Got a lead for local work, applied & waiting for background results. The job is pulling doubles to supply rock, sand & dry powder to the plants that load concrete mixers. Anyone got anything to share about the pros & cons of about hauling products for the concrete industry?

 

I would say that sounds like a good deal. We haul for asphalt plants up here with our side dumps and it is really easy plus most places close at 4-5 so you can get home and make dinner/watch tv. The only downfall I would say is if its paid by the ton, there isnt much stopping time for lunch/ breaks and you get a little annoyed when some dope crashes there car and stops traffic. All in all its pretty easy job here at least.

 

The only downsides I can think of are totally based on where the job is located. Work could slow down a little or completely stop in the winter. And the material could freeze in the trailers. Concrete is pretty stable, steady work.

 

I'd rather do what you're doing than work on the ready mix end of the game.

Nobody where I worked pulled doubles, and all the rock and sand came in via dump buckets, so the nearest experience I can draw upon is the guy who drove the bulk tanker pulling portland cement.

He got paid $13 an hour, and worked about 70 hours a week. He had to run whenever the concrete was running, wherever the concrete was running. They did a lot of overnight and weekend pours for highway construction stuff, and he had to do the overnights and weekends, and work all day too.

He told lots of stories about nearly falling asleep at the wheel, and working 19,000 hours a week, but he had been doing the job for 22 years, and he seemed happy.

 

I wouldn't think it would be a bad gig if you worked for a company other than the actual concrete company. The outside companies are nice because they determine when you run and when you are done. The concrete company itself will run you ragged as the previous poster stated. I used to do the same thing only I ran a dump trailer for sand and stone and also pulled a tanker for the cement. I worked 70 hour weeks all the time, day and night with barely enough time to eat and sleep in between. The company used to always bitch and moan because at my 70 hours I was done for the week, if it were up to them I would have been running 130 hours per week like my buddy who I worked with. In the end though they made my life hell because I wouldn't run illegal, so take this post as you will.

 

Just a question for the other construction local guys that posted..did you/do you get overtime? over 40? we work 5-6 days a week doing on average 50-55 hours with no overtime. We are commission paid : / which is why i am looking for a new job. But I am just wondering how other companies deal with it. Thanks

 

I made 13.75 with overtime after 40 hours. Some companies around here do overtime after 8 hours (each day) but that is rare. Other companies do overtime after 60 hours. Hope that helps.

 

when i drove dump trucks got 18 bucks an hr OT after 40. The company i work for now pulling local tanker pays me 18.74 with OT over 40 used to be OT over 8 but just changed it :evil:

 

Most guys round these parts are paid percentage with no overtime.

I am an O/O so no OT for me either

 

At this place, anything after 80 hours in two weeks was overtime. That let them run you 20 one week and 60 the next without paying any overtime, although they weren't actually trying to do that, and I was there during a painfully slow time of year.

They had a guaranteed pay policy where if you kept all your ducks in a row and they closed the plant due to crappy weather, you'd get paid your 80 hours at the end of the pay cycle.

They had good benefits too. Good, cheap insurance, reasonable vacation policy, etc. It was hard to walk away from that deal on many levels, but I couldn't see any point hanging around for a summer I definitely did not want to experience first hand. Everybody told the same tale at that place. Get ready to work your ass off boy, because when this weather breaks, there's no rest until next winter.

I'm too lazy for that kind of lifestyle. I'd rather make more money for less work driving a big truck.