Nice iron

Concrete suppliers should not be able to get pumps.  "buy our mud, we pump for nothing"

And then they want us to push their product! Ya right!!

Can't imagine they pump totaly for free.. That would be a huge cost for them..

not every concrete supplier is like that

We miss Irving.

Im the operator of this beauty and first off I would like to say how pleased I am with Concord.  The sales team of Kevin and Chris were awesome through the whole process from choosing a pump all the way to putting it in service this past week!  Next i would just like to say the market in our area is different from what many operators are used to.  From what I can gather the majority of operators on this site work for companies where pumping or "pump place finish" is their only game.  In our market suppliers were the only ones that provided pump service up until about 6 years ago.  Since then there have been a couple of independent pumps start up in our area. Even with these independent pumps around a ready mix supplier would not be competitive in this market if they did not supply a pump along with their concrete.  The majority of commercial work here still takes pumping as part of the concrete bid.  This allows the contractors to have everything on one bill and it eliminates a lot of guess work when it comes to booking concrete and a pump.  At least this way, for example, if the pump is tied up on a different job the contractor doesn't have to worry about making a phone call to prevent a pileup of mixers on their job before the pump arrives.  With that being said, we as a ready mix supplier have a great working relationship with both independent pump companies in town and will often work together to get the jobs done.

Nicely put LCP 40. If anyone feels like buying a pump and putting it to work, Koodos to them. Lafarge isn't the only supplier providing pumps as a service. There are more than several companies that supply around here both concrete and pumps. Not to mention forming companies. It's no different than a forming company providing stone slinging,  or placing crew providing  a line dragon in the future. I am in sales and hear alot of guys who are worried about what the next guy in line is going to do each year before he  decides what  his move might be.Go beat the hell out of your competitors, but respect eachother, pumpers will always be front line and it p's everyone off when people set up shop, but lets face it, it's not as much a strategic move as it is being able to provide a better service in some specific situations.A company like Lafarge, or Dufferin could probably buy 50 pumps in one shot, but they never. A Readymix Company Owns 2 dozen pumps in Eastern Canada and everyone else still thrives. Make service your top priority.  It's that cut and dry! Don't get in a funk, Lafarge is a Global leader in concrete and construction, and they likely have their hands in in even more than we know.There  will always be some cats who maybe will regret taking a stab at pumping, but don't sleep at the wheel and do what you do best, pump concrete. Another operator is paying his bills now and maybe even feeding his family. Safe pumping everyone.I Love your site Todd and it was nice meeting you in Vegas. Jeff Loberg.

Aha.. So its actualy the independant guys that have pushed themselves in to your market ? And then they start complaining?? Is it like that

There is enough work to go around so nobody is complaining. We actually gave up a 32 m and a 40 m to get this new 40 so the independents will be helping us out even more so than before.  

Any thoughts to maybe there just tired of dealing with the other options that are available to them in that area? Your pump is only as good as the operator that runs it! JMO

Not sure i get what you mean

Its all just a bunch of winding. ''Concrete manuf. should not be alowed to buy pumps'' ?? Thats the biggest BS I've ever heared. Sorry

My point exactly.  Suppliers have had pumps here for years and will have for many more years

I'm with you dipstick!!!! 

Plain and simple they will give the pump away to put their concrete on the job! Therefore the independent pumper stays home so corporate company could get fatter! BS!

There is an exception to that rule.

Action Supply in Seaville NJ. They have a few pumps and they are a concrete supplier. They do not cut pump prices or do it for free. They quote the pumps out at real pump prices and do a great job.

Just one example but he is in the pump business to make money on the pumps too. Keeps his stuff safe and clean. Great operaters too.

