Is 2010 ahead of 2009?

It's still early but there are signs that work is picking up. In 2009 contractors reported they were bidding an awful lot of work but much of that work wasn't awarded until autumn -- or wasn't awarded at all. But as of mid-June many contractors are reporting that for the first time in two or three years they actually have a backlog of work scheduled out ahead. Examples include: • A striping company on the East Coast is three weeks out (double what it was the last two years but half of what it was five years ago), • A Michigan paving & pavement maintenance company has much “promised” work in the pipeline and is scheduled 10 days out – about what the company feels comfortable with and where their schedule has always been (because that provides enough flexibility to handle just about any job that comes up as it comes up), • A New Mexico paving and sealcoating contractor is about two weeks out, which is a week or so better than the last couple of years but a couple of weeks behind where he’d like to be, • A full-service California contractor is about 20 days out, up seven to 10 days over last year but about seven to 10 days down from where they were five years ago. Let us know what you're schedule looks like -- and how it differs from years past.