I never paid attention thru all the months that I have been reading the posts on this board until this evening. I finally spent some free time that I had available and found posts from way back that no one ever picked up on, yet I thought this board was for educational purposes. This board this evening has taught me tremendously and I Thank you all and wish you well.

I started my Company for another in May 0f 1989, and took it over for myself in May of 1990, and have been running ever since trying my best to promote and advance this Industry, yet to no avail, because the rates I charge today, everyone says everyone is cheaper, or has a set rate.

I have said for a long time that you are in business for one reason, and that is to make money, and you can stAY ON THE COUCH AND NOT MAKE MONEY. Well I choose to make money!

The current economic times have made us all do things that we assumed will help us all prosper, but my experience from what I see happening to the Industry I love, is the exact opposite of what I have always been, and that is a professional in business, a good business man promoting the business I have been in for years and trying to get a better rate for the professionalism that we all provide, yet everyone chooses to give away, let alone the lost value of the equipment to which I thought was a solid investment, and the lost foresight of most involved of safety first, and by that not happening has drove the Insurance premiums to unbareable costs. I wish everyone would have thought about the big picture, instead of getting that one job.

For this reason, I will no longer at present try to compete in a business climate where their is no business minded competitors, and I am going to set my paid off machines to the side and take care of my loyal customers only, and get my price.(NO SET RATES< OR SPECIAL DEALS), and start a new venture with other assets I own free and clear with unlimited potential, because I am going to continue to sell service and professionalism, NOT PRICE! I will be back, when and if there is a market.

I wish you all the best, be safe, and get REAL. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!!!!

That is the most intelligent post I have ever seen on this website.

I wish you well.

My2cents,     my hats off to you,   too many on this site are concerned with how many yards they pumped or how far a distance or how clean their machines are or why profiles aren't filled out.   I would suspect a majority are operators, and not owners.    I just wonder, did they charge accordingly for all those yards, or for the spare pump in the job site, or for all the hose laid out, or for all the other costs involved in running a pump ?????      I suspect not !!

While I sincerely love what I'm doing,  I do it to make money for my family and retirement.  Low rates, unsafe practices, lack of certifications requirements, to name a few all ""cheapen"" the industry.   IMHO  the worst are the largest companies, and if you don't know who they are just look at the "" leaders"" in ACPA,    year after year the same folks and still things stay the same.

It may just be a phone call, or over a cold drink at the end of the day,   but after EVERY job I go over the day with my operators, ( and they question me about my jobs )   what went well,  went could have been improved,  how could we hae made more money, or done the job faster or easier )

I'm sure this will offend some, lets be professional out there, in all aspects of the business.

Best wishes for a safe, happy and holy holiday season !!

steve        @            tristatepumping@centurytel.net

My2cents, please stay in touch and well said.

too many on this site are concerned with how many yards they pumped or how far a distance or how clean their machines are or why profiles aren't filled out.   I would suspect a majority are operators, and not owners.    I just wonder, did they charge accordingly for all those yards, or for the spare pump in the job site, or for all the hose laid out, or for all the other costs involved in running a pump ????? 

It is not logical to berate an operator for talking about a job he loves - and then - in the next sentence question whether or not "he" charged for this or that.

"He" has no control over what is charged. He is counting on the man or woman that owns the company to do that so that he may continue to do what it is that "he" loves

Pumping Concrete.

We are fortunate that these good operators DO CARE and love what they do.

Bob,

appreciate the response, however not sure if you read the orginal post by my2cents and my entire post......

Good operators are without a doubt the background of this industry, even better are those that wake up looking forward to going to work.  ( Let's face it, you really have to love your job to do what we do everyday!! )

However, reference was made to the so called "" leaders "" in the industry, ( and while my2cents didn't refer to the same word I'm assuming he also meant these ""leaders "").   If their idea of leadership is status quo, then I'm not too impressed!  

Being professional in all aspects of the business referred not only to the president of the largest pump company in the U.S. but to the one man operation running a ball valve pump, and everyone in-between.  The day we all get on board and elevate the status of the industry we all will benefit, higher profits, less accidents, HIGHER WAGES FOR GOOD OPERATORS, similar ROI % for booms as for trailers, continuing education for all operators regardless of experience.    

By the way, one of the best operators I've ever dealt with was a woman,   the ""he "" was used in a generic fashion.

Hey Gman, it just so happens that the operators on this site are the ones that love their/our jobs. I dont think the people that lack pride and joy in their occupation go home and log on to a web-site like this? Our clean pumps and being able to pump as many yards as far as you need us to, lets our owners charge whatever they want to. A company could'nt raise their rates one penny without good operators in the feild doing what we do best. I'd bet that alot of the future management and owners are on this site today. A good operater knows the value of the service they provide because they're the ones doing the work! Where do you think alot of the "leaders" came from?...  They were once good operators with nice clean pumps that could pump as many yards, as far as you needed them to. (well.. maybe not so clean,)

I would'nt say there's "too many" but perhaps not enough?

TooTall,

appreciate the response,    however for the second time, please read the original post and response.

The pricing in the industry is driving good people away, the returns on investment is pretty much terrible, ( compare what a crane rental is getting per hour, along with its cost, to what a pump is charging, along with its cost)

Too many times I've read about, or seen first hand a top notch operator go out on his own, with little or no business training.  His business model is to pump for a ""little bit "" less than his old company.  

In this section of the country I've got 32m's being run for $ 85.00 per hour, no travel, for house slabs, or flat rates of $ 250.00 a job.  A businessman could sit down in a few minutes and figure the costs (there is an entire industry of cost accounting ) and come up with the fact that money was lost on that job.

No, this hasn't just started, been going on for years.

