Hello, welcome to my blog and thank you for reading. My name is Sam Simon and I am the editor of ForConstructionPros.com. I'm joining my colleagues Rebbecca Wasieleski and Allan Heydorn in the blogosphere providing the online audience of construction professionals with insights, issues and other topics from all over the industry. I plan on using this blog to share in my ventures through the different aspects of the construction world. Part of my job allows me to meet with contractors, equipment manufacturers and a host of other people who have a hand in construction in their own way. Only so much information can be relayed in articles, podcasts, video broadcasts, etc. so this is a perfect forum to relay some of the other bits of...

Talked on the phone recently with Lars Ingerslev, owner of Competitive Asphalt Coatings Inc. in Norco, CA. We had set up time to do an interview (read the story in October/November Pavement) while he was on the road, driving to present a bid, and for some reason things weren't happening; we weren't connecting. Not at all unusual in my end of the business where I am constantly pulling contractors or manufacturers away from their daily efforts and frequently disrupting their daily schedule. But Lars called back and here's the deal: He's an hour out of Norco, heading to the bid; his employee pulls into the yard to pick up the work order, but the work order isn't there - though it was when Lars left the yard the night before. As Lars said...

Each year, in addition to the weekly (almost daily) contact we have with contractors and manufacturers, Cygnus Business Media sends its editors into the field on what we call "reader calls." We visit contractors, spend some time with them, either on a job or in their office, and just talk about their business, the industry, and whether Pavement, National Pavement Expo, and National Pavement Expo West serve their needs. This is a great opportunity for us to make sure we're on the right track, to learn about new trends, learn how work is done, and to gain some insights we might otherwise not have gained without a field visit. Many of our article ideas, seminar ideas, and any shifts in program or magazine emphasis are partly driven by...

Many contract sweepers have been experimenting with tracking via global positioning systems (GPS) for years - some even spending thousands of dollars to develop their own sweeping-focused GPS. And depending on which sweeping contractors you talk with, GPS can be a business-saving technology that improves job quality, employee performance, profits and customer confidence. It might be expensive, and if you pay for too-detailed a service, you might be wasting money, but sweepers (and owners of other construction equipment, and insurance companies) have come to accept that GPS is valuable in pinpointing a truck or an action at a specific time and location. Now the Illinois State's Attorney's office agrees, and they have a judge who supports...