They’re as American as McDonald’s. They’re in 30 markets around the country, on urban highways and rural roads alike. They’re Bob’s Barricades, and — oh, no — they’re coming to a highway construction site near you.
“When you think of tissue, you think Kleenex; when you think of barricades, you think Bob’s,” says Happy Alter, owner and chief executive of Bob’s Barricades Inc. in Sunrise.
All jokes aside, Bob’s Barricades is a serious business. It’s the largest privately held supplier of roadwork barricades in the country.
Alter bought the company in 1975 from James A. Ryder, the founder of Miami-based Ryder System Inc. Bob’s owns “hundreds of thousands” of pieces of road construction safety equipment, such as cones, drums, flags and signs.
The company leases barricades at from 25 cents to 75 cents each per day. Bob’s turns over its entire inventory every year because of damage. Salvageable barricades are sent to “Bob’s Barricades Hospital” for repair.
The company, which has 500 employees, prides itself on service. Bob’s Barricades has a team — Alter calls it the “Night Owls” — that works all night maintaining barricades on job sites.
Customers demand such service. “Bob’s price is competitive, but when it comes to traffic control, service is the most important factor,” says Ignacio Halley, executive vice president of Miami-based Community Asphalt Corp.
So, why is a guy named Happy running Bob’s Barricades?
The origin of the company’s name is not entirely clear. A former Dade County police officer named Bob Brownlee claims to have started the company, but Alter says it’s not so. “I researched it back to the beginning. James Ryder said it was called Bob’s because he had Bobs as managers in different locations.”
No matter. Bob’s has achieved widespread recognition. And that makes Happy happy.
