Pavement Maintenance & Reconstruction May 2016

THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF NATIONAL PAVEMENT EXPO

How to Buy a Sealcoating Rig › 36

MAINTENANCE & RECONSTRUCTION MAY 2016

CELEBRATING

of Pa ving

Main & Pavem ent tenan ce

The

Striping Issue How Investing in Equipment Drives Striper Growth › 10

How Night Work Affects Your Workers › 38

Can Robots Repair Roads? › 54

Striping in a 24hour-day City › 14 How to Stripe a NASCAR Road Course › 18 Working Safely with Thermoplastic › 42

18

Hiring Mistakes... and How to Avoid Them › 50

› › › www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement

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HOW TO Compact Asphalt Pavements › 32 4/28/16 3:59 PM

DIFFERENTIATE EVERY JOB Your business is perceived, in part, by the products you install. GemSeal® manufactures the most consistent pavement preservation products in the industry. Our products and our people will make your business stand out because we help you perform at your best, with results that exceed expectations on every jobsite.

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

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What’s Inside May 2016

DEPARTMENTS 4 Editorial

Enter your best job for a Pavement Award!

PAVEMENT FEATURES 10

How to Grow – and When to Slow – Your Striping Business Precision Striping & Sealcoating gains competitive advantage by investing in equipment, selectively offering services.

32 How to Compact

Asphalt Pavements

Temperature of the mat, pattern of rollers, impact mat density and the success (or failure) of a pavement.

36 Contractors’ Choice

Factors to consider when buying a sealcoating rig.

38 How Working Nights Can Affect Your Employees

18

Hot Mix

8

This Just In

21

Pavement Profit Center

Latest news from the pavement industry

Select new products and upgrades

44 Marketlink

14

6

Affordable Striping & Sealing is in the “Yes” Business How this Las Vegas contractor maneuvers jobs in a 24-hour party town.

Operator fatigue affects your business – here’s what you can do about it.

Classified Ads

50 Your Business Matters

18 hiring mistakes contractors make... and how to avoid them 52 PCTC

Dispatch

53 NAPSA 53 WSA

Report

Update

54 Technology Update

Can robots help repair roads?

56 Contractor Snapshot

Mike Cleck Paving started with a very good year in 2005 and has never looked back

42 Working Safely with Thermoplastic

8 tips to keep you and your crew safe.

Striping a Road Course for NASCAR

57

How “an affinity for racing” helps United Striping 101 be the contractor of choice for Sonoma Raceway.

Ad Index

58 Tailgate Talk

The “.01 second” winning job

ON THE COVER Interstate 85 shield and “SOUTH” are PreMark preformed thermoplastic on the on-ramp to I-85 in Archdale, NC, to guide drivers to appropriate lane and minimize last-minute lane switching. Material is positioned, heated until heating indicator “indents” in the surface of material close. Photo courtesy Ennis-Flint, Thomasville, NC.

Vol. 31, No. 4 May 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 • May 2016 3

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Editorial Allan Heydorn, Editor

Enter Your Best Job for a Pavement Award!

IT’S THAT TIME AGAIN...

The season is underway and crews are on the job overcoming challenges and doing great work for your customers – It’s time to get some national recognition for the work you do!

So the Pavement Awards website is now active (ForConstructionPros.com/ PavementAwards) to enable you to enter your work for a number of Pavement Awards.

This marks the third year of the Pavement Awards, which are the only industry-wide recognition of the good work done by contractors – and

they have been well-received by the industry. Last year entries almost doubled from the first year and we wouldn’t be surprised to see them double again this year. Word is getting around.

Awards are presented in nine categories including Contractor of the Year, Sweeping Contractor of the Year, Alan Curtis Industry Service Award and the Pavement Hall of Fame.

In addition job-related awards honor contractors and their crews for efforts in 2016. So entries are open for:

• Seal & Stripe: Small Job • Seal & Stripe: Large Job • Paving: Non-Parking Lot • Paving: Parking Lot • Good Neighbor Award All entries must be made online at ForConstructionPros.com/PavementAwards – and entering is easy. All that’s required is a brief description of the job and its challenges, including an explanation of why the job should be recognized. Then upload two high-resolution photos and you’re done! Final deadline is November 1 but you don’t have to wait... And you can

enter more than one job!

This industry has thousands of quality contractors doing outstanding work – and we’re happy to recognize the “best of the best” each year. So take a look at your best work and enter it for a 2017 Pavement Award. Winners will be announced at the 2017 National Pavement Expo, Feb. 1-4 in Nashville.

Clean and Seal for Pavement Longevity & Cost Savings Rout & Seal as a stand alone treatment or as a best practice prior to surface treatments Cracks routed, cleaned and sealed achieve more than twice the service life of non-routed sealed cracks, saving you money Use Deery sealants to extend pavement life and reduce costs Don’t waste time and money resealing the same crack Do it right the first time - Do it with Deery!

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

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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

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Hot Mix

Bomag Holds First “Bomag Day” at New Complex Dozens of BOMAG distributors and customers received a personalized tour of BOMAG Americas’ new North American headquarters in Ridgeway, SC, on January 25. Attendees received a first-look at the new BOMAG offices, training center (pictured), parts distribution center and manufacturing area, and they were treated to an equipment parade and exhibit that showed the breadth of the BOMAG product line. BOMAG Americas completed the move from its previous plant location in Kewanee, IL, in 2015, and, more recently, transferred Cedarapids paver and CMI reclaimer-stabilizer manufacturing from Oklahoma City, OK, to the Ridgeway facility.

Neyra Acquires Sealcoat Supply Neyra Industries Inc., Cincinnati, recently added three distribution locations in Delaware through the acquisition of Sealcoat Supply Inc. Neyra Pavement Products will now serve the Dover, New Castle and Georgetown areas with its line of pavement maintenance and surfacing solution products.

Federal Signal to Acquire Joe Johnson Equipment Federal Signal Corp.’s Environmental Solutions Group (ESG) announced it will acquire Joe Johnson Equipment (JJE), a Canadian-based distributor of maintenance equipment for municipal and industrial markets. The transaction is expected to close by the end of the June.

JJE will operate as part of ESG, Elgin, IL, which produces street sweepers, industrial vacuum trucks, waterblasting equipment and sewer cleaners for commercial, municipal and industrial customers.

“This acquisition reflects the Environmental Solutions Group’s commitment to grow across North America, while remaining close to our core,” said Sam Miceli, ESG senior vice president. “JJE brings a comprehensive platform of product, rental and used equipment offerings that will allow us to expand our product portfolio and better serve our dealer network and customers in both the United States and Canada.”

Write in 04 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/10075040

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

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Proven design with engineered innovation.

• • • • • •

Highway class conveyor chains, slats and bearings for extended life Screed mounted control panels improve operator control 100 HP Cat C3.4 Tier 4 engine provides clean, quiet power Thermostatically controlled screed heat for optimal mat quality Durable undercarriage delivers traction, stability and long-life performance Cat® dealer sales, service and support

Visit www.weilerproducts.com or the paving specialist at your Cat® dealer for more information.

Write in 05 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/10075409

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Just In 1

2

3

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

2

Sakai R2H Static Roller

Oxford EnduraFence

Sakai America, Inc. The Sakai R2H static roller is designed for use on thin lifts and other jobs whose specifications restrict use of vibration.

•• 64-inch-diameter drums •• Delivers 365 lbs. per linear inch compaction force •• Redesign meets EPA current standards for emissions and features improved airflow to the engine, more efficient hydraulic systems and a new drum configuration that makes maintenance and upkeep easy •• Heavy-duty articulating and oscillating center hitch design •• Neutral-activated dynamic hydrostatic braking

Oxford Plastics Systems USA EnduraFence is a heavy-duty anti-climb temporary plastic fence designed to protect deep excavations (over 39.4 in) and hazardous work sites.

•• 80-in. high temporary fence supported by 52-lb. thermoplastic OxBlock •• Links directly with existing steel mesh fencing using same bases and clamps •• Blow molding technology for strength yet light weight •• Can be be supplied with integral reflective and personalized with corporate color and logo •• 100% recyclable

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3 RD7 Double-drum Walk-behind Rollers Wacker Neuson Corporation The RD7 roller series has a compact design with dual smooth, beveled edge drums that allow for tight side clearance for compaction in confined areas.

•• 1,624-lb. RD7He includes an 8.2-hp Hatz diesel engine with electric start, while the 1,512lb. RD7A has a 9.7-hp Honda gasoline engine •• Feature a drum width of 25.6 in. and a high/low centrifugal force of 4,998/2,935 lbs.

•• Total hydrostatic drive with all hydraulic hoses and cables protected from damage Write in 41 on card or key in ForConstructionPros.com/12156071

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

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Easy-to-Apply, Long-Lasting Concrete Pavement Solutions TechCrete - Uniquely formulated hot-applied, gray-colored, polymer modified resin based flexible concrete repair material used to repair cracks, spalls, pop-outs, potholes, failed joints, and most types of defects in concrete surfaces up to 8” deep

TechCrete

TM

HP Concrete Cold Patch - Uniquely formulated cold-applied, gray colored, single component, specially designed thermoplastic binder and unique aggregate patching material used to repair cracks, spalls, potholes, and other confined voids >1” wide and 1/2” deep

RoadSaver Silicone Sealant - is a uniquely formulated low modulus silicone for sealing joints in Portland Cement and Asphalt Cement supplied in a ready to use single component moisture curing system providing a long-lasting, flexible seal

HP Concrete Cold PatchTM

Use the Best, Purchase Crafco Products

The world’s largest and only manufacturer of state-of-the-art pavement preservation packaged sealants and specialized application equipment

RoadSaverTM Silicone Sealant

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Call to order your products or schedule a demonstration today! phone: (800) 528-8242 | email: sales@crafco.com | www.crafco.com PVM0516_08-9_JustIn_AJ.indd 9

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Striping

Jessica Stoikes, Associate Editor

How to Grow – and when to Slow –

Your Striping Business

Precision Striping & Sealcoating gains competitive advantage by investing in equipment, selectively offering services

DAN MILLER HAS been successfully navigating the New Jersey striping business for 30 years, and like most contractors, he fell into the industry working part time and eventually owning his own company, Precision Striping & Sealcoating.

Throughout his 30 years in business, Miller has learned when and where to invest in his company, and that sometimes changes need to be made to ensure successful growth of the business, even if that means changing the way you do business or changing services offered.

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

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Miller started working for a family friend on weekends and was eventually given the opportunity to buy the company in 1986. Miller accepted even though he already had a full-time job.

Once his business started to pick up, Miller was actually taking time off from his job at Hewlett Packard (HP) to complete striping work.

After choosing a buyout from HP, Miller started to invest heavily in his business, eventually beginning to offer sealcoating and cracksealing in addition to striping in 1988.

Precision’s NPE Tradition While Dan Miller began attending National Pavement Expo to learn the business, he continues to send his son Stephan to stay up to date on the latest trends in the industry.

“In our industry you might not get exposed to the latest technology every year at the show, but the networking is invaluable,” Stephan says. “I’ve been four years in a row and there hasn’t been a single time that I haven’t learned something from either a class or through a conversation with a contractor in the hallway. I always come home with information that’s going to make life easier on either myself in the field or Dan in the office.”

Know Your Business

Precision Striping owner Dan Miller (left) with his son and business partner Stephan.

