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, there are two types of employees in this situation. The employee who throws his hands up, gets frustrated and annoyed, and heads home, and the employee who says "Well, I know there was a job scheduled. How can I figure out what and where it is?" Luckily the second type of employee works for Competitive Asphalt Coatings, so he was on the phone with Lars as they figured out how to get the job done.
"Reminds me of the other day when we were paving 9,000 sq. ft. and our paver broke down," Lars said before getting off the phone. "We were out there working with a Bobcat to get the paving done. It's hot and we're shoveling mix, but that's our responsibility, you know? And one of my guys turned to me and said, 'Lars, if it were easy everybody would be doing it'."
Sorry folks, but that guy already has a job.
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