Alot of folks on the ACPA board, different subcommitte's and such, alot of owners of huge pump companies, however true leaders, well I'm still waiting for one to step forward....... ............ ........... ...........   

Over the years I've done a number of unique jobs, difficult jobs, unusual jobs,   however the ones I'm most proud of are the ones I'm made the most money on ( not the most in dollar size, but the most relative to time and effort expended )

Thanks

steve

That is the way to evaluate your work. Be the most proud of the ones that make the most money.

Our competition used to be – buckets, buggies and belts. People/owners used to spend advertising money on making pumping the first choice. It is a battle that cost a lot of money, but it turns out that it was money well spent. Pumps are now part of ‘business as usual.’

Now, our biggest enemy is us. As someone recently pointed out, I have never owned a pump. As an operator, laborer, oiler, salesman, manager, salesman and service rep I could never figure out why the owners of pumps never raised their prices, I still don’t know. It baffles me.

I know that if someone is selling a good service for $100.00 that it is not reasonable to think that you can sell what appears to be the same thing for $300.00 or $400.00. You could price your service there but would spend most of your time watching your machine depreciate while earning no income. You would be a member of the “Going out of Business – Business Club.”

So, I guess that my question that I need an answer to is two part:

1.     Knowing this to be the case, why would anyone buy a pump? The rules were there and in place before you made the purchase, so why make the purchase?

2.   What is the reasoning behind KEEPING the prices so low? Everyone that owns a pump has to know that he/they are not charging enough money for their service; it makes little sense from a ROE perspective, why not raise the prices?

Having asked myself those two questions very early in my career and not being able to answer them to my satisfaction, I promised myself that I would never buy a pump. What is it that I don’t understand? What are the answers to the two questions that have eluded me for years? I honestly want to know.

Bob,

two great questions, don't know how the big boys would answer,    ( may be the small man syndrome, being able to stand at the bar and tell folks how many pumps you own, making up for other ""lackings"" in your life )

For me however, when I got into the business years ago with a trailer pump I vowed to be the most expensive guy around, if everyone else is at $ 95.00 per on the trailer I'm at $ 100.00.   If I hear of rate increases I'm going up also.  I charge for service,  well maintained machines,  great safety record, professional employees, a yes we can get it done attitude .  The bottem line is service, service, service.  In return I get what I consider some of the most loyal customers in the world!!!

Likewise when I bought the first boom I tried to figure my costs, versus my revenue.  Using the same service mantra, I've made it work.  Brings a warm fuzzy feeling to my heart when I hear a GC tell a salesman from one of the big boys, "" your price of $ 40.00 less an hour doesn't mean anything, we'll wait for Steve and his guys !"

Takes less than a second to drop your price,   takes a whole lot of effort and grief to raise it.

I would venture a quess if a few of the ""leaders"" out there were to hire a cost accountant for a few months prices would rise across the board, ( no reason why a 32m job ticket shouldn't start at $ 1,000.00) or a lot of pumps would be winterized !!!!!

I know specifically of a pump company who has been shut down on parts purchases, pumps in at Mack truck all the time, large jobs ( in excess of 2,000 yards ) the main pump shuts down yet the ""spare "" pump is not big enough to finish.  Yea that makes us all look good, two pumps on the job, yet a crane and bucket finishes the job.    IDIOTS  That one jackass salesman did more to harm the reputation of pumps than he can possibly imagine.

Enough venting,      I'm done for the year

Bob,

After my last post, i did not want to add any further until i read your post. I truly believe that you are one that truly unerstands exactly what I was saying.

I have completed many jobs thru the years large and small, and in the local market I am in, I will put my job tickets up against any competitor and let the CPA tell us all who brought in the most income dollar per yard pumped, and I know that I will have the highest, and that makes me proud.

The reason I have made the decision I have made is because, when I started you could not get contractors to pump, because of the other possibilities of placement that you mentioned, and thru all the hard marketing and long hours the same is no longer true.

The costs of equipment, parts, fuel, insurance, etc have all gone thru the roof, yet when work slows down in this Industry no one raises their prices they do the opposite.

This Industry is one unlike any other, just for one example,go to the grocery store and pay when you get thru checkout, yet there cost of business is lower. They raised their prices and everyone pays, no questions asked.

In this Industry, you spent all the money for just the machine alone, not counting operating expenses, and when times get slow everyone who has any equity in their equipment gives it away by dropping their price to get the job, when they should be raising them like I did. Instead they did the job and in the end, have a machine that is worth one third of their initial investment.

I call that not making money, and bad business judgement and practice.

For all the operators out there, continue to be the safest in what you do, and be professional in every aspect of what your duties entail, and you will prosper.

And lastly Bob, do not ever let anyone tell you not to post, you are one I consider to be a very wise man, with your head below the clouds.

My2cents

Thanks !

I don’t let that stuff bother me. This industry has treated me right and now it is my turn to pass-on some hard earned knowledge and safety advice.

I understand your problem, you are a braver man than I am. Everyone out there is in the same boat but most don’t know it. As you know, when doing a relative study of cost – V – profit for our industry and almost any other; we keep coming up short. TOMORROW every concrete pumping company needs to triple their price. We would then have a better chance of not only making money, but we would at the same time demand the respect that we as an industry deserve. No fewer buildings would be built and I cannot be made to believe that contractors would revert to the old way of placing their concrete.

Perhaps it is just me………… I would never let the guy with the low bid paint my car or supply me with prescription eyewear. I want the guy that is smart enough to charge enough to be there next time.

Maybe someday we will get the message.

Have a Merry Christmas and a safe New Year ;~)

Like Wise Bob, and God Bless!

my2cents

cents,

please e-mail me @ tristatepumping@centurytel.net

thanks

steve