Construction Equipment Owner

Onboard compaction monitoring systems aren’t just for large soil and asphalt compactors. The technology has also made its way into walk-behind reversible plate compactors for trench and utility work and landscaping applications. It essentially works the same way - response or rebound is measured, then fed back to the operator.

BOMAG offers the technology on its plate compactors, as does Weber Machine, Inc., which offers COMPATROL technology on its 900-lb. and larger machines. It will be introducing the technology next spring on its 600-lb. models. “About 50% of the units we sell are equipped with the device,” says Peter Witt, Weber’s president, “and that number is continuing to grow.”

Like systems on the larger units, COMPATROL saves time spent on compaction. “The system tells you when you’ve achieved maximum compaction so you can finish in less time,” Witt states. “Without the technology, in the best-case scenario, you may just waste time. In the worst-case scenario, you can over-compact the soil. It also reduces time spent reworking weak spots after testing, simply because there will not be any weak spots.”

About a year ago, Paul Caruso, owner of Caruso Landscape Design in Braintree, MA, purchased a Weber CR7 plate compactor with the technology for compacting the base for a 19-ft. retaining wall. “I wanted to minimize the guesswork as to whether or not the backfill was compacted properly to reduce my liability and increase efficiency,” he says. “With retaining walls, failure can be a problem if compaction isn’t done properly, and there was a lot at stake with this project.

“Plus, if the compaction control monitor is reading at the level you need, then you can do the [verification] test,” he continues. “You’re not calling in unnecessarily for a compaction test when you don’t know if you’re done. Even on jobs that don’t require a test, it’s good to know that you’re reaching full compaction.”

Read more about how compaction technology is improving productivity and quality control.

If my previous blogs didn’t get this across, this one surely will: 2009 has been a year of vastly different contractor stories. I’ve heard from contractors who are barely making it, from contractors who are doing the same volume with less margin, and from contractors who have seen parts of their business grow unexpectedly. But I haven’t talked with a contractor who reports he’s having his “best year ever” and attributes it to the economy.

Until now.

I won’t reveal the company or the city, except to say it on the eastern seaboard in the South, but the owner of the 20-year-old sealcoating-focused business says this year has been his best ever. Go figure.

“The economy has helped, there’s not question about that,” he says. “We’re a sealcoating contractor and people all over our market have not paved — they’ve sealcoated instead.”

More than half of this contractor’s sales are to the commercial market, with the rest going to residential work, and the owner says buyers seem to be reluctant to get involved in construction. “They have become very maintenance oriented and very maintenance conscious,” he says. “They are paying close attention to the costs of things and are becoming more frugal too.”

He adds that his residential work has increased at least partly because fewer people are selling their homes. “They are staying in place so they are maintaining the properties they have,” he says. “All that combined to give us a great year.”

But it’s not just the market that has helped his company. He says he has well-trained employees and a good fleet of well-maintained equipment that enables them to do a quality job in an efficient manner. “Through September we’ve only had three call-backs all season,” he says. “That’s good work, especially considering the number of jobs we’ve done.”

And he adds that the good 2009 has laid the basis for a good 2010. “Already we are scheduled more than one month out next year,” he says.

Well, that headline ought to cause a few people to pause. Of course one answer is “No, there is no upside to 10% unemployment levels” — especially if you are one of the 10% out there seeking work.

But there might just be something positive contractors can take from these unfortunately high unemployment figures: Quality workers.

For years I and my fellow Cygnus editors and salespeople have made regular visits to contractors throughout the country, learning about individual businesses and markets, putting all that information together so we have a good sense of the industries we cover. We refer to these visits as “reader calls” and we do them so we can cover these industries effectively and so our advertisers know that we know what we’re doing.

In each of those visits we ask contractors what they consider to be their “critical issues,” the one or two things that keep them up at night. And year after year almost every single contractor we’ve visited mentions “finding good employees” as one of the biggest problems. In fact, many contractors (over the years) have said they could easily grow their business or add a crew if they could find the quality employees to staff it.

