Season 3 Kickoff - Intentional Hiring & Rising Asphalt Costs | Pave It Forward Podcast

🚧 Pave It Forward is back! After a few months off the mic, Kevin and Phil kick off Season 3 with a packed update on everything happening at the company and across the paving industry. In this episode, Kevin breaks down how PIF rebuilt their crew for 2026 — ditching the "warm body" hiring approach for intentional pre-screening, Google Ads recruiting, and a culture-first training plan. Plus, Phil shares the hard numbers on rising oil prices and what every paving contractor needs to know about protecting their margins this season. 📋 What You'll Learn: 🔹 How PIF used Google Ads (not Indeed or Facebook) to recruit better CDL and field candidates 🔹 Why Kevin made the hard call to not bring back certain crew members — and how it's paying off 🔹 The crew playbook and formal orientation process PIF built during the off-season 🔹 Oil prices jumped $638 to $730/ton in one month — what that means for your bids 🔹 Diesel went from $3 to $5/gallon — how to adjust your pricing before it eats your margins ⏱️ Timestamps: 0:00 — Intro & Season 3 kickoff 0:45 — Kevin on the first 3 weeks back at work 3:30 — Intentional hiring: pre-screening vs "warm body" approach 6:15 — Google Ads for recruiting paving crews 9:00 — Training new guys with minimal experience 12:30 — Crew playbook & formal orientation 16:00 — Off-season infrastructure wins 17:30 — Oil price increases & impact on asphalt costs 21:00 — How PIF is adjusting pricing going forward 23:00 — Kevin's closing advice for the season 🔗 Learn more: https://www.paveitforwardllc.com 📧 Kevin Gray: [email protected] 📧 Phil Metzger: [email protected] 👍 Like this video? Subscribe and hit the bell so you never miss an episode! 💬 Drop a comment: How are YOU handling rising material costs this season? #AsphaltPaving #PavingContractor #PaveItForward #HiringBlueCollar #AsphaltCosts