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Operations playbooks for traffic control crews
Field notes, software comparisons and deep dives for traffic control, barricade rental and lane-closure companies, with every source linked.
Newest · Choosing software
Auto-Charging Monthly Barricade Rentals to a Card on File
How to set up recurring rental billing on a saved card: what the customer has to agree to before the first charge, how to pick a weekly or monthly cycle, and what happens when a card is declined.
Read it · 7 min
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Latest articles
Running the business
Billing Lane Closures, Flaggers, TMAs and Queue Trucks by the Shift
How traffic control companies usually price and bill the four core resources on a lane closure, which units and minimums to define in the rate sheet, and how one signed daily ticket becomes one draft invoice with a line for each resource.
Nov 10, 2026 · 6 min read
Running the business
Cash or Accrual: Which Profit and Loss to Run a Traffic Control Company On
What cash and accrual profit and loss each tell a traffic control owner, why they disagree so often in a business with slow receivables and retainage, what the IRS says about the two methods, and how to read both without confusing your management view with your tax method.
Nov 10, 2026 · 7 min read
Running the business
Clocking In the Whole Crew: When One Punch for the Truck Makes Sense
When it is reasonable for a foreman to clock in the whole crew at once, what can go wrong with a crew punch, what the US Department of Labor says about hours worked and records, and the habits that keep a crew punch accurate.
Nov 10, 2026 · 5 min read
Running the business
Closing a Pay Period: Locking Timesheets Before Payroll
Why a traffic control company should lock timesheets once a pay period is closed, what to check before locking, how a pay period differs from a workweek, and how corrections after the lock should be handled.
Nov 10, 2026 · 5 min read
Choosing software
Correcting a Sent Invoice: Void, Reissue or Edit
When to edit a sent invoice, when to void it and issue a new one, and when a credit is the right fix, plus how to keep the audit trail clean and what to tell the customer.
Nov 10, 2026 · 6 min read
Running the business
Can a Traffic Control Company Add a Credit Card Fee to Invoices?
How card-network surcharge rules and state laws generally work, what Visa's own rules say, how Texas's surcharge statutes stand according to the Texas State Law Library, and the questions to ask before you put a card fee on an invoice.
Nov 10, 2026 · 7 min read
Running the business
Crew Expenses and Mileage From a Phone: Receipts, Odometer Photos and Approval
How a traffic control company can control field expenses and mileage without chasing crumpled receipts: what a good expense record holds, what IRS Publication 463 says about timely records, and a simple approval routine.
Nov 10, 2026 · 5 min read
Choosing software
Jobber Alternative for Traffic Control and Barricade Companies
Where Jobber is strong, where a traffic control or barricade rental company outgrows it, and what to look for in a replacement: daily tickets with lane-closure billing rows, stock by yard, and rental billing. Prices as of November 2026.
Nov 10, 2026 · 6 min read
Running the business
Your Real Margin on Sold Materials: Paint, Posts and Cones When Prices Change
How to read the margin on materials a traffic control company sells outright: cost of goods sold, what happens to margin when purchase prices change, margin versus markup with a worked example, and why a line with no cost on file shows a fake 100% margin.
Nov 10, 2026 · 7 min read
Running the business
Paying Commission in a Traffic Control Company: On Invoiced or Collected Revenue
How to design a commission plan for salespeople and crew leads in a traffic control company: invoiced versus collected revenue, why commission should be figured before sales tax, clawbacks on bad debt, and the federal overtime and withholding rules that apply.
Nov 10, 2026 · 6 min read
Running the business
Paying Suppliers in Parts Without Losing Track of What You Owe
Accounts payable for a small traffic control company: how partial payments, short bills and goods received but never billed make a balance disappear, and the weekly routine that keeps it visible.
Nov 10, 2026 · 5 min read
Equipment and yards
Portable Message Board Rental: What to Track Between Jobs
What to record on a portable changeable message sign when it comes back from one rental and before it goes out on the next: location, power, display and controller, the message left on it, the trailer, damage and maintenance, plus how weekly and monthly rental billing fits.
Nov 10, 2026 · 6 min read
Choosing software
"We Never Got Your Invoice": Proving Delivery With Email Tracking
What email delivery and open tracking can and cannot prove when a customer says the invoice never arrived, why an open is not proof of reading, and a step-by-step response that gets the invoice paid.
Nov 10, 2026 · 5 min read
Running the business
Reading Your A/R Aging Report: Which Customers to Call First
How to read an accounts receivable aging report in a traffic control company: what the buckets mean, why days overdue matters more than the bucket, why collections should be grouped by customer, and a practical order for who to call first.
Nov 10, 2026 · 6 min read
Running the business
Sales Tax on Barricade Rentals, Traffic Control Services and Material Sales
How sales tax generally treats the three things a traffic control company bills — rented devices, crew services and sold materials — with Texas as the worked example, the questions to take to your tax agency, and how to keep the invoice lines that make the answer provable.
Nov 10, 2026 · 7 min read
Choosing software
Square, Stripe or QuickBooks Payments for a Traffic Control Company
Which card processor fits a traffic control or barricade rental company: what Square, Stripe and QuickBooks Payments charge as of November 2026, how each one works with Traffic OS, and the questions that decide it.
Nov 10, 2026 · 5 min read
Choosing software
Switching Traffic Control Software in 14 Days: A Day-by-Day Plan
How long a switch to new traffic control software takes and how to run it: what to send on day zero, what gets built, when the office and the crews are trained, how to run real jobs beside paper, and what to keep from the old system.
Nov 10, 2026 · 5 min read
Running the business
Three-Way Match for Traffic Control Purchases: Order, Receipt and Vendor Bill
What a three-way match checks, why a vendor bill is compared with what you ordered and what actually arrived, how to choose a tolerance, and what to do when the three documents disagree.
Nov 10, 2026 · 6 min read
Running the business
What Goes on a Traffic Control Daily Ticket: The Fields GCs and DOTs Ask For
The fields a traffic control daily ticket should carry, from the header and billing rows to lane events, trucks and the signature, and why each one matters when the invoice is reviewed or disputed.
Nov 10, 2026 · 7 min read
Equipment and yards
Stationary Crash Cushions in Work Zones, Explained
What a stationary crash cushion does at the end of a temporary barrier, how the MUTCD frames inspection and repair, and how to keep these units visible in your equipment and job records.
Nov 8, 2026 · 5 min read
Choosing software
How to Measure the ROI of Traffic Control Software
A practical way to estimate what operations software is worth to a traffic control company, using your own numbers: admin hours, missed billing, equipment losses and payroll records, without borrowed statistics.
Nov 8, 2026 · 5 min read
Running the business
General Contractor Wants to Supply Their Own Flaggers With Your Equipment
Traffic control companies face liability risks when general contractors supply their own flaggers to use your equipment in mixed-crew arrangements.
Nov 3, 2026 · 9 min read
Compliance and work-zone safety
How to Find the Official MUTCD Online (and Make Sure You Are Reading the Current Edition)
Where the official MUTCD lives online, why there is no HTML version of the 11th Edition, how Revision 1 fits in, and how to check which edition your state and your job actually follow.
Nov 1, 2026 · 5 min read
Compliance and work-zone safety
MUTCD Interim Approvals and Official Interpretations: What Traffic Control Contractors Should Know
Interim approvals and official interpretations change what an agency may use between MUTCD editions, but they do not all bind anyone the same way. Here is how each works, who can ask for one, and how to handle them on a job.
Nov 1, 2026 · 5 min read