Dont let your operators hang in the yard "waxing "their pumps:>}.....................................

Ouch that is cheap, we are at an average 180.00 but the cluck down the road that leased a machine for peanuts does the same for 130 and dispatches the conc for his customer, so how compete with that, other than concrete water ski's for xmas.

Cost of living adjustments since 1980 have increased 97.7 percent. Now I remember running a Schwing 31M and it was a big one in those days for $110.00 and $2.00. http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/COLA/colaseries.html

Well add the cost of living adjustments and that equates to $215.00 per hour and $3.95 cents per yard pumped. So as you can see adding the $100.00 per hour is close to the mark. Now in those days I was making like $14.00 an hour it jumped to $18.00 in the early 80s if you factor in the same figures you will see operator wages should be 27 dollar range to keep steady with the cost of living. Of course desil fuel should only be $1.00 per gallon based on cost of living.

Again until the Big Boys change the mentality of the industry as a whole NOTHING will change. They are hell bent on keeping competition weak, keeping their cereal sold. Now at $100.00 increase I think we could keep operators paid with good benefits and 8 hour show up. We could also weather storms and have money set aside for rainy days. Concrete Pumping accounts for less than .5% of a large commercial jobs and maybe 1% on residential. In othe words on a 200k home 2k in pump costs so in the early 80s the homes were 100k yet there was 1.5% associated with pump costs ($1500). If the same costs were associated today at todays costs the 200k home would have $3000 yet concrete pumping prices have not moved in nearly 30 years. In fact we have yoyos in this market pumping house slabs (250k) for $450.00 which does not even pay to turn the truck on. That does not equate to 1/2 of 1%. Now why is there soooo much stupidity and why are contractors kicking the pump guys for less than 1/2 of 1 percent of the entire job? Why are manufactures targeting contractors when these figures are where they are? They pay way more for the excavation so why are they not excavating thier own sites?

I has some one tell me the other day that pumping is now a commodity like a back hoe....well the back hoe only costs 65k new and if pumpin returned the same per dollar invested then a 400k boom pump ought to be $400 an hour. Plain and simple. But as long as the owners of the Big Companies in the US continue to pump for peanuts nothing will change.

Oh I cant blame it all on the big companies, the manufactures are to blame as well as long as they keep handing out pumps....I'll tell you this if the Big Boys raised the rates I would be right on them raising mine. But the manufacturers need to stop handing machines out to fellows who dont know costs and have nothing to lose.

I would love to push 40M class prices to $225.00-$250.00 and hour and 4 bucks a yard I dont think thats out of line one tiny bit. I remember when the first 42s rolled into Seattle in the late 80s If I remember right they were getting like 135 an hour add in cost of living and its and we are right there at the 225-250 range. Its either that or just give it all to the Big Boys...they do such great jobs any ways. I dont think I am going to pay attention to them any more I will keep a hand full of clients who are willing to pay me and let them have the rest. There is NO LOYALITY to the cheap, the next one who is cheaper gets the client...those are the clients you dont want.

Try selling 30 minute hours. The average pump years ago used to be an 8 inch x 55 inch with 27 strokes a minute, that's 90 cubic per hour, how long to pour an average slab?

Now the average pump is 9 inch x 7.5 ft stroke claims of over 170 cubic metres per hour ......... how long to pour the same slab today? Of coarse with a good supply of concrete the contractor is getting his slabs poured in less than half the time with a pump twice the boom reach and 4 times the price.

The pumping industry has dug their own grave due to improved technology and easy finance. It maybe easier to slow a pump than increase the rates.

Well it's easier to increase the price IMHO...the concrete companies sure have, the home builders sure have, the fuel compainies have , insurance has etc.....If the big boys dont want too, and think they are making money then so be it. Let P.........r deal with one US company...I think that would be a good thing. S.....g was driving the boat and got booted to the curb...vote with your dollars. Give Dave Adams what he deserves, one client and take your business else where. There are a boat load of manufactures and IMHO too many.

Dick Tracy, You are right on! It sounds like you have a good feel on the business. With the money made on a project, the concrete pumping cost is NOTHING! It is a joke how people have the balls to chew the pump down. I like this one, This pump is worth more  than the POS project you are trying to chew me down. Your your payment is only $1,800 a month for 30 years. Mine a are $5,500 for five! Let me call my bank to see if they will cut you some slack? 

I think the trick to the concrete pumping industry is " PAYING OFF THE MACHINES AS FAST AS YOU CAN"!

Stop these other freaking pump companies from doing jobs for flat rates!!!!! Every flat rate job we ever tried we lost at least $200 under what we would of got by the hour. I don't know how they make any $$$.

Don't work with commission or SET prices!!!!!!

HERE operators are rationalising. Instead of working for base rate eg. 120 + 6

they work it out i.e. 

Commission charge at 15% at $120 p/h and $6 = so they are getting $102 and $5.

Then what they do is go direct to client at $100 and $5 without commision (to steal client, off course CLIENT WINS) and they route the whole market! It's a chain reaction.