Dan Miller learned that in order to be successful, you need to invest in your equipment while also keeping your debt small.

When Dan Miller began to commit more fully to his business, he started to attend industry trade shows to help him learn the industry.

“I attended NPE (National Pavement Expo) and a lot of the people there are willing to share what works for them as long as you’re not in their back yard,” Dan says. “One of the business methods I learned is to have a small debt. Instead of going into hock for everything, keep your debt small when you buy new equipment.

“I also learned you need to modernize your equipment every few years. If you need something that is going to make your job easier and safer, go buy it. It’s worth the money.”

Miller says Precision Striping spent $50,000 in 2014 updating their equipment and saw the immediate reward to those upgrades.

“The profit margins are higher in the cracksealing and line striping,” says Steve Miller, Dan’s son and business

partner. “Especially once we updated our equipment. We have all Graco LineLazers and LineDrivers, a Crafco SS125 and a flatbed truck for all the materials so it’s easier to load and unload on the job. The profit margins are higher because we have that speed now that this new equipment gives us.”

“It’s absolutely worthwhile to make these equipment investments,” Dan says. “Everything is easier, faster, more efficient and safer.”

Stephan says that NPE was also a determining factor in helping them make these equipment upgrades.

“We had never upgraded equipment because what we had always worked just fine,” Stephan says. “When we actually made comparisons to the newer equipment we saw at NPE, we realized there were better options out there.

“With this new piece of equipment I was able to complete a job by noon that would have normally taken me all day.

The next week we ordered two more.”

The following year, the company invested in a LineDriver for their striping units and continued to see productivity gains.

“The productivity was mind blowing compared to what we had,” Stephan says. “We wondered why we hadn’t done this years ago.”

“You just have to be willing to spend some money to make money,” Dan adds.

“We did that. We were able to control our debt and still make these upgrades and that’s what companies need to do.”

www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement • PAVEMENT • May 2016 11

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Striping Focused Growth

After the company saw productivity gains from buying new line stripers, they also invested in LineDrivers to complete work even faster.

While the company still completes cracksealing work if needed, they have cut back on sealcoating as it’s not as profitable for them.

Dan says they were able to control their debt by ensuring their job cost for each bid was accurate.

“Job costing is everything,” Dan says. “You need to know how much everything costs, – insurance, expenses, materials, labor etc. You need to know those numbers going in if you’re going to make profits. You need to know what it’s going to cost you to do that job in order to make money.

“What a lot of guys don’t realize is that it’s not how much money you make, it’s how much money you keep, what you have at the end of the year,” Dan continues. “Newer guys go out and see that they’re making money every day, but then winter comes. You need to have enough money stored in your account to carry you the whole year.”

Challenge Presents Opportunity No one ever wants to deal with an injury, but Dan’s broken ankle in 2000 ended up being a blessing in disguise for the company.

“When I first started doing this, I’d go out, I’d do the estimates, I’d run the job, everything,” Dan says. “Well what we learned is you can’t grow when you do both. You just can’t. After I broke my ankle, I couldn’t walk for almost a year and if Stephan hadn’t stepped in, the company would have been done.”

Stephan took over running the business on the outside and Dan was able to run everything inside. Stephan assumed his role in the field and took on the challenge of learning how to interact with the crew and handle the challenges of each job.

“Once I became mobile again, though, we looked at the business and realized that this was working,” Dan says. “And that’s when we really grew.”

Dan and Stephan estimate the company grew almost 50% that first year with Dan handling the sales and Stephan handling all the fieldwork.

“When we were both out in the field, we’d be out on the jobsite completing work until four in the afternoon,” Stephan says. “We’d get back and he’d take a stack of estimates and I’d take a stack and we’d go in different directions.”

Using that method, the two weren’t able to supply estimates to customers until three to four days after the request.

With that time frame, many customers have already moved on.

“Now with Dan handling the sales capacity, most jobs are quoted within hours of the request,” Stephan says.

“On residential jobs that means the difference between being hired or not.”

While Precision Striping started out expanding their services to meet their customer demand, they have now started to focus on where they can truly make the most money.

“We do a lot more cracksealing and striping now by our own design than we do sealcoating,” Steve says. “The problem we’ve seen with sealcoating around here is that the market is so flooded. We have guys around here that say they can do the work for 8-10 cents per square foot, which are prices we quoted 10 years ago. We tell customers who call us with those numbers to hire the other company. They probably don’t have the insurance or experience we do, but we just can’t compete with those prices.”

Today, Precision Striping has become more selective on services, focusing on cracksealing and striping where they know they can make the most profit.

“Most of those fly-by-night companies are not going to go out and spend $10,000 on a LineLazer and a LineDriver to go stripe parking lots.

They’re going to do a job and be gone the next day.”

The owners also recognized that striping is not as labor intensive for their crew of six. “We try to keep things small,” Dan says. “A few years ago we were running two crews and we realized we weren’t actually making any more money.

By the time you pay your insurance, gas, materials, salaries etc., we really weren’t making much in the end. We make more money when we keep it small.”

Today the company only completes about 40% sealcoating and the rest of their work focuses on crack filling and line striping.

They also limit their service area to Northern Jersey and do not travel unless the job is going to be profitable for them.

“We’re kind of in a holding pattern in the business right now,” Stephan says. “We need to sit down and come up with a three-to-five-year plan for the business. We know we don’t want to invest anymore in sealcoating, but there is talk of getting in to patchwork as most pavers in our area don’t want to do that.

We will.”

12 May 2016 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement

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Striping

Allan Heydorn, Editor

Affordable Striping & Sealing is in the

” s Business e Y “ How this Las Vegas contractor maneuvers jobs in a 24-hour party town SCHEDULING JOBS CAN be the most difficult aspect of any striping contractor, but scheduling jobs in Las Vegas, which draw vacationers and conventioneers year round in a 24-hour-a-day entertainment environment, presents a whole different set of challenges.

Affordable Striping & Sealing, owned

by Shonda Decker, not only takes on those challenges but says “Bring ‘em on!”

“I’ve always said we’re in the ‘Yes’ business so we say ‘Yes’ all the time,” Decker says. “You wouldn’t think we’re in an on-demand business, but we are.

We get calls every day where someone is getting ready to open something the next day or they just need their pavement taken care of immediately. So we’re always saying ‘Yes’ and our biggest challenge is making sure we fulfill that commitment once we take it on.”

And Affordable Striping, because of its team approach, its respect and commitment to employees, and Decker’s belief in keeping her word and operating with integrity, is able to fulfill those commitments in a working environment that in itself can be viewed as challenging. “Luckily our staff has a commitment to us and to their work, otherwise we wouldn’t be able to be as successful as we are,” she says.

Strength in Striping Decker started in the industry in 2000, working for a small striping company where she learned how to estimate

striping and, eventually, sealcoating. In 2006 an investor offered to back her to start her own company, which she did by herself with two field workers. Operating for three years as a striping company before adding sealcoating, Decker worked out of her living room and a rented storage unit. And despite the poor economic times, she was able to put Affordable Striping on the Las Vegas map.

“I was doing what you are supposed to do,” she says. “I was keeping my word and running a business with integrity and that made a mark. In an industry that isn’t always known for its professionalism, I saw opportunity where if we do things right we’d have a great chance to grow and be successful.”

Affordable Striping doubled its growth each of its first two years and has continued to grow every year since.

Three years ago Decker moved from her home office to rent half of a building; soon after she needed the entire building. Last October she bought the

Shonda Decker says Affordable Striping & Sealing crews are on the job seven days a week, 24 hours a day. “We try very hard to rotate days off but it’s not unusual for the sealcoating crew to work six or seven days in a row without being off because we can have that much work,” she says.

building as well as an adjacent building and this year that has become Affordable Striping & Sealing’s headquarters.

Affordable Striping employs three estimators, three office staff, two field supervisors, nine full-time striping “team members,” and four full-time cracksealing and sealcoating team members. Affordable Striping runs two divisions: one devoted to maintenance of existing pavement including sealcoating and cracksealing, and the other focused on new construction including site preparation and signage installation.

“We don’t do any paving, and that makes us different from other companies in town who do paving and have a striping division or sub out their

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

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Search for dealers by ZIP or city/state Need a replacement part or additional supplies at a job site? Need it now?

Search the updated online

Industry Directory from Asphalt Contractor and Pavement Maintenance & Reconstruction for local suppliers and dealers.

ForConstructionPros.com/ locator/asphalt 1

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Search categories, such as: Asphalt pavers | Compaction | Cracksealing equipment & materials | Curbers Paint & thermoplastic materials | Patching equipment & materials | Paving & pavement maintenance tools Planers & milling machines | Replacement brooms & brushes | Safety equipment | MANY MORE!

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Striping striping,” Decker says. “Our strength in town is our striping and we’re known as a striping company.”

Affordable Striping & Sealing generates 10% of work striping road improvements (such as widening), 10% on residential site development (including installing signage and striping crosswalks and stop bars), 30% sealcoating and cracksealing, and 50% striping “all size jobs” from five stalls to casino parking lots and parking garages.

“We’re equipped to do all the jobs from smallest to largest and our crew can adapt to any job we get,” she says.

During its April-December season, Affordable Striping runs four sealcoating crews and four striping crews at a time, often in day/night split shifts. “This is a 24-hour town, not only the casinos but a lot of the other stores and restaurants that are open to accommodate the shift workers,” Decker says.

She says the company crackseals year round, often cracksealing in winter the parking lots they’ll be sealcoating in the spring. And once spring arrives, Affordable Striping will hire back more than a dozen of the long-time seasonal employees it laid off in December. “We’re really fortunate our seasonal guys come back year after year,” Decker says.

But there are reasons they come back.

“In this town we have a reputation

for taking care of our employees, and we like to think that helps us attract the best workers,” she says. “Word has gotten around that if you do what you’re supposed to do, then we’re going to take care of you and that’s not the case for most other companies in our market.”

Decker adds that because they take care of employees, she expects the employees to take care of the company.

“We pay well, we have a 401(k), and health benefits which is unusual these days for a small company. Our hours are also very consistent week to week so there’s no downtime and we even bring them in to do work in the shop or yard when it rains or when we can’t work so we try to maintain their paychecks.”

She says that she places a lot of emphasis on hiring the right employee, but also on making sure to hire the right person at the right time. “We want to make sure we have work for them,” she

Because of the 24-hour culture of Las Vegas, Affordable Striping & Sealing probably uses more caution tape, barricades, cones, signs and Area Closed signs than almost any other contractor.

A recent high-profile job for Affordable Striping & Sealing is striping for the newly built T-Mobile Arena.

says. “When we hire someone we are making a commitment to that person and to their family that we’re going to have work for them, so they know they’ll have a job and so they can take care of their family. I take that seriously.”

Decker says Affordable Striping uses all sorts of methods to find employees, from newspaper ads to craigslist ads to referrals from its employees. But she says they’ve had the best luck looking outside of the industry. Landscapers, for example, have been a good pool from which to draw. “Those people are used to working outside and they’re used to long days.”

A 24-Hour-a-Day Town Working in Las Vegas presents a unique set of challenges. Decker says first and foremost is safety of their customers’ customers, the people vacationing in Las Vegas who don’t know their way around the city or a property and who certainly aren’t thinking about safety or construction. Then there’s worker safety and even safety of the completed job itself.

