Commercial airline pilot Captain Brandon Bateman flies in the podcast chair and provides some truly fascinating insight into the ways that pavement and pavement maintenance affect landings and takeoffs at airports across the globe. From the potholes of Chicago O'Hare's taxiways (no surprise there) to burning over 30 pounds of rubber during each 737 landing, you'll want to put your tray table in its upright and locked position as we take a ride into the danger zone on this week's episode of Blacktop Banter.

This episode of Blacktop Banter is brought to you by Crafco, the world’s leading manufacturer of packaged pavement preservation materials and equipment for the asphalt industry and the official sponsor of Blacktop Banter. Learn more at  https://www.crafco.com

Thank you to our podcast sponsors: Crafco, Dynapac, KM International, 800 Pavement Network, Stencil Plus, Liberty Supply and Spot On Site App. 

Pavement Hall of Fame inductee, U.S. Air Force veteran and President of Keizer-Morris International (KMI), Cliff Cameron, shares wisdom and stories spanning nearly 40 years of KMI's existence, (and his world-famous "Fat Cliffy's Maple Syrup.") From humble beginnings in a dirt floor pole barn and the creation of “The Road Doctor,” an infrared and hotbox combination built on old Chevrolet truck frame, to a product line which now consists of over 30 models, including the first ever Blacktop Banter branded hot box, KM International continues to serve the needs of contractors around the world. Cameron's leadership philosophy includes, “surrounding yourself with winners,” and "focusing on training for the end-user so they're best positioned to succeed." This interview is packed with knowledge and insight so grab a pencil and notebook and jump on in.

This episode is brought to you by Crafco, the official sponsor of Blacktop Banter. Learn more at crafco.com

Step into the ring for a no-holds-barred, hard hitting and impactful interview with Tom Reber of The Contractor Fight where we talk about how you can "Stop Stealing From Your Family, Earn What You’re Worth, and Build A Business That Serves You." Tom shares insight and wisdom acquired during his decades-long journey from a dead-broke contractor whose business and home life was on the ropes to a successful business coach and mentor with a show on HGTV! So put on the gloves and lace up for this KNOCKOUT interview.

This episode is brought to you by Crafco, the official sponsor of Blacktop Banter. Learn more at crafco.com

With over 2.9 MILLION square feet of floor space, 2,000 vendors, 190 educational sessions and over 60,000 steps walked, CONEXPO can be an overwhelming experience if you go without a plan. Jeani and Brad share some fantastic tips to help you prepare to navigate the floor, attend educational workshops and sessions, capture fantastic B-roll, make lasting connections and come away with a meaningful experience to help grow yourself and your business into the future.

This episode is brought to you by Crafco, the official sponsor of Blacktop Banter. Learn more at crafco.com

Todd and Mary Schwandt are a husband and wife team from Northeast Nevada who have grown ACHA Construction from an agricultural fencing contractor into a construction, concrete and earthworks business with big name clients like Love's Truck Stops and McDonalds. Located in the largest gold-producing region of the United States, the mining industry drives construction in the area, and this interview serves up gold nuggets about the importance of finding good mentors and building a strong team. Learn more about ACHA Construction at achaconstruction.biz and @achaconstruction of Facebook and TikTok.

This episode of Blacktop Banter is brought to you by Crafco, the world’s leading manufacturer of packaged pavement preservation materials and equipment for the asphalt industry and the official sponsor of Blacktop Banter. Learn more at  https://www.crafco.com

Thank you to our podcast sponsors:

Crafco, Dynapac, KM International, 800 Pavement Network, Stencil Plus, Liberty Supply and Spot On Site App. 

Sidelined by Covid shutdowns, Ross Moore turned from preparing his bench press and 40 yard dash for the NFL Pro Day to launching a pavement services business. ARM Pavement Services is a family-owned business with three generations of experience, specializing in a complete range of asphalt and concrete services out of Detroit, Michigan. Marvin sat down with Ross at ConExpo to talk about football, family and the importance of a good foundation in both business and life.

Our friend Jason Vaughan of Vaughan Sealcoating & Paving returns to talk about how they have scaled since his last time on the Podcast 3-4 years ago. We also go into detail about how software has helped each of our companies in recent years. One topic we cover will is the "follow-up" to prospective clients that we issued estimates for, and how we succeed and fail, in that department. A former Marine and Veteran, Jason has developed his company to embody that area of his life as well and he goes into detail about how that has helped him fins success in the Asphalt Industry. -Marvin

BLACKTOP BANTER SUCCESS GROUP LINK: https://blacktopbanter.com/success-group/

Jamie Roush is President of Dynapac North America and if you haven't noticed, he and his team have brought their company to the diamond to play ball with the equipment leaders in the Asphalt Industry. From the amazing display at last years World of Asphalt, the increased Social Media presence, sponsoring some great conferences and now the upcoming ConExpo in Vegas... they don't show any sign of stopping. Beyond the iconic red machines and innovative equipment, Jamie and I discuss the future of the Industry, what to expect from the EV side of equipment, as well as what people in leadership roles can do to build a team that is "bought in" on a direction, vision and goal. A lot of fun with my friend on this one, hoping you enjoy it too. -Marvin

Brian Hall has been at Leeboy a long time. As long as I can remember. He has always been there whenever I have seen the brand represented and knows as much about the machines he sold over the years, as he does this Industry. He is the Territory Sales Manager at Leeboy and also an article writer for APE Magazine, where he regularly drops a wealth of knowledge on the readers.  In this episode he tells some great stories and gives us a history of his run, as well as drops some hints about what we can expect at ConExpo / ConAg coming up this month. -Marvin

Brian and I have been friends for awhile now and he has not only built a successful 6-figure lawn care company, but has also built an "academy" to show other how to do it to. In this interview, Brian shares with us his story and goes over some tips and advice on how ANY business can adopt common good practices to help build the owners, a better business. Fun and outgoing banter between him an I make this one pretty entertaining and we are happy to share it with you. -Marvin