the mixer driver never told our operator he had old concrete on!!!

Ouch .. That Sucks! So did you have to replace all of the system on the truck at your shop? Or were you able to clean the system out?

hope you back charge the cr*p out of the ready mix company

Old concrete or 'hot mud' should be grounds for a lawsuit for damages and lost income for the pump company from the RM plant.  They charge a good dollar to the customer and the customer has every right and expectation that every bit of concrete is specifically freshly made forhis use.  I'm certain that there is no price reduction for a partial load batched on top of a returned load and sent out to an unsuspecting sucker, ERRR...customer.

Thast would piss me off to no end....

I had 800 yrd pour with 50lbs steel fiber in it, even the Cemex rep said he had never seen anyone pump over 30lbs per yard. 200 yrds into it the loads got rocky, sent away 6 i couldnt pump. 45 min later I see one of the same drivers and I asked him if he reloaded and he said "Ill be straight with you Mr Pumpman, they just put super-p on it and said take it back".

Arggg.. This sort of things make me so pissed off.. I remember a job once where the factory was filling up a 15m3 semi trailer and after about 9m3 the factory broke down. They let the semi wait for 2 hours... fixed the factory.. then filled him all the way up and send him on a 45min trip to my pump.. I was on a high building so didn't realy see what he was filling up.. As you understand I was seconds away from disaster. Had to jump down.. Suck a ball and clean the hopper. We send the whole truck return.

Instead of just sending the semi on his way with the 9m3.. How stupid can you be. That was the only time I realy felt like driving up to the factory and hurt someone ;-)

How did you fix this?

aren't you, as the operator allowed to turn away a load of concrete?

Perkins... I have rejected quite a few loads in the past. Just make sure you are making the right decision or you will be the one paying for it. My suggestion is to get with the customer and tell him your concerns. If he does not agree then tell him that he is going to be the one paying for the down pump and any damage incurred due to the concrete. That is one reason to get part of your ticket signed when you get to the job, so the customer is responsible for a lot more than if not signed.

I thought that you were allowed to do that. Luckily I havent had to do that yet!

That's right.. You can.. At least... It's your pump. you are responsible so you decide what goes up in the hopper at the end. No one can force you to pump a concrete that you think will destroy your pump. No one can force you to do anything with the pump which you believe is wrong..

But of course its wise to talk to the customer first and get him on the same page. Works a lot better. But at the end you are the boss over your pump. Period.. No one is going to let you pay for any load. I would never start pumping a bad load if the customer has signed for paying the repair if things go wrong.. Thats a crazy idea in my eyes..  

Hence the name "Dipstick". You have no clue what I was meaning. I meant for him to make sure that he makes the right decision on turning away a load. Sometimes loads look bad but pump very well. Do not turn a load away everytime it looks bad. Otherwise you will be paying for a load that was good that you thought was bad. As far as signing the ticket first. That is not in case the concrete is bad. That is to cover your butt in case anything goes wrong.... including any issues due to bad mud.

As explained to me,the name on the ticket is who makes the call,it's his load.

Many.... I agree as far as the redi mix ticket. The customer does control that but I always explain my concerns and if they do not agree then I would need to call my boss and let him talk to the customer. I would rather leave it in his hands so I am not responsible for any loads.

You are right Pink Panter.. It is very hard, specialy when your new, to decide if a load is bad. Thats why our new guys come in with a boom full of concrete some times. And I agree you'd have to be damn sure its a bad load. I always go very far trying out if a load is pumpable. You could even get 2 mixers to fill up at the same time if the next load is better. In 10 years i have maybe refused to pump 2 or 3 loads.

What I mean is that the operator is responsible for his pump and at the end.. All the way at the end its him that is the boss over the pump. If a load is just rock and you are sure its gona plugg up the whole pump no customer or even owner on the phone (so he can't see the crete) can put a gun to your head and say :pump it anyway.

the sad thing is the ready mix company owns the pump.  we had to replace the hole pipe line and are in the proess of taking the pump kit out to replace the pumping tubs

pink panther Yep,that's all we can do.That's one of PumpCo's old pumps,man that's alot of pipe to replace.Good luck

Hard to tell but looks like a 52. Yes lots of pipe to replace.

So it was their own pump? Haha.. What a F*ckup!! That'll teach'em!!!

A very good lesson for a Redi Mix comapny to learn.

I agree with you, Pink Panther. Do never argue to the costumer! The costumer is a costumer to the employer - the emploee is only an extended arm - and it´s impossible to solute problem whith an arm (my way as an pumpemloer to see it). Bad concrete in the hopper is never the employees problem - even if it is a asshole-job to tire down and clean all the boompipes (extrapaying to the employees-pumper who save the boompipes). But never argue to the costumer! That´s the employers job. In my 13-year of pumping (most linepumping and 5 year on my own) i´ve never (!) denied if the costumer tell me to start the pump whith separated concrete - the costumer will pay my pumphourtax to get all the hoses clean - alot of hours of hard idiotwork to save the hoses - but if the costumer insist me to start the pump even if i give him my experience of concrete for free, then he have to pay alot for nothing (hoserescue). Believe me, i know that scene. Never argue to the costumer - call your boss, it´s he´s costumer and he´s problem - not yours!!!

have had the same thing happen with a 47z filled up with concrete whole truck hard.

I tell you the same, if you push the "on-button" on the remote and there is not coming out concrete from the endhose - bad concrete,old concrete, separeted concrete....thats your boss problem. If you can´t solve the probleme, and you don´t know how, in 5 min - then call your boss. I´m a pumpcompanyowner (linepumps) and i got pumperror from my guys in my phone every day. I know every problem and i know the easy way and the hard way to solve every problem - and there is at least 1000 of problems in linepumping before the job is done....every day. But i as an employer can never blame my employees, if they have done what i´ve said to them in the phone - and if the hoses get burned anyway. I blame all the bad bosses who just like to be a boss. Try to be a teamleader instead!!! Knock on wood - my company have allways resqued every hose...extrapaying for the guys, because they even finished the pumpjob. I know what it takes to solve that shit, and i pay extra for that. Sorry that i didn´t get extra for that when i was an employee.

ALMIMA.. Some times I realy wonder if you are joking with us .....

At least someone who notice my bling in my eye in my replys. i only give you something to read, and i just hope that my replys entertain you and get you to think about the pumpbussiness. I like your selfdistanced reply and that you have noticed that my replys is more entertainment than my opinion.

But Dipstick, i realy give my pumpers extramoney to solve bad concreteprobleme - and i forbid them to argue to any costumer, they call me and i solve it. That is how my company works. Alot of my companyprofit in the whole wide goes to take care of my pumpers. Less money to me, but i have positive pumpers who sell in my company to new costumer. That is my idea how to grow. A company don´t grow by it self.

I believe you ALMIMA.. Just thought it was ''special'' to already call your boss after 5 min.. Its just very different from what I'm used to.. I have called my boss only 1 time in the last 4 years and that was with some electrical problem and I needed a new part.. But while he was on his way I mannaged to fix in an other way and could call him that he could turn around because we where pumping again.. It must be a lot of stress for you when every tiny problem has to go through you... You must have more important things to do is my guess...