Other then that. I'm with you.

we are a ready-mix plant and where forced into buying pump by independant pumpers.   not all of them but some in are area had fights with the cribber and drove off site with loads of concrete on the street.  what would you like me to do now?   We still help out all other pump companies and work on there pumps for them when needed!!  as a side note we pump for all the plants, we have a contract with a builder that uses Lafarge for mudd, we worked with them for over 2 years and never a problem and never tried to thake the costomer. from the look of the phone number on the pump not to far away. I have  been a pumper since 1999 when i ran a 1974 28m gate 600 kit.  now pumps cost lots of money   do any of you think that any plant would go spend $500,000 or more on pumps just to give ot away? LMFAO!!    if we wanted the job just drop $10 a meter and get it.     Its all about the costomer and what   any body here that had to go from 1 pump to 2 or 6 or a fleet of 100 knows that

Good luck with the new pump and if they send you up north i might see you 

We also have plants that have pumps. Some more than others. We also have plants that don't own anything. Not even a single mixer truck.

Its a free market economy so anyone that things he found the hole in the market can do what he want. If you can't make money with your strategy YOU are doing something wrong, not your competitor. If you can't stand competition move to a comunist country

Sidenote: I do think on the other hand its smart to let eachother live. Trying to destroy your competition to then take over the market hardly ever works and will only cost both you and your competitor a lot of money.. 

I appreciate that there are some that understand our market here.  Where are you at pumpkid?

well, i have been served

im in grande prairie  ?   where you at Calgary?

No I'm in Lethbridge.  The majority of the work we do is within 50 miles of the city so I doubt I'll be up your way anytime soon lol.  A road trip would be nice for a change though!

¢

I think if they were really tring to steel work from everyone else they would have gone with the perfect pump 47-52 meter class can set up in both residential and commercial and provide enough reach for both

Why don't the guys that think plants have no bussness pumping, just set up a plant and start supplying ? We do both here and we don't pump for free. However having our own pumps allows us to serve the customer better. We always know where the pumps are and our mixers are never held up because of a late pump. Also on jobs that we are short mixers on our pumps can do a lot to control the rate in which the concrete is going in. Some days we want him to slow it down a bit to alow the plant to catch up as there is nothing worse than waiting for a mixer to show up. It is also way less for the customer to line up. Plus the plants without the pumps need to cater to the pumping company's schedule this can be a big problem when you have 6 mixers sitting idle waiting on a pump. And on the other side of the coin I have never had an un pumpable load when we use our concrete and our pumps always know where the Crete realy is.  It works both ways.  I don't know why but some pumpers around seem to think the world revolves around them and anyone doing something different or more efficient must be cutting prices. I'm pretty sure lafarge is quite capable of being profitable pumping.  And I'm sure thier operator is earning a fair wage with bennifits.  I'd rather see a company like that get a pump than most of the independents that think the only way to earn business is to cut prices, wages, and safety.  

I've worked for two concrete suppliers who have pumps and they didn't give the pumps away One of them was action supply I worked there for 7yrs they always had competitive prices. It's great working for a supplier cause you never wait on concrete and you can adjust the mix if you have issues pumping it, I work for a contractor now and I can't fine tune mixes and I'm always waiting on crete it sucks. 

Well said Concrete7111.  

Hey there pump kid. say Hi to Tegart from Jeff , 3100 miles away. I was born and raised in B'lodge.!

mudgator,  i will if i see him      but i dont think he would talk to me any more.   We are up to 4 pumps and growing 

Lafarge in the Montreal area are getting rid of their drivers for a 3rd party employees. Lafarge plants but employees belong to a transport company. The unions are to blame in this IMO

I like that Mack truck that came from Toledo Mack because of the great people at Irving..  I wonder who will supply Concord with Mack's now?  

I've seen concrete producers throw in their pump or give it away cheap as a bonus for using their concrete because their competitors may not have a pump so it gets them the job. I've also seen these companies sell their concrete cheap and charge above market rates for their pump to subsidise their low concrete prices. I ran into a situation a few years back where I had started a commercial job. The supplier brought substandard concrete for a wall pour that had to be jackhammered out and in order to compensate the contractor, the concrete supplier said they would pump the job for free until they had compensated this contractor adequately. The only one who lost out was our company, the independant pumping contractor. 

Concrete suppliers have the power to use these business practices if they own a pump and even if it's only done occasionally, it still hurts us indepependant pumping contractors more than it hurts a business like a concrete supplier with pumps who has different business units within their company.