Construction Equipment Owner

Seems we can’t turn on the television, read the newspaper, or access just about any internet news site without reading that we could be, might be, or already are in one of the most-dreaded of economic situations, a recession. Never mind that a real recession requires six - six! - full months of economic decline and as of this writing we’ve had only one, recession is just one of those news “stories” the other media likes because, like “fire,” “shooting,” “accident,” and “illicit affair” the word elicits a reaction and draws attention, regardless of whether the information provided is beneficial, or even whether it’s accurate. I’m not saying we aren’t in a recession; I’m just saying let’s wait until the numbers are in, then call it what it is, recession or not.

Walking briskly from the bookstore to the car the other day I was stopped by typically dressed, warm-looking teenager. We approached each other as I rounded a corner, his hands were dug deep into his coat pockets, his scarf tight around his neck, and his long and unruly brown hair blowing in the cold wind. He made a hesitant step to interrupt my stride, seemed to stop himself, then started again toward me.

“Excuse me,” he said. “Could you help me out with a dollar or two for a train ticket?” I slowed, said, sorry, but no, and kept walking. Then I stopped. I had just spent more than I’d planned to on an assortment of gifts and some holiday cheer, and I reconsidered. I turned and asked him where he was going. “Union Station, in the city,” he said. Reasonable, as the train station was only two blocks away. I pulled a $5 bill from my wallet, handed it to him, and he seemed surprised. “Merry Christmas,” I told him. “Hope you get into the city soon.” He thanked me, wished me Merry Christmas, too, and we each went our separate ways…me toward my car and him toward the station. Could it have been a scam? Of course. Does it really matter? No. I decided long ago I can’t be the arbiter of who is or isn’t legitimate when asking me for spare change, and while I can’t give to everyone — who can? — I give when I can.

‘Tis the season when our collective soul seems more alive than it does at other times of the year. So if you’re approached by someone who might be in need, and if you can afford some spare change or a dollar or two, consider helping him out. That dollar or two will likely have a bigger impact on his life than keeping it will have on yours. For those who want a little more security when making donations to those less fortunate, you can visit www.CharityWatch.org or www.CharityNavigator.org to learn which charities do the best job of putting your donation where it’s supposed to go.

And from all of us at Pavement Maintenance & Reconstruction, National Pavement Expo, and National Pavement Expo West, we wish you and your families a holiday season of warmth and cheer and new year of peace.

Mike Horn, Foothills Paving & Maintenance, Wheat Ridge, CO, came to National Pavement Expo West last month to present what was (not surprisingly) a very highly rated seminar. He was working at the show and those who attended his “Maximize Crack Repair Profits!” seminar likely took home some darn good ideas about how to do just that.

But Mike didn’t stop working once his seminar was done – because he knows how to get the most out of a trade show. First, he brought a number of his employees with him – and they all attended near a full house (note the Las Vegas reference) of NPE West seminars. So far, so good, but a lot of contractors attending conference programs do that. By bringing more people you can cover more seminar topics and absorb more information.

What Mike did that was different is he scheduled what he terms a “debriefing” the week after the show. Mike brought everyone together and they compared notes. They shared what they learned, talked about what they shared, and, he says, got a little excited about where the company could go. So far, still good, but Foothills Paving & Maintenance took even another step, and this one was a giant step. At the debriefing they compiled a list of 41 points – 41! – the company wanted to act on or at least investigate.

“Some of the things we learned are immediate, things we can do and will do almost right away,” Mike says. “Others are short-term things that we can start working on and put in place relatively quickly. And still others are long-term things that we’ll probably hand over to internal committees to look into a little more.”

Whoa! I’m sure Foothills Paving & Maintenance isn’t the only contractor that uses educational programs in this way, but they sure offer a great blueprint to follow. We’ll check back with Foothills in the future to see what the status of those 41 points is.

Be honest now. How many undocumented immigrants are on your payroll right this second? Last season? The last couple of years? If you’re like many contractors you hire people who can do the work and don’t pay much attention to their documentation…or you look the other way even if you know.

And if you’re short manpower on a crew — for a day, a week, or even more — how have you handled that in the past? Many contractors turn to the pool of day laborers available in most markets of a decent size. These folks aren’t skilled pros, they’re warm bodies willing to put in a day of work, trading their unskilled labor for wages. Not the best situation for either party, certainly, but almost an essential part of the construction industry’s labor pool … Unless you work in Chicago.

An article in the Chicago Tribune reports day laborers are suing the city for harassment, despite the fact contractors utilize these folks every day. A touchy issue to be sure, especially with current concerns over immigration. But many paving and pavement maintenance contractors would have a tough time filling out crews were it not for some of these folks.

In the business of making and repairing tanks for 28 years, Dean Roberts Sales brought one of its sealcoating tanks to help contractors visualize what the customer-tank manufacturer can provide. Dean Roberts Sales provides skid-, truck-, and trailer-mounted tanks in addition drop-off storage tanks, in sizes from 300 to 11,000 gallons.

For contractors working from the ground up, H-MACH International Inc. introduced its Cross Blade Fine Grader, which relies on a 100-hp Caterpillar diesel engine and a 10-foot sliding moldboard. With a turning radius of 8 feet, 6 inches, the Cross Blade seemed to attract quite a bit of attention from contractors looking for a compact grader.

Wayne Sweepers used NPE West to introduce their new Gladiator broom sweeper to the industry and the many members of the North American Power Sweeping Association attending the show. A striking black floor model with a red slash along its side, Wayne says the Gladiator features “state of the art multiplexing,” an hydraulic-powered water pump, and a “super-efficient” oil coolants system.

