Nice write up. Yes it's been that way since the 70's. If i can remember right a 2001 32m would go out at $115.00 hr. $1.25 yd Not much differant in 2012 is it.

And my reply is? If you are dumb today, you will be dumb when you wake up the next day. Wake up. The only equipment out there not getting it's just return because of the mentality of the people that own them. I will make more money with a bobcat than thinking I'm investing in a pump. Where is your investment. WEAR THEM OUT BOYS. They are not worth s..t at the end of the day.

There is a lot of insight in that write up.

The future looks like an endless cycle with only losers. I wonder, is there a solution?

I don’t think that the small companies are all to blame. A tactic that I have witness is “mega” companies trying to starve the smaller companies assuming they will run out of money first.

I do think that any company that does proper training for operators in /safety /mechanical and operation and spends money on proper maintenance should not be put at a disadvantage when up against a “flyby night” or “corner cutting” or “cheap” company. The unfortunate truth is that they are. It costs a lot of money to properly train operators, and maintain pumps with nothing that really requires you to do it.

 I think the real problem is that any Tom, Dick, or Harry can decide to go buy a concrete pump, and go pumping the next day. With no training and no idea what the actual cost of doing it properly is. Of course he is going to sewer the rates, because it costs him less in the short term. If rates go up now it will only attract more of this kind of company. The endless cycle continues.

 So how do we fix this?

I think, the only way to fix this is to have some kind of mandatory government certification to operate a concrete pump. With an apprenticeship program that requires schooling and hrs. under a journeyman, maybe a 2 year program. Requiring this would make Tom, Dick, and Harry think twice about picking up a cheap pump, as some side company with no real respect for the industry. Perhaps they would decide to move onto something easier. In the case of the contractor with the job big enough to warrant buying a pump, the cost and hassles of training would be a deterrent. This would also make our industry much safer and increase rates and wages by breaking the cycle.

 I have thought about this a lot but never really taken any action. I wonder who would be with me if I did. I’m in Canada. I’m curios who in BC would be willing to sign some sort of petition of the province to allocate funds to create a board with the task of creating a training program that would be approved and mandatory. Would you be willing to donate time? Do you think this is a good idea, if not why? There are many different ways to achieve the goal of certification I would love to hear some.

Pump Pro Concrete Pumping Ltd.

 Gavin Johnston 250.470.7606

I dont understand why you would want to run a business that was losing money day in day out. You could just leave the pumps in the shop and pay your operaters to sweep the floor and drink beer if that was your goal. You would have no maintenace or repairs and alot less stress. Then you could let the rest of us that want to be rewarded for our risk and hard work make money. Which is why your in this in the first place right. Mabye not mabye you just like the experience or being able to say how many pumps you own to make up for other areas where you lack. Why even have a sheet price. Also I have never understood why you would charge less on a large pour. Probably if you pump it faster threre is less stress on the machine and tends to wear out slower. Is there anything left of that dead horse.

Gavin,

Remind me, how old are your pumps?  Plan on replacing them soon at the prices you quote?    What have you done to train?  How much do you pay?  In the union yet?  What are your rates compared to the rest of us?  Please practice what you preach and maybe we can save our little industry.

                                                                                          Ed Rutkowski

                                                                                           Arcoconcreteservice.com

Well that therory has some thought. In our area we are finding jobs more abundant. We have some 200 machines in a population of say 2million houses city and suburb. Cheap lease agreements have given our cheap placers a choice of getting their own pumps to do a pump place finish price to their customers. I am a rare case I belong to a large ready mix frm and run 12 pumps to handle our work. So they are stupid and run their pumps for nothing and get the place finish jobs and figure volume will work. NOT, now we are doing most of their work for our price because they are only paying for their fuel, not lease payment, so place finish has to make up that cost. They park their pumps now and leased firm has to eat their down fall payments and sell their machines on them. YAYA finally nothing like Karma. They are ignorant clowns to say the least, and firms that sell machines that way should suffer the itch, really. It's like selling a 200 mph super bike to a 16 year old kid really.

Ed I think you would be suprised at what my rates are. And a boom operator at pump pro makes 32$ an hr. You mention the union i wonder are you happy to be union?What I am talking about prob affects you the most around here. I know you would be willing to certify your guys. I dont know why you bag on the age of my pumps my oldest is 1998 and my newest is 2010 maybe you forget how many of your pumps I had to fix because you could not. My pumps are all in tip top shape come by some day I will show you. As far as training is concerned I am training a boom operator right now and he has over 500 boom hrs and has yet to go out on his own oh ya this is after 2 years on a line pump. How many operators have you trained? I'm not trying to be rude I do have alot respect for Arco maybe it's time you show me some.

The company I work for does not wheel and deal on prices. We just let a high rise go to another customer because they came in at the last minute and cut the price, just to get the work. We all know what will happen when they have issues or can't perform. Our boss sets the prices based on having the best equipment, service and operators in the area. I feel that cutting prices just to get a job shows that your operators are not able to sell jobs for you. You then have to cut prices, buy the finish crew lunch and drinks just to keep busy. All of our customers know that we are higher priced but as the saying goes..... YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR.

Biloxmike, you convey an interesting perspective on why prices will never increase and make some valid points. Concrete pumping has become very discouraging and it is difficult to be optimistic given todays current global economic state.

I think a lot of us concrete pumpers could agree that one of the things that makes our industry so cyclical is that we require such large volumes of work to make money. For example a residential pumping contractor cannot be profitable or keep operators doing one residential pour a day charging their minimum. In a recession there are way too many machines available and not enough volume. This is where someone always starts to sell their service on price. I understand different companies have different cost structures but I do not understand how companies can sell their services for up to 50% less than others. These companies that do this must not have any idea how much their business costs to operate, how much they need to break even, how much they need to generate a profit. There have been many opportunities for new ambitious entrepreneurs in the concrete pumping industry to take advantage of; low interest rates, cheap used inventories, banks ledning money to people who normally wouldn't qualify for business loans, more competition amongst manufacturers. This is why I concur with biloxmikes perspective. Today's business environment and our industry is more dynamic than ever and we must keep up with the way they change. There is always going to be some Dick or Harry who starts up and sells on price and not the service they provide. It is inevitable in todays market. What can we do to ensure concretepumpers receive the return on investment they deserve?

Pumpro

Lets not forget, you are that new ambitious entrepreneur in the market who chose to sell on price for the first few years in business. There are many quotes and jobs out there to prove it. Hopefully 2012 is a new year and our small little region can  see the ROI that I think we all deserve for the risk and time we have invested in our businesses

"Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap"   Cool song not a cool business philosophy

That video was made for entertainment it is obviously not my business philosophy. I did think it the song was kinda fitting to our industy but I guess you need a sense of humor to get it.

Ed

If you want to look at business philosophy maybe we should look at yours. “Remind me” how much experience you have. “Let’s not forget” you have never run a pump a day in your life and could not even drive one to site. Maybe you should show a little respect to someone who has devoted there entire life to pumping and is trying to better the industry.

Oh ya here is a link to the video mentioned http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=houcAr4N6dc