Sweeper Nation 2014: The First Line of Defense!

Today’s asphalt maintenance specialists are called annually by property managers to make needed repairs to their shopping center parking lots and roadways, insuring the property managers parking lot liability issues are addressed. The ironic thing about this is that hundreds of professional sweeping companies who sweep and plow and sell their services to “property managers” already have what every pavement maintenance professional wants! The contact! The person’s name, title, phone numbers, and lists of all the asphalt they own and control. Now most property managers will just call a professional pavement maintenance contractor to fix these liabilities such as potholes, broken drains, curbing, and pavement heaves and dips. As asphalt ages, it turns white because its asphaltic binder is bleached out and the fines in the pavement surface is ground off which left unchecked, will reduce the pavements service life by half. An application of a surface treatment called a (Sealcoat) which replenishes the oxidized surface and coats and seals the surface pours with needed protection from vehicle fluids, salts, and the elements, sun, rain and snow.

Once the surface liabilities have been addressed by patching all the potholes, repairing dips, bumps, drains and catch basins, and seal the pavements 1/4″ and larger pavement cracks with hot rubber crack material will ready the lot for a surface treatment. A thorough parking lot cleaning is needed by sweeping all the dirt and debris, then the sealcoat can be applied by spray or squeegee application. Once the sealer has dried or cured, usually 12-24 hours, directional line markings,(striping) arrows, curbing, and ADA (American Disabilities Act) compliant code blue signage can be completed. Property managers all over the USA must keep their pavement liabilities to a minimum. Professional sweeping companies can add huge dollars to their company’s bottom lines by adding or entering into the perfect fit to their existing offered services. (You the sweeper,) generally sweep at night on empty parking lots and roadways allowing you to get a first-hand look at the lots liabilities mentioned above! Or, you could just roll in as usual; sweep the parking lot and leave.

Did you know you can learn pavement maintenance applications from a vast amount of available information on the web, tradeshows, books and videos? Then teach your operators to make notes and get camera shots of all the liability issues property managers’ face? Teach your operators to be the “FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE” for the property manager you are already working for. Someone like you who is already working with a property manager should be doing an inspection and submitting an annual pavement liability evaluation of all the lots you sweep as a paid service. At least present the service and take it from me, property manager’s love giving their liability repair and maintenance issues to a turnkey operation. If you do not want to invest in doing pavement maintenance yourself, you can enter into an agreement to contract with local pavement maintenance professionals, and get bids for your client, keeping liability repair in your line of offered services. By doing that, you will keep your contact information private as you will be the contact for the client.

The pavement maintenance professional will give you bids on your client’s liability repairs and maintenance as you requested. Sweeping goes hand in hand with professional pavement maintenance contractors. You most likely will get their sweeping work and add even more to your bottom line. Spring will be here soon, and property managers will be looking for evaluations and bids for their annual repairs, maintenance and liability reduction program budgets.

Did you know that a seal coated parking lot is easier to clean than a non-sealed lot? Did you know that there are many property managers that look to the professional sweeper nation for help in management of their properties? SWEEPER NATION, Don’t miss out, consider adding this needed service to your list of services and enjoy the added bottom line. You can contact Maintenance Inc. 800-892-6701 or look us up on the web www.maintinc.com for information on how to enter into or add on to your current sweeping business through the professional pavement maintenance industry.

Story by Mark McLeod, President of Maintenance Inc.

The leaders in manufacturing pavement maintenance products and equipment since 1938.