The bane of the paving and pavement maintenance contractor has always been weather, and while you can’t control it a new service from Weatherbill Inc. might make you able to compensate for it. Another exhibitor that attracted a fair share of attention, Weatherbill Inc. is essentially an insurance program for the days when you can’t work and helps protect profits from too much rain, cold or heat. Owners can cover a day, a week, a month, a project — or an entire season – and Weatherbills are flexible so contractors can match their need and budget to the coverage.

Just like its sister show, National Pavement Expo West has grown steadily over the years and is increasingly recognized as the best way for exhibitors to reach contractors on the West Coast. How do we know? Because the exhibit floor continues to grow and because new exhibitors continue to seek out the event. In fact, NPE West 2007 boasted the greatest number of new exhibitors – 21 – in its history, and contractor attendance again topped 1100, with roughly 20% (based on informal hands-raised counts in seminars) being newcomers to the Las Vegas event. Those who attended had a chance to learn about these new companies first hand, but for those who couldn’t make I’ll roll out some information over the next few days on some of these first-time exhibitors.

Back from National Pavement Expo West in Las Vegas and right off I’d like to thank those of you who took a few minutes to stop by and say hello – and there were quite a few of you. This is a great opportunity to for me to meet contractors, discuss the state of the industry in your market, learn how so many of you go about business in such different ways, and you can believe that I came back into the office with a head full of story ideas and a suit coat full of contractor business cards to call about them.

Lots of insights to report from NPE West and I’ll trickle them out over the next few entries, but let’s start with some of the comments from exhibitors. I won’t reveal the companies – I didn’t ask if I could quote them, this was just in conversation – but one sealer producer told me he’d had “the best first day” he’d ever had at NPE West. Another said he had “a great day” but was disappointed in himself for not getting a larger booth and bringing more equipment (he’s already planning for next year). Still another (actually two different exhibitors) said they were especially impressed with the quality of the people walking the floor, stopping to talk and learn – and buy.

Quality contractors, quality exhibitors, and I enjoyed talking with all of you.

How has your year been? Pretty good, I’d guess … unless your market focus is new residential construction.

A recent report by Associated Builders and Contractors finds that in the 12 months from September 2006 to September 2007 nonresidential construction spending grew almost 17% while residential construction spending declined almost the same amount, just over 16%. So contractors invested primarily in that market have felt the seat belt tighten and heard the tires screech as residential new construction slammed on its brakes, and those contractors probably are trying to decide what steps to take to make sure they don’t go through another year like this one.

While there are no simple answers – every contractor in every market has his or her own issues to contend with – diversifying the services you offer and the markets you do business in can certainly help smooth out the spending bumps in the uneven construction road.

I’ll be out at National Pavement Expo West in Las Vegas, this Thursday through Saturday, directing a conference program that just might offer some insights into how you can protect your business by helping you diversify, grow, or simply operate more effectively. If this week isn’t good for you check out National Pavement Expo, Jan. 30-February 2 in Nashville, which has even more you can learn. For more information on either show visit www.nationalpavementexpo.com.

My last blog entry dealt with Timothy Ferriss’s book, The 4-hour Workweek, and this entry builds on that (and on a comment from Nick Howell, T&N Asphalt Services). Delegating responsibility can certainly free up some of your time, and related to that, I think, is the impact subcontracting (Ferriss refers to “outsourcing”) can have on your business. By tying your company to reputable contractors who perform work you don’t perform, you can become more important to your customers and can solve more of their problems. You can not only sealcoat but pave; not only pave but stripe – and you can do it without buying a piece of equipment, or hiring or training new people. If you select the right company to work with – a company that is reliable and that does good work – there’s almost no risk for you. That’s the typical approach to subcontracting.

But another approach, an approach contractors often don’t think about, is to subcontract out some of your business management services. You probably already “subcontract” some of them if you have an accountant or an attorney, but many contractors have had success working with employee leasing companies. These operations offer a variety of services, from simply handling your payroll to advertising, screening, and hiring employees – all skills that are essential but can take up a lot of your time.

While Ferriss’s book is a bit much to me, it did make me think. If there’s a business or management book that’s made an impact on your business I hope you’ll share it and your insights with the readers of my blog.

OK, who could pass up a book titled The 4-Hour Workweek? Well, if you’re one of the thousands who, like me, took a shot at it (putting it on the New York Times Best Seller List for several months), shame on us. We should know better, especially in an industry that demands long days and hard, physical labor over anywhere from six to 12 months depending on the region you work in.

Of course, the title does pull you in. Who wouldn’t want to work just 4 hours a week? Of course the real key to working four hours a week is to work 4 but still get paid for the other 36 or 40 or 50 (stop me when I get close) hours many contractors put in regularly. The 4-hours-a-week work plan might be plausible in some other industries (though I doubt it) but it certainly doesn’t apply to the paving and pavement maintenance industry, even at its higher management levels. This industry requires continual involvement, especially in the smaller companies where an owner wears many hats (and all you many-hat wearers tip your hats).

But while this book isn’t worth your time – author Timothy Ferriss spends a great many pages writing about all the things he’s done and the places he’s been because he was able to work only four hours a week – it does contain a nugget that is probably worth all the panning to find. And that nugget is this (I’ve saved you all the panning): delegate and consider subcontracting. No, he doesn’t put it in those terms, but he does suggest outsourcing just about any work you can to free up your time. Fair enough. Extend that a little bit and take some liberties with his narrative and you get delegate and subcontract.

Contractors, especially contractors who own their own smallish business, have a tendency to wrap their hands and arms around just about every job that needs to get done and it can take near disasters, perpetual prodding, Brad Humphrey seminars at National Pavement Expo, and more to get them to loosen their grip. But loosen they must, and then delegate they can, freeing themselves up to spend more time in blue sky mining or on other areas of the business that might need their attention.