Whats the worst part of your job? Inquiring minds want to know.

There really isn't any.Getting up everyday is a plus.You have some great days and bad days.Great days out number bad days by far.

Ruck

The worst part is sitting here looking at this site on a beauitful day and not being at work,cause there is no work,hoping tomorrow is busy.

Good answers!

The only parts I don't like are the early am starts. And people who think my job is easy because I JUST push sticks all day! I love the rest of it!

having to deal with 20 somethin year old employees who do not want to work but want to be paid top dollar do not want to learn the mechanics of the pump but expect 40 hours every week,that is most definitely the worst part I miss the days of old when a man wanted to learn his craft and be the best at it and believed in working  and earning a living instead of acting like a child and paid as a master craftsman because thats what the gene pool is these days we have to deal with it

The worst or the hardest part of my job is explaining to other people what I do for a living. This is how it goes:

"Where do you work?" - them

"Grap Equipment concrete pumping" - me

Next comes the look of confusion, Then I continue with saying

"I dispatch the trucks." - me

"What kind of trucks?" - them

"Concrete pump trucks." -me

The look of confusion comes back again.

"Ohh those trucks that spin around that carry the cement." - them 

Now sometimes I just want to end the conversation and say yes, but I never do I try to explain it the best I can.

"No, They are the trucks that are kind of like crane trucks  that reach in the air with the pipe and hose to pump the concrete where it needs to go, like on a second floor or deck, or they will pump where the ready mix trucks (the ones that spin) can't drive to." - me

"Oh, Okay" - them

Yet I still know they have no clue what I'm talking about. 

With high early in the boom  me-Do you know where the next truck is?  Concrete Salesmen-Somewhere on the road .me-5 minutes or 50 minutes CS-It will be here ,chill out .Me as blood pressure rises -thanks for the good information  CS-Uh,your welcome.me-Mr.Contactor,the mud is fixin to flash in my boom,I might have to wash out.Mr.Contractor-If you wash out I will call your office and you will never hear the end of this.Me-Here is the number.                        

manufactured sand..... a hose man that acts like you have never done this before

well washing out and having the pump break washing out with buckets or chipping the bottom after you open the hopper door and not getting mud on you as it comes racin out

Oh Yea ,I forgot one! Being on the sticks for 9+ hours and having EVERYONE give you a hard time about getting something from your lunchbox,or needing to use the head office "Where'd you go,you're costing me money!

late start tommrow muddslingerrrrrrrr

I'm with pudg on this one. Theres nothing worse than explaining something to some rookie and watch his eyes glaze over as he's off in dreamland.

the next week he screws up that exact thing.

And the week after he informs you he that if he doesn't get a company truck and one with a cd/ipod/yackaflux/ whatever thingy, then he's going to quit.

I don't think I need to say anything , Everyone before me pretty much said it all. The only one can give is when you tell your employee NOT to be late for this job tomorrow and you get a call from the Super the next morning asking where the hell is the pump, mud is here. then dealing with the employee later, oh fun.

I have said it many times. The worst deal I dislike most about concrete pumping is mixing the bags of Portland cement for line jobs. What a pain in the a#! A contractor last week told me I should come up with a better system. I was thinking yea " YOU SHOULD BUY SOME GROUT" Other than that it is what it is.

Trying to explain pump safety issues to someone who knows it all but in reallity knows  ....... all.

the worst has to be not knowing when your next load of concrete is going to turn up on a red hot day. thinking if i wash out a mixer will turn up. so you carry on waiting and pushing your luck and a big relief when it finally turns up. and when you want them to hurry up and back on to the pump it ends up being a useless mixer driver that cant reverse to save his life and takes forever to get on pump. in you head you are screaming 'com on you dip shit i need to get some fresh crete thru this pump' and waiting 5 mins seems like 30mins

And while you are waiting for all that; what are you doing?

reading porn lol

not all 20 odd year olds are like that pudg. bit of age discrimination there.i like to learn and work the hrs god sends to bring home a decent wage for my family. we have 30 odd 40 odd and 50odd year old operators that dont give a flying f**k. dont wana learn and dont wana be out there pumping. they wana be off site as soon as theyre on site. so us young ones arent all like you think.

This may hurt some feelings but OH WELL!!!...

The worst part for me is SALARIED employee's that have NO CLUE how rough it is being an operator right now! They say they understand but thier checks are always the same.Have they wiped out thier savings trying to hang on to a job they LOVE...NO!!! do they get in fights every week with thier wife because they only got to work 15 hours last week?And are BUSTED on monday cause the bills had to get paid?? DOUBT IT!! I have been in construction for more than 10 years now and have seen some rough times but *&^^%!!! But those salaried guys just cruise on through like nothing has changed for them because...IT HASN'T But they keep saying I know it's rough but we need to cut back on unbillable hours.SORRY i just needed to RANT a little bit and that was it!! nTHANKS for takin the time!!

No feelings hurt here. I'm hourly too. I get paid for what I work and I like it that way.

Hand-signal heros! - Whats a slump?! - Thats not 4"hose its 5"! - Why cant you wash-up rite there?!! - HOME-OWNERS! - Guys that brag about pour'n 5000 yards last YEAR! - Moocho Agua porfavor!(language barriers)-Power lines! - Steep hills! - Saturated soil!!! and mixer driver water Nazis! (Not-zees) aka...stingy bastards! Last but not least- not taking vacation cuz you know damn well your pump WILL get trashed

....Let us not forget returning from vacation or even 1 day off to a pump with no fuel - no water - that aint been greased!!!!!! Why I otta....

Jammy,

I wasnt stereotyping,thats just what I have,I know there are good young guys out there they are just hard to find,I have a couple of young guys that are great hands    

and JAMMY I have read some of your posts when you were jamiesccp so I dont take anything you say very serious because if all 20 somethins are like what your earlier posts read you could never work for me anyway,and AS i SAID I DONT KNOW IF YOU COULD GET A JOB ANYWHERE IN THE US EXCEPT MAYBE BAGGING GROCERIES WITH YOUR OUTLLOOK ON SAFETY

Garbage left on the pump

4 empty donut boxes-

a dozen or so used, empty coffee cups

2 empty Starbuck's bulk coffee boxes

1 half eaten jelly donut...ON THE DECK OF THE PUMP

1 extra long chute scraper

1 Stainless steel 'Glacier' coffee mug

This was on the back of the pump the other day when I came down off a deck pour.  Am I the only one this happens to?  Every once in a while this is what I find on the back of the truck after a big pour.  just kind of irritating...I've gotta take an extra 30 seconds to throw all this stuff in the dumpster...that's 20' away from the pump!!!

So check this out...just yesterday the QC guy from Glacier asks: "Have you seen my coffee mug and my long scraper?"