Objection #4: Operational Hazards
Beyond the extra profits that can be realized by offering their own milling services and reclaiming the spoils of recycled asphalt, one major question still remains for prospective contractors: Who's going to operate the mill?

With any new, unfamiliar piece of equipment, a contractor will naturally be wary about the learning curve involved with effectively operating the machine. Time is already at a premium, so how does one find the extra resources to learn a new piece of equipment? Furthermore, it's a bit frightening to invest $300,000 in a machine and turn it over to an inexperienced operator. Fortunately, from both a conceptual and operational standpoint, today's milling machines are very easy to understand and control.

With today's more computerized machines and simplified controls, learning how to use a milling machine is quite easy.

Looking at the paving process in its simplest terms, the basic concept is that asphalt is transferred out of a dump truck into the paver's hopper, which is then placed down in front of the screed and laid at a defined depth. The milling process is just the opposite. Rather than taking material out of a truck and laying it at a particular depth, one instead mills out a specific depth of  material and places it in a truck for removal.

Of course, there's much more to operating equipment than just understanding the concept, but with today's more computerized machines and simplified controls, learning how to use a milling machine is quite easy. In some ways, operating a mill is much like a video game. With a basic joystick control for common operations, one needs to simply type into the machine's computer how much material to remove. If the job calls for taking two inches out, the operator simply types in "-2" and the machine does the rest. All the operator has to worry about is steering straight.

But what about that operator? Regardless of contractor size, the idea of increased labor costs scares everyone. No one wants to add labor if they can help it. So, back to the original question, who's going to operate the mill?

The fact is that most paving contractors, even small ones, already have a person on staff acting as the equipment transport driver. And though this person's primary responsibility is to simply transport trailered equipment to and from job sites, the dirty little secret is that anyone with equipment experience can quickly learn how to operate a milling machine - especially someone like the transport driver. This is person many smaller paving contractors use for an operator when adding milling services. Not only does it save on labor costs, but it also takes a person who's normally part of an operation's cost center and turns him into a contributor to the profit center, because he's now doing production work.