

PVM0116_40-44_ACI_AJ.indd 44

1/6/16 2:32 PM

Pavement Profit Center

Write in 24 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/10074550

PVM0116_45-53_ProfitCenter.indd 45

www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement • PAVEMENT • January 2016 45

1/6/16 2:32 PM

Pavement Profit Center

MRL Mini Mac 400 THERMOPLASTIC DETAIL STRIPER

Agile, compact design perfect for increasing your productivity applying intersection and detail markings.

Contact us to see why more professional pavement marking contractors choose MRL!

Billings, MT 877-788-2907

Write in 25 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/10073961

Write in 26 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/10075453

PAVEMENT MARKING EQUIPMENT DIVISION

M-B Companies, Inc.

®

Quality You Can See People You Can Trust™

Thermoplastic MB8007T

Paint Airless Tote MB507P

M-B Companies Inc.’s Pavement Marking Equipment Division specializes in designing and manufacturing equipment for all types of road marking materials.

Epoxy MB330

Paint Pressure Tank MB500

M-B’s equipment line-up offers specialized designs engineered to meet the performance demands of private contractors as well as custom equipment configurations to meet the specification requirements of state and county road marking departments.

888-323-2900 www.m-bco.com

Premelter Truck

Premelter Trailer

Thermoplastic Handliner

46 January 2016 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement

PVM0116_45-53_ProfitCenter.indd 46

Visit us at booth #729

Visit us at booth #1239

Write in 27 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/10075674

1/6/16 2:32 PM

Write in 28 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/10987338

PVM0116_45-53_ProfitCenter.indd 47

www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement • PAVEMENT • January 2016 47

1/6/16 2:32 PM

Pavement Profit Center

Attention LineLazer™ Owners No More Ratchet Straps!

Lock Up Your Striper in Under 10 Sec. Use Your Own Padlock mounts Anywhere!

NEW

Features & Benefits: • EXTREME-DUTY Heavy Gauge Steel • Powder Coated Finish

Finally, Lock your LineLazer™ for transport INSTANTLY! No Straps, Use Padlock for Anti-Theft!

• Mount on Wood/ Steel/Masonry • Can Be Welded or Bolted • Security for Open Pickups or Trailers

Kut-Rite removal tools and equipment provide the lowest price per foot in the industry.

Contact us today, we’ll show you how.

View video and purchase online @ www.autoloc.biz Write in 29 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/10658153

48 January 2016 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement

PVM0116_45-53_ProfitCenter.indd 48

Write in 30 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/10073600

Write in 31 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/10148154

1/6/16 2:32 PM

Write in 32 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/12031375

PVM0116_45-53_ProfitCenter.indd 49

www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement • PAVEMENT • January 2016 49

1/6/16 2:32 PM

Pavement Profit Center

Write in 34 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/10185550

Flat Tooth QC

Skid Steer Attachment for Smoothing Pavements -

Bump Grinding IRI Improvement Coating Removal Pavement Markings Removal

Keystone Engineering (317) 271-6192 www.keystonecutter.com

Write in 33 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/10073961

Write in 35 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/10727236

50 January 2016 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement

PVM0116_45-53_ProfitCenter.indd 50

1/6/16 2:32 PM

START THE NEW YEAR WITH EXPERIENCE THE NEYRA DIFFERENCE • OVER 40 YEARS OF INNOVATION • PROVEN DESIGN & COLOR • TOUGH & DURABLE PRODUCTS • EXCEPTIONAL CUSTOMER SERVICE • BUSINESS SUPPORT SERVICES • ROADWAY SEALANTS • ADDITIVES • PRIMERS & PAINTS CRACK SEALANTS & PATCHING • SPORTS SURFACING • SUPPLIES, TOOLS & EQUIPMENT PAVEMENT SEALERS

VISIT US AT THE NATIONAL PAVEMENT EXPO JANUARY 27 - 30, 2016 • CHARLOTTE, NC

BOOTH #717 CONTACT NEYRA TO LEARN MORE! 800.543.7077

Write in 36 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/10074021

PVM0116_45-53_ProfitCenter.indd 51

WWW.NEYRA.COM

CUSTOMERSERVICE@NEYRA.COM

www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement • PAVEMENT • January 2016 51

1/6/16 2:32 PM

Pavement Profit Center

For more information on our full line of products, contact

Customer Service 800-441-4880 Driven to Provide Superior Solutions for Asphalt Repair, Concrete Repair and Pavement Preservation Systems

UPM® Permanent Pavement Repair Material is our high-performance asphalt patching material that outlasts the surrounding pavement over 90% of the time.

We guarantee it.

KOLD-FLO® Pourable Crack Filler is a modified asphalt emulsion crack filler & sealer that is ideal for repairing cracks in roads, pavements, driveways, concrete foundations, parking lots and other asphalt or concrete surfaces.

MICROMIX® Mini Cold Mix was designed for smaller, detailed asphalt and concrete repair needs. It provides intricate coverage of narrow, complex asphalt and concrete cracks.

INTEGRA-SEAL® Gilsonite Modified Asphalt Sealer is a premium asphalt-based sealer. Protect and beautify aging asphalt without the odors and health/ environmental concerns that accompany coal tar-based sealers.

SPMTM Spec Product Material line allows you to have UNIQUE custom formulate asphalt and asphalt emulsion additives, liquids and mixes to meet your product specification needs.

Preservation & Rejuvenation Liquid

RAVEL CHECK® Preservation & Rejuvenation Liquid is an asphalt based emulsion designed with LOCK THE ROCK® technology to rejuvenate, preserve and restore asphalt based pavements.

UNIQUE® Concrete Solutions offer highquality cements, grouts, mortars and concrete mixes designed for all types of concrete repairs.

From roadway and bridge repairs to overhead applications.

Pavegrip® Hot Mix Adhesion Promoters are high-performance asphalt antistripping agents that can dramatically improve adhesion and increase tensile strength.

QUICKLOK® Fast Setting Additive is a water based additive designed to significantly reduce curing/ drying times of asphalt emulsion based pavement sealers.

ARM® Asphalt Release Material, is UNIQUE's non-toxic, nonhazardous water based product designed to prevent asphalt and asphalt based products from sticking to wood and metal surfaces.

uniquepavingmaterials.com 52 January 2016 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement

PVM0116_45-53_ProfitCenter.indd 52

Write in 37 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/10075055

1/6/16 2:32 PM

Write in 38 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/11446842

Visit Copperstatehose.com helping you better serve your customers

Did you know we offer wands,swivels, and heated hose accessories.

Phone- 623-463-7900

5306 W Missouri Ave Glendale Az, 85301

Write in 39 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/10683524

Write in 40 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/10450133

www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement • PAVEMENT • January 2016 53

PVM0116_45-53_ProfitCenter.indd 53

1/6/16 2:32 PM

Sealcoating Chris Mariani

Education Best Strategy when it Comes to

SEALCOATING

It’s essential to inform your client about services you will provide and products you will use on the job so there are clear expectations

SEALCOATING CAN HELP your paving business stand out in more ways than one. Of course, there is the obvious surface transformation of a job well executed. But, the differentiation of your business really begins in the sales process; in fact, with each interaction, most property managers are seeking your expertise. After decades of working closely with property owners and managers, I have listened closely to their issues. While some understand sealcoating is an important part of an effective pavement maintenance plan, many still have misconceptions and concerns about what sealcoating can and cannot do. That is where you come in. When you get in front of a property manager, it is essential to thoroughly and accurately inform your client about what services you will provide and products you will use on the job so there are clear expectations. Also, let the property manager know what to expect both in the long and short term after you complete the job. To differentiate yourself, it is important for you to be seen as a knowledgeable professional, in what may be perceived as an unprofessional trade, by the end user.

Setting the Right Expectations

Start by distinguishing what a sealer can do and what it cannot do. Generally speaking, the purpose of sealcoating is to slow the rate of pavement deterioration, which helps extend the service life of the pavement and saves money over time while also enhancing curb appeal (aesthetics).

When asphalt is exposed to UV sunlight, moisture and air, the asphalt bitumen oxidizes and strips away, releasing the aggregate in a process known as raveling. In addition, fluids from cars – petroleum based oils and gasoline – work to dissolve the unprotected asphalt bitumen when it comes in contact with the pavement. Left untreated, these conditions will shorten the life of the asphalt pavement. Sealcoating can stop that downward cycle by providing a protective barrier against UV sunlight, water, air, chemicals, salt, oils and gasoline.

Sealcoating can fill hairline cracks; but, it is not a substitute for crack filler or crack sealer which should be placed on wider cracks. Further, sealcoat is not a structural remedy for pavement defects; it cannot prevent cracking caused by poor design, improper construction, or fatigue. It cannot restore a worn out pavement or cure defects in the base, sub-base, or mix design of the asphalt. Neither can it remedy poor placement or workmanship. Many managers and property owners do not know these facts regarding asphalt and pavement maintenance. Almost always,

Your level of knowledge and detailed explanations will build trust and credibility, alleviate most “call back” situations, and help you earn repeat business and referrals.

this line of conversation generates more questions and, thus, begins the education process.

Be Prepared to Explain and Distinguish Product Choices Today there are more pavement sealer choices than a decade ago. You will likely find your prospective client has more than one proposal offering different sealer options. For example, most manufacturers make various types of pavement sealer, both refined tar and asphalt based, and each type can be polymer modified or non-modified.

Most property managers do not understand the differences of each and their advantages or limitations. Some may have heard recently that refined tar sealers have come under regulatory scrutiny (despite a growing body of science which supports their safe use) and in some places have been banned from use. Therefore, it is incumbent upon you to help educate on the pros and cons of using a refined tar sealer (still the most commonly used in most markets, especially east of the Rockies) and determine whether it is the proper choice or if an alternative product, such as asphalt or petroleum emulsion sealer, may be better suited for the job.

54 January 2016 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement

PVM0116_54-59_Sealcoating_AJ.indd 54

1/4/16 8:47 AM

Seal the deal on Site Provide Project quotes before you leave the jobsite. the free bidGuru app, developed

by Pavement Maintenance & Reconstruction, creates immediate, custom quotes for: Sealcoating Asphalt overlays Cracksealing Other pavement maintenance it’s fast. easy. free. Visit forconstructionPros.com/bidguru for details and download link.

Brought to you By:

PVM0116_54-59_Sealcoating_AJ.indd 55

1/4/16 8:47 AM

Sealcoating

Understanding Sealer Options So, what does a contractor need to know about sealer types? Refined tar, in contrast to asphalt bitumen, is slower to oxidize, which gives it a distinct advantage in longer-lasting protection against the elements (water, UV sunlight, air) and resistance to fading when compared to its asphalt-based cousin. Refined tar is also resistant to gasoline, diesel, motor, and transmission oil that readily soften and dissolve the asphalt bitumen that binds the aggregate together. This is because asphalt bitumen is the heaviest of petroleum derivatives produced from the same crude oil that produces the lighter distillates of gasoline, diesel and fractions for auto lubricants. The lighter petroleum fluids dissolve the heavier ones when they come in contact with each other, causing the asphalt bitumen to lose cohesive integrity and start to ravel. Because of its unique properties, refined tar sealer offers better protection against these common detractors.

