Joe Carroll and Danny Carroll Jr. never thought about doing anything other than joining the business their father, Danny Carroll Sr., founded in 1990. Both grew up working with their dad every chance they could as he built Danny’s Asphalt Paving Inc. into one of the Permian Basin’s top paving and earthwork contractors.
The brothers gained knowledge about how the business worked by riding with their dad as he oversaw projects and met with customers. Both could also be found working on job sites outside of school as they got older.
“The opportunity to go to college was there, but I thought this was the better choice for me,” recalled Joe, the older of the two sons by six years and the Midland, Texas-based company’s Vice President. “By the time I got out of high school, I already had a good idea of how the operations were, so I was ready to just go to work.”
Danny Jr., who is now the company’s Chief Financial Officer, shared a similar experience, describing the front seat of Danny Sr.’s pickup as “Dad’s real office.”
“For a long time, I looked forward to working with my dad and my brother,” Danny Jr. said. “I didn’t hesitate to jump in full time after high school instead of going to college.”
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Danny Sr. is the President of Danny’s Asphalt Paving and remains involved with the business, but his sons have taken over day-to-day operations during the past several years. By the time they did, Danny’s Asphalt Paving had been built into much more than a handful of people doing residential driveways and small commercial parking lots. The company generally has 12 to 14 projects running at any one time.
“Our range of services goes from sealcoating and chip sealing to constructing or reconstructing highways,” Joe said. “We handle everything from earthwork and putting down rock for base preparation to the finished product, including striping. We also have in-house concrete crews. We work as a subcontractor or general [contractor]. The latter is our preference because we control the pace and quality. We believe that if we control everything, the project turns out much better in the end.”
Danny’s Asphalt Paving sources its own hot mix from its sister company, Basin Asphalt Products, which is located near Danny’s Asphalt Paving in Midland.
Danny’s Asphalt Paving performs a lot of its base preparation with Komatsu equipment that was purchased or rented from Kirby-Smith Machinery Inc.’s (KSM) Odessa, Texas, branch with the assistance of Territory Manager Kevin Demel. The two companies have worked together for about 15 years, and the Carrolls consider KSM a partner in their business.
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“Quality equipment and support after the sale is the biggest thing in West Texas, and Kirby-Smith is killing it from both standpoints,” Joe said. “They are great about staying on top of scheduled maintenance on our equipment with minimal downtime, and when we are looking for machinery, Kevin helps us get it. We can call him practically anytime, and he will come through. He’s also great about suggesting additional machines that may be a fit for us and could increase productivity.”
One machine that Danny’s Asphalt Paving is seeing significant productivity gains with is a Komatsu D51EXi-24 Intelligent Machine Control (IMC) Dozer with integrated GPS grade control. Joe sees it as the first in line toward the company’s transition to full machine control.
“The D51i is about 30 percent faster than conventional methods that involve setting stakes with a survey crew,” Joe noted. “Our surveying costs are way down with that machine. On a medium-sized project it takes the survey crew about a day to get everything set up and ready for the IMC dozer, and we don’t have them come back until it’s time to check final grade. Traditionally, the survey crew would be on site a week for setup and throughout the project to check grade and make sure we are on track.”
Danny’s Asphalt Paving uses additional Komatsu equipment when needed, such as GD655 motor graders.
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“Typically, we do excavation and subgrade prep with dozers, and if it’s heavy work with mass amounts of material and deeper cuts, we rent bigger dozers such as D65 and D85 models from Kevin and Kirby-Smith,” Joe said. “Once we are to grade, we bring in the GD655 for base work. It’s terrific for finishing, but it’s built like a tank, so it will handle heavy work too, such as ripping. It has good visibility to the blade, so operators can see when they are working right up to the curb with confidence.”
In addition to Komatsu products, KSM helps Danny’s Asphalt Paving find the right Wirtgen Group products for its earthwork and paving operations. Danny’s Asphalt Paving utilizes Wirtgen WR 200 Cold Recyclers/Soil Stabilizers as needed for subgrade prep, as well as Hamm compactors with a padfoot drum or smooth drum for soil compaction. It then uses Vögele Super 1700-3i and Super 2000-3i Pavers to lay asphalt, finishing the mat with Hamm tandem rollers.
Danny’s Asphalt Paving switched to Wirtgen Group products mainly because of service and parts availability issues it was having with other brands. Joe said that those improved, and the Wirtgen Group products provided additional benefits.
“Our production increased, especially with the pavers,” Joe said. “We have varying sizes to match the job, but they are versatile enough that we can move them around if needed. In general, the 1700s are for parking lots and the 2000s are for roadways and state highway work.”
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“The WR 200 models are fantastic,” Joe added. “We do a lot of municipal work with those, and they are a time-saver. They allow us to recycle existing material and use it as a subgrade, which is more cost-effective and saves money for the customer.”
“Across the board, the quality of the Wirtgen Group products is superior, it’s easier to maintain and repair, and the ease of operation is fantastic,” Joe said. “Our operators can switch from one machine to another and quickly pick up on how it operates because they are all close to the same in how they operate.”
Danny’s Asphalt Paving has expanded steadily over the years by design. The Carrolls want to maintain that approach.
“We seem to evolve by moving up the scale of and number of projects, as well as our crew numbers,” Danny Jr. said. “The idea is to keep growing at a controlled pace.”
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“We’re comfortable with dirt work, asphalt laying, concrete, and sealcoating,” Joe added. “We have never ventured into something new unless we knew the inside and out of what is involved and that we can do it to our high-quality standards. Right now, our plan is to stick with what we know and look at opportunities that make sense.”
Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed here are from the end user as quoted. The results described herein are those of these end users under certain conditions. Individual results may vary.
