...It lived up to the hype!
During the lead-up to the first PAVE/X trade show in 2024, there was a distinct air of cautious optimism. The pavement industry was going through a transition several years in the making, a passing of the torch, or a changing of the guard, and everyone was holding their breath in anticipation. They wondered, "Would PAVE/X really deliver on the hype?"
Amy Schwandy (Left) co-founder of PAVE/X with Brian Hess (right) head of The Pavement Group and host of the Brian Hess Show.Adam Rahn
While that was the question on everyones mind before, in the twelve intervening months since, that cautious optimism was replaced with a massive amount of anticipation from everyone: Contractors, attendees from last year, exhibitors, and those looking to expand their education and expertise. PAVE/X 2025 delivered in almost every imaginable way for round two.
Kicking Things Off
While numbers don't always tell the full story of an event like PAVE/X, they do tell us something, and for 2025 there was an approximate 65% increase in attendance, year-over-year. More than 1500 people were present in San Antonio, TX, for the inaugural show, and well over 2500 made their way to Chattanooga, TN, this year. One of the more surprising things about the turnout was just how many people were walking into the show, without pre-registration.
Why is that noteworthy? Well, the pre-registrations are a strong way of indicating what the actual attendance will be, but it's just a predictor. While you always know that you will gain a certain percentage of non-pre-registered attendees, there's a sort of expected range it should fall within, but this year blew that wide open.
The PAVE/X kickoff party, hosted by The Pavement Group, was such a huge success that it reached maximum capacity about a week ahead of time, and some had to be turned away at the door. This only means one thing: next year's party in New Orleans, LA, will have to grow even bigger, as well as a bit wilder! There was great food at the Barrelhouse Ballroom, and DJ Bonics was in the house providing excellent tracks for the entire evening. However, what was instantly telling about this year, was just how the industry itself seemed to show up in-force the entire week. This was most notably true in the halls outside the convention center main showroom.
I wore many hats during the week, but my report time was generally between 6:00 - 6:30am every day. Despite there being plenty of industry parties and late night activities for contractors to attend for free, enjoying themselves well into the early hours of the morning, there was never a shortage of attendees waiting in the hallway, drinking a coffee, quietly chatting with one another, and waiting for the earliest educational sessions to start. On top of that, a small group of contractors and veterans from the industry, led by Chris Tammany of Petra Paving, met in the speaker green room each morning for a short devotional before launching into their busy days at the show.
While I saw a ton of people out at the live demonstration lot, checking out the latest hardware they could get their hands on, I repeatedly heard from contractors that the educational sessions contained some of the most important things they were going to take back with them for their upcoming season.
Marco Menna, co-owner of All-Out Parking Lots, told me that the class on navigating lawsuits and legal preparations as a contractor was worth the price of admissions alone. He mentioned specifically the value-versus-cost for simply revamping some of the wording in his contracts to add extra layers of legal protection against the unexpected situations that sometimes arise in the course of doing business.
On The Showroom Floor: New And Refreshed Products
This year there were 170 exhibitors on the show's main floor, a huge increase over the first year, and, for those brands and manufacturers who were returning this year, there were big increases to their booth sizes and number of products on display. Here are just a small sampling of the awesome, new machines and tools that we saw.
Wirtgen Group
There was a really exciting partnership at the show everyone was excited to know more about. The people behind Wirtgen Group were teasing a big reveal with the Raised On Blacktop crew, the Stanley family, and their American Pavement Specialists team. In addition to some really cool shirts and hats with the two groups' logos, they unveiled the Stanley's most recent two purchases: the W 150 Fi and W 60 i milling machines, branded with the the Raised On Blacktop logo.
The American Pavement Specialists / Raised On Blacktop branded Wirtgen W 150 Fi on the PAVE/X showroom floor.Brandon Noel
"These are their actual machines, you can even see some minor wear on them from use," said Matt Graves, Director of Marketing Communications at Wirtgen, about the two mills. "They were really excited about the cab we put on the 150 Fi, which is currently a unique feature in the American market for a mill of this size. They're based in Connecticut, you know, and they wanted to be able to make things better for their operators in whatever conditions they're working."
While these Wirtgen models are available, the "Raised On Blacktop" branding is not an available option. However, the reveal and the Stanley's presence was certainly a tacit endorsement, if nothing else, to the real-world versatility and quality of these machines. So much so, the Stanley crew was even seen out in the live demo lanes showing off the zero-turn radius of the W 60 i, and showing PAVE/X attendees how to run them hands-on.
"We've had a lot of interest in the [cab option] this week at the show, which is fantastic," said Graves. "It is much more common in the European market. I give Bill Stanley a lot of credit for his ingenuity and wanting to take care of his folks."
Schwarze
Last year Schwarze made big news by releasing a fully electric version of its popular and successful M6 Avalanche model. It was one of the most exciting new products of 2024, and this year, the company is wanting to makes waves again, in a different way.
What they brought to the show was the M5 Torrent, a slightly smaller version of the M6, but with all the same power and features. The smaller package does not inhibit the final results in any way at all. What it does mean, is a wider array of candidates to choose from to become sweeper operators.