“Most property managers do not understand the differences in sealers, their advantages and disadvantages.”

However, the availability of refined tar is limited to the eastern and midwestern United States because refined tar production is confined to five producers located in the eastern United States and southeastern Canada. For logistical reasons, this makes refined tar sealer too costly to produce in or deliver to western states.

In contrast, asphalt bitumen is widely available, which makes asphalt-based sealer available throughout the country.

Though not fuel resistant or as durable as refined tar, it provides protection in a similar way that adds value by extending

The purpose of sealcoating is to slow the rate of pavement deterioration, which helps extend the service life of the pavement and saves money over time while also enhancing curb appeal.

the service life of asphalt pavements.

In addition to refined tar and asphalt emulsion sealers, there are other premium, enhanced, polymer-modified versions of each type.

Worth noting is that while premium grades cost more up front, they are more cost-effective in the long term and more beneficial to the property manager’s bottom line. Consider, for example, a multi-tenant retail shopping center.

Property managers state that sealcoating is the most disruptive activity to the business of their tenants. Offering a polymer-modified, higher-performing pavement sealer may cost 15-20% more to the property manager on the front end but can add 50-65% longer life than conventional non-modified sealers on the back end. This reduces the frequency of sealcoating applications to the parking lot and means fewer disruptions to the tenants while lowering annualized maintenance cost over the life of the pavement. By offering this option, you are providing your client with a better choice that provides greater value in the long term while potentially earning a higher margin for yourself. You also differentiate your bid from competitors who may offer only one choice.

Finally, many of your clients may inquire about recent bans of refined tar sealers, so be prepared to discuss where those bans have occurred. Refined tar sealers are banned in two states (Washington, where refined tar sealers were not widely used prior to the ban, and Minnesota) and a handful of cities and counties (Austin, TX; Madison,

WI; Suffolk County, NY (Long Island); Montgomery and Prince George’s County, MD; Winnetka, IL; Edwards Aquifer, TX; and Washington, DC primarily).

Contrary to popular belief, refined tar sealer is not banned in California. In short, this sealer can still be safely used in most places. For more information about refined tar and its regulatory status, visit www.pavementcouncil.org.

Mix Design: It Really Does Matter Mix design has a major impact on sealer performance. It is important to explain the significance of this, especially in today’s market where there are many choices of pavement sealer. While mix design does not vary widely among refined tar sealers that meet the federal specification, mix designs vary widely among asphalt-based sealers and premium polymer-modified grades. This is because Fed Spec refined tar sealer, in order to be called such, must conform to an age-old government specification that was once known as RP-355e, or “Federal Grade.” Established by the federal government’s General Services Administration decades ago, the specification is now governed by ASTM D5727. It is an industry-accepted standard recognized by sealer manufacturers.

To date, no industry-accepted standard has been adopted for asphalt-based sealer. Therefore, each manufacturer

56 January 2016 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement

PVM0116_54-59_Sealcoating_AJ.indd 56

1/4/16 8:47 AM

2016

TOP

CONTRACTOR

Top Contractor Survey

WELCOME TO THE Pavement Maintenance & Reconstruction survey of paving & pavement maintenance contractors. Our hope with this survey is to develop verifiable Top Contractor listings in each of five industry segments: Paving, Sealcoating, Striping, Sweeping and Pavement Repair. To do that we need to know: • Gross Sales Volume for your fiscal year 2015 (regardless of the date that fiscal year ended) • A breakdown by percentage of the type of work that generated those 2015 sales

• Third-party verification of that sales total (see additional explanation at the end of the survey) To determine whether a company qualifies for one (or more) of our five lists we will multiply your total 2015 sales dollars by the percentage of work done in each industry segment. For example, if a contractor reports $1 million in 2015 sales and generated 40% of those sales from paving, the number used to determine qualification for the Paving Top Contractor List would be $400,000 ($1 million x 40%).

Name & Title of Person Completing This Form *First ______________________ Last ______________________________

TOP

2016

PAVEMENT 2016 Top Contractor Survey

CONTRACTOR

Note: No sales figures will be reported or published; Sales figures will be used only internally for determining each list. Also, no contractor will be eligible for the list without third-party verification of your Fiscal Year 2015 Gross Sales Volume.

There are 3 ways to complete and submit this form: • Online at https://www. surveymonkey.com/r/ TopContractor2016

• Complete a hard copy and fax (920-542-1133) or mail it to: Pavement Maintenance & Reconstruction, Top Contractor Survey, 201 N. Main Street Fort Atkinson, WI 53538 Attn. Jessica Stoikes.

• Complete a hard copy, scan and e-mail to aheydorn@ ACBusinessMedia.com Thanks very much for your participation. We do appreciate it.

DEADLINE: April 22nd

5. * What percentage of your fiscal year 2015 Total Gross Sales is generated by working as a subcontractor for other contractors? __________________

E-mail ______________________ Phone ____________________________

6. * Do you self-perform more than 50% of your work?

*Company Information Company Name (as you would like it to appear on the magazine) ______________________________________________________________ Street Address _________________________________________________ City State Zip Code ____________________________________________ Phone Number with Area Code __________________________________ Website ______________________________________________________ Years in Business ______________________________________________

7. What was your overall company-wide profit margin in FY 2015? (Not for publication; results will be presented for the industry as a whole.) ______ Less than 3% ______ 5%-10% ______ More than 15% ______ 3%-5% ______ 10%-15%

Please indicate your number of employees at peak season (If employees fulfill more than one function please include them in the category they perform most often): ______ Management ______ Field Supervisors ______ Laborers ______ Office Staff ______ Sales May we contact Your Company by e-mail? ___Yes

___No

1.* What is your company’s Total Gross Sales for your Fiscal Year 2015?

___________________________________________________________

___Yes

___No

8. How many different customers did you work for in FY 2015? ______ Fewer than 100 ______ 151-200 ______ 301-400 ______ 101-150 ______ 201-300 ______ More than 400 9. How many different jobs did your company complete in FY 2015? ______ Fewer than 100 ______ 151-200 ______ 301-400 ______ 101-150 ______ 201-300 ______ More than 400 10. What is the estimated replacement value of your equipment fleet (including trucks)? ______ Less than $250,000 ______ $1 million - $2 million ______ $250,000 - $500,000 ______ More than $2 million ______ $500,000 - $1 million Signature _____________________________________________________ Title (please print) ______________________________________________

(This figure used internally for listing purposes only; it will not be published.) Please round to whole dollar amounts. (Example: 1,548,222; note: when entering online please omit commas.)

Date: ________________________________________________________

2. * What percentage of your fiscal 2015 Total Gross Sales is represented by each of the following areas (must total 100%):

IMPORTANT! SALES VOLUME VERIFICATION

______ Paving ______ Sealcoating ______ Striping ______ Sweeping ______ Pavement Repair

______ Surface Treatments (Micro, Slurry, Chip, Fog, etc.) ______ Hot mix asphalt plant operation ______ Other (explain)

3. * What percentage of your fiscal 2015 Total Gross Sales is generated from work done on each of the following (must total 100%): ______ Highways ______ Driveways ______ Streets/roads ______ Other (explain) ____________ ______ Parking lots

To qualify to have your Top Contractor application considered, third-party verification of your FY 2015 Total Gross Sales is required from your company’s CPA, an independent CPA or your accounting firm, or a copy of the appropriate page from your tax return. Verification must be on the CPA or accounting firm letterhead (no photocopies) and must include a statement to the effect that “I have reviewed the company’s Top Contractor application, and the FY 2015 gross sales response to question Number 1 is accurate to the best of my knowledge.” The letter must be signed and dated and include the person’s name, title and telephone number.

No financial information will be revealed; it will be used only internally to determine qualification for each listing. Send verification to:

aheydorn@ACBusinessMedia.com

or

Pavement Maintenance & Reconstruction 2016 Top Contractor Application 201 N. Main Street, Fort Atkinson, WI 53538 Attn. Jessica Stoikes

4. * What percentage of your fiscal 2015 Total Gross Sales is generated from each of the following types of customers (answers must total 100%). ______ Commercial/Industrial Questions? Allan Heydorn, Editor; Phone: 708-531-1612; ______ Municipal (state/local agency) aheydorn@ACBusinessMedia.com ______ Multi-family residential (apartments/condos/HOAs) ______ Single-family residential www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement • PAVEMENT • January 2016 ______ Other (explain) _____________________________________

PVM0116_54-59_Sealcoating_AJ.indd 57

57

1/4/16 8:47 AM

Sealcoating makes asphalt-based sealer according to their own recipe specification. The same holds true for each manufacturer’s “premium performance” grade of sealer. This is not an indication that non-refined tar sealers are inadequate. However, each of these differing “flavors” of pavement sealers will have different mix designs with regard to water dilution,

recommended additives (if required), amount to be used and sand loading.

