Smoothing Out the Bumps
Pavement Services Corp. spreads its paving expertise
Potholes run from a dip in the pavement to inches-deep crevices that lead to a bumpy ride and front-end alignment problems for vehicles. Getting that perfect pavement is the art of Pavement Services Corp.
To repair those craters and restore drivability, crews must prepare the pothole properly. Using a cement stabilization method, the failed area is repaired with special attention given to the edges so they don’t crumble when an asphalt-laden truck backs up to fill it, explains Tony Givens, the company’s President and founder. Getting that truck in just the right spot is a skill.
“We understand why a parking lot fails and we know what to do to fix it,” says Tony. “We are just really good at what we do.”
He started Pavement Services Corp. (PSC) 30 years ago in Euless, Texas, located between Dallas and Fort Worth (DFW), allowing the company to serve the entire North Texas area. The company expanded to Houston four years ago and there are plans to expand to other Texas cities.
The firm handles all sizes of jobs, from filling in a few potholes to completely redoing large parking lots. The team also rebuilds streets. In addition to its asphalt operations, PSC performs concrete paving and repair with six crews in DFW and two crews in Houston.
The staff frequently completes jobs in Oklahoma, Louisiana, Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas and is planning work in Kansas.
“We do anything from full (complete) Walmart parking lots to a couple of speed bumps,” says Austin Givens, Tony’s son and the company’s Vice President. The firm recently completed the repaving of a major parking lot at the University of Texas at Dallas.
Houston Expansion
Work has been strong in Houston. There are two full-time crews there and a third project manager has recently been hired. Dallas crews are available to help out when needed.
The Houston and Dallas operations don’t compete, the Givenses say, but complement each other. They hope the Houston office eventually will be as large as Dallas. If things go as planned in Houston, they hope to open another branch in San Antonio.
The warm southern Texas climate offers more opportunities for year-round work. Though Dallas has little freezing weather, there are more days unsuitable for asphalt work in North Texas. Activity slows in Dallas around Thanksgiving and doesn’t pick up again until mid-March. In Houston, work can continue through much of that time.
Other Plans
As a university student, Tony started doing asphalt work because he needed money for law school at Southern Methodist University.
He used the repaving skills he’d learned repairing some driveways while he was in high school. In Dallas, he discovered he could rent a dump truck for $50 a day and found a supplier who would sell him asphalt for another $50. He’d drive around the city and offer to fix potholes for $50 each and any unused asphalt would be sold to a regular customer for $50.
“By the end of the week I’d regularly have $1,500 in my pocket,” he remembers. With that type of success, he decided to get married and start an asphalt paving company.
Austin’s journey into the family business was much different. He had no plans to join his dad in the company. After graduating from college with a degree in environmental studies, he lined up an internship with a company renovating golf courses; but that disappeared when the economy crashed.
Austin says he was a “ski bum” and worked for PSC during the summers. He moved into the job full time in 2010. “I just fell in love with the sales side,” he says.
He and his dad are six years into a 10-year plan to turn operations over to him.
His mother, Nadine Givens, joined the company as bookkeeper around 1991, eventually buying PSC and becoming its Chief Financial Officer. Since she came on board, the business has grown steadily.
In a Relationship
Austin says their clients are more than just customers: “It’s a relationship business.”
He wants customers to feel like the company is ready to help them in any way it can. “We want to provide the customers with top-quality work at a good price,” he notes.
To provide the best work at the highest value, PSC ensures quality control by rarely using subcontractors and owning its own equipment.
Not using subcontractors allows the company to control the schedule, too, Austin explains. Owning, maintaining and operating state-of-the-art equipment means the team always has what is needed, when it’s needed.
The company has to be prepared to work at the client’s convenience. “Shopping centers don’t want us there on Friday nights and the weekends. Restaurants want us there when they are not open,” Tony says.
In some cases, crews have gone to a site at 5 a.m., cleared out at 11 a.m. and gone back in the afternoon.
“We want to cause them as little inconvenience as possible,” he says.
Keeping it Green
Even though asphalt and concrete may not seem like the most environmentally friendly substances, Austin says the company has found several ways to stay as green as possible.
To conserve natural resources, PSC sends all excavated concrete rubble to a crushing plant that produces a flex-base material. The asphalt operation also utilizes a full-depth reclamation process that pulverizes the existing pavement and produces a base material on site. This method replaces the traditional remove-and-replace method. Any leftover base material is saved for another job.
The company doesn’t use coal tar or other materials for seal coating that could create hazardous waste if it washes off before setting. Instead, it uses a water-based, asphalt emulsion, non-toxic seal coat.
Optimal Work Takes Optimal Workers
Quality is always a high priority. For example, to provide high-quality concrete repairs, PSC uses its own mobile concrete mixer trucks, Austin explains. Ready-mix cement is usually delivered in large trucks with turning drums. As the truck travels and the ready-mix ages, the quality of the material can be compromised. But with the use of its fleet of mobile mixers, PSC keeps the components of concrete in separate compartments and can mix just the right amount of ready-mix on site, at the precise time it is needed, reducing waste and ensuring the quality of the ready mix.
Providing optimal work takes optimal workers, the Givenses say. Most of their crew members have worked with them for years, gaining experience with each job. The company has developed a reputation for excellent work.
“I have an asphalt crew that I’d put against any crew in the world,” Tony says. “These employees have constant customer satisfaction.”
Supportive Wishes in Light of Hurricane Harvey Disaster
PSC also wishes to extend its support to its fellow construction colleagues in the Houston area. “Our heartfelt support goes out to each of you, as well as to your families, as Houston recovers from the catastrophic Hurricane Harvey,” says Tony. “It’s not surprising to see your positive responses in rising to the challenge to rebuild, even in the midst of personal challenges. Your hard work and dedication will truly be the work of redemption in this horrible situation. May God bless the work of your hands, and keep you safe.”