Decker says that over the years they’ve learned that though nothing closes in Las Vegas, the best “down hours” are between 2:00 and 7:00 a.m., so much of their work is scheduled then if it can be. But not all work can be done then so they work around the customer’s schedule regardless of what that means to the Affordable Striping schedule.

“We don’t assume those are the best hours, instead we ask customers when they think the work should be done so it’s less disruptive to their business and safer for their customers,” Decker says.

When they do begin work, the first step is setting up traffic control and blocking off the work zone from traffic and from pedestrians. Affordable Striping uses caution tape, barricades, cones, signs and even Area Closed signs.

“We use a lot more traffic control and barriers than you’d normally use on a typical parking lot, and we place them closer together. We also often have an extra person out there doing traffic control for us on our job, and casinos sometimes provide additional security as well,” Decker says.

“But operating in a town like Las Vegas with its party atmosphere, it

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Among the materials being tested is a cold polymer emulsified sealer, a tape that requires an adhesive on the pavement (left), placement of material and compaction. No heat is involved.

Material Testing at the Office One of the unique efforts Affordable Striping relies on to set itself apart from competitors is that it is continually testing paint outside its offices. “We want to provide the best material to our customers and the most effective way to do that is to constantly test the materials available to us,” Shonda Decker says.

“We do it because paint suppliers change raw materials a couple of times a year and changes in raw materials can affect the paint. Maybe it doesn’t hold up as well as it used to,” she says. “We don’t have loyalty to a paint supplier, we have loyalty to our customers. So based on what we see from the testing, we might change and even switch back during a season. We want to use what’s best. Not the cheapest, but the best.”

Seven sections of red paint greet visitors arriving at the front of their headquarters, and just around the corner are yellow and white stripes in all types of material including VOC paint, polyurea and traffic tape.

“Paint suppliers often bring their new formulations to us to test out, and they often come out and work with our guys to make sure the test stripes are being put down properly and to the correct mil thickness. Then they often come back to see how it’s holding up,” Decker says.

doesn’t matter how many cones you have up.”

Staging & Move-ins In addition to the increased emphasis on traffic control and safety, work in a 24-hour city requires attention to staging the job, which requires more move-ins than a contractor typically would need.

Affordable Striping often completes work in a number of smaller sections because they can’t close any parking lots.

So they stage the work, moving from one area of a parking lot to the other side

while the first area dries, then packing up and coming back the next night to finish two more sections. Decker says staging a job can mean dividing a parking lot into 10 or more sections, with the plan being to stripe two a night to get the work done and accommodate the customer.

“Staging work in smaller sections it requires more move-ins to complete the job. But it’s not what’s best for us it’s what’s best for the customer,” she says.

“When we do need to stage the job in small sections we’ll do an area and wait for it to dry and leave an employee there to guard it while it’s drying,” she says. “We want to protect our work, we don’t want someone stepping onto it and tracking it around.”

Decker says this is done frequently at casinos and hotels but other places of business as well. “We work that way often at grocery stores, restaurants and even bars because those places are also open 24 hours a day to accommodate the shift workers.”

She says staging and additional moveins are determined after the job has been awarded and the contractor is scheduling the work, so Affordable Striping doesn’t increase its fee when additional move-ins are required.

“Additional move-ins are a minimal factor for us and that’s just the best way to get the job done. We have long-term relationships with many of our customers and once we establish our pricing we stay with it,” Decker says. “Instead of raising our prices we try to figure out how to do it better, how to be more efficient, how we can get better pricing on material.

That enables us to maintain our pricing and still increase our margins.”

Constant Efforts to Improve She says that instead of raising prices, Affordable Striping works to improve what’s it’s doing day to day in order to improve its margins and bottom line.

She says the company’s ability to retain its seasonal workers makes it easier to be productive at the start of each season and to improve efficiency on its jobs.

“Our employees take a lot of pride in their work and we as a company take pride in the work our crews do,” Decker says. “By having the same employees

year after year we don’t have to spend time teaching them things or even reteaching things. And whenever a problem does come up we make sure to figure out exactly what happened and then how we can fix it or do it better.”

One example she cites is the creation of a time line for sealcoating work Affordable Striping uses to plan out a job and keep the customer informed about what’s going to happen. “That way they know exactly what to expect, when, so they can do their own planning and scheduling and so they know what we’re doing at each stage of the project.”

Affordable Striping also collects detailed job-related information from each customer using a form that lists and asks job-impacting details. “It’s a step-by-step form that takes them through everything we need to know to get the work done for them on their schedule,” Decker says. “We ask for emergency contacts so if we discover a leak in the irrigation system we know immediately who to call. It asks what days their trash is picked up – all the things that they probably aren’t going to think about but that are critical to getting the job done on time.”

To improve communication and to ease customer concerns, Affordable Striping provides customers what is essentially a Frequently Asked Questions sheet that provides basic information about the material, the process, what to expect once the job’s finished and more. “We try to answer any question that might come up based on previous experience and add to it as we go,” Decker says.

She says they’ve also developed a better system of communication for pre-job, on-the-job and post-job contact with customers. “We were relying a lot of e-mail and we felt we lost the personal touch with the customer, that we thought we’d become ‘just another e-mail’ to them,” she says. “So this year we’re emphasizing phone calls and in-person visits. This year we’re going to make sure we connect with existing customers, just drop in and bring them a breakfast tray or a snack and say thanks for the relationship.”

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Striping

Allan Heydorn, Editor

Striping a Road Course for How “an affinity for racing” helps United Striping 101 be the contractor of choice for Sonoma Raceway

NASCAR

CORKY CAPRARA SAYS he “always had an affinity for racing.” He grew up in the hotbed of National Hot Rod Association racing in Southern California and in college sold seat cushions at Ontario Motor Speedway. Once seat cushions were sold out he wandered the track with an all-access pass.

“Back in the day, you could get up close to the racers. I’d literally be right next to the cars as they were working on them and used to shake hands with A.J. Foyt and Mario Andretti and others and it was no big deal. I had unlimited access to them,” Caprara says.

Today his company, United Striping 101, Petaluma, CA, handles all the pavement marking duties for Sonoma Raceway – and has handled those duties for 27 years, the longest-serving independent contractor at the track.

“Working at Sonoma Raceway is the high point of my year for striping,” Caprara says. “I love being at the track.”

A Road Course for NASCAR Originally built in 1968 as Sears Point Raceway, Sonoma Raceway is one of two road courses (as opposed to a racing oval) on the NASCAR circuit. It features more than 160 ft. of elevation change from its highest point (Turn 3a, 174 ft.) to its lowest point (Turn 10, 14 ft.). Drivers who complete the 110 laps in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 NASCAR Sprint Cup race, held each June, will make 1,100 turns around the road course. In addition to the track, the raceway houses a motor sports industrial park of more than 70 businesses in 104 shops.

NASCAR began running a race at Sonoma Raceway in 1989, and United Striping 101 did its first job for them in 1990. “The relationship slowly developed from that and now we provide service year-round,” he says.

From the end of March to the end of September, United Striping 101 is at the track several times a month doing normal striping including restriping the parking lot, property entrances and exits, updating ADA striping, lining out spaces

The Start/Finish line is the last item striped; the racetrack itself is bordered with 5-in. yellow lines on both sides of the track, which amounts to four miles of striping, all done with a walk-behind unit.

on a 50-acre RV parking lot and restriping the ring road around the track.

Sonoma Raceway hosts as many as five major racing events each year (NASCAR, AFM Motorcycles, National Hot Rod Association, Indy Cars and Vintage Car Road Races). Each racing series

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“Sonoma Raceway is a very different track for NASCAR because on oval tracks there are only four turns and all are left-hand turns,” says Corky Caprara (right). “On Sonoma we have left turns and right turns and the elevation changes about 160 ft. And because of the climb, there are a lot of blind turns, so there are features at the track to help drivers understand what they’re coming up to.”

develops a plan for their event, and United Striping 101 executes that plan.

“We have a general way we proceed and attack the work, and that’s how we plan it out and execute it. But we’re very fluid and very flexible for them and that’s probably one of the reasons we’ve been with them for 27 years,” he says.

The Start of United Striping 101 With his wife, Marsha, and his brother Joe, Caprara started United Striping 101 in 1985, after he’d worked several years for a small striping contractor where he learned the business “on the fly.”

“We started and flourished in what was a good economy at the time,” he says. “It was a good time to start.”

Caprara says that while he first only striped parking lots, it wasn’t long before he added other services. “I was young and foolish so we weren’t afraid to try things. We added pavement marker installation, then thermoplastic, steel bollard installation and even survey monuments (the brass pins set to exact marks for surveyors). Anything that our customers wanted that was within reason and that we thought we could make a few bucks off, we would attempt.”

United Striping 101 grew to 10

employees, and when his brother left the company, Caprara decided to scale back because “with that many employees I found it was kind of like babysitting.”

Today United Striping 101 has four full-time employees that bumps up to nine in peak season. Several years ago, they added sealcoating to the business after dabbling in it for 15 years, investing in an 800-gal. application tank. Most of the company’s work is as a subcontractor and is done on commercial properties, with 30% of revenue generated by sealcoating and 70% by striping and “other.”

Staging on Monday For NASCAR’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 in June, for example, NASCAR takes control of the track one week out. Friday and Saturday are practice and time trials and Sunday is the race. But United Striping 101 starts its work three weeks prior to the race, striping and painting the property. Starting on the Monday before the race, all focus is on the track.

On the Monday prior to Sunday’s NASCAR Toyota/Save Mart 350 race, United Striping 101 arrives on site early,

Time + Materials = Price Corky Caprara says that he prices racetrack work charging time and materials and that his price remains essentially the same year to year. “We use time and materials because we don’t really know what changes NASCAR is going to require until they get there, so I really can’t create a proposal,” he says. “When NASCAR comes in and says ‘extend lines here’ or ‘add lines here’ or whatever, we never know those kinds of changes until they tell us. Whatever NASCAR says goes, we just do it. We want to take care of the track and provide them great service at a fair price.”

He says if a request is going to be expensive, he lets the track manager know in advance. “We don’t want them to be surprised so I tell them ‘here’s what you’re looking at to get that done,’ but for the most part it’s ‘let’s just get it done’ and then we price it after the event.”

All 900 gal. of paint are delivered to the staging area so crews don’t have to wait for paint they need.

setting up for what will 16-hour-long days until the race starts Sunday morning. United Striping heads to Turn 11, which it sets up as a staging area. Paint is delivered from the supplier; striping, sealcoating, track cleaning and support equipment is brought to the site; and a canopy is set up to provide shade. “We’ll be living there for a week, eating breakfast, lunch and dinner so we set it up to accommodate our team,” he says.

United Striping uses as many as eight walk-behind stripers on the track because of the number of different colors and because they don’t want to swap out oilbased machines for water-based paint and vice versa. For the NASCAR event alone, United Striping uses up to 900 gals. of paint for one week of racing.

Most-used colors are blue, yellow and white, but black, red and green also are used as are custom colors (for the logos).

Some paint is water-based depending on where it’s used; paint on wear surfaces, berms and edges is oil-based.

“It’s a big paint order, but our supplier knows it’s coming and it comes around the same time every year so they’re ready for it. We order it at the beginning of May so we’re sure to have what we need,

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Striping then tweak the paint order as we learn more about what logos there will be and what NASCAR might need,” he says.