Make sure your client understands the mix design you use for the sealer type you are recommending and show that it conforms to the manufacturer’s recommended mix design. Stipulate the mix design in your proposal and attach a copy of the manufacturer’s application

The World’s Most Trusted Sealcoatings, Additives and Pavement Protection Products STAR World Wide Headquarters: 1150 Milepost Dr., Columbus, OH 43228 www.starseal.com • 800-759-1912

Good Seal Products:

Southern Star Materials:

Great Lakes Coatings:

STAR-SEAL of Florida:

Hercules Sealcoating Mfg.:

STAR-SEAL of Minnesota:

Lonestar Sealcoat Supply:

STAR-SEAL of Ohio:

McConnell & Associates (KC):

STAR-SEAL of Pennsylvania:

McConnell & Associates (PV):

STAR International Locations: STAR-SEAL in China:

2129 W. Morgan Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53221 www.sherwinindustriesinc.com • 800-525-8876 1240 S. Crystal Ave., Benton Harbor, MI 49022 www.starsealglc.com • 800-545-7941 6596 New Peachtree Rd., Doraville, GA 30340 www.herculessealcoat.com • 800-815-7668 14041 Chrisman Rd., Houston, TX 77039 www.lonestarsealcoat.com • 281-442-0050 1225 Iron St., Kansas City, MO 64116 www.mcconnellassociates.org • 800-779-6066 2262 Front St., Pevely, MO 63070 www.mcconnellassociates.org • 636-475-7733

McConnell & Associates (STL):

2646 Creve Coeur Dr., St. Louis, MO 63144 www.mcconnellassociates.org • 314-962-1920

McConnell & Associates (WIT):

1912 W. Harry Ct., Wichita, KS 67213 www.mcconnellassociates.org • 316-264-1180

Paving Maintenance Supply Inc (IN): 2120 N. Grand Ave., Evansville, IN 47711 www.pmsi-usa.net • 812-424-3400

Paving Maintenance Supply Inc (TN): 201 Howerton Ave., Nashville, TN 37213 www.pmsi-usa.net • 615-242-7325

SASCO Pavement Coatings:

718 N. Broadway Pl., Springfield, MO 65802 www.sascopavementcoating.com • 800-798-0160

2200 Redding Ln., N. Little Rock, AR 72118 www.southernstarmaterials.com • 501-771-0111 2740 N.W. 55th Court, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33309 www.starsealfl.com • 800-432-8402 1350 Maras St., Shakopee, MN 55379 www.starsealmn.com • 952-884-9151

1400 Walcutt Rd., Columbus, OH 43228 www.starsealofohio.com • 888-876-1590 268 Hafer Rd., Lewisburg, PA 17837 www.starsealofpa.com • 855-538-1898

19 Chansi Rd., Taicang, Suzhou, China 215413 www.chinajcrb.com • +86 0512 8161 2848

STAR-SEAL in Australia:

10-12 Ponda Rosa Rd., Tamworth, NSW, Australia 2340 www.roadworkindustries.com.au • +61 2 6761 5409

STAR-SEAL in Mexico:

Constituyentes 34 Ote, Suite 1, Queretaro, MX 76040 www.grupotamba.com • +52 442 384 91 97

STAR-SEAL in India:

08 Civic Centre, Bhilai, Chhattisgarh, India 490001 www.bhilaicement.com • +91 0788-2282155

STAR-SEAL in Chile:

Magdalena 265, Las Condes, Santiago, Chile 7550055 www.quimicalationamericana.cl • +56 2 270 84910

www.starseal.com

Get The Sealcoating Contractors Resource App Today!

Write in 41 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/10086662

specification. Your proposal is likely to gain more attention and generate questions that your competitor cannot adequately answer.

If the mix design calls for additives, explain the purpose for each admixture.

For example, latex additives are used to improve the overall performance of sealer. Some are designed to increase internal strength of the cured film which reduces wheel scarring and sand rollout.

With the right additive, you can add the proper amount of sand to improve slip resistance and improve film strength.

Other additives are designed to promote faster curing and improved color.

The bottom line is that a proper mix design needs to accommodate the type of sealer used on the job and address the condition of the pavement. Whichever product and/or additives you specify for a client, be sure to explain why you recommend it and its benefits on the job.

Expectations...Check!

Materials...Check!

Next Comes Proper Application Proper application starts with accurate timing. The optimum time to seal new asphalt is when it has cured long enough to build up its resistance to deformation and degradation. This may take up to a year under normal weather conditions and normal traffic loading. Most sealer manufacturers’ specifications state that new asphalt will cure in 30-90 days. In general, this cure time will be enough to enable sealer to bond to the surface of a new pavement. But the pavement still may not have reached optimum stability and can be tender especially in hightemperature conditions.

Sealcoating over a pavement too early prevents new asphalt from curing to the point where it has stabilized enough to withstand vehicular deformation. It makes the pavement surface very susceptible to damage from hard-turning vehicles. Sealing too early also creates higher probability of surface cracking. Data from two long-term studies conducted by Pavement Coatings Technology Council support these two conclusions. According to the studies, test strips sealed with standard mix designs over new asphalt one year after placement exhibited good

58 January 2016 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement

PVM0116_54-59_Sealcoating_AJ.indd 58

1/4/16 8:47 AM

durability after three years with zero surface cracks. Test strips that were sealed 30 and 45 days after new pavement placement showed surface cracking one to two years later. Pavements should be sealed one to three years after construction.

Thereafter, the process should repeat when asphalt re-exposes itself as sealer slowly wears away. Frequency largely depends on the traffic load. A retail center with a major anchor tenant will have a shorter reapplication cycle than a church.

Lead your client to think “long term” and to follow a regular maintenance plan with high-quality materials to maximize savings. Offer to develop the plan for them.

offering an option for a third coat in high-traffic areas while providing a bid for a standard two-coat application.

How long should the parking lot stay closed? This is usually a fluid decision to be made between contractor and property manager. The property manager represents the tenants (as well as the owner) and sealcoating is disruptive to

their businesses. They need it opened now!

But the limitations of the sealer require time under ideal weather conditions to properly set, dry and cure. Opening the parking area too soon after application can negatively impact its long- and shortterm performance. It is hard to quantify the degree of the adverse consequences, but performance is impaired when the

Application Options Whether you use a squeegee, broom, or spray to apply sealer, educate your client about the pros and cons of your equipment and the application process.

Squeegee application is more time consuming but viewed as a more durable finish. In most cases, it consumes more sealer per square foot, particularly if the pavement surface is rough in surface texture. It does an excellent job in filling surface voids in the pavement. Aesthetically, it tends to leave behind squeegee marks and sand streaks. In contrast, the spray method applies sealer evenly over the entire surface. It is easier to control material yield and there are no squeegee marks or streaks. With either method, uniform coverage is key, and the first coat should be left to dry for at least four hours minimum under ideal weather conditions before a second coat is applied.

Oftentimes a first coat squeegee followed with a second coat spray is specified.

The best method is always a subject of debate among contractors and this article does not attempt to take a side.

Either method is acceptable and you should identify in your proposal which method you intend to use and distinguish why. Two coats of sealer are standard and recommended in all manufacturers’ specifications. For high-traffic parking lots, some manufacturers recommend a third coat. You might choose to offer an option for a third coat in a high-traffic scenario while your competition is bidding only two coats (or in some cases, only one). Also consider

Write in 42 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/10076673

www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement • PAVEMENT • January 2016 59

PVM0116_54-59_Sealcoating_AJ.indd 59

1/4/16 8:47 AM

Sealcoating parking lot is opened too early. Inform the property manager of the potential ramifications if they push you to open too soon. State it plainly in your proposal so that the responsibility for those ramifications falls upon your client and is documented.

One of the most common areas of misunderstanding among property managers is the difference between drying and curing. In simple terms, the process has three steps: dry, initial cure, and final cure. “Dry” occurs when the sealer film is completely dry to the touch.

Sealer can be dry to the touch in less than an hour when the weather is warm and sunny with low humidity, but two to four hours is more typical. A “dry” coating remains susceptible to re-emulsifying when water comes in contract with it too early (by rain or sprinklers).

“Initial Cure” occurs 24 hours after the last coat is applied and ideal weather conditions remain in place. Ideal weather

conditions are air temperatures at or above 70˚F, full sunshine, and humidity at or below 60%. It is at this stage when the coating properly sets up and dries long enough to establish a bond strong enough to resist water. The “Final Cure” may take as long as three to four weeks.

The pavement will certainly be open to traffic during this final curing period, and it will likely show some wheel scarring from hard turns and power steering pivots. That’s because the sealer has light volatile organic compounds that are “breathing off” out of the film.

When that process is complete, the sealer binder hardens and becomes resistant to stresses from wheeled traffic. When the film has fully cured, it no longer scars. Of the three conditions for ideal weather conditions (warm temperature, sunlight, and humidity), low humidity is the best condition for fast drying and hard cure for any pavement sealer. If you have low humidity, the pavement sealer

will cure harder and quicker, even if the temperature is lower than 70˚F.

Be the Knowledgable Resource for your Clients Now that you have reviewed the procedure, products, and application methods, be sure to address what happens after the job is complete and the parking lot has been re-opened to traffic. Potential conversations include: “Mr. Property Owner, it is normal to see some minor wheel scarring for a week or two especially in the hotter part of the day.

But I assure you this condition will decrease with each passing day until the coating reaches final cure.”

“Ms. Property Manager, you might notice some sand accumulation in the low spots of the parking lot. This is caused by some of the sand rolling out of the dried film from traffic. It will subside once the coating reaches final cure.”

Write in 43 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/10074674

60 January 2016 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement

PVM0116_54-59_Sealcoating_AJ.indd 60

1/4/16 8:47 AM

In both situations, you are preempting a potential call back or complaint by explaining to your client in advance what to expect. When they see the condition you have described, they will not be alarmed. You can gain their trust and become a credible partner in their eyes. It might enable you to overcome a lower bid by your competitor or tip the scale in your favor if the bids are equal.

Thorough, Accurate Communication Wins More Work While we live in a world focused on pavement maintenance, property managers also have to worry about roofs, HVAC, landscaping, painting, angry tenants and many other issues. Of all the parts that make up a functioning property, your client likely knows least about the parking lot. Property managers rely on contractors to help them put the pieces together so they can

When the final cure is achieved, you will notice a significant drop in the residual odor of a freshly sealed parking lot. The odor comes from the volatile organics breathing off.

make the right decisions concerning upkeep of their pavement assets.

Unfortunately, there will always be a few contractors who misinform purposely or accidentally, and there will always be end users who will view your service as just a commodity.

Properly educating your clients by providing accurate, experienced-based information can make them choose you over less-qualified competitors. Submit your bid and offer upgrade options, explaining

the advantages of each choice. Specify brand, mix design, application technique, amount to be applied, and include manufacturers’ application specifications. Define what the performance expectations are and any limitations given the pavement condition. Explain clearly the potential consequences if your instructions are not followed or if the end user places limitations upon the project that contradict the guideline specification. It is important that you and the end user have an equal and clear understanding of expectations in order to avoid unneeded conflict. If you always keep it professional with clear facts, you can be recognized as the expert, which results in more work and business growth.

Chris Mariani is general manager, Southeast Region, GemSeal Pavement Products, 8201 Arrowridge Blvd., Charlotte, NC 28273.

Write in 44 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/10074003

www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement • PAVEMENT • January 2016 61

PVM0116_54-59_Sealcoating_AJ.indd 61

1/4/16 8:47 AM

Safety

John J. Meola, CSP, ARM

How to Start a

Safety Program

Leadership commitment, customization, written program mean success In conjunction with John Meola, Pillar Engineers, Pavement Maintenance & Reconstruction begins 2016 with the first in a year-long series of safety articles designed to increase general safety awareness and to improve the safety within all paving and pavement maintenance crews. In future issues, you’ll see safety articles tied to specific technologies, but in this first article you’ll get a good sense of what your safety program must include -- and what can set your program above the basic level. Safety should be the dominant concern of every contractor and crew member and this series will provide the “how to” details you need. If you’d like to participate in this year-long effort, please contact Allan Heydorn, editor, at aheydorn@acbusinessmedia.com or call 708-531-1612.

