BRIAN HALL
ASPHALT ANSWERS
What Keeps You Up At Night ?
BRIAN HALL
Take advantage of good weather days , but also use bad weather as a chance to maintain your equipment and crew .
Proper training , whether on startup or mid-season , is essential to making sure you machine works to it ’ s potential .
No matter what your role in any organization , something concerns you . Lute men worry about having quality tools , roller men worry about compaction and rolling patterns , truck drivers worry about pulling away from the paver with a full load of asphalt , operators worry about mat quality and owners worry about all this and everything else . But when all is said and done , what really keeps you awake at night ? I took the time to speak to a few contractors recently and asked them “ Even though business is good and you have a nice backlog , what is your main concern ?” Some answers surprised me and some didn ’ t .
The Weather . This was overwhelmingly the most common answer . So much so that we could break it down into subsets of good , bad , hot , cold , etc . But let ’ s start with the obvious . You have a big job that you worked hard to win the business and because of your great track record of quality work on time , you were awarded the job . Now with the project looming and the customer anxious , you hit your favorite weather app to discover rain in the forecast . Not 100 % chance of downpours , but a 50 % chance every day for a week . At least with a 100 % chance it ’ s an easy decision , but who knows if you ’ ll be wet or dry . Chance it or not ? I wish there was an easy answer . Send everyone home and it doesn ’ t rain – you ’ re the bad guy . Chance it and pave and get caught in a monsoon – you ’ re the owner of a couple hundred tons of asphalt you can ’ t use . The best advice here is to order your asphalt in waves , usually about half of what your total daily goal will be . That way , as lunch approaches you ’ ll have a better idea of how the rest of the day will go . Communication with the asphalt plant is always the key .
The Competition . From the beginning of time , man has been in a competition of some kind . The strong survive , right ? While this is generally true , I ’ ll submit that the smartest strong company survives . For example , you do everything right ; work hard , play fair but you still can ’ t seem to climb the hill as fast as the guy across town . It ’ s probably time to take stock and figure out what you are doing different . Not wrong , just different . Are you attracting and keeping the best employees in town ? Are you enjoying as much uptime with your machines ? Are your estimators doing a good job in bidding the jobs so that you are profitable ? Take stock and invest in those things that make money for you and focus on those things . We could spend days discussing the “ best practices ” but the answer may lie in just a few new habits . Habits such as networking at events that focus on your industry . Talk to like-minded people and remember that they are your competition , not your enemy . Also , invest in your work force . Taking them to industry events shows your interest in them seeing new things and enrolling them in the education seminars will pay dividends that cannot be measured . Making sure your hard workers stay on your team is invaluable .
The Machine . When you look at your machines , does the phrase “ Rode hard and put up wet ” come to mind . If so , maybe your worries are well founded . If this applies to you , don ’ t fret . This might be the easiest to remedy because you have so many partners ready to help . No , I ’ m not just talking about the equipment dealer , although they are your best source for equipment knowledge , I ’ m talking about your crew . Your workers must understand that when something goes sideways on a job , most times it can be remedied on site with little worry . Anything that cannot be fixed quickly must be reported to the foreman so that it doesn ’ t result in downtime . Those rainy days can be used to do preventative maintenance such as fluid changes or machine cleaning . Your crew will gladly give you the extra effort to ensure their machines won ’ t let them down where they might have to be sent home prematurely . So , what keeps you up at night ? Hopefully the issues you have are a result of a good economy and can be solved by just slowing down for a minute and reassessing what is important in your company .
Brian Hall , LeeBoy Territory Manager . He can be reached via email at Brian . Hall @ Leeboy . com .
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