The annual showcase issue is always a great time to see what's happening with the equipment our industry relies on. This year, it acts as a sort of launching pad for what will certainly be an exciting year for pavement maintenance contractors everywhere.
Right around the corner, next month, you have the first ever PAVE/X: Pavement Experience (Jan. 30 - Feb. 1) which is going to kick-off 2024 with three jam-packed days of equipment, entertainment, and amazing educational content. If you haven't registered yet, there may be enough time still to lock that in, but you'll need to act quickly. Head to PaveXshow.com as soon as possible, to see everything it has to offer, and to secure a spot at this brand new show!
One big change to our magazine due to the launch of PAVE/X, is that our annual Pavement Maintenance Awards issue will come out this coming January 2024 (previously it would release in the month of February), just NEXT MONTH, so that all of our award winners can be recognized on-stage in front of the industry and their peers, and everyone in attendance will be able to pick up a copy of the magazine (or a few copies) that highlight their hard work and their business. Going forward, this will be the new norm. What does that mean about next year's submissions?
The Pavement Maintenance Awards
In years past, including 2023, the closing date for award submissions hovered around the first week of November. This ensured that a fair majority of contractors had either ended their season already, that they were near to ending it, or that they were, at least, slowing down from their peak.
This coming year, the Pavement Awards submission window will open Monday, July 1, 2024 and close the awards on Friday, October 4, 2024. That is about one month earlier. For those of you who got your submissions in just under the wire this year, please make a note of this, or have your office managers make a note, so that you don't accidentally miss out of your chance to nominate your work.
It could be you and your crew standing up receiving an award at the second PAVE/X show in 2025! That might feel like a long ways off from now, but it will be here sooner than you think!
Top Contractor
Similarly, we are making a slight change in the window for submission to our annual Top Contractor lists. Every year we publish a list, in print and online, of the Top 50 contractors, based on their independently verified business data, in the fields of paving, striping, pavement repair, and sealcoating. Additionally, the data that comes in through these submissions acts as a defacto, "state of the industry," for pavement maintenance contractors, because it provides valuable information about how real-world contractors are doing what they do.
The change this year is that we are pro-actively extending the submission window through the first quarter of 2024. Earlier this year, we had to extend the deadline due to the nature of many businesses finalizing and verifying their data for the previous year. We felt that simply making it end with the end of the first new quarter makes more sense. So the Top Contractor submission window will open Monday, Dec. 11, 2023 and will close on Friday, March 15, 2024.
The best way to make sure you don't miss any of these deadlines is to subscribe to our monthly newsletter Blacktop Update. Once a month, I send out an email with a handful of the most important articles, news, and topics. That often includes many updates about awards, submission windows, and, often times, discounts on some of our shows, seminars, and products.
You can subscribe to our email for absolutely no charge by using the QR on this page, or by simply visiting ForConstructionPros.com and clicking on the FCP Newsletter icon in the top right hand or drop down menu. From there, scroll down until you see Blacktop Update, and you can also add other newsletters you might be interested in, like the Road Building Update.
World of Asphalt
In addition to PAVE/X, one of the biggest events in the asphalt and pavement industry, World of Asphalt, is coming back this year (Mar. 25 - 27, 2024) in the great city of Nashville, TN. This will be my vert first World of Asphalt expo, and I'm definitely looking forward to it. Earlier this year, when at the 2023 CONEXPO, there was so much to do and see that it was slightly overwhelming. This show has the distinction of being completely focused on our industry, and that means everything there will be worth stopping to check out.
Keep an eye out for our World of Asphalt previews in February, so that you know all the best booths to visit, and what your favorite brands are bringing to the show with them!
See you on the road!