THE PAVING AND pavement maintenance industry is tough enough without having to endure accidents, along with everything else. We all get a bad name when someone gets hurt or there’s a bad crash. The smart folks in the business, those who plan to be around for the long haul, will recognize that a safety program is a big part of the company culture. If your employees truly mean something to you besides swinging a shovel, then you get it.

Here are some of the operative elements for basic, intermediate and advanced safety programs. If you are doing some of these now, this article should confirm that you’re on the right track. If you have ‘zippo’ on the books, then this is your wake up call. We’re basically trying to move the industry ahead, one safety meeting at a time!

Program Must Haves: • Top Leadership Commitment. The more visible the better. It cannot start in the middle of the org. chart. This key element will determine how effective your program and outcomes are.

• Written Safety Program. Generic programs are free and available from OSHA or your state safety people. Or your insurance company.

- A custom written program might cost a few bucks but they’re worth it.

- 75% will be Corporate Wallpaper, but you need to have it.

- The level of customization will reflect the degree of interest your company has in the program.

- In other words, oats that have been through the horse already, will look it.

• Kick Off Meeting/Roll out meeting.

If you are starting the program from scratch, this roll out is an important first step. If you are giving the existing Program a boost, make this meeting memorable. Hand out some meaningful souvenirs- seasonal clothing, tools, etc. Put your name & safety message on everything. Make it a positive, upbeat and energetic meeting.

• Accountabilities and responsibilities.

Name the names, due dates, etc.

• Safety Committee – representatives from major groups. At least one Supervisor and an admin. to record progress • Regular safety meetings for all employees, with a ‘No Excuses’ policy. Mandatory attendance sends the message you are serious. These are not gripe sessions. Use an agenda, stick to the schedule. Keep it moving, relevant.

- Hold a one-hour meeting monthly - Weekly meetings can be 30 minutes - Daily Tool Box Talks, 10-15 minutes • Basic OSHA compliance trainings:

- New Employee Safety Orientation - Haz Com/GHS - PPE training - First Aid & Fire Safety, BBP - Emergency Response Plan - Lock Out Tag Out - Task-specific training at the awareness or action level, depending how deep you’re going: • Fall Protection • Confined Space Entry • Power Tools • Machinery and equipment – Operator safety training.

• Inspections- in some shape or form.

Office, shop, yard, job site. With a checklist and follow ups for corrective measure.

• Designated Spotters for movement of vehicles and machinery, as applicable.

• High Visibility Apparel for all employees, dress for respect!

Nice to Haves: • Guest speakers at Safety Meetings who can share meaningful information, such as equipment and hardware vendors, PPE specialists, fire and EMS folks, law enforcement, etc.

• Insurance agent or carrier participation in your program. These guys love staying under the radar, but if you’re paying the big bucks, make some noise and get them involved in your message.

62 January 2016 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement

PVM0116_62-63_Safety_J_A.indd 62

1/4/16 8:48 AM

• Pre-Work warm up exercises for the crew. 5 minutes at the start of the shift can make a big difference. Plus it sends the message. For extra credit, the Boss should lead the session.

• Defensive Driving- preach the basics.

Everyone drives. Including the Family.

• Suggestion Program, with follow up.

• Pay-check stuffers, on wide range of topics, but safety primarily.

• Close Call reporting & follow up.

• Fleet Safety Program – use the ANSI Standard as a guide.

• Personalized uniforms, seasonal selection, with high visibility built in.

• Customized safety meeting agendas, written by someone who actuaqll knows your business and employee needs and concerns. Avoid using generic stuff off the internet.

• Safety Newsletter or other regular safety communications, periodic bulletins, holiday safety messages, etc.

• Safety Footwear program- percentage reimbursement or outright purchase.

There are a lot of safety shoe vendors who will give you a pretty good break on pricing. Well worth the effort.

• Seasonal Safety Gear- gloves and ice scrapers in winter, first aid kits to take home, recreational and camping gear, etc. Make sure your name and safety message is all over everything.

• Job Hazard Analyses – for just about everything you’re going to do.

• Contractor controls- because these guys can cause a lot of problems if they’re not carefully managed.

The Holy Grail: • Employee Safety Performance Recognition – define it, measure it, talk it up, show some pride of achievement.

• Safety Incentive, rewards, bonus. Start small, ramp it up.

• Zero Incident Program

• Continuous Improvement Program • Engage the employees family • Continuing (Safety) Education – OSHA courses, Community College.

• Codify and publish your Best Safety Practices. This shows LEADERSHIP and pre-eminence in your field.

• Trade Association participation, attend conferences, make presentations on your Best Practices.

• Be an acknowledged LEADER in your industry.

• Review Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs.

You’ve arrived.

John J. Meola, CSP, ARM is safety director at Pillar Engineers and he can be reached at 804-751-0600, ext. 4314 and jmeola@ pillarens.com. He will host “How to Set Up and Run an Effective Safety Program” at the 2016 National Pavement Expo, Jan. 27-30 in Charlotte, NC. For details visit www. nationalpavementexpo.com.

Write in 45 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/10959369

www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement • PAVEMENT • January 2016 63

PVM0116_62-63_Safety_J_A.indd 63

1/4/16 8:48 AM

Contractors ’ Choice Jessica Stoikes, Associate Editor

Matching Sweeping Equipment to the Job Determine your application needs in terms of debris removal, maneuverability, transport speed and off-loading in order to ensure you’re using the right street sweeper for the job Waterless dust control mechanical sweepers are starting to be required by many municipalities in order to meet rigorous environmental specifications, such as air pollution. In states such as California, Texas and Oklahoma, where water conservation is a crucial issue, there has been a sharp increase in the purchase and use of waterless dust control sweepers.

Sweeper Type Snapshot

HAVE YOU HEARD the phrase you wouldn’t take a knife into a gun fight? While that might not be the exact correlation here for pavement maintenance contractors and their sweepers, it’s still important to ensure you’re taking the right sweeper out with you to complete certain jobs.

“When purchasing a street sweeper, the single most important consideration is choosing the right sweeper for the application and for the specific street and debris conditions – and configuring the selected sweeper correctly per the customer’s application,” says James Crockett sweeper products manager, Elgin Sweeper. “I can’t emphasize enough the importance of determining your prevailing needs in terms of debris removal, maneuverability, transport speed, and off-loading requirements when purchasing a street sweeper.”

In previous years, new sweepers were typically only purchased to replace existing equipment if needed. This would lead to traditionally mechanical sweeper customers exploring less costly alternatives, such as air sweepers, in hopes of purchasing sweepers at a

significantly reduced price. This move to less costly alternatives often lead to customers’ ultimate dissatisfaction with the performance of the sweepers when used in the wrong applications, which has a lot to do with the customers’ lack of familiarity with the sweeper technology.

For example, mechanical sweepers are ideal for picking up construction debris and granular materials such as millings and gravel, while regenerative air sweepers are ideal for picking up garbage, leaves, pine cones, pine needles, silt and sand. Use the wrong sweeper on a milling job and your customer is not going to be happy with your work.

“No two competitive sweeper models are designed exactly the same,” says John Paraschak vice president of sales & marketing at Stewart-Amos. “Each have their own unique design features and performance capabilities.”

“I can’t stress that enough,” says Tom Rokas with Tymco. “There is a difference between each model from each manufacturer and contractors should really do their homework before making a purchase.”

In order to make an educated decision on what sweeper you need, it’s a good idea to start with an overview of what sweeping options are available and what those sweepers will work best for.

• Mechanical sweepers. The mechanical broom sweeper is the most common type of sweeper in the United States, and is ideal for sweeping construction debris and granular materials like millings, gravel and the heavy buildup encountered after flooding or even yearly spring cleanup.

• Regenerative air sweepers. The second most common type of sweeper in the United States is the regenerative air sweeper. The standard regenerative air sweeper is typically used for most municipal applications on streets, parking lots and some alley ways. These models can sweep the different applications of cleaning highways, streets, roadways, construction sites, airport roads and runways, parking lots and industrial plant facilities. The debris found on these surfaces can range from dirt, gravel, rock, sand, leaves, litter, millings, etc. depending on the application or season being swept. The large pick-up head and gutter brooms accommodate most of the debris found on the various paved surfaces.

• Waterless dust control mechanical sweepers. These types of sweepers are starting to be required by many

64 January 2016 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement

PVM0116_64-67_ContChoice_AJ.indd 64

1/4/16 8:48 AM

Your Reputation.

You put it on the line every day.

© 2015, Elgin Sweeper Company

Don’t risk it with unreliable equipment.

As a contractor, you never know where the road ahead leads - millings, construction sites, permeable pavement, general municipal sweeping. One thing is for sure, you need a sweeper you can count on and a company that backs it up. Elgin Sweeper products are reliable work-horses, with nationwide factory trained dealers for service, parts and training – day in and day out.

Elgin sweepers can help boost your business and your reputation. For a demo or to learn more, call your Elgin dealer or visit elginsweeper.com.

Write in 46 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/10072859

PVM0116_64-67_ContChoice_AJ.indd 65

1/4/16 8:48 AM

Contractors ’ Choice

The mechanical broom sweeper is the most common type of sweeper in the United States, and is ideal for sweeping construction debris and granular materials like millings, gravel and the heavy build-up encountered after flooding or even yearly spring cleanup.

municipalities in order to meet rigorous environmental specifications, such as air pollution. In states such as California, Texas and Oklahoma, where water conservation is a crucial issue, there has been a sharp increase in the purchase and use of waterless dust control sweepers.

• Reduced water dust control regenerative sweepers. Regenerative air sweepers provide the efficiencies and simplicity of regenerative technology, while positively capturing much of the fine dust that circulates through the regenerative loop. Capturing this dust allows significantly less or no water to control ambient dust and lubricate the impeller.

• Vacuum sweepers. The use of pure vacuum sweepers trails behind mechanical and regenerative air sweepers. However, this type of sweeper provides the most efficient removal of material directly under the suction nozzles, typically resulting in up to a 99% removal of all particles.

Because pure vacuum sweepers only use energy in the suction direction, the pressure discharge side simply vents to the atmosphere.

What Sweeper to Choose Next you need to decide what you are going to be using the sweeper for. Below are some general recommendations from Elgin on the sweeping application and what sweeper to choose.

Year-round street sweeping Mechanical sweepers and waterless dust control sweepers are great for cold climates requiring year-round sweeping of sand, gravel, silt, salt residue and other materials. Where dust is a problem, or where dried sand and salt may result in dust when sweeping, waterless sweepers with dust control are an excellent option.

Spring cleanup and heavy-duty sweeping Mechanical sweepers are best for cleanup of the sand, gravel, silt and salt that

accumulate in cold, Northern climates after a winter of reduced sweeping.

Mechanical sweepers are ideal for conveying large quantities of heavy material.

Leaf removal and pine cone sweeping Mechanical sweepers and regenerative air sweepers have a wide pick-up head with a large diameter suction hose and ability to raise/lower the head hydraulically to sweep street gutters filled with leaves, pine cones and pine needles.