Caprara uses three or four crews working simultaneously throughout the track all week, working up to 95 hours from Monday through Sunday morning.

“We have to have the track completely painted by the end of Thursday because Friday and Saturday they have practice and qualifying runs, which are televised so the track needs to look its best.”

Logos at the Track Once United Striping 101 is staged, crews start working on the aerial logos which are placed in runoff areas, runoff turns, chutes and hairpin turns. Caprara says there are as many as 11 different logos at a typical NASCAR race. Logos range in size from 8 ft. x 10 ft. to as large as 60 ft. x 120 ft. and United Striping applies them from custom-made stencils.

At other races, logos are painted on grass, but Sonoma gets little rain so logos are placed on asphalt (instead of dried-out grass) so they show up better from the air. To make logos look even better, United Striping often sealcoats the area a logo will be placed. “Sealcoating beneath logos gives us a fresh black surface to paint on, so in some instances we’ll sealcoat an area first,” he says.

Then the first coat for logos is applied with water-based paint. Logo work goes on every day through Thursday; logos dry before other colors are added.

“There’s a lot of fine tuning on the logos on Thursday. People actually walk on top of the logos that’s why we finetune them. We’ll literally be on hands and knees with a paint brush to make it as perfect as we can so when people look down they see a perfect logo. You couldn’t see any of the rough edges on TV but people right on top of it can so we want it perfect.”

Striping the Track On Tuesday and Wednesday crews start striping the pits, using stencils for any numbers on the pavement or on pit walls to aid the drivers coming into the pits.

Wednesday continues grounds striping, logos and finishing pit work On Thursday, crews finally hit the

What Gets Striped on a Racetrack?

Much of the work on the track involves restriping, but NASCAR provides a 200-page information packet at the beginning of the year covering what’s required throughout the track – not just striping.

“There aren’t changes necessarily year to year and if there are they are usually small adjustments,” says Corky Caprara. “Other than their modifications, we know what we have to do.”

Among the striping and restriping on the track are: • Double-yellow pit-out line. Race cars come into the pit for pit stop and when they exit they need to blend in with the high-speed traffic. Drivers exiting the pit can’t cross this double-yellow line until it ends to meld with traffic.

• Timing lines to let drivers know they’re not speeding as they enter the pits.

• Pit entrances so people know once a car enters that it’s coming into the pits.

• Safety striping on berms.

• Checkerboard Start/Finish line.

• Yellow edge line on both sides throughout the track.

Recent striping modifications requested by NASCAR include extending the pit-out line to 150 ft. long from 125 ft., and sometimes the width of a line can change. But most of the track is restriped.

track, taking a full day to stripe a 5-in. yellow line on both edges of the track.

Crews use walk-behind units to stripe the almost four miles. Then they tackle the yellow-and-blue (in honor of UC-Berkeley) “Cal-Canes” berms (red-and-white Candy Canes on other tracks) throughout the track’s 11 turns. Cal-Canes are first wet and blown clean with a high-powered track blower. Then because sizes range from 3 ft. x 3 ft. to 3 ft. x 6 ft., Cal-Canes are painted freehand using a small spray striper off the back of a truck.

The same day they stripe the edges and the Cal-Canes, United Striping 101 uses templates to paint the elaborate black-and-white checkered Start/Finish line, with “Sonoma” on either side of the squares. Work on the track is usually completed by 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, and drivers practice all day Friday until about 7:00 p.m. And then United

United Striping 101 crews spend two weeks prior to race week preparing the grounds and areas outside the track, getting ready for crowds and television. The week of the NASCAR race United Striping 101 uses as many as 10 people working about 95 hours each from Monday through Sunday morning to ready the track for the race.

Striping crews are ready to go again.

“Once the track goes cold we’re out there all Friday night and Saturday night after time trials painting damage done during the day,” he says. “We restripe and get it back to looking brand new for the next day. It can be a pretty involved process.”

“We make sure we like everything on the ground because if we don’t like it on the ground we know we’re not going to like it from the air on TV,” Caprara says.

“How many people can claim their work is going to be watched on TV by millions of people?”

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

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Compaction

Jessica Stoikes, Associate Editor

How to Compact

asphalt pavements Temperature of the mat, pattern of rollers, impact mat density – and the success (or failure) of a pavement WHILE THE INDUSTRY has shifted focus to how different mix designs can improve the life of a pavement, one thing remains constant: the level of compaction any asphalt mix receives directly impacts the quality and lifetime of that pavement.

“The single most important thing you can do to a pavement is compact it,” says Jim Scherocman, P.E. and annual speaker at National Pavement Expo. “A pavement that has the world’s best mix design compacted to 9-10% air voids is not going to perform well. Conversely, a pavement that has only a marginal mix design compacted to 7% air voids or less, will perform very well under traffic.”

Accepted knowledge says that for every 1% increase in air voids, about 10% of the pavement life may be lost. That’s because the more air voids a pavement has, the more that pavement is compromised in terms of pavement strength, fatigue life, durability, raveling, rutting and susceptibility to moisture damage.

So the paving industry relies on compaction to increase pavement

density to extend pavement life. As a result of the compaction process, the asphalt-coated aggregate particles in the mix are forced closer together, which increases the amount of aggregate interlock and interparticle friction and also reduces the air void content of the mix.

“A consistent density level or air void content is what is really important,” Scherocman says. “The correct rolling pattern obtains uniform density, which achieves performance. The level of air voids obtained during rolling needs to be the same both longitudinally and transversely.”

Therefore, the work done by roller operators needs to be done correctly and consistently in order to ensure the success of the pavement life. If the operator isn’t running the roller at the right settings, the right speed, etc., it can affect the quality of the mat, and that quality is important to the life of the road. The better the operator, the better the machine, the better the performance and the longer the life of the road.

(air temperature) and wind.

“The two most important factors are the temperature of the mix as it passes out from under the screed of the paver and the thickness of the layer.

The ambient air temperature and the temperature of the surface on which the mix is placed are of secondary importance. Wind velocity, however, can have a significant effect of the rate of cooling as well,” Scherocman says.

Asphalt concrete mixtures cool quickly so it’s important to compact while the mix is hot. Typically, asphalt comes out of the plant at about 300° F. At that temperature, it is relatively soft and is readily compacted. As it cools, it firms up and compaction becomes increasingly difficult.

“The three most important factors when it comes to compaction are temperature, temperature, temperature. You need to compact the mix while it’s hot,” Scherocman says. “Be sure to keep the rollers right behind the pavers, no more than 300 ft. back. This will help operators take advantage of the temperature.”

5 Factors Affecting Density

How to Use a Rolling Train

There are five factors that affect finished density of the asphalt mat: temperature of the mix itself, mat thickness, base temperature, environmental conditions

The most-common approach to compaction, but not the best, is a rolling train, which involves a series of rollers operating one after the other close behind

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Given that the best time to achieve the greatest density is when the mat is hottest, it makes sense to get as much compaction at the higher temperatures as possible. Scherocman says the best way to do that is to operate two rollers in echelon – side by side – down the mat.

This enables the full width of the mat to be compacted while that mat is hottest.

the paver. The train starts with a double drum vibratory roller operating close behind the paver to obtain the initial compactive effort while the mix is still hot.

A rule of thumb is this “breakdown” rolling should be completed before the surface temperature of the mix falls below 240° F. The breakdown roller should be operated at the highest possible frequency level available for the particular make and model of roller and at an amplitude setting that is dependent on the thickness of the asphalt concrete mat being placed (see sidebar).

“Vibrate every chance you can,” Scherocman says. “The harder and more often you hit the pavement, the more density you get.”

The next part of the train, intermediate rolling, is usually done with a vibratory roller as well and must be accomplished immediately after the initial rolling is completed. When a pneumatic tire roller is used as an intermediate roller, it is necessary to keep the tires at the same temperature as the mat being compacted – otherwise the rubber tires will pick up some of the mix from the mat. So when using a pneumatic roller, don’t allow the roller to sit and wait for long periods of time as the tires will cool.

The final roller in the train is a static steel wheel roller for finish rolling. The primary purpose of finish rolling is to obtain the “last little bit” of density and to remove the marks, if any, left by the first and second rollers. When needed, finish rolling should be accomplished at a mix surface temperature above 175° F. “Only the finish rolling, the last rolling done, should be done in a static mode,” Scherocman says.

The Impact of Roller Speed The speed at which the operator drives the vibratory roller also has one of the greatest influences on mat quality. Driving too fast can leave gaps and ripples in compaction and compromise crew safety if the operator gets too close to the paver. Using the correct speed will also

help to maintain the appropriate impact spacing to prevent washboarding.

“There is a relationship between speed and frequency,” Scherocman says.

“You want to hit the pavement with the vibratory roller drum at least 10 times in a linear foot. It’s not just the speed per se, it’s the combination of speed and frequency for the vibratory rollers.”

So a vibratory roller operated at a frequency of 3,000 vibrations per minute (vpm) can run at a speed of 3.5 mph to maintain an impact spacing of 10 impacts per foot. If that same roller is operated at a frequency of 4,000 vpm it can operate at a speed of approximately 4.7 mph and still maintain an impact spacing of 10 impacts per foot.

Operators should also avoid sharp turns or sudden speed changes. Sharp turns can tear the mat, and decelerating or accelerating quickly can rip or tear the mat or leave indentations.

3 Temperature Zones Scherocman says contractors need to pay attention to, and take advantage of, the three temperature zones found in most asphalt concrete mixes.

In the first, or upper, temperature zone, the asphalt concrete mix is relatively stable during the compaction process.

This stability extends from laydown temperature (300° F) down to roughly 240° F during which the mix remains stable and can support compaction – the mix won’t

shove or check under the roller.

Scherocman says that in some mixes there is a middle temperature – or “tender” – zone depending on the gradation and angularity of the aggregate in the mix. “Rounded materials don’t interlock but angular materials do,” Scherocman explains. He says if a mix does have a tender zone, it extends from about 240° F down to 190° F, depending on the mix properties.

Within this temperature range the mix moves, shoves and checks when being compacted. In some cases a bow wave will form in front of the roller drums and the mix will crawl longitudinally. In addition, the mix will also move laterally, widening the mat if the edge of the roller is not positioned properly (by about 6 in.) over the unsupported edge of the asphalt concrete. Scherocman says that in this middle temperature zone, the HMA mix lacks the internal stability to support the weight of a steel wheel roller – but it will accept the use of a pneumatic roller.

“If the mix is tender, don’t roll it with a vibratory roller; get off of it,” Scherocman says. “These mixes occur all over the country due to the gradation and angularity of the aggregate and moisture present in the aggregate at the plant.”

The lower temperature zone extends from the low end of the tender temperature zone (190° F) down. Once mix temperature reaches this point the mix can

Mat Thickness Affects Roller Amplitude Just like the mix properties will determine how you roll the pavement, the thickness of the lift will also determine how your roller operators should proceed.

Vibratory rollers introduce dynamic forces that help to generate a high compaction effect with far less effort and cost. During vibration, the rotation of one shaft with weight delivers a centrifugal force that is sufficient to lift and drop the heavy steel drum as it moves through its cycle. The height at which the drum lifts is referred to as amplitude.

Generally, amplitude settings are determined by the depth of the lift. Machines with variable amplitudes allow the operator to fine tune the setting to the mix.

