How Masters of Barricades (MOB) became a traffic control darling before it was even a company

Jeff Pritchett had just finished having lunch with a customer when his company credit card was declined. After the server tried it a second time, Jeff assumed it was a fluke and promptly paid for lunch using his personal card. He didn’t think twice. National traffic control companies reimburse employees for expenses.

After lunch, he decided to stop for gas before heading back to the office. It was then that he discovered the company gas card wasn’t working either. He knew right then and there that there must be more to it.

“At lunch, my first thought was that something must have happened to the magnetic strip or something,” said Jeff. “But after the gas card didn’t work either, I decided to call some of the other employees out in the field and ask them to check their cards. None of them worked. Not one.”

When he got back to the office, his calls to the company’s headquarters went unanswered. So he packed up his personal belongings and encouraged other co-workers and employees to do the same. Everything was pointing to what seemed like an impossible conclusion: The national company they worked for was closing its doors without an exit strategy or telling anyone.

“I’m glad a few of us stayed because we didn’t receive confirmation until 7 p.m.,” said Jeff. “So Jeff Ames, Jason Woods, and I asked ourselves what we needed to do. Naturally, our first thoughts went to all the employees who were going to be laid off, and all our customers who had major construction jobs on the line.”

Despite reeling from the news, these three co-workers stayed up all night calling smaller traffic control providers and other area competitors — dividing various jobs to whatever companies were best equipped to handle them. To make sure every customer was covered, they promised the world — even allowing for the use of whatever equipment was on site and the names of which employees to call first if they needed help.

“The next few days and weeks were unreal. We were tasked with dismantling everything we had worked so hard to build for this company,” says Jeff. “And while we were all pretty certain we would land on our feet, we didn’t know what was going to happen.”

What happened was nothing short of a miracle. When Jeff Ames’ father heard what had happened and how these three co-workers managed what could have been a regional crisis, he offered to help them start a business. He provided enough capital to help them purchase a small traffic control operator and purchase the equipment they needed.

“He didn’t even have any papers drawn up to make him an owner,” said Jeff. “He just gave us installments on the principle of karma and a handshake. Things took off very quickly from there and we were able to pay him back within the first two years.”

If anyone wonders if the concept of karma is real, the success of Masters of Barricades provides another measure of proof. Every customer that Ames, Pritchett, and Woods had referred out to competitors returned to what would become the owners of the region’s newest barricade company — one destined to become the largest privately owned barricade, traffic control, and special events company in the region.

“Special events work provided us a solid foundation because not every company is capable of providing signage, equipment, and manpower on the weekends,” Jeff said. “From these short-term contracts, everything else blossomed into a fleet of vehicles and a yard of equipment that rivaled the national company that left us all behind.”

Today, Masters of Barricades takes pride in being known as the premier barricade and traffic control company in the region. Jeff said it stems from how they originally began. While they have since implemented some corporate-like policies and procedures to ensure safety and efficiency, many employees still regard MOB traffic as a family-like atmosphere.

It started with special events — jobs that many traffic control companies find less desirable — and then blossomed into a fleet that is the flagship traffic control company of the Las Vegas Valley. Since then, MOB traffic expanded its services and service area, delivering world-class customer service and responsiveness across a regional service area.