They may not be big, but compact commercial pavers
make up a big portion of the market.

When articles are written about equipment, there is a noticeable tendency to focus on the largest machines available with the highest horsepower. The asphalt paver market is no exception.

Attention is most obviously directed at the large, high-capacity mainline pavers that are built to tackle highway and interstate jobs, whereas the smaller, commercial class of pavers (basically anything 16,000 pounds or less) are typically relegated to a sidebar. Perhaps it’s the prevailing Tim “The Toolman” Taylor mentality - bigger and more power is always better - that can explain this skewed focus, but the fact is that all equipment has its purpose and the commercial paver market serves a large one. Sure, these units may not be capable of handling the largest jobs, but when it comes to the countless county road, parking lot, driveway and general maintenance applications taking place every day - compact pavers are king.

One common misconception is that compact, commercial-class pavers are simply smaller versions of larger, mainline-class pavers. But aside from both being used to lay down hot, black asphalt, the two machine classes are completely different in design, capabilities and quality expectations. This is why you see very few manufacturers offering both commercial- and mainline-class pavers.  It’s also why the price of a commercial paver is on average between $25,000 to $100,000, whereas mainline pavers range between $200,000 and $500,000. The game is basically the same, but the factors that make a good player are not.