The Schwarze M5 Torrent.Brandon Noel
"The point was to get it on a smaller chassis, one that doesn't require a CDL to operate on the road," said Joe Hendrickson, VP of sales and marketing at Schwarze. "It's so hard for our customers to find qualified drivers for the CDL, and in some situations, when they find a CDL operator, they're going to have to pay the driver quite a bit more than a non CDL. So, this is it's a value proposition for them to have a truck that they can put a non CDL operator."
The M5 is available with the choice of the patented belted style conveyor or squeegee style, which are interchangeable even after purchase.
In addition to the M5, Schwarze also brought, and demoed for attendees, the new M6 hybrid Avalanche which brings to the table the best of both worlds. Unmatched power and efficiency with it's electrically driven sweeper, which can plug-in and charge at the end of a shift, joined to the same reliable diesel engine the standard M6 enjoys. With the hybrid model, you'll save money on fuel and in sweeper maintenance costs on the backend.
Basic Equipment
This company's booth, or rather the machines that were inside it, literally stopped me in my tracks. On opening night of the show, just before we handed out the Pavement Awards at our IronMarkets booth next door, I was hurrying about my way and suddenly caught myself staring at the 240VT. It was striking to me because of its seeming perfect utilitarian esthetic. Was it flashy? No. Did it have bunch of touchscreens? No. But, was it elegant? Absolutely.
"I see people have the same kind of reaction [as you did]," said Matt Chastain, of Basic Equipment. "They just don't make them like they don't look like this, and they don't function like this anymore. That's kind of what Basic Equipment was founded on."
One of the things truly unique about the 240VT, specifically, was in its design by Shannen Chastain (no relation to Matt) that allows it to be transported to a jobsite without the need for a trailer. It accomplishes this feat but having a built in tow-hitch and extendable rubber tires. While saving a contractor on a trailer purchase, it's also safer without having to load and unload the machine from a trailer. As you connect the roller to your work truck, to pull it behind, the wheels make contact with the ground and make it safe for traveling by road at regular speeds.
The 240VT roller by Basic Equipment.Brandon Noel
Additionally, every compartment was easily accessible and simple.
"Mr. Chastain is the manufacturer, he's cut the sheet metal, welded it together the prototypes. He used to be a contractor, so he understands what works and what it needs," said Matt. "It also allows him to be more responsive to the feedback from our customers."
There's no "fancy" computer controls or electronics. These machines are "old fashion" in the sense that they operate in the mechanical sense. It's not "drive-by-wire" as might be the case with advanced electronic components.
"It's about simplicity and ease of use," emphasized Matt. "There's not even a DEF system here. They're built to last decades, not break down and be replaced."
Since the show was in the company's literal backyard, I was excited to see that the company brought something to their booth I hadn't seen before, either at World of Asphalt or PAVE/X 2024.
The CP75 II is a smaller version of their commercial-class paver, which lacked seats, and, instead, had the standing-operator configuration.
"We were the first to bring highway class components in a commercial footprint," said Tom Travers, Technical Sales Director at Astec. "All of our pavers were based on a 20,000 pound platform, the big head shafts, chains, deck plates, tail shafts, augers, wide conveyors instead of narrow, they all come from the highway class."
A big difference between this smaller commercial paver and some other designs in the industry of the same class-size is in its lack of a "belly pan" that sits beneath the conveyor deck and can get entombed with fallen collected material. As would be the case with a highway class paver, any and all material carried by this machine falls through to the ground and gets smoothly paved overtop.
"That stuff builds up in there [in other models], and when it gets so high, it starts pushing on the deck," said Travers. "As the chain is going by it bends, and it's common and expensive. So this machine is like any other highway class machine that all your carry around material hits the ground and you pave over it. No chamber catching that stuff."
Dynapac brought something interesting and slightly unexpected to PAVE/X, a brand new tack truck to supplement its wide range of asphalt pavers, and, of course, their exceptional lineup of rollers and compaction equipment.
Following the trend I saw at many booths, the DT1000 distributor truck is also on a light enough chassis to not require a driver to have that pesky CDL license to operate, while still being large enough to provide a fantastic, versatile, and an full-work-day's supply of tack. I asked how long the distributor truck had been in development with the company.
Dynapac's new DT1000 tack distributor truck.Brandon Noel
"A long time, it began in the European market," said Yvon Gerbel, Area Sales Manager. "This specific model is about 80% of that original design, and 20% customization for the American market."
The truck is being assembled at a plant in South Carolina, while the unfolding, hinge-style spray-bar is assembled overseas, imported and then installed at the domestic factory.
"This model has a 1000 gallon tank, more than enough for a single day's work, and even when it's fully loaded, it is under 26,000 pounds gross vehicle weight," said Gerbel.
Dynapac says that the end-of-day cleaning should take about two minutes, to flush all the lines and clear them of any remaining material. As for the tank, it has an electrical plug-in option to keep the material liquid and ready over night.