Well, if that’s the case then now is the time to be looking and hiring. With unemployment at 10% nationwide — and higher in some areas — there are plenty of hard-working, quality people out there looking for a good job with decent pay. Most of them might not have considered working for a paving or pavement maintenance crew, but many people change careers over their working life. So if you’re looking for quality people to build your company around this might be just the right time to get aggressive about hiring. (Plus, there’s word that a federal government is going to institute a tax break job credit equal to 15% of wages on newly created jobs in 2010 and 10% on newly created jobs in 2011.)

My idea of excitement includes a canoe and a slow river, or cross-country skiing on flat terrain. Pretty much the exact opposite of excitement for people who partake in BASE jumping, a sport where people parachute off fixed objects. But just in case you’re looking for inspiration to create a little excitement of your own, read this article about this Bridge Day celebration in West Virginia and how ALL Crane Equipment & Rental Corp. helped a group of adrenaline junkies get their fix. There’s even a You Tube video!

One of the problems with reporting information from specific contractors is too often that information is read to be indicative of the entire industry. In some years that might be fine, but not this year. Whether the differences are geographic, contractor size, contractor experience, weather.. or something else (who knows what it might be), contractors are reporting a 2009 year that varies widely.

Consider:
* A contractor out West has always offered paving services, which he subs out to various paving contractors. This year his paving has overtaken his sealcoating work by leaps and bounds.
* On the other side of the country a sealcoating specialist is having his best year ever, partly, he thinks, because people are unwilling to spend the money to pave.
* Down South a small pavement marking contractor who just a year or so ago was so busy we was having to bid jobs by phone and fax — and he was getting the lion’s share of that work — is now out pounding the pavement to drum up business.
* A Plains State sweeping contractor is fighting to maintain sweeping frequency — after eating fuel cost increases the last couple of years — as commercial clients are trying to save money by cutting back.
* In the Midwest a multi-faceted contractor has been going great guns all summer, with crews working seven days and week and 60 hours a person. But competition is tough, often going up against five or six bidders as opposed to maybe three a couple of years ago. And here’s the kicker: His business is down from last year and profits are down 20% from a year ago.
* Another midwestern contractor reports he had plenty of work — and was waiting on many, many bids — into August. But work just came to a screeching halt in September, but by Oct. 1 he was up and running full steam ahead with more than five weeks’ work on the books.
* Contractors from Minnesota through Maine are struggling to decide how to finish off their season. Temperatures have been unpredictable or predictably too cold to sealcoat, and in many New England areas snow has all but shut down (temporarily, we hope) most pavement maintenance work.
* And a consultant we talk with who handles more than a dozen pavement maintenance clients nationwide says half are doing as well as last year while half are not doing as well sales-wise but through cost-cutting and efficiency efforts will manage to turn the same profit as they did in 2008.

Which of these situations represents the “real” paving & pavement maintenance industry of 2009? All of them — and depending on your market and how you’ve approached your business this year any of the above statements could represent your company.

It’s great to be able to talk with the consultants who work in this industry. Not only do they know their stuff but because they work with a number of companies throughout the country they have their finger on the pulse of what’s going on in this industry and can provide information and insights from their customers — property managers or contractors — that I might otherwise not have access to.

Had a great conversation with one such consultant earlier this week. He handles more than two dozen accounts and more than half of those are contractors in the pavement maintenance industry. His verdict: Contractors are weathering the year pretty well, with “weathering” being an appropriate term. A number of his contractor clients (and many others he has heard from or heard about) have been battling rain all season and unseasonably cold weather as autumn hit (and as if to prove the point, yesterday parts of the Northeast got hammered with an early snowstorm, as much as 8 inches, with more snow in the offing). Contractors certainly don’t need that at this point of the season.

But what about his more than a dozen pavement maintenance clients? “They are doing okay,” he says. “About half of them have added a service or picked up work in one area or another so their sales and profits for them are up over a year ago.” He says he has spent much of his time encouraging them to aggressively pursue more work from existing accounts and to add services that dovetail with their existing business. “That’s been a hard sell because everyone wants to cut back, but now is the time when contractors can solidify their hold and even expand their place in their market, and the contractors that have been able to do that have seen very good results.”

