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250,000 Square Feet a Day

"It's tough to keep equipment clean in this business but we try our hardest," says Al Harris. "It's nice when you're running down the road to a job; it looks like a military convoy. I see that sometimes and I remember what I had when I started and it makes you feel pretty good."

"We figure out our overhead, our labor, and our material costs and we bid accordingly, but I don't try to over-analyze a job. As long as we make a good profit every year then we're okay. The more complex it gets the more you start second-guessing yourself. Keep it simple, keep it manageable, and keep it profitable then there's nothing more to do."

The North Suburban Asphalt 2009 field crew, with Al Harris, left.

"Our repeat business, both customers and from other contractors, is just unbelievable," Al Harris says.

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The Finisher

Impact Sweeping

Minute By Minute

By Allan Heydorn
Editor

He says quite a few contractors he explains his approach to labor to don't agree with his approach.

"But I am efficient, and we are successful and profitable. We get a lot of work done, and we are able to keep our employees year after year. So it works, despite the long hours."

The Important Residential Exception

North Suburban Asphalt Maintenance schedules only one residential job a year. "It's a subdivision with 15 homes that I've been sealcoating since I started the business," says Al Harris. "The first time I bid it I told the guy 'If you give me this job now when I really need it I'll do it every year from now on for the same price.' And he did, and I have. Now with this crew we are in and out of there in a flash, not like when I used to sealcoat it myself. But when I needed the work, he was there; so I'm there for him as I promised."

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