"Our tank insulation is very good, and, even left unplugged, the material may only lose [approximately] fifty degrees through the night, which can result in anywhere between a half hour to a full hour to be at read temperatures," said Gerbel. While that's not a lot of time, he made the salient point that added up cumulatively over every work day, it can offer a tremendous saving in time and efficiency.
Tack distributors were seemingly en vogue at PAVE/X 2025, because BOMAG had their new BD2000 out on the demo lot.
"We are just breaking this model into the American market," said Jon Elko, Sr. Business Development Manager at BOMAG. "There are a lot of great legacy products out there in this arena, so we had to be on our game with this one."
Elko explained that one of their biggest advantages was the sliding mechanism on the spray bar, which featured a telescopic extension, rather than the wing-style concept. Additionally, its tank features an externally mounted pump, rather than interior, making repairs and clean-outs safer and easier to attend to.
"It's a confined space entry, when [someone] goes down in there, so this pump eliminates that potential risk," said Elko.
While Elko was tight-lipped about the pipeline of future products, he would say that there were some exciting reveals to come both leading up to World of Asphalt 2025, and at the show itself. Stay tuned!
In the last twelve months, if there's been one company making overt strides in the pavement maintenance space, it's been JCB. At last year's PAVE/X they made a splash by bringing their extremely versatile Pothole Pro. The crab-walking, boom-arm extension, excavator-meets-skid-steer Frankenstein was my new product highlight from that show, but they also brought two smaller-class finishing rollers with them.
This year, they had a brand-new five-ton roller, which was demoed live.
The new 5-ton CT430 by JCB at PAVE/X2025.Brandon Noel
"The CT430 is our largest model," said Myles Leiker, Industry Marketing Manager for JCB. "Up to fifty-five inches of drum width, it's sturdy and reliable, and its controls have been simplified for ease of use and maintenance."
JCB's corporate strategy continues full-steam ahead with the construction of a $500 million new factory in Texas. Not to mention, the same week as PAVE/X at the American Rental Association's show (ARA), they also launched a brand new backhoe, the fastest in the industry in its class. Globally, JCB accounts for one out of every two backhoes sold. They're not hiding their ambitions for the blacktop space, and their products prove it.
While there were a lot of rollers to walk around and see at PAVE/X, none drew as much curiosity, perhaps, as the rapidly expanding compaction offerings from LeeBoy. Predominantly known for their extremely popular asphalt pavers, since the first PAVE/X in San Antonio, they haven't been shy about their expansions into more and more of the other aspects of the pavement maintenance space.
In 2024, it started with their HB4T hot box, which made its global debut at the PAVE/X, and then followed a small plate compactor at World of Asphalt a few months later. In our coverage of that show in Nashville, TN, LeeBoy hinted that further compaction products were not far away. Before the end of the year, they revealed the BR36, BR48, and SR48. At PAVE/X 2025, they showed up with a fourth roller, the BR48R rubber tire roller.
"If you have a lot of segregation, and you see a lot of the larger aggregate at the top, a steel drum roller just presses it down," said Chris Broome, Senior Product Manager at LeeBoy. "What you get with a rubber tire roller, is it gives you a kneading action on your mat. You'll notice the rear tires line up with the gaps in the front tires, which is how you get that movement. It will pull the fines back up to the top, helping to seal the asphalt better."
On the topic of their expanding pavement maintenance strategy, Broome indicated that, for LeeBoy, it's about wanting to offer the full-package. If their customer shows up shopping for a new paver, why not have the ability to give them the same quality and service for the other tools needed to do the job. A whole LeeBoy ecosystem of pavement maintenance products. It will be interesting to see where it takes them going forwad.
Cimline came to PAVE/X 2025 on a mission. They were everywhere. On the demo lot showing off their crackfill equipment, and giving hands-on experiences to attendees? Check. Sitting experts on multiple educational sessions and panels to enrich contractors with deeper know-how? Check. Showing new and updated equipment on the show floor with a large team of experts? Check.
"We've redesigned our K-Series of asphalt emulsion applicators," said Ben Theilbar, Director of Sales at Cimline. "The biggest part of our redesign was in the trailer frame and the tank itself. We went from a square tank, that was integrated into the frame, to a round tank, that is baffled and bolts on-and-off. We updated to the SAE standard, added a vented manhole cover with a quick release, and we have a twenty-two inch manhole ring around that, so we can still access the inside of the tank for cleaning and maintenance."
The K-series' Honda engines have options for a pull-start or electric remote-start ignition, an extra long 50-foot rubber applicator hose, a storage system while the trailer is in transport, and both are fully customizable with various additional options. The Cimline products have a lot of available ways that contractors can really personalize and optimize their units for their own individual work-flow and style.
That's All, Folks!
So far, you might not have come to either of the first two historic PAVE/X: The Pavement Experience trade shows, but now you're doubts about a one-hit-wonder should be put to rest. PAVE/X is here to stay! And next year, it's going to be even crazier when the show heads down to New Orleans, LA, just as Mardi Gras will be kicking off at the same time. Who knows what is going to happen? Don't miss it in 2026.