Catch-basin cleaning Regenerative air sweepers and pure vacuum sweepers allow for the precision needed when sweeping catch basins.

Street sweeping and catch-basin cleaning require the ability to lift leaves, silt, sand, gravel and litter out of the catch basin. Regenerative air sweepers and pure vacuum sweepers are perfect for combination sweeper and catch-basin cleaning, if equipped with a boom-style hose or catch basin cleaning hose feature.

Porous pavement cleaning and maintenance Regenerative air sweepers and pure vacuum sweepers are also needed on porous pavements. These surfaces have been growing at a double-digit rate the last several years as a best management practice (BMP) to deal with storm water runoff.

Both regenerative air sweepers and high power vacuum sweepers can be used in a practical maintenance program for

porous pavement. A high-power vacuum sweeper is also recommended for porous pavement restoration projects.

Airport cleaning and maintenance Regenerative air sweepers are used in airports for sweeping roadways, taxiways and runways to keep foreign object debris (FOD) from damaging aircraft. This application of regenerative sweepers and how it’s used for cleaning paved areas in a particular environment.

When NOT to Use Certain Sweepers No matter what type of sweeper you buy, it’s important to know where not to take these sweepers if you want to keep your customers happy and equipment performing properly.

While mechanical street sweepers can tackle tough road conditions and are effective for sweeping large amounts of debris ranging in size from fine dust particles to heavy sand, millings and large bulky objects, they should not be used for performing routine cleaning of porous pavement and permeable surfaces because the broom bristles are not effective at dislodging the fine silt that accumulates in the joint/pores of these surfaces. Mechanical sweepers are also not sensitive to high street crowns or rough, damaged street surfaces.

“Mechanicals shouldn’t be used to routinely sweep very fine material as the main broom bristle will find it difficult

66 January 2016 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement

PVM0116_64-67_ContChoice_AJ.indd 66

1/4/16 8:48 AM

to effectively reach fines deep in the surface pores,” Paraschak says.

Roadways with inconsistencies are better served by pure vacuum sweepers.

On a typical rough and potholed roadway, pure vacuum sweepers will capture and keep more particulates out of the air. A pure vacuum sweeper—with an extended nozzle that can reach the curb— is ideal for efficient street gutter cleaning to such debris as dirt, gravel, sand, leaves, organics and small pieces of asphalt, bricks, and concrete.

While vacuum sweepers efficiently removal of material directly under the suction nozzles, because of the highpower density nozzle design, the suction nozzle entrance area on a pure vacuum sweeper limits the size of debris to dirt, gravel, sand, leaves, organics and small pieces of asphalt, bricks and concrete.

“Dust sensitive areas are also not suited for vacuum sweepers because air is exhausted directly to atmosphere from

the fan,” Paraschak says.

When using a regenerative air sweeper, a vacuum enhancer valve is frequently used to limit the amount of air volume recirculated through the blast nozzle. This causes the air pressure under the sweeping head to move from balanced flow to vacuum. Increasing the sweeping head’s vacuum level assists in picking up litter, leaves and other light debris which could be missed.

However, regens lose suction and cleaning performance any time the pickup head breaks surface contact. “If the surface is extremely rough and irregular, you may be better off with a straight vacuum unit or mechanical broom unit,” Paraschak adds.

Waterless dust control sweepers pick up bulky material down to fine particles without using water for dust control, enabling them to be used for sweeping in freezing weather or industrial applications such as removing water-reactive

compounds like cement. However, since they have both mechanical systems and a fan/filter system, waterless dust control sweepers can be more costly and complex to maintain.

Filtered regenerative air sweepers provide the efficiencies and simplicity of regenerative technology. These sweepers positively capture much of the fine dust that continues to circulate through the regenerative loop, allowing for significantly less water to control ambient dust and lubricate the impeller. Because these sweepers have a fan/filter system, they can also be more costly to maintain.

“Air sweepers require more power to operate which requires more fuel (higher costs),” Paraschak says. “Air units also have difficulties meeting the PM 10 air quality standards. To get your cleaning jobs done correctly, on-time and in the most cost effective manner possible you need to select right tools for the right jobs every time.”

Write in 47 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/10075040

www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement • PAVEMENT • January 2016 67

PVM0116_64-67_ContChoice_AJ.indd 67

1/4/16 8:48 AM

Classifieds

MarketLink

BIG FOOT LAYOUT TOOLS

To Do List:

THESE ARE THE BASIC TOOLS THAT BIG FOOT HAS FOR MOST PARKING LAYOUT SITUATIONS.

Contact

Denise Singsime Toll-Free: 800.538-5544, ext. 1245 E-mail: dsingsime@acbusinessmedia.com

1. Big Foot Weight 2. Pre-Marked Layout Tape 3. Chalk Box 4. Radius Tool 5. Directions

✔ Call

Denise Singsime at 1-800-538-5544 x 1245 or email her

SAVE 10%

at dsingsime@ acbusinessmedia.com

970-482-0049 • www.bigfootlayouttools.com bigfootlayouttools@comcast.net

Spray Tips

Factory Direct Pricing

1/4", 3/8" & 1/2" NPT 80/10, 80/20, 80/30, 80/40, 80/50, 80/70, 80/100

Liberty Mfg. & Supply

(800) 397-9907

ABC LEASING & FINANCING

✔ Place an ad in ­ Pavement Magazine ✔ Get

amazing results!

Steel Spray Tips

EZ-FINANCING EQUIPMENT, TRUCKS, & TRAILERS

Heat Treated, Hardened for Longer Tip Life

www.abclease.net Call: Gerry Oestreich

518-857-5206

DRIVEWAY CARE BOOKLETS

¼, ³⁄ 8 and ½ Inch Threads Price Break On Quantities

Call 610-489-PAVE

800-433-9840 Visa or Mastercard Accepted

www.asphaltpress.com

Maintenance Systems

Find area dealers and suppliers …

FAST Search the updated online

Industry Directory

for local suppliers and dealers.

ForConstructionPros.com/locator/asphalt 1

Enter your ZIP code or city/state

2

Select a category

3

GET RESULTS!

Sponsored by:

68 January 2016 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement

PVM0116_68-74_Classifieds.indd 68

1/4/16 9:15 AM

Classifieds

MAKING THE HARD PART EASIER! a Makes ristmas h C t a gre u gift, yo it! e v er des

Check out our online video!

3 Models Available Hydraulic Model RBHGX

High Tensile Strength Steel Bristle Broom

Preps the area for Sealcoating or Striping Crack Cleaning Option Now Included!

Cleans tight places where Sweepers can’t Helps to Prep crankcase oil spills

Dealer Inquires Welcome

www.bensinkrotarybroom.com www.bensinkmfg.com

503-580-0183

   

     







 

      

Cleaning Systems

Gum Getter





                                  

                       

        

7 Year Pump Warranty

MysticWasher Trailer Units, Traditional Pressure Washers, & Hot Water Heaters available. Call 941-764-7664 today!

Attaches to your MysticWasher ! www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement • PAVEMENT • January 2016 69

PVM0116_68-74_Classifieds.indd 69

1/4/16 9:15 AM

Classifieds Highest quality speed bumps and parking curbs/ wheel stops. Made from recycled and natural rubber.

No minimum order

• 2013 Low Hour Cimline Rental Units Available for Purchase • NEW 2015 Marathon Mastic Melters and 2014 & 2015 Low Hour Marathon Mastic Rental Units Available for Purchase • Good selection of used routers on hand • Midstates offers a large parts department and a full time service technician.

Call or email for pricing

Right Pointe & Maxwell Products Dealer for Crack Sealing Material for the 5 State Area Minnesota • Wisconsin • Iowa • North Dakota • South Dakota

Highway Safety Group

888.666.9174 info@HighwaySafetyGroup.com Call Today!

FOR SALE 2006 Freightliner Condor ❏ Stripe Hog Model SH8000 ❏ Waterblast Removal ❏ Built by Waterblast Technologies ❏

$350,000 with John Deere Tractor Attachment and Spare Parts ❏ $310,000 without Attachment and Spare Parts ❏

Tim Murphy

918-682-1900 tmurphy@directtrafficcontrol.com

70 January 2016 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement

PVM0116_68-74_Classifieds.indd 70

1/4/16 9:15 AM

Classifieds Innovation In Asphalt Preservation w w w. g u a r d t o p . c o m JOIN US AT BOOTH# 1055 AT THE NATIONAL PAVEMENT EXPO

▲ Walgreens, Spartanburg, SC.

▲ Commercial and Residential Projects

Southern California 14388 Santa Ana Ave. Fontana, CA 92337

Suppliers of high quality asphalt based sealcoat

Southeast US 480 S. Marble St. Rockmart, GA 30153

1-877-948-2738

Reid Manufacturing, LLC. 155 Evelyn S. Wade Blvd.

Buchanan, GA 30113 770-832-1192

Made to put your Money in your bank!

See all our other machines at www.ditchrunner.net

• 500 Gallon Round Tank with agitator • Kubota Turbo Power 40+ HP • Large Manway with Sandbag Split, 24x30 • All Hydraulic Controls • 30 Gallon Fog & Wash Down System • Three Sizes to Meet Your Needs: DR200 Leader, DR350 General, DR500 Turbo Pro 500

www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement • PAVEMENT • January 2016 71

PVM0116_68-74_Classifieds.indd 71

1/4/16 9:15 AM

Classifieds

Classifieds

FOR SALE

®

➤ 2007 MRL MODEL 4 –8000 THERMO TRUCK ➤ ISUZU TURBO DIESEL W/ ALLISON AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION ➤ 148,791 MILES

SAVE WITH PALLET PRICING ON CRACK FILLER, TACK COAT, COLD PATCH & ADDITIVES

CALL TOLL FREE

877-767-4NAC (4622) SHOP ONLINE

CONTACT MARK AT

478-987-2125

✓ PREP REMOVE FASTER ✓ERASE ✓groove

WWW.NACSUPPLY.COM ut our Ask abo bber ru recycled Parking s for solution Traffic Safety & l Contro

Find us on Twitter and Facebook

See us at NPE Booth

#912

Using Your Grinder or a

Call Now!

800-653-9311 RemoveFASTER.com

72 January 2016 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement

PVM0116_68-74_Classifieds.indd 72

1/4/16 9:15 AM

Classifieds Call us for any Used Striping Equipment needs:

770-331-2550

Check out our website at www.usedstripingequipment.com

2007 Chevy W5500 JCL Paint Truck

1993 International Thermo Melter Truck

$92,500

$29,500

Fully optioned including heat, diesel, automatic. With diesel compressor. Under CDL weight.

2002 GMC T7500 New Mark Longline Thermo Striper

92,000 miles, Double Drop Bead System, Ribbon Guns. Very nice condition and ready to work.