“If the pavement is an inch or less in thickness, do not vibrate,” Scherocman says. “The roller will simply bounce. Then all you’re doing is beating the heck out of the pavement and the roller. If you’re 1-1/4-in. to 2-1/4-in., use a lower amplitude setting. If you’re over 2-1/2-in., you can put the roller in a higher amplitude setting.

“A lot of roller operators think they can take a thin lift and kick it into high amplitude and they just tear their roller apart and create ripples in the mat,” Scherocman says.

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Compaction

Rolling in Echelon

Width of Pavement

PAVER

5

ASPHALT MAT

12 feet

3

6

1

2

6”

are operating at maximum frequency and at an amplitude setting that is proper for the layer thickness being placed.

• The first roller (red, on the left close behind the paver) compacts the left side of the mat with two passes (numbers 1 and 2) up and back in exactly the same position, hanging over the left edge of the lane or joint by 6-in. (A pass is defined as one time over a point in the pavement surface).

• At the same time, operating at an offset distance of 10 feet behind the red roller in echelon, the second double-drum vibratory roller (blue) makes its first two passes (passes 1 and 2) on the right side of the pavement, hanging over the right edge of the lane or joint by 6-in.

• The red roller then moves toward the center of the mat and makes a pair of passes (numbers 3 and 4) – up and back – over the center of the lane.

• The blue roller, still staggered and offset about 10 ft. behind the red roller, makes passes 3 and 4 up and back – over the right side of the mat, again hanging over the right edge of the lane or joint by 6-in.

• The red roller moves to the left edge and makes its passes 5 and 6 up the left side of the mat (over the first two passes made by that same roller and

7

Pass 7 up

3

Pass 3 up, Pass 4 back 4

Roller Width 5’ 6”

Width of Compaction

7

4

Left Roller Pass 3 up, Pass 4 back

Right Roller Pass 1 up, Pass 2 back

again support the weight of steel wheel compaction equipment, but it is very difficult to achieve much compaction in this lower “cold” temperature zone.

It should be noted that the upper and lower limits of each of these temperature zones will vary depending on the mix characteristics, how quickly the mat is cooling, the thickness of the HMA layer being compacted, environmental conditions and the type of roller (static or vibratory) used. The temperatures referenced are a rough guide.

Given that the best time to achieve the greatest density is when the mat is hottest, it makes sense to get as much compaction at the higher temperatures as possible. Scherocman says the best way to do that is to operate two rollers in echelon – side by side – down the mat.

This enables the full width of the mat to be compacted while that mat is hottest.

The diagram above shows how this works on a 12-ft. wide lane with two double drum vibratory rollers that are each either 66-in. or 78-in. wide. The two rollers, are operating in echelon (staggered and offset in adjacent lanes) in the breakdown position directly behind the paver,

5

6 Pass 7 up

13 feet

1

Pass 5 up, Pass 6 back

Right Roller Pass 5 up, Pass 6 back

Echelon Rolling Takes Advantage of the Upper Zone

6”

Left Roller Pass 1 up, Pass 2 back 2

Roller Width 5’ 6”

5’ 6”

Roller Width

The diagram shows how echelon rolling works on a 12-ft.wide lane with two double-drum vibratory rollers that are each either 66-in. or 78-in. wide.

The two rollers, operating in echelon (staggered and offset in adjacent lanes, see photo page 32) in the breakdown position directly behind the paver, are operating at maximum frequency and at an amplitude setting that is proper for the layer thickness being placed.

again hanging over the edge by 6 in.)

• The blue roller moves toward the center of the mat and makes its passes 5 and 6 directly on top of the red roller’s two passes (red 3 and 4) on the center of the mat. This completes four passes over the center of the mat, two from each roller.

• At the end of pass 7, the red roller continues up to the back of the paver and then begins the pattern over again.

• For blue pass number 7 on the right, the blue roller again moves back to the right side of the lane and makes its last pass over the top of its first four (1, 2, 3, 4), again hanging over the edge or joint.

• At the end of pass 7, the blue roller continues up to the back of the paver and then begins its pattern over again, still staggered and offset behind the red roller.

Scherocman says this rolling pattern will work for any mix, even a tender mix, as long as the pavement has not yet reached a temperature zone below 240° F. When the mix reaches those lower temperatures, there is no longer enough time to achieve the proper density with this pattern. “The key is get the compaction done before the mat temperature reaches 240° F,” he says.

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

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Contractors ’ Choice

Maury Bagwell

Factors to Consider when Buying a Sealcoating Rig Match tank size, pump system and application method to your market and preferences SUCCESSFUL SEALCOATING contractors need to do thorough research on each equipment purchase. Consider tank size, pump system and application method when selecting the best sealcoating equipment. By relying on your research, you’ll be able to select sealcoating machine helps you increase productivity, reduce maintenance time, and achieve a faster return-on-investment.

Match Tank Size to Business From the start, determine the best tank size for the application. For primarily small jobs, such as driveways or small parking lots, a 750-gal. tank should be enough to complete each project without refilling. Consider a bigger tank if breadand-butter jobs are large projects, such as runways and mall parking lots.

In conjunction with tank size, consider how to transport the equipment.

Being able to easily move it without placing too much strain on a vehicle or trailer is crucial to running an efficient sealcoating business.

So before buying a machine, make sure your truck or trailer has the axle capacity to support the new system’s weight. And when considering the system’s weight, make sure to add the weight of the sealer the tank will hold in addition to the weight of the equipment.

Sealer generally weighs around 10 lbs./ gal., sometimes more depending on the amount of sand in the mix. That means a 750-gal. tank that weighs about 4,000 lbs. empty will have another 7,500 lbs. of pressure on the axle when filled.

If you’re considering a trailer-mounted unit, check the vehicle’s towing capabilities. For a skid-mounted unit, determine the vehicle’s gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR). For example, a skid-mounted unit with a 750-gal. tank will need a vehicle with at least a 15,000

Choosing the right sealcoating equipment can increase productivity, reduce maintenance time and give a faster return on investment.

GVWR; a system with a 1,500-gal. tank will likely require 30,000 GVWR.

Selecting the Pump Professional sealcoating equipment uses one of three kinds of pump systems: Bowie pumps, air-powered diaphragm pumps or hydraulic-powered piston pumps. Each pump functions differently and will directly affect the machine’s productivity, pumping capacity and maintenance needs.

Bowie pumps feature a gear that spins inside of a cylinder. The gear creates suction that pulls liquid into the intake side of the pump, and then pushes it out the discharge side. Typically, these pumps can create enough pressure to move sealer mix with as much as 5 or 6 lbs. of sand per gallon, which covers most mixes.

A more common option is a rubber diaphragm pump, which pulls liquid in as the diaphragm contracts and then pushes it out as it expands. Each pump requires an air compressor for power. Diaphragm pumps handle many types of materials, including water and

non-abrasive oils. Most produce enough pressure to reliably pump mixes with as much as 3 lbs. of sand per gallon.

A hydraulic-powered piston pump uses pistons to continuously pull liquid in and push it out. Hydraulics produce enough power to pump thicker materials, such as asphalt emulsions and newer modified sealers. That piston power can take on mixes with 15 or more pounds of sand per gallon, enabling contractors to take on a wider range of projects.

Consider the maintenance requirements of different pump styles, too, since it impacts time and expense.

Piston pumps tend to offer the lowest overall maintenance. The piston design uses leather seals that require no daily upkeep. This translates to consistently high productivity because contractors only have to rinse out a piston pump before long-term storage, such as for winterization. Plus, sealcoating equipment should pump at least 150,000 gal. of sealcoat before leather seals need replacing. Still, it’s a good idea to check the pump once a week to ensure the

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seals stay lubricated.

Like piston pumps, Bowie pumps don’t require daily maintenance. But abrasive high-sand mixes and asphalt emulsions can wear down the rotary gear and cause a gap in the seal, which causes Bowie pumps to lose pressure.

This requires disassembling the pump and replacing the gaskets and steel wear plates around the seal. (Components can cost $1,200 to repair or more than $2,000 to replace.) The service interval is shorter than with a piston pump, resulting in greater cost and downtime.

Diaphragm pumps also require more frequent maintenance. These pumps use rubber seals rather than leather seals or steel plates, so those components, while cheaper than a Bowie pump’s steel pieces, must be regularly replaced.

Squeegee or Spray?

After selecting the right tank and pump for the operation, consider the

application method: squeegee, spray or both. Each has its advantages, depending on the job and type of surface.

Operators can complete sealcoatspraying applications faster than applying it by squeegee, which makes it a more common method. Spraying works better on smooth surfaces because it leaves a more uniform finish.

Alternatively, the squeegee method applies more material for a seal that lasts longer. It is harder to spread sealer evenly and achieve a smooth finish, so the squeegee method tends to work better for rough or porous surfaces because it can pack the material into the crevices, creating a stronger bond with the pavement.

Of course, an experienced contractor can achieve great results on any type of surface using the squeegee or spray method. But for those wanting options and even greater durability for customers, a sealcoating system with

a dual applicator gives the best of both worlds. These machines apply sealcoat via squeegee or spray, giving the freedom to select a method that will yield the best result for each particular job. Also, a dual applicator machine can apply one coat with a squeegee to form a strong bond, and then spray on a second coat for a uniform finish.

Although this method is more expensive and takes more time, the results last 40% longer than a job done with a squeegee alone or a double-spray application — saving time and money while earning more referral and repeat business due to a quality job.

Maury Bagwell is the lead engineer at Neal Manufacturing (www.nealequip. com), a division of Blastcrete, which is based in Anniston, AL. He has nearly 25 years of experience in manufacturing, sales, product design and engineering.

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www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement • PAVEMENT • May 2016 37

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Night Work

How Working Nights Can Affect Your Employees Operator fatigue affects your business – here’s what you can do about it DUE TO THE reduced or impaired alertness caused by fatigue, the inevitable net result is increased human error, and reduced ability to work safely and productively. Numerous scientific studies and extensive field experience confirm that workers with higher relative fatigue index are more likely to experience sleepiness, nodding-off, and making mistakes while working, as well as nodding-off or fighting sleep while commuting to and from work.

Fatigue also affects mood. In 2002 the National Sleep Foundation found that people who do not get enough sleep are more likely to get impatient or agitated, and they have difficulty getting along with others. Increased irritability and stress negatively influences personal, work and family relationships, resulting in inadequate/ineffective communications, and correlating with increased absenteeism and turnover and reduced morale and poor labor relations.

Fatigue Levels The consequences of fatigue also impact a company’s operating efficiency and costs. Fatigue results in reduced productivity and customer service quality, reduced operating reliability and decreased operating profit, increased health and wellness costs, and higher overall costs, risks and liabilities.

Virtually every industry suggests that 80-90% of all their accidents and incidents are human-error related.

Equipment, maintenance and human costs pose enormous risks, so safety is indeed a “condition of employment.”

Yet mental errors, personal injuries and property and casualty damages are not infrequent occurrences.

While some of these incidents can certainly be attributable to inexperience or behavior, the vast majority are more

Industrial survey data indicates that Workers’ Compensation costs per employee per year were almost five times higher in facilities with severe fatigue problems, compared to facilities where fatigue was not a problem (Aguirre and MooreEde, 2008) .

typically physiological in nature. Adjustment to night work and/or overtime create health, safety and performance problems for operators. By every measure, performance decreases at the beginning of early morning shifts, during the postlunch hours and during overnight shifts (particularly during pre-dawn hours).

