Pavement consultants affected by economy
April 24th, 2009 by Allan Heydorn. Posted in Pavement RoundaboutI had a chance to talk with a couple of pavement consultants the other day, and they both report the world has changed from their perspective.
Both consultants work extensively for commercial clients, many of whom have locations spread across the country. The consultants evaluate parking lots, develop bid specs, and in some cases screen contractors and oversee work.
One national property management company has put a halt on all pavement maintenance work for the time being. The consultant explained it’s not that the firm doesn’t believe in pavement maintenance — just that they’re tightening their belt as much as possible. That’s a big chunk of work lost at least for the time being. Luckily for this particular consultant his company also works in the public sector and has already been awarded some projects as a result of the federal stimulus package, so 2009 is shaping up to be a good year.
The other consultant has seen a major shift in the way one of the corporations he works for is handling its properties. The consultant works for a major corporation that managed virtually all its properties centrally. In 2008, however, many of the properties were franchised, and much of the decision-making became fragmented at the local level. Probably good for local contractors, not so good for this consultant.
But he does still work for the parent company, and he has a number of other national accounts who not only are not cutting back on pavement maintenance but are actually ramping up some work. So 2009 is looking fine, though different, for him.
May 7th, 2009 at 5:37 pm
A lot of areas in construction have been slowing down with the economy lately.
June 23rd, 2009 at 11:46 am
Great blog post. Adding you to my list. Thanks!
August 28th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
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September 23rd, 2009 at 5:12 am
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October 14th, 2009 at 9:47 pm
Thank you for your article on this is very important subject.Very informative and easy read.I think that due to recession the growth of construction has slow down which badly affected the economic development.Hope so i will get the further updates in future.
Thanks,
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October 15th, 2009 at 8:41 am
It has been a tough year but we’re hearing some interesting and unusual things happening out there. In a post in late spring or early summer I mentioned how contractors were bidding an unusually large number of commercial projects — but that few of the bids were getting awarded.
Seems that might be changing, at least in some markets. Contractors are still battling lousy weather but many have conveyed that they have plenty of work on the books to get through by the end of the season. My initial thought was that those bids are getting let, and hopefully that’s the case.
To see if that was affecting materials manufacturers I made a few random calls and got positive news: sales are at the least equaling last year and in a number of cases are up over last year at this time. In fact, one materials producer reports his trucks are “really flying out the door” with sales up 38% over last year at this time.
Here’s hoping for a nice long end to the season — and a two-week Indian Summer after that.