Liftgate for Handliner, Stencil Racks, Ready to Work.

1997 Volvo TMT Longline Thermo Striper

2003 Trantex Trailer w/Twin 500 LB Melters Liftgate and Handliner

$34,750

2000 UD TMT RPM Bitumen Truck

Only 55,000 miles. 868 hours on Compressor.

Ready to Stripe.

Only 55,000 miles and Ready to Work.

2001 Volvo MRL Epoxy Truck

2012 MB 750 LB Thermo Melter on 2002 Trailer

$42,750

$97,500

$167,500

1997 Ford LDI Paint Truck

Only 7,050 miles and 761 hours on ompressor. Ready to stripe.

Very good condition. Ready to stripe.

2007 GMC MRL 6 Box Grinder Truck

1998 Volvo Tandem Airless Paint Truck

2006 Autocar MRL Thermo Longliner

$250,000

$49,500

$245,000

$62,750

Excellent Condition, Ready to Work

$175,000

Only 72,000 miles. Very Nice Condition.

Excellent Condition.

$21,500

Excellent Working Condition

We buy used equipment and will take trade-ins.

Please call for used parts for most striping equipment and save! www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement • PAVEMENT • January 2016 73

PVM0116_68-74_Classifieds.indd 73

1/4/16 9:15 AM

Classifieds

Classifieds

LARGE, HIGH PERFORMANCE NON-CDL STREET SWEEPER

FOR SALE

Eliminate the time, energy, and money-wasting task of manual tamping by using

No CDL Required • 4.5 Cubic Yard Hopper • Variable 12’ Height Dumping • 11’ Sweeping Path • Exclusive 3 Shaft Elevator • Quad “X” Hopper Scissor Lift • Spring Balanced, Self Adjusting Brooms • Full Floating Main & Gutter Brooms

PROUDLY MADE IN THE USA 800.482.2302 | stewart-amos.com

EFFECTIVELY SIMPLE.

THE MINI PLATE COMPACTOR ✔ Designed by Specialty Asphalt Product, Inc, the gasoline engine compactor is small enough to be used where others simply cannot. ✔ The ingenious piece of equipment is easily operated by one person and has a variety of uses.

✔ It can be used to compact everything from rock and asphalt, to dirt and other materials too. ✔ Also great for all ground installation work including piping and electrical jobs. ✔ Yours for the low price of $889.00! CALL TODAY!

Specialty Asphalt Products Inc 10221 51st St NW, Gig Harbor WA 98335 Larry Raymond • 253-312-4229 • rlaraymo@gmail.com www.doubleimpact2.com/index.htm

Billings, Montana (406) 248-2463 New & used performance engineered pavement marking, removal & saw cutting equipment - truck mounted & palletized.

Competitive pricing

Paint & epoxy stripers in stock & ready to stripe!

Parts, service & retrofits

www.arrowstriping.com

With time & money on the liline – A Arrow ddelivers. li 74 January 2016 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement

PVM0116_68-74_Classifieds.indd 74

1/4/16 9:15 AM

Joshua Ferguson, Courtney Mazzio

| Your Business Matters

Browning-Ferris Redefines Joint-Employer Relationship THE RECENT DECISION in the Browning-Ferris case revised the prior definition of the Joint-Employer relationship.

The impact could be significant on businesses of all shapes and sizes.

Entities are generally considered joint-employers if they share or co-determine those matters governing essential terms and conditions of employment. To determine whether an entity is a person’s joint employer, one must look to the entity’s ability to hire, fire or discipline employees, affect their compensation and benefits, and direct and supervise their performance. Generally speaking, if the overall impression is one of control over these factors, a joint-employer relationship tends to exist.

Until recently, an entity was required to demonstrate actual and direct control over workers for a joint employment relationship to be established. But the Browning-Ferris decision redefined the requirements in a controversial decision. BrowningFerris involved a dispute over whether an entity and a staffing agency it utilized were considered joint-employers of the employees provided to the entity through the staffing agency. The entity argued the relationship did not exist because they (1) did not actually exercise any control over the staffing agency’s employees and (2) the staffing agency has the sole authority to hire, fire, discipline, supervise, direct, train and schedule its employees. The National Labor Relations Board found in favor of the employee union, holding that the entity

and the staffing agency were considered joint employers as the entity directly or indirectly controlled the essential terms and conditions of employment for the staffing agency’s employees.

This holding essentially provides that a company will be considered a joint employer if it exercises indirect control over working conditions or even if it has merely reserved authority to do so, i.e. in a contract. In other words, the mere right to control could lead to a joint employment relationship. Indications of “indirect control” would include: setting and policing employee work schedules, tracking wage reviews, tracking time needed for employees to fill customer orders, acceptance of employment applications through company systems, reimbursement of wages, retention of right to approve employees, requiring the company and its employees to follow safety rules, and making recommendations during the collective bargaining process or retaining the right to provide input.

This decision will likely prove to be favorable from an employee perspective, particularly for those who are considered temporary and/or leased employees.

Not only will these employees be able to recover from the client company for their and even the staffing agency’s employment indiscretions, but it will likely be a boon to labor unions who are looking to make organizational gains. Specifically, it will subject entities to unprecedented and new joint-bargaining obligations they do not know they have

as well as create potential joint liability on both the parent company and the staffing agency for unfair labor practices and breaches of collective-bargaining agreements.

While this decision will serve to create more labor rights for the employee, for the employers, particularly franchisors, this now means potential exposure for the deeper-pocketed franchisor as opposed to the local operators. From a small business perspective, this new ruling could affect their decision to grow business due to the economic and regulatory strains the

new definition places on them as they could now be subject to national labor disputes.

Joshua Ferguson and Courtney Mazzio are attorneys with Kent/McBride, 1617 JFK Blvd., Suite 1200, Philadelphia, PA 19103; they can be reached at Jferguson@ kentmcbride.com or cmazzio@ kentmcbride.com. Josh Ferguson will present “How to Avoid Lawsuits...And What to Do if You Can’t” on Friday, Jan. 29, at National Pavement Expo in Charlotte, NC. For details visit www. nationalpavementexpo.com.

www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement • PAVEMENT • January 2016 75

PVM0116_75_YourBusinessMatters_AJ.indd 75

1/4/16 8:51 AM

RIGHT POINTE delivers the RIGHT product, at the RIGHT price, at the RIGHT time.

Before

After

Pave Patch Gray is a hot applied, single package, ready to melt patching compound used for the partial depth repair of concrete pavements. ✔ Product supplied in granular form ✔ Highly workable for less handling ✔ Remains flexible and highly durable For use on wide pavement cracks, spalled concrete joints, slab corner breaks, leveling and pothole repair.

Available in 60# Carton Split 2-30# Bags

Before

After

Pave Patch Black is specially formulated with a highly modified asphalt binder and aggregates that conform to, or exceed the physical requirements of aggregates used in hot mix paving. ✔ Superior bond to existing pavement ✔ Load bearing and impact resistant For use on wide pavement cracks, joint separations, spalled concrete joints, utility cuts, and ride leveling.

Available in 60# Carton Split 2-30# Bags

Visit our booth #707 and ask about our new generation of products.

Pave Patch is also available in Right Pointe Technology!

234 Harvestore Dr., Dekalb, IL 60115 toll free: 888.755.5700 | fax: 815.754.5702 www.rightpointe.com

PCTC

The Sealant Controversy at the Grass Roots PCTC has met with state and county elected representatives, with city council members, and with local, state, and federal government employees to talk about pavement sealcoating. These meetings have little in common with the experience of sealant contractors, who meet with property owners and managers about protecting substantial investments in asphalt parking lots.

Because of the controversies swirling around the web about health or environmental impacts of refined coal tar-based sealant (RTS), contractors face some hard questions from property managers – hard because the questions and the answers to those questions are rooted in complicated science.

Recently, PCTC was asked to attend a home owner’s association (HOA) meeting of a community where some residents protested the use of sealcoat. At the meeting, the depth of the resident’s concern was made clear by how deep some residents had immersed themselves in learning about the controversy. Several came to the HOA meeting armed with binders full of information pulled down from both the USGS and PCTC’s websites. The amount of effort some residents had put into trying to understand the issues resulted in many well thought out questions during a discussion that lasted for over an hour. Some residents were hostile, but many were not - they were in search of

information that could help them understand. Quite a contrast to the 3 or 5 minutes usually allotted at public hearings held by governments!

PCTC’s free seminar at the upcoming National Pavement Expo in Charlotte offers advice for contractors faced with situations such as talking to governments or to hostile homeowners. Speakers will draw from their experiences talking with governments, property managers, and hostile homeowners. PCTC is pleased that Paul Furiga of WordWrite Communications is on the program to share his expertise and insights in how to talk about sealcoating and the complicated controversies. Attendees will come away from the seminar better prepared to both promote and defend sealcoating.

For more information about the Pavement Coatings Technology Council (PCTC) visit www.pavementcouncil.org.

For more about PCTC visit www. pavementcouncil.org.

PCTC’s “Talking to Property Managers about Sealcoat” seminar will be free to all registered attendees at National Pavement Expo in Charlotte. The session (C24) will be from 8-9:30 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 29.

Write in 48 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/10846286

PVM0116_76-77_NAPSAWSA_AJ.indd 76

1/4/16 8:52 AM

NAPSA

WSA

We Are Becoming a Little Egocentric When you hear the term NAPSA, do you know what that is? Maybe you do if you are in the pavement sweeping and maintenance industry. Well since 1979 NAPSA has been around in some form. Initially started as the National Contract Sweepers Association, the industry knew that it needed to ban together to create solutions to common issues.

In October 2000, a handful of founding and inaugural members launched NAPSA. Most of those members are still with us today and we would like to thank them:

Kerry Armstrong – Armstrong Sweeping Mark Carter – Bill’s Sweeping Service Gabriel Vitale – C & L Sweeping Service Corp Michael Lucht – Progressive Sweeping Contractors Patrick Reilly – Reilly Sweeping Bob Hammond – Superior Sweeping Tom Rice – Sweeping Corporation of America John Dubbioso – Three D Industrial Maintenance Corporation Scott Cerosky – Fairmont Specialties Ray Confer – C & J Parking Lot Sweeping, Inc. Gerry Kesselring – Contract Sweepers & Equipment Mitch Barkman – Buckeye Sweeping Windell Brent – Commercial Property Maintenance Warren Burge – Clean Sweep, Inc. Doyle Caffee – Sweep All, Inc. Debbie Jacketta – Jacketta Sweeping Service Karl Stauty – Commercial Power Sweeping Since our humble beginning, the North American Power Sweeping Association has grown steadily. Well NAPSA is

growing again! In addition to reviewing our programs and services and improving on the foundation we have built, NAPSA is focusing on drawing attention to ourselves in 2016! Sounds a little egocentric doesn’t it?

