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

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It has also put the squeeze on driveway who are contending with customers unwilling to pay skyrocketing prices for new blacktop attheir homes. "The volume of callse we get is still relatively the saidSteven Leto, co-owner of in Latham. "But when we writwe an estimate and they seethe prices, we're in a wait-and-seew situation." Over the past few the cost to excavate and rebuild a 50-foot-long, 20-foot-wid e driveway ranged from $2,100 to This year, it has gone up roughlhy 30 percent, ranging from $2,750 to $3,250, Leto The rapid price escalation at local asphal mixing plants means Leto Brothers and other pavers can only guaranteew estimates for two to four About half of the company's revenues are from residentialo contracts, which means there's less work for the 15 or so peoples employed there.
No one has been laid off, but the crewzs no longer work 60-hour weeks with overtime. Now it's 10-hour days. "Demand is definitel y dwindling," Leto said. Joseph K. Kelley, owner of in said he carries a letter from detailing the tonnage 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 asphalt from $65 to $73 per ton. "The price is up so high I don't care if I do any more said Kelley, whose primary business is striping roadzs andparking lots, not paving. "The mode of the businesz is down," he said. "People are not spending money theway [they used to].
They'll let it go a couple years and see if itsettles out." For companiese that own a lot of parking lots, the higherd costs have forced them to cut back on the amount and type of repavingy they do. in Albany, for instance, spendas about $200,000 annually to repair or replace the parkin g lots at its 25 office buildings throughoutgthe region. Joseph vice president of asset managementat Picotte, said one option is to mill the existingt pavement and spread a new layer of blacktop, rathere than a deep excavation that wouls require spreading two layers. Miller said he's never experienceed such price volatility in the 15 year he has workedat Picotte.
He said preventive maintenancre will be even more important to prolongt the life ofparking lots. The volatility has also made it difficulgt for developers to know how much it will cost to builf new lots because pavingcompanies can't lock in their estimates for "You're at the mercy of the markeyt right now," said Charles Poe Jr., president of in a commercial builder. The company expects to constructr parking lots for up to 20 new buildings in the Capitak Region over the nextsix months.