Research has found that the number of fatigue-related accidents is considerably higher at night than during daytime.

In fact, a study found that drivers are 50 times more likely to fall asleep at 2:00 a.m. than at 10:00 a.m. No matter how well trained, skilled, motivated, or experienced, operators are frequently compromised by fatigue. Behavior becomes erratic and deviant…not willfully, but because of our physiological nature.

As a result, incidents are often misdiagnosed as being due to behavioral problems, when they are actually physiological in nature. Thus, understanding human physiology is key to successfully identifying and managing the inherent problems of working the night shift and fatigue-related human error.

The resultant costs of fatigue are far greater than just those of safety, although the $2 billion already spent on

cleaning up the Texas City Refinery mess should be enough justification to proactively address this issue. While there were certainly technical and equipment failures involved in this unfortunate incident, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board in 2007 also cited fatigue due to understaffing and excessive overtime/consecutive shifts as a causal factor.

Fatigue also correlates with higher maintenance costs, lost productivity, increased turnover, absenteeism and presenteeism, higher health and wellness costs, reduced customer service quality, higher operating risks and liabilities, and, ultimately, reduction in overall operating profit.

In The Twenty-four Hour Society: Understanding Human Limits in a World That Never Stops, Martin Moore-Ede established estimates of the global costs of fatigue (see chart page 40).

We can certainly argue and debate over the size of this cost estimate, but even if Moore-Ede is only partially right, the cost of fatigue is still enormous. The good news is that it represents recoverable opportunity, and a whole new avenue for improving operator safety and performance that has been largely

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

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Night Work overlooked for the better part of the last century. And, with today’s ability to measure and quantify the costs of fatigue, it is possible to build a compelling business case and ROI proposition to justify a proactive Fatigue Risk Management System.

As a consequence, they develop bad habits and/or become victims of common shiftwork pitfalls that compromise their ability to perform to their fullest capabilities. This is just one of the many reasons that, according to a 2003 study,

• Re-evaluate operating policies and procedures that may no longer be valid, in light of our human physiology, and that may actually be counterproductive • On a regular basis, screen and treat sleep disorders that are prevalent among night workers and provide education on managing sleep • Incorporate fatigue analytics/human error analysis into reporting systems to monitor and track results by collecting and reporting fatigue-related data • Incorporate fitness-for-duty impairment screening programs • Keep abreast of new R&D initiatives to continually advance • Establish a continuous improvement process that is not merely today’s priority, but rather a permanent core operating value of the company

Installing an Effective Fatigue Risk Management System

shiftworking employees conservatively cost companies $8,600 per person per year in excess costs over and above their daytime counterparts.

Once management has made a commitment to reduce fatigue and optimize the productivity and safety of their workforce, they need to develop a comprehensive, science-based, fatigue risk management plan. To be successful this plan must at the very least: • Educate your managers, supervisors and others to achieve consensus and support within the company • Provide training for employees to empower them to take more control over reducing their personal levels of fatigue, as well as better coping with night work (especially with new hires) • Reinforce training and personal commitment to behavioral lifestyle change by regularly providing educational support publications and practical night work information to operators • Train supervisors on how to identify and intervene with tired operators • Re-evaluate work schedules and overtime policies and practices to ensure they are not causing excessive fatigue • Optimize staffing and crewing levels to maintain manageable overtime levels • Evaluate work environment for modifications that could reduce fatigue • Evaluate work tasks for opportunities to make them less monotonous

Conclusion

So how, as a company or as operating managers, can we objectively, systematically and measurably eliminate fatigue from our operations, thereby reducing our costs, risks and liabilities?

And is it really possible to increase operational efficiency... while improving employee health, safety and quality of life to create a win-win proposition?

Perhaps this sounds far-fetched, but it’s already being done. With the current knowledge and experience base that exists today, dramatic improvements are being achieved in the way people live and work, to the betterment of both the employees and the business.

The first, and most important step, is to recognize the cause and the huge costs of fatigue, and make a corporate commitment to eliminate them. Too many companies are losing money and risking the safety of their employees by not recognizing the importance and the urgency of fatigue management.

This is evident by the fact that over 90% of shiftworkers receive no training on how to manage their schedules and shiftwork lifestyles. We see many shiftworkers who are well trained and skilled but who have never been taught how to deal with fatigue, better manage their sleep or adapt to the inherent physical and social challenges of shiftwork.

As responsible managers and operators, we strive to keep our equipment welloiled, well-maintained and operated in accordance with its design specs. To do otherwise would ensure premature failure, costly downtime, high maintenance and lost productivity/capacity. So it makes sense to keep what we all tout as our “most important asset” – our people – equally well maintained and operated.

Yet, ironically, our people often are being asked to operate outside their “design specs” every day to support our continuous production requirements. The net result has been premature failure (sickness and injury), costly downtime (absenteeism and presenteeism), high maintenance (health and wellness costs) and lost productivity due to human error.

Continuing to neglect our most important asset will perpetuate this cycle of high cost and catastrophic risk.

It is time to understand that these costs, risks and liabilities no longer have to be accepted and financed as part of doing business.

Information for this article, including much of the research results, is provided

by Circadian and is available on its website, www.circadian.com. Reach Circadian at 781-439-6300 or info@ circadian.com.

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

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Your Reputation.

You put it on the line every day.

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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.

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Safety

Rod Dickens

Working Safely with

Thermoplastic 8 tips to keep you and your crew safe Thermoplastic has been used for pavement striping since the 1950s and remains popular due to its durability and reflective characteristics. The product is more durable than paint because it actually bonds with asphalt and imbedded beads keep “revealing” as the material wears down.

BECAUSE IT IS applied at 400˚F, anyone working around thermoplastic needs to take special care. Among safety precautions, David Kautz, thermoplastic sales and service representative for MRL Equipment, indicated that wearing protective gear is an absolute necessity. So, too, is having a 5-gal. container of water on the jobsite. “The water will cool the burn, but material manufacturers direct anyone in contact with hot thermoplastic to seek medical attention,” he says.

The bonding characteristic that makes thermoplastic so effective in striping makes it especially harmful to the skin. Because of this potential danger, MRL and other manufacturers of thermoplastic striping equipment reiterate how important safety training is for operating their equipment.

“When working around something as hot as thermoplastic, caution takes top priority,” says Marvin Mayle, M-B Companies equipment specialist. “The heated material will splash like water.

Should it get on your skin, it will inflict third-degree burns.”

Added Tim Wehner, Graco global product marketing manager, “After coming in contact with thermoplastic, the last thing one wants to do is touch or

otherwise swipe the burned area. Doing so will spread the burn. Safety is always number one, and material that is 400˚F can be very dangerous if not handled properly.”

But it’s not just the material that can cause injury, he emphasized. “Thermoplastic is hot, but so too is the equipment that melts and applies it. Touching or otherwise brushing up against the equipment without the proper clothing can result in a serious burn.”

Manufacturers direct operators to be safety conscious because safety is their top priority. With proper training and operation, chances of coming in contact with thermoplastic are greatly reduced.

Still accidents happen. It’s 110˚F outside and someone may think that it’s too hot outside for wearing a long-sleeve shirt and long pants, or a crew member acts out of curiosity, “I wonder just how hot that stripe is.”

If for some reason, the thermoplastic gets “over cooked,” it will make it not only hotter than normal, but also more liquid and more susceptible to splashing – all the more reason to wear the proper clothing at all times.

With that said, Kautz, Mayle, and Wehner offer the following safety tips for anyone operating a thermoplastic striper: Tip Receive proper training. Read the #1 Operator’s Manual and learn from someone with experience prior to operating the equipment.

Tip Routinely inspect equipment. #2 Check fuel lines, connections, and other components daily.

Tip Wear protective gear, such as a #3 long-sleeve cotton shirt (cotton won’t melt like polyester), long pants, leather gloves and leather boots. When transferring material, be sure to include welder-type sleeves or gloves, along with a face shield.

Don’t have unnecessary workers involved. When cleaning the lines on a truck-mounted unit, for example, have only one person at the exit point (the gun) and another running the valve on the truck.

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

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Be sure any handliners are secured and empty for transport. Never transport a hand liner that contains heated thermoplastic.

Keep a 5-gal. water cooler at the jobsite. If someone comes in contact with thermoplastic, immediately apply water to the area to reduce the temperature.

Keep a 5-gal. water cooler at the jobsite. If someone comes in contact with thermoplastic, immediately apply water to the area to reduce the temperature.

Tip Make sure vehicles are equipped #5 with a first aid burn kit. Even so, material manufacturers direct those who come in contact with thermoplastic to seek medical attention.

Tip

#4

Avoid having unnecessary personnel standing nearby when transferring material from a pre-melter to the hand liner. The process should only involve two people, one at the valve on the pre-melter and one at the applicator.

Tip Keep the two-people rule when #7 cleaning the lines on a truckmounted striper: one person at the exit point (the gun) and another running the valve on the truck.

Tip

#6

Never transport a hand liner that contains heated thermoplastic. Be sure the unit is secured and empty.

Tip

#8

Based in Madison, WI, Rod Dickens is a freelance writer specializing in the construction industry.

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Your Business Matters |

18

Allan Heydorn, Editor

Hiring Mistakes Contractors Make

...And how you can avoid them HERE, BASED ON RESEARCH, National Pavement Expo (NPE) seminars, and conversations with industry contractors and consultants are 18 of the most-common mistakes contractors make before, during and after the hiring process – and tips on how those mistakes can be avoided.

MISTAKE #1: Hiring at the wrong time. When you’re under the gun in the heart of the season, chances are you’ll take on any warm body that shows up in the morning.

But that approach isn’t going to help you long term. “Hiring is a year-round job even if you’re a seasonal operation,” says Jeff Stokes, Next Level Contractor System and NPE speaker.

AVOID BY: Always be hiring. Consultants and contractors say the best time to be hiring – well, first of all you should always be on the lookout for prospective employees – but the best time is when you don’t need anyone. That way you can be more selective and have a better chance of getting the type of employee you want.

“If you haven’t been pursuing hiring all year and you need a worker in July, odds are you’re not going to get the best person. You need to work the hiring process in advance and throughout the year to be able to have the best hiring options and be able to make the best hiring decision,” Stokes says.

Also, contractors say hiring in the offseason before your work starts enables you to fish

in a better-stocked pond. And if you can actually hire people before you have work – in other words before other contractors hire them – you’re ahead of the game.

Brad Humphrey, Pinnacle Development Group and NPE speaker, recommends hiring year-round but focusing heavily on the process in the offseason when many construction workers are out of work. “That’s the time you can find quality people,” Humphrey says. “You might have to put them on the payroll a few weeks early to get them to commit, but a few weeks’ worth of salary to bring in a quality worker who is going to help you succeed in the field is a small price to pay.”

MISTAKE #2: Not throwing a wide-enough net to find prospects.

AVOID BY: Utilizing all outreach available. In this day and age, there are any number of ways to find prospects – and you should use them all. Job fairs, visits to local tech schools or community colleges, referrals from family and friends, referral bonuses to employees, social media, Craigslist ads, even newspaper ads, all reach a different segment of the working population. Closing the door on too many options restricts the number of people you will reach. Maybe you can’t do all of these all the time (though why not?) but you should at least work through them all regularly.