Actually, we are focusing on our membership. The first way that we are accomplishing this goal is to create a whole new look!

Welcome to the new NAPSA! Planning started months ago.

A team of marketing professionals decided to update the NAPSA logo and look. We commissioned designers to learn our industry and then present a logo that best exemplifies the power sweeping industry. That logo will be launched at National Pavement Expo.

In addition to our new display, we are revitalizing the NAPSA website and social media outlets. 2016 will be the year that we focus on bringing more attention, and of course that means business consumers, to our website and our contractor locator. We have a plan for increased Search Engine Optimization, more focus on AdWords, increased electronic marketing and the beginning of online training but we can talk more about the training later!

So, the next time you see us, we will be shiny and new. Come see for yourself by visiting us in booth 107 at NPE. If you aren’t able to attend NPE, watch for our website and social media launch on January 27, 2016.

New Year a Time for Internet Check When is the last time you did some ‘homework’ regarding your company’s web visibility and status? If you haven’t done so in recent months, I strongly suggest that you do a search for your company name and then click on all the links you find. As a test, I did this for a well-established sweeping contractor that is a market leader in their major metro market area.

Here’s what I found on just the company’s first search page: • They had a two-star rating (out of five) comment on Yelp, with the same comment picked up at their Yahoo listing. Neither had been rebutted, which probably means they hadn’t ‘claimed’ their company listing (free to do) at either of those websites; • They had an A+ rating with BBB, even though they are not a member. (This info might be utilized in the response at Yelp and Yahoo); • Their information at Manta was general in nature and that listing appeared not to have been claimed (and then personalized); • Although they had established a Facebook site it had no photos or posts or e-mail or website contact info; • Their Foursquare listing had almost no information

In addition, I found they had no video links posted onto YouTube. Doing so is important because it is widely accepted in the world of search engine optimization that Google — which handles over 68% of all search requests — increases web ranking when companies have videos linked on Google-owned YouTube. The same SEO pros will advise that maintaining a Google+ social media site, in addition to the more popular Facebook, will also boost your Google-derived search results.

Do your business a favor and put some resources into your online presence. We offer many resources in this regard at the World Sweeping Association website. Improving your online presence can be done in-house and is the ‘low hanging fruit’ of getting more business.

WSA contributor Ranger Kidwell-Ross has been providing information to the power sweeping industry since 1988. He is editor of WorldSweeper.com, an information resource for power sweeping, as well as founder and executive director of the World Sweeping Association. For more information about WSA visit www.WorldSweepingPros.org or contact Kidwell-Ross at director@ worldsweepingpros.org.

NAPSA is a nonprofit association made up of 300+ contract sweepers, service providers and sweeping equipment dealers, manufacturers and suppliers.

For more information contact NAPSA at (888) 757-0130 or by e-mail at info@ powersweeping.org.

www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement • PAVEMENT • January 2016 77

PVM0116_76-77_NAPSAWSA_AJ.indd 77

1/4/16 8:52 AM

Technology

Brian Hall

Understanding Engines in the Age of Tier 4 Pavers THE FUTURE OF diesel engines is here, and it comes with a whole new language. We are being bombarded with new acronyms; DPF, DEF, SCR, NOX and it’s all regulated by the EPA, going into effect ASAP. Do we regen or not? And, if so, is it parked or passive?

Not to worry, it’s all good. The EPA has made sure that equipment manufacturers are well informed and have all the tools necessary to ensure a clean environment for generations to come. But where does that leave the contractor, who has to learn a whole new way of operating equipment? It’s all quite confusing but really simple once the operator understands what’s happening under the hood.

Most of the smaller machines (less than 100 hp) on the market are Tier IV Interim ‒ an in-between stage between Tier 3 and Tier IV Final. Many of the machines utilize a Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) that traps particulate matter so it doesn’t reach the atmosphere. This results in a nice, clean exhaust, but leaves us with one problem – where do the particulates go when they build up in the filter? That’s where the regeneration process

WET TRACK ABRASION TESTER Complete to ISSA TB 100

LOADED WHEEL TESTER Complete to ISSA TB 109 & 147A

COHESION TESTER Complete to ISSA TB 139

Benedict Slurry Seal 1100 S. Smithville Rd. Dayton, OH 45403 • sales@benedictslurry.com • Ph: 937-298-6647 • Fax: 937-254-2991

www.benedictslurry.com

Tier IV Panel – The detailed control panel not only includes gauges, which were analog previously, but Diesel Particulate Filter levels. The gauge in the top left is an exhaust temperature gauge, which should be monitored closely to prevent regeneration issues.

comes in. During regeneration, an extra amount of diesel fuel is injected into the system causing a hot exhaust burn. This hot exhaust burns the particulates into an ash, which is much less dense than the particulate. Most engine manufacturers estimate 3,000 hours before the DPF will fill with ash; then you’ll swap the old filter for new. The key to reducing downtime is simple – keep your idle time to a minimum. Idling produces a cooler exhaust which results in a buildup of particulate matter. If you keep your engine as close to full RPM as possible, the engine will burn off most of the particulates and you won’t find yourself in a situation where you are forced to do a parked regeneration, or worse yet, require that an engine technician visit your unit.

Easy, right? It really is. The key is watching your Tier IV engine control panel. It will tell you what to do.

Unfortunately, that’s not where it ends. Remember when you ran your old diesel engine out of fuel? Break the injector, bleed the air out of the system and start ‘er up. Not so fast with your new engine. These common rail fuel systems are computer controlled and deliver around 20,000 psi. Crack an injector line and you could lose a finger or your eyesight.

Thinking of pulling into your local fix-it joint for an oil change on your Tier IV engine? Think again. Because of the recirculation of exhaust gases back into combustion, Tier IV engines must use a CJ-4 oil that can handle higher soot levels while still maintaining extended drain intervals.

Thinking of bypassing the Tier IV system (kind of like the catalytic converter systems of the ‘70s)? Careful. The computer controls will monitor the system and shut the paver down to a crawl if the system is bypassed. Nothing worse than being backed up with 10 trucks of mix and a paver that will only idle.

How about your fuel? Have you noticed the low sulfur diesel fuel at the pumps? The new Tier IV engines must burn this new fuel as the higher content will not pass through the fuel

78 January 2016 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement

PVM0116_78-79_TechUpdate_AJ.indd 78

1/4/16 8:52 AM

The Tier IV installation provides a challenge to the commercial paver operator due to the added components.

system of this engine.

We have entered into a new understanding of engine operation and maintenance. Our technicians must be in tune with not only the maintenance intervals of the machine but with the entire system. The operator must also re-learn the way he operates the engine. No idling while waiting on trucks, regularly monitoring the DPF levels and making sure operations will not be affected by an unplanned delay in production. The best news is the testing that goes into the installation. In this process, engineers

from the engine manufacturer and the machine manufacturer go through a painstaking procedure to ensure that the engine performs flawlessly.It’s a brave new world, but it’s all for a better tomorrow. It’s been said that the new EPA restrictions mean that 25 Tier IV machines put out the same amount of emissions as one machine without restrictions. In some metropolitan areas,

the exhaust coming out of the machine is actually cleaner than the air going in.

Have we seen the end of the EPA restrictions? Not by a long shot.

Brian Hall is Territory Manager of the Mid South Region of VT LeeBoy, manufacturer of the LeeBoy, Rosco and LeeBoy product lines.

He can be reached at (678) 858-9576 or at bhall@leeboy.com.

For Distresses/Repairs Caused

By Winter Weather, Use Level & Go Creates a highly adhesive, flexible and durable repair that supports heavy loads in all climates Highly bonds to AC and PCC pavement Long-term solution (5+ years performance) Engineered design in premeasured package with no field blending Easy installation Ability to open traffic in approximately 30 minutes 2-person crew can apply using a Patcher with no compaction required Level & Go Repair Mastic is prepackaged, hot applied, proprietary mixture of polymer modified asphalt with aggregate designed for concrete and asphalt pavement

C a l l t o f i n d a s u p p l i e r o r s c h e d u l e a d e mo n s t ra t i o n toda y !

p h o n e: ( 800) 227- 4059 | em ail: in f o @D eer yA m er ican .co m | www.D eer yA m e r i c a n. c om

Write in 49 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/10072674

www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement • PAVEMENT • January 2016 79

PVM0116_78-79_TechUpdate_AJ.indd 79

1/4/16 8:52 AM

CONTRACTOR SNAPSHOT

|

Jessica Stoikes, Associate Editor

Piloting a Successful Pavement Maintenance Business Jason Perry gave up his career as a pilot to grow Brite Line Asphalt Maintenance

WHAT DO AN airline pilot and a striping business have in common? Everything if you’re Jason Perry.

Perry grew up assisting his father who founded Brite Line Asphalt Maintenance, Canton, GA, in 1984. After high school, Perry pursued an education in aeronautical science, which resulted in a successful career as a commercial airline pilot.

When Perry sought a return to his roots, he re-joined Brite Line in 2005 and assumed the role of CEO upon his father’s retirement. Since that time, Perry has been using his educational background, as well as the discipline and attention to detail he learned as a pilot, to significantly grow the business into a full service asphalt maintenance company.

“Becoming an airline pilot required a high level of persistence and determination,” Perry says. “Pilots are continually trained to excel in critical thinking, complex problem solving and good teamwork skills.

These skills have been invaluable during my time as CEO of Brite Line Asphalt Maintenance.”

Brite Line began serving the competitive metro Atlanta market and now covers an area approximately 250 miles around Atlanta, which includes most of the Southeast United States.

Brite Line serves only private commercial clients with paving being 40% of their services, sealcoating 35%, and cracksealing, striping and concrete work filling up the rest of their time.

While their business is mainly based on referrals, Perry and his team have had to overcome the negative image of the industry in order to ensure their success.

“The biggest challenge we’ve faced is the overall negative perception of our industry,” Perry says. “Many contractors choose to compromise the product and/ or installation, and that harms the reputation of the entire asphalt maintenance industry.”

Perry says that Brite Line has systems in place that ensure quality employees are hired and that the mix design and installation of their products are completed properly – all of which result in a quality, long-lasting product and if you ask Perry, an improved image of the industry.

“I believe quality begins with the interview process,” Perry says. “Our systems would be ineffective without an exceptional team behind them. Everyone who installs our products and services undergoes a thorough training program which begins in a classroom and continues in the field. We teach that quality and safety are paramount, and anyone can stop a job if they feel either are being compromised.”

“I believe quality begins with the interview process.”

What Recession?

While many companies felt the sting of the 2008 recession, Brite Line continued to serve all of their clients and even managed to grow their business each year.

“Since 2005 our business has grown every year,” Perry says. “During the economic downturn, it never occurred to us that the market was slowing.

We simply stayed focus on serving our clients with a quality product at a fair price.”