But not all contractors feel they can pursue new work or add services — they want to cut back. So how are those contractors doing? “Actually, they are doing well,” he says. “Some of my clients just don’t feel comfortable spending and being aggressive in a market like we’ve had this year, so I’ve worked with them in a different way.” For those contractors he focused on cost savings, increasing efficiency, and making cuts — including staffing cuts. “Those contractors in many cases are in markets where work has not been as available as in the past, so they are experiencing fewer sales and will end the year with lower sales volume than last year. But, as a result of their efforts they will see the same profit as last year.”

National Careers in Construction Week will take place this week. Last year several governors proclaimed Careers in Construction Week in their state and the week received recognition from the White House. Besides the possibility of being recognized by the White House, this week your construction business should make the effort to promote the industry and the rewarding career opportunities it provides. It will also be a good opportunity to further relay the message of the need for a multi-year highway investment bill.

You can find materails to assist your organization and others in planning a successful week including: a comprehensive Careers in Construction Week Planning Guide equipped with sample press releases, logos, proclamation templates, and suggested week activities at the NCCER Careers website. NCCER also has the 2008 Build Your Future career awareness video that you can watch below.

You might think that publishing a magazine devoted essentially to paving & pavement maintenance “best practices” might deter fly-by-night folks (as usual I won’t call them contractors) from plying their poor service and thievery in a nearby town but apparently that’s not the case. Pavement is headquartered in Fort Atkinson, WI, and in nearby Jefferson a disreputable contractor has been going door to door offering a “good deal” because he has “leftover asphalt.” Local police won’t call it a scam but I will.

I haven’t received the typical number of calls this year complaining of this kind of operation, so maybe there are fewer of these people out there. On the other hand, maybe the market has gotten so accustomed to dealing with them that these charlatans are just a “normal” part of doing business in this industry, but I hope not.

Here some easy ways to differentiate yourself from the fly-by-nights that plague your customers and damage your market and the industry image:
* Carry insurance and reference it in your bid and marketing materials
* Use a pre-printed bid form that includes your company name, physical address, and phone number
* Have a website — even a basic site is better than no site — and refer prospects to it
* Paint your name on your vehicles — magnetic signs can mean there’s a reason to remove the name from the truck
* Have strong references and encourage prospects to contact them

These are only a few ideas — respond with some of your own tips — but perhaps the most important step you can take is to provide this type of information to your marketplace so your prospects know what to look for.

Each year, Concrete Contractor magazine chooses its list of Top Products for the concrete industry. Results are tabulated by reader interest generated by products that run in each issue. Have you seen the list of products this year? Lots of people have been interested in the results, including the folks at HGTVpro.com. Check out the article they posted on their website about the Top Products winners.

Here’s an interesting little construction tid-bit I came across in regards to practices of training the younger workforce entering the construction industry. The following information was supplied by LexisNexis:

Japanese construction firms are acting to carry veteran workers’ skills and knowledge to young staff as they are concerned about a shrinking workforce at a time when baby boomers are retiring.

Taisei Corp. has started deploying retired employees in building and engineering work sites to teach young staff. In May last year, Shimizu Corp. started letting veteran staff visit construction sites regularly to give advice. The company launched workshops in February to allow workers to share improvements in skills.

Tobishima Corp. has appointed over 30 veterans, mainly in their 50s, as skill keepers. “We hope to surely preserve Tobishima’s DNA,” a company official said.

According to the Japan Civil Engineering Contractors Association, five major Japanese constructors are expected to lose 12,000 workers together for compulsory retirement over seven years starting in 2005.

I like the concept of “skill keepers.” The thought of how you are going to replace your aging workforce may have been pushed to the back burner in the recent market, but now may be the time to start crafting your plan on how the skills and knowldge of your older employees don’t leave with the workers but get passed down and remain in your crews.