“Most contractors haven’t formed relationships with the

places they’re going to find the best candidates, places like high schools, community colleges and junior colleges and technical or trade schools,” Stokes says. “Because they haven’t developed those relationships, they end up hiring candidates that otherwise would be ‘unhirable’ for them as opposed to the ‘hirable’ candidates who have not only already had some training but have also demonstrated some level of commitment, effort and responsibility.”

MISTAKE #3: Not being clear – either internally or to the new hire – what you are hiring for.

AVOID BY: Using clear, updated job descriptions.

Yes, this means you have to develop descriptions for each position in your company, but you should have those anyway.

You can’t expect to fill a slot with the ideal candidate if you can’t define – to you or the prospect – what that slot is.

Note that job descriptions need to be modified as the company grows or as you add new services. Each job description should include time commitments and growth opportunities.

MISTAKE #4: Rely on poor interviewing skills.

AVOID BY: Learning how to interview or hiring a professional to interview for you. Prospects, bad ones or good ones, can be sharp and they’ll pick up on signals you send during the interview. You

want them to reveal information about themselves – and you don’t want to tip them off on what you want to hear. You also don’t want to lead them to an answer or provide them an “out” when they struggle.

Interviewing should be viewed as an honest effort by both parties to find a good employment match. But if you don’t know how to interview, you could easily end up with an employee unsuited to the job but who figured out what you needed to hear to get hired.

Stokes says that too many contractors end up hiring the wrong person simply because they didn’t ask the right question, didn’t ask the right question in the best way, or inadvertently “led” the job seeker along to get the answer the employer was looking for. “It simply could be that many contractors and the people they tap to do interviewing and hiring are not sophisticated enough to conduct a quality interview,” Stokes says.

MISTAKE #5: Not checking – or even asking for – references.

AVOID BY: Asking for them and then making the calls. This seems simple, but many employers don’t take the time to make the calls that

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can help them screen out – or in – workers. “Who would give me a reference that’s going to give them a bad review?” is a common excuse, but you’d be surprised. And, just like you might learn a reason to reject a prospect, you might find out why a fringe candidate has more potential than you saw.

MISTAKE #6: Not providing reasons for people to join your company.

AVOID BY: Delineate specifically why a prospect should join your team. This certainly includes salary and benefits, but you should also reference culture, advancement opportunities and any other positive aspect that might make you attractive to an applicant.

MISTAKE #7: Not offering enough hours to workers.

AVOID BY: Finding ways to increase hours. Most people who work construction want the hours, so your company needs to be able to provide them. That might mean finding more work, adding more services, subcontracting less or any combination of those and other options.

“The $1 million companies struggle and are always complaining about help. But the fact is they often don’t have enough work for the people they already have,” Stokes says. “If that’s the case, they’re not going to attract the best people.”

He says some contractors try to solve the low-hours problem by cross-training crews. “The problem is most workers don’t want to jump from one type of work to another day after day.

They want to get good at something and not be a jack-of-alltrades at a bunch of skills they can perform but aren’t really good at.”

MISTAKE #8: Don’t embrace technology.

AVOID BY: Upgrading your technology. As the labor pool – from field workers to supervisors, sales people and managers – gets younger, technology becomes more important. And that’s even ignoring any improvements technology can provide.

“I don’t think Millennials look at construction naturally because they are very computer literate and feel more comfortable working with all sorts of electronics,” Humphrey says. “That’s why I think that contractors who have embraced technology – and that means smart phones and tablets among other technologies – have an advantage in hiring and retaining workers.”

MISTAKE #9: Hiring skills instead of character.

AVOID BY: Paying closer attention to a prospect’s personality and character than the skills he possesses. “It’s difficult to develop character traits if they don’t have them, but if they are of sound character you can build skills,” Humphrey says.

MISTAKE #10: Confusing hiring a field worker with hiring a manager.

AVOID BY: Matching the job needs and skills to the person and his or her characteristics. Not everyone is suited for management or supervisory work – just as not everyone is suited to field work.

When you’re looking to fill a position make sure to pursue the type of person that matches the position.

MISTAKE #11: Don’t beg a prospect to fit a role.

AVOID BY: Recognizing personality traits and skill levels and positioning employees for success based

on their ability. One sure way to lose a solid and content worker, is to move him into a position you need filled but which he is unable or uninterested in filling.

MISTAKE #12: Shortchanging prospects.

AVOID BY: Keeping an open mind, not only when hiring, but once you’ve decided to bring a person on board. The guy you think might become a skilled lute man might just be your next paver operator or even, eventually, supervisor.

Be open to your employees’ interests and growth and provide them the opportunity to move up when they can.

MISTAKE #13: Not paying enough in wages.

AVOID BY: Setting an appropriate and competitive pay scale. You don’t have to far outpace your competition when it comes to the wages you pay, but you do need to pay at least what the market is paying. Contractors who continually pay below-market wages not only have the least-qualified and least-productive employees, but they are also the contractors always in need of new workers.

Why? Because their workers either moved out of the industry or went to the competition.

“This is why it’s so hard for the little guy to make it,” Stokes says. “If he’s out there paying $4 an hour less than other guys in town, he’s probably defending it by saying he’s a small guy and can’t afford to pay more.

But that doesn’t matter because those workers have other places to go. So even if the small guy manages to hire quality people, they eventually will leave for greener pastures across town.”

MISTAKE #14: Don’t provide training.

AVOID BY: Training. How

many people do you know who don’t want to do a good job?

How many do you know who don’t want to learn new skills?

In theory you’ve hired people who want both – so make sure to provide them a chance to learn, grow and develop so they can help your company do the same. Not only will your work quality improve, but so will efficiency on the job and quite possibly you’ll have fewer equipment issues. Plus, by providing training, you’ll be able to better identify the people who “can” and who are interested in staying with and moving up within your company.

“Not training new workers is the biggest mistake contractors make once employees are hired,” Humphrey says.

“Employers have good intentions, but they’re so busy that they stick the new employee on a crew and tell him to watch what the crew does and try to keep up with them. I’ve always felt that for the first week or two, that new employee is not going to be contributing much to productivity anyway so why not use that unproductive time to train him so he can be more productive more quickly?

“That’s where most contractors fall down – they’re doers and not trainers,” Humphrey says. “You can’t just make people feel good, you have to teach them so they become good at what they do, so they can take some pride in their work and so they want to learn more and do better for your company.”

MISTAKE #15: Don’t provide a career path.

AVOID BY: Defining in writing a path to advancement. Stokes says that while training is important,

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Your Business Matters many people – Millennials in particular – want competitive pay, a balance of work and personal life and a career path.

“This certainly includes training but more importantly shows a true path to the next level,” he says. “A recent survey of contractors showed that only 19% have a defined career path plan in place. While they want training, they more importantly want to know where the training is going to take them.”

MISTAKE #16: Be afraid of losing employees.

AVOID BY: Changing your mind-set. A common excuse for not training people is, “As soon as I’ve trained them, they’ll go to a competitor.”

Well, in the big picture if you’ve trained them well, you raise the job quality bar for the whole industry. But more important, why would they leave after you’ve invested training efforts in them? Odds are that there is something you’re doing – or not doing – that gave them a reason to leave, so examine your operation to try to identify what that is. Are you paying market wages? Are you providing enough hours? Are they forced to work too many hours (this is a major concern among the Millennials)? Are they ignored? Is your work environment unsafe? Whatever the reason is, few people will take your training and bolt to the competition without a reason. Identify and fix it.

MISTAKE #17: Not communicating with employees.

AVOID BY: Keeping them in touch and keeping in touch with them. Humphrey says that in a recent consulting job, he conducted exit interviews with two Millennial

Generation workers who had worked for the contractor for less than 30 days. “The exit interview showed that nobody took the time to explain the big picture to them. And no one trained them,” Humphrey says. “They wanted to know what the company does, how it works, where they fit in.”

MISTAKE #18: Having a poor corporate culture.

AVOID BY: Developing a workplace and company that entices people in. This doesn’t mean paying more money – though as mentioned above market wages are a “must.”

But it probably means offering benefits and it might mean offering paid time off. Bonuses, retirement programs, company outings, clean and new vehicles, an organized yard and headquarters, transparency, free uniforms, a high-profile client list – elements contributing to a corporate culture are vast.

But whatever your culture, the more people want to work for your company, the easier it will be to attract (and retain) quality people.

A “good” corporate culture can mean many different things to different people, but a good rule of thumb is to operate a place that you would like to come to work at every day.

And talk with your employees about what they like and don’t like. Change what you can and if there are issues you can’t change, help your employees understand the reasons why.

Ultimately there is a finite pool of workers from which to choose, and anything business owners can do to make their company more attractive to prospective (and current) employees moves that company ahead of the competition where hiring is concerned.

PCTC

RTS has Standards In the 1980s and ‘90s, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) tested asphalt pavement sealcoats and developed criteria for their use at airports. The lead ACOE engineer explained the concern: “Fuel spills and drippage result in the softening and leaching away of asphalt binder from the aggregate. This causes pavement failures due to rutting or raveling of the surface aggregate in the spillage areas. …Parking areas, especially those with constant vehicle turnover, are very susceptible to damage from such spillage. Vehicles have a tendency to lose more fuels either at start-up periods or immediately after shutdown of the engine. Fuel spillage problems can also be particularly severe for airfield pavements… “ (Shoenberger, 1994, Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering).

The reports emphasized that sealcoat performance should be measured with two different goals in mind: (1) protection of the underlying asphalt pavement from oxidation, weathering and non-petroleum chemicals, and (2) protection from seepage of leaked or spilled petroleum products into the asphalt. The ACOE and FAA evaluated the performance of various asphalt-based and refined tar-based sealcoats with regard to preparation of existing pavement surfaces, mixtures of materials, application methods, climatic conditions, adhesion, fuel resistance, cracking, workability, skid resistance and more. Both the ACOE and the FAA reports remarked that, at that time (1980s and early 90s) there was considerable inconsistency among similar products. For example, some products contained more sand than others,

leading to significant differences in parameters such as workability and skid resistance. Some had more additives such as polymer; some had less, leading to yet more differences in characteristics. And contractors had differing theories about application parameters. The inconsistencies meant each batch of sealant products needed to be tested to ensure desired performance specifications were met.

PCTC was founded, in part, from the need for consistency.

PCTC has established standards for refined coal tar-based sealants (RTS) to assist customers prepare specifications. PCTC’s specification guides (PCTC-01, without additives, and PCTC-02, with additives) have now been available for almost 20 years. They can be downloaded from PCTC’s website, www.pavementcouncil.org. The specification guides compliment the series of ASTM® standards that cover everything from the specification for the base ingredient, RT-12, to formulating sealants, to application of sealant on asphalt pavements of airports, parking lots and driveways. Links to the ASTM® standards can be accessed at www. pavementcouncil.org.

Work continues on developing standards for long-term protection and fuel resistance for asphalt-based sealants as well as for recently developed sealants.

With seven decades of usage experience, proven standards in place, a low failure rate, reliable performance and durability, RTS remains the leader in the sealant marketplace.

For more about PCTC visit www. pavementcouncil.org.

52 May 2016 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement

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NAPSA

WSA

Catch Basins and the OSHA Confined Spaces Rule Power sweeping companies which do catch basin work should be familiar with the new Confined Spaces Rule 29 CFR 1926 Subpart AA which went into effect less than 12 months ago. Are you aware of your responsibilities under this rule?