Perry says their clients rely on them to make their lives easier with each pavement maintenance job.

“I think our clients choose to continue using Brite Line because we make their life easier,” he says. “We routinely work off-peak hours to minimize the inconvenience to their customers, communicate well during the project coordination phase and install our work exactly as we promised.”

Brite Line also does not carry debt. This strong cash flow position allows them to invest in other areas of their business to ensure revenue growth.

“We have always invested the vast majority of our profits back into the company, and that has served us well. I understand we could expand rapidly with a cash infusion of some sort, but I feel that deliberate, consistent, debtfree growth is more important.”

Perry says Brite Line is acquiring “one of the largest parking lot striping companies in Georgia,” which will add 10 striping machines, seven Graco line drivers, and several welltrained, experienced striping crews to the company. “From a revenue standpoint, this acquisition will positively impact our top and bottom lines as we begin to service their customers.

“Our success would not have been possible without exceptional people,” Perry says. “From top to bottom we are honest, professional, and have a tremendous amount of integrity. With focused effort on what we do best, a strong cash flow position, and a team of extraordinary people, I anticipate our increase in market share will continue for some time.”

80 January 2016 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement

PVM0116_80_ContractorSnapshot_AJ.indd 80

1/4/16 8:52 AM

Index

PAVEMENT Published by AC Business Media Inc.

Advertiser Index

201 N. Main Street | Fort Atkinson, WI 53538 800.538-5544 • www.ACBusinessMedia.com www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement Editorial Office: Allan Heydorn, 2339 Stratford, Westchester, IL 60154 (708) 531-1612 | Fax: (708) 531-1613 | aheydorn@ACBusinessMedia.com PUBLICATION STAFF: Publisher: Amy Schwandt Editor/Conference Manager: Allan Heydorn Associate Editor: Jessica Stoikes Art Director: April Van Etten Ad Production Manager: Patti Brown Sr. Audience Development Manager: Wendy Chady ADVERTISING SALES: (800) 538-5544 Tom Lutzke, Jill Draeger, Eric Servais, Sean Dunphy, Amy Schwandt, Erica Finger, Denise Singsime FORCONSTRUCTIONPROS.COM WEBSITE: Digital Operations Manager: Nick Raether Digital Sales Manager: Monique Terrazas Editor: Larry Stewart Managing Editor: Kimberly Hegeman CHANGE OF ADDRESS & SUBSCRIPTIONS PO Box 3257, Northbrook, IL 60065-3257, Phone: (877) 201-3915 Fax: (800) 543-5055 • circ.pavement@omeda.com REPRINTS Denise Singsime at (800) 538-5544 ext. 1245 dsingsime@ACBusinessMedia.com.

LIST RENTAL Elizabeth Jackson, Account Executive, Merit Direct LLC, Phone: (847) 492-1350 ext. 18 • Fax: (847) 492-0085 • ejackson@meritdirect.com AC BUSINESS MEDIA INC.: Chairman: Anil Narang President and CEO: Carl Wistreich Executive Vice President: Kris Flitcroft VP Content: Greg Udelhofen VP Marketing: Debbie George ADVISORY BOARD: ACI Asphalt Contractors Inc., Maple Grove, MN: Jim Bebo Asphalt Contractors Inc., Union Grove, WI: Robert Kordus Asphalt Enterprises, Raleigh, NC, Sylvia Richards Asphalt Restoration Technology Systems, Orlando, FL: Connie Lorenz Capitol Sweeping Service, South Windsor, CT: Thomas Kuhns Custom Maintenance Services, Shippensburg, PA: Michael Nawa Eosso Brothers Paving; Hazlet, NJ: Tom Eosso Miktom Parking Lot Maintenance, Papillion, NE: Mick Vinckier Parking Lot Maintenance, Lake St. Louis, MO, Todd Bruening Petra Paving, Hampstead, NH: Chris Tammany Pioneer Paving, Albuquerque, NM: Don Rooney Robert Liles Parking Lot Service, Tyler, TX: Robert Liles Roberts Traffic, Hollywood, FL: Lisa Birchfield Roccie’s Asphalt Paving, Stamford, CT: Vincent Engongoro Rose Paving Co., Bridgeview, IL: Alan J. Rose Site Services Inc., Highland, IN: Randy DeVries T&N Asphalt Services, Salt Lake City, UT: Nick Howell The Rabine Group, Schaumburg, IL: Gary Rabine Young Sealcoating Inc, Lynchburg, VA: Steve Young ASSOCIATION REPRESENTATIVES: Asphalt Sealcoat Manufacturers Association: Keith Ryan, Quality Emulsions Pavement Coatings Technology Council: Anne LeHuray, Executive Director

1-800-Pavement Auto Loc B & E Seal Coat Products Inc. Buffalo Turbine Carlson Paving Products Inc. Caterpillar Paving Copperstate Hose Crafco Inc. Deery Elgin EZ-Liner Fairmont Specialty Gem-Seal Pavement Products Go I Pave Johnston North America Kasi Infrared Keystone Engineering K-M International Kutrite Mfg. LaserLine Manufacturing Inc. Lee Boy M-B Companies Inc. MRL Equipment Company Inc. Neal Asphalt Sealcoating Equipment Nealco Equipment LLC Neyra N. I. Wilson Mfg. Co., Inc. NPE Pavement Recyclers LLC Quik Pave Products Inc. Rayner Equipment Systems Reelcraft Right Pointe Road Science Rumbler Schiller Grounds Care Inc. Schwarze Industries SealMaster Seal-Rite Skid Tools Southern Emulsions Inc. Star-Seal Tymco Unique Paving Materials Corp.

Vance Brothers Wirtgen America

PAGE 12-13, Belly Band 48 53 50 83 17 53 7, 37 79 65 48 63 2 44 47 31 50 11 48 53 5 46 46, 50 19 61 51 46 35 59 8 21 38 76 49 39 9 45 84 33 4 60 58 67 52 25 29

Get fast, relevant product information in the Buyers Guide at

ForConstructionPros.com

www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement • PAVEMENT • January 2016 81

PVM0116_81_Index_AJ.indd 81

1/4/16 9:11 AM

Tailgate Talk

|

Brad Humphrey

STOP AS MANY PAVEMENT maintenance specialists can attest, selling hard bid often leaves a contractor tempted to believe that the lowest price alone gets the work. Yet some of the more successful contractors whom I’ve worked with, worked for, and have observed are moving well beyond this limiting approach to capturing more and better work.

If you are trapped into “selling price alone,” your paradigm, that is, your view of your “selling world,” is stifled, not allowing you to sell the many attributes and strengths of your company. While I’ll expand on this approach at the 2016 National Pavement Expo in Charlotte, let me share two tips now.

1

Never give in when a customer says, “Your competitor’s price is lower than yours.”

Never take the “bait” on this oldie but goodie. Simply look your customer in the eye and calmly respond, “If my competitor is ‘cheaper,’ and they usually are, what are they not including in their bid that I’ve addressed correctly in my proposal?”

The psychology behind this is pretty astounding.

Consider: A By not responding too quickly or negatively, you look like you’ve been to this dance before.

B Always use the word “cheaper” when describing your competitors’ bids.

C “They usually are…” refers to your experience of dealing with this secondrate competitor without saying your competitor is second rate.

D “Not including in their bid” puts doubt into your customer’s mind that perhaps the competitor is keeping something out of their bid and will come up after a job has begun, surprising the customer with additional costs.

E Finally, always use the word “proposal” when talking about your own estimate/bid as it comes across as more professional.

2

Overcome the customer who says, “We’re sticking with ABC Paving, they’ve always done our work.”

This can always be a toughie but remember, the harder they are the harder they fall. You need to do much more than sell price alone to have any chance to win this customer over to you. Consider a few possible responses, such as: • “I appreciate your honesty but I have found many customers are interested in staying aware of the best process, techniques, materials, etc. Are you sure you are getting such advice from your contractor?”

• “Thank you for letting me know that. I would still like to propose to you as many things are changing in our industry, something I have found my competitors not

“Selling Price” Alone!

keeping up with, thus not providing their customers with the best work for the dollar.”

• “That’s interesting you are still working with my competitor as we’re getting more request from other customers to rebid some of their work.”

• “Well, my competitor has a long history of work in the area but we’re growing, very competitive for our customers on pricing, and proving to be the preferred contractor for our quality and service.

Love to provide you an alternative source for your properties.”

Hey, even for the customer who has worked with XYZ Contractor forever, use this customer as your “guinea pig” of trial sales strategies. If the customer has multiple properties you may cause them to reconsider not putting all of their properties with only one contractor.

These are but a few of the many strategies that will be shared during my Jan. 30 presentation, “How to Stop

‘Selling Price’… and What You Should Sell Instead,” at the upcoming 2016 National Pavement Expo. If you haven’t yet signed up for my class, please consider it. If you haven’t even considered coming to the Charlotte conference, make plans now to come. There will be many great educational sessions presented by some very wise and smart folks. Come be a part of this opportunity to take your business to greater profitable ground.

Visit www. nationalpavementexpo.com for full details.

Brad Humphrey is President of Pinnacle Development Group, consulting firm that specializes in the construction industry. See more of Brad’s advice for contractors by reading The Contractor’s Best Friend, also an AC Business Media service to the construction industry. For more information about Brad’s company, go to www.pinnacledg. com.

82 January 2016 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement

PVM0116_82-84_TailgateTalk_AJ.indd 82

1/6/16 2:33 PM

We Build Our Pavers To A Higher Standard Time is money, and when your paver goes down your bottom line is affected. Whether the paving season is short or year round, contractors look to the Carlson CP100 for class leading reliability and paving performance season after paving season. Built with highway class components, a single-piece ½� thick steel frame, and heavy-duty, fully replaceable wear parts like floor plates, the Carlson CP100 is designed from the ground up to be built to a higher standard of quality. As a result, the CP100 runs longer, lays more material, and decreases maintenance costs more than any other commercial class paver.

Unmatched Performance. Unparalleled Quality. Unequaled Contractor Focus.

Write in 50 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/10072346

PVM0116_82-84_TailgateTalk_AJ.indd 83

1/6/16 2:33 PM

SEE WHY THE PROS CHOOSE

SealMaster

®

EQUIPMENT

Watch our videos at sealmaster.net/videos

360P

1:31 / 3:50

SealMaster is a globally recognized leader in sealcoating, crack filling and road maintenance equipment.

LOCATIONS NATIONWIDE (800) 395-7325 • sealmaster.net

ATTRACTIVE FINANCING PROGRAMS AVAILABLE BE SURE TO VISIT US AT:

Booth #339 PVM0116_82-84_TailgateTalk_AJ.indd 84

Booth #2632

Write in 51 on card or key in ForConstructionPros. com/10074572

1/6/16 2:33 PM