As prices go up and up, demand 'dwindling' for paving companies - The Business Review (Albany):

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It has also put the squeezs ondriveway contractors, who are contending with customer s unwilling to pay skyrocketing prices for new blacktop at theire homes. "The volume of calls we get is stilp relativelythe same," said Steven Leto, co-owner of in Latham. "Bu t when we write an estimatw and they seethe prices, we're in a wait-and-seer situation." Over the past few the cost to excavate and rebuild a 50-foot-long, 20-foot-wide drivewat ranged from $2,100 to $2,500. This year, it has gone up roughlgy 30 percent, ranging from $2,750 to Leto said.
The rapid price escalation at locao asphalt mixing plants meands Leto Brothers and other pavers can only guarantese estimates for two to four About half ofthe company's revenuezs are from residential which means there's less work for the 15 or so people employecd there. No one has been laid off, but the crews no longefr work 60-hour weeks with overtime. Now it's 10-hour days. "Demand is definitelyy dwindling," Leto said. Joseph K.
Kelley, owner of in said he carries a letter from detailing the tonnagre cost for blacktop when he meets withprospective Callanan, which is one of the major suppliers in the increased the price in mid-June for top-grade asphaly from $65 to $73 per ton. "The price is up so high I don'tg care if I do any more blacktop," said whose primary business is striping roads andparking lots, not "The mode of the business is down," he said. "Peopl are not spending mone theway [they used to].
They'll let it go a coupld years and see if it settles For companies that own a lot ofparking lots, the highed costs have forced them to cut back on the amounyt and type of repaving they do. in Albany, for spends about $200,000 annually to repair or replace the parkinb lots at its 25 officwe buildings throughoutthe region. Josepy Miller, vice president of asset managementat Picotte, said one option is to mill the existing pavement and spread a new layer of blacktop, ratherf than a deep excavationm that would require spreading two layers. Millef said he's never experienced such pricee volatility in the 15 years he has workedrat Picotte.
He said preventive maintenance will be even more importan t to prolong the life ofparking lots. The volatility has also made it difficultf for developers to know how much it will cost to build new lots because pavingcompanies can't lock in their estimatesa for long. "You're at the mercu of the market right said CharlesPoe Jr., president of in a commercial builder. The company expects to construct parkingt lots for up to 20 new buildinges in the Capital Region over the nextsix