The new Confined Spaces standard requires: • Employers to ensure that their workers know about the existence, location and dangers posed by a permit-required confined space, and ensure that workers do not enter such spaces without authorization.

• Employers to train workers involved in permit-required confined spaces (at no cost to them) so that they can perform their duties safely and understand the hazards methods used to isolate, control or protect workers.

• Employers to provide preentry planning for any worker entering a confined space. This includes: - Having a competent person evaluate the work site.

- Identifying the means of entry and exit, proper ventilation methods, and elimination or control of all potential hazards in any space classified as a permitrequired confined space.

- Ensuring that the air in the confined space is tested, before workers enter, for

Scholarship Applications Due July 1

oxygen levels, flammable and toxic substances, and stratified atmospheres.

- Removing or controlling hazards in the space and determining rescue procedures and necessary equipment for any space classified as a permitrequired confined space.

- Ventilating or using whatever controls or protections are necessary so that employees can safely work in any space where air is not safe for workers • Employer to ensure that the space is monitored for hazards after pre-entry planning has taken place.

Take a moment to ensure you are in compliance with this new regulation. For more information contact OSHA at www.osha.gov.

The North American Power Sweeping Association (NAPSA) is a nonprofit association made up of 200+ contract sweepers, service providers and sweeping equipment dealers, manufacturers and suppliers. NAPSA is dedicated to providing beneficial support to the membership and enhancing services to the sweeping industry. NAPSA is committed to promoting and educating the power sweeping community while enhancing the environment. For more information on NAPSA membership, please visit www.powersweeping.org or call (888) 757-0130.

Do you know about the World Sweeping Association’s Memorial Scholarship Program? This marks the 4th year for WSA to award scholarships.

WSA will again be providing one scholarship in the name of the late Dale McCaskill, Sr., a long-time power sweeping contractor who was killed in a car accident in 2011. The other is given in the name of the late Carl J. Austin, who was a sweeping contractor before becoming a manager for many years with sweeper manufacturer, Schwarze Industries, Inc. To be eligible, a student must be enrolled or enrolling in an accredited university, technical college or trade school and be a near relative of an employee of a power sweeping company, employed at the company or similar. However, relatives of company principals are not eligible.

WSA began the program in 2013 as a way to help increase the education and, thus, the professionalism, of the power sweeping industry. It’s also a way for the Association to give back to the contractors who are involved in our industry.

As in previous years, in 2016 WSA will offer a total of two scholarships, each in the amount of $1,000. However, if the selected student’s sponsor

company is a member of the World Sweeping Association, the scholarship amount will be doubled to $2,000.

WSA is actively soliciting donations to fund and, eventually, expand this yearly program. Later this year, our organization anticipates holding an online auction of sweepingrelated items donated by industry support companies.

To make a donation and/ or access WSA’s scholarship applications — including an informational poster you can print out for your bulletin board — go to this website URL: www.worldsweepingpros.org/ scholarships/ Scholarship applications are due by July 1st.

If you have any questions about the program, don’t hesitate to contact me via e-mail sent to director@ worldsweepingpros.org.

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.

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

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Technology

Jessica Stoikes, Associate Editor

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

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www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement • PAVEMENT • May 2016 55

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CONTRACTOR SNAPSHOT

|

Jessica Stoikes, Associate Editor

Following Up on Success Mike Cleck Paving & Sealcoating started with a very good year in 2005 and never looked back EVERY ONCE IN a while we follow up on a contractor we’ve written about in the past when we think their experiences will make for a valuable lesson for our readers.

Mike Cleck was featured 10 years ago after he quit his job as a paver operator in Mifflintown, PA to expand his weekend sealcoating business into a full-time paving operation.

The first article, “A Very Good Year,” talked about Cleck’s experiences setting out on his own and the challenges of learning to operate your own business.

Then the recession hit and everyone struggled to survive.

Insult to Injury “My company grew extensively in 2005, 2006 and 2007 and we were expanding and upgrading equipment and improving employee benefits,” Cleck says. “2008 hit us hard and was devastating with the crude oil prices causing asphalt to skyrocket and the economy hit a recession. It was hard to go through, not only for me but my crew.”

Cleck had to downsize in order to stay in business. “I cared about my crew and set up interviews for all of them to get jobs with a large paving company and they all succeeded in obtaining employment which was a relief for me,” Cleck says.

Then another blow. Cleck was involved in an accident that broke his arm in three places.

“I had to undergo multiple surgeries,” Cleck says. “When

I was laid up in the hospital, I trusted my employees to look out for the company during my recovery but I had two trusted employees that really took advantage and really hurt the company and the other employees. They had stolen from me and actually cost the company a lot of money.”

After that incident, Cleck really focused on finding good, trustworthy people he could count on and working on ways to better manage his bookkeeping.

“I would say over 75% of our work is based on reputation and word of mouth alone.”

“I’m on every job from start to finish and I didn’t keep track of everything that was going on with the paperwork,” Cleck says. “Now I watch everything down to the penny. I pay attention to both the business end and the jobsite.

“Years 2008 and 2009 were set-backs but I stuck with it and worked hard to overcome a lot of what had happened. I love to pave and I knew this is what I wanted to stick with so I suffered through it and got through the sleepless nights and here we are today better than ever.”

Better Than Ever

2016 marks the 12th year that Cleck has been in business for himself and he knows that being a great paver and doing a great job doesn’t necessarily mean you will be successful.

“You have to know every inch of the business, such as sales, marketing, public relations, accounting, forecasting and budgeting,” he says.

Reputation and word of mouth continues to be the biggest asset for the company, who now travels almost 60 miles from their headquarters to complete work for customers who have heard about jobs Cleck and his crew have completed.

“The success of Mike Cleck Paving has always been based on our reputation for doing a great, high quality job consistently every time we pave,” Cleck says. “I would say over 75% of our work is based on reputation and word of mouth alone.”

And since his background was a paver operator, Cleck is on the paver on every job ensuring that reputation is upheld.

“And I am a perfectionist,” Cleck says. “The crew may get a little upset with me at times but it’s my reputation and I am not satisfied until the job is perfect. This mind-set has gotten us through the set-backs such as the recession, dishonest employees and injuries.

“I care about my crew and want to make things better for them in the future,” Cleck says. “I want to make cautious decisions and adjustments in order to keep supplying the quality work we are known for and offer my employees more benefits to show my appreciation. I have all really hard workers and they deserve more.

“When things get bad or you have a bad year, hang in there, make adjustments if needed and there will be brighter days ahead.”

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

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Index

PAVEMENT Published by AC Business Media Inc.

Advertiser Index

PAGE

Auto Loc Transport Systems

27

B & E Seal Coat Products Inc.

27

Buffalo Turbine

29

Carlson Paving Products Inc.

59

Copperstate Hose

28

Crafco Inc.

9, 39

Deery

4

Editorial Office: Allan Heydorn, 2339 Stratford, Westchester, IL 60154 (708) 531-1612 | Fax: (708) 531-1613 | aheydorn@ACBusinessMedia.com

Dickson Industries Inc.

37

Dispensing Technology Corporation

29

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 Audience Development Manager: Angela Kelty

Elgin

41

EZ-Liner

26

Fairmont Specialty

8

Gem Seal Pavement Products

2

GuardTop

26

Keystone

28

K-M International

5

ADVERTISING SALES: (800) 538-5544 Tom Lutzke, Jill Draeger, Eric Servais, Sean Dunphy, Amy Schwandt, Erica Finger, Denise Singsime

Kutrite Mfg.

24

LaserLine Mfg. Inc.

27

LaserPoint

24

LeeBoy

35

M-B Companies Inc.

22

MRL Equipment Co., Inc.

24, 28

Mystic Wlasher Clelaning Systems

29

Neyra

21

N. I. Wilson Mfg. Co., Inc.

28

Quik Pave Products Inc.

55

Ram Commercial Trucks

30 – 31

Road Science

25

Seal-Rite

13

SealMaster

Insert, 60

Southern Emulsions Inc.

43

SOY-solv

26

Tymco

6

Unique Paving Materials Corp.

23

Waterblasting Technologies

22

Weiler

7

201 N. Main Street | Fort Atkinson, WI 53538 800.538-5544 • www.ACBusinessMedia.com www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement

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

Get fast, relevant product information in the Buyers Guide at

ForConstructionPros.com

www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement • PAVEMENT • May 2016 57

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Tailgate Talk

|

Brad Humphrey

The “.01 Second” Winning Job ARE YOU KIDDING ME? The large title across the sports page in a national paper read, “.01 SECONDS HUGE.” Denny Hamlin had just finished ahead of Martin Truex Jr. by the slimmest of margins, .01 seconds, to win the 2016 Daytona 500.

I mean, “Come on man,” if you blinked at the finish you missed it by .005 seconds!

Now, I’m not a rabid NASCAR fan, but I know great finishes when I see it… or read about in the paper. “.01 seconds”? Wow! I bet all sorts of money was made or lost on that finish. After reading about this incredible win for Hamlin, I then began to dig a little more as to how does a racing team plan to win any race. The comparisons to contractors might surprise you.

The best of NASCAR teams will all tell you the same thing about winning a race: teamwork, plans, strategies, contingency plans, great people, steady driver, wisdom and just a little luck on race day. Sound similar to what every contractor needs to be successful on every project? Consider the following needs: ➊ Teamwork between office, sales, estimating, yard, crew leaders and crew members. ➋ Plans that spell out how the job will begin, how it will be completed, and how it will be exited…all on the 1st time only! ➌ Strategies for preparing the project, coordinating

with other contractors, client building efforts, and preventing any unsafe work conditions or processes. ➍ Making contingency plans in the chance that material plants let us down, other contractors do not collaborate, or bad weather post-pones important pours, or placement of iron and steel. ➎ Find, hire and retain good people through offering competitive pay, the best benefits of any area contractor and an emphasis on education that will strengthen our workers and our company far into the future. ➏ Steady project and crew leaders who prepare and perform calmly, exerting the best of professionalism that encourages hard and smart work while reducing costly mistakes and poor communication. ➐ The wisdom that improves every decision and action because we have strategically prepared for every move we make, realizing that there are consequences to every effort. ➑ And finally, just a little luck here and there when even our best thought out plans and our most sincerest of intentions fail us. Every contractor needs a little luck once in a while, such as when that inspector

calls to reschedule, and you with unfinished work; or, the customer shows up for a quick VIP tour the day before all “He!!” breaks loose. Yep, I’ll take luck over good any day of the week.

What I find amazing about the NASCAR team is their attention to detail, knowing that they could be beat by “.01 seconds.” Isn’t that true for contractors as well? How many jobs have you won by the slimmest of profit? How many projects have you won that had plenty of profit built in only to find your actual project completion running in the red and only by some last week of changes allowed you to barely make a profit.

As my one of my past

mentors once shared with me, “Brad, always ‘Prepare for the worse; Hope for the best!’” If Denny Hamlin and team did anything, they were prepared to drive the required 500 laps all the way to a winning finish…even one that was faster than a blinking eye.

Here’s to building your project strategy to win every project by nothing less than a photo finish…and hopefully more!

Brad Humphrey is president of Pinnacle Development Group, a consulting firm that specializes in the construction industry. He recently introduced “PDG’s Two-Minute Drill,” a video series for construction owners, leaders, sales professionals and employees. For more information visit www.pinnacledg.com.

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

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