Full Transcript for 86. Decoding a Concrete Ticket

process of draining our lines and knowing what to expect. 00:02:06.799 --> 00:02:09.759 But yeah it's a good reminder for everyone that it's that time. 00:02:10.159 --> 00:02:10.879 Absolutely. 00:02:11.280 --> 00:02:31.599 I also wanted to remind everyone or just always always talking about some form of housekeeping around here, but we did install some new hoses in the wash bay, like outside the wash bay, and it's really easy for us to run them over if they're strung out on the ground instead of wrapped up and put back where they go. 00:02:31.759 --> 00:02:40.719 So just even if you didn't leave it laying out, if you see it laying out and you can wrap it up, that just makes it work better for everyone long term. 00:02:40.960 --> 00:02:47.120 And same thing with making sure I guess you turn off the air over there to not waste material washing. 00:02:48.159 --> 00:02:50.000 So just keep that in mind. 00:02:50.080 --> 00:02:52.319 The more we take care of that, the better it is for everybody. 00:02:52.560 --> 00:02:52.800 Yeah. 00:02:53.520 --> 00:03:02.080 And then my last announcement, which I realize is like it's sort of rich coming from me as a under-communicator in general. 00:03:02.479 --> 00:03:08.719 But we had a couple incidents this week where communication was the number one thing that we could have done better. 00:03:08.960 --> 00:03:09.280 Yeah. 00:03:09.520 --> 00:03:25.360 Um, so whether you are a driver or you're quality control or you're a plant manager or you're in dispatch or you're on the job, like you have an obligation to communicate with everyone else in that loop every time something happens, especially if it's gonna delay. 00:03:25.680 --> 00:03:26.080 Yeah. 00:03:26.319 --> 00:03:37.039 So specifically on this, we had an instant where we had a problem with the load at a plant and it was not communicated to dispatch, so they couldn't communicate to the customer. 00:03:37.120 --> 00:03:44.560 So the customer was left w without uh the the knowledge of what was going on that we were gonna be running late and we're we're upset. 00:03:44.800 --> 00:03:55.520 And so that's a situation where people that weren't customer facing weren't thinking about the you know, that portion of um they were focused on fixing the issue. 00:03:55.759 --> 00:03:57.280 Yeah, they were that's the prediction. 00:03:58.240 --> 00:03:58.400 Yeah. 00:03:58.639 --> 00:04:12.080 But is you know, it's dispatch job in this situation to make sure the customer is informed, and that is a huge aspect of the customer service culture that we want is that um we're transparent when things aren't going great. 00:04:12.240 --> 00:04:23.920 But if they don't know or or can't provide some kind of uh reasonable expectation of a guest to the the contractor when we might show up, then uh that whole process breaks down. 00:04:24.079 --> 00:04:30.480 So it's just important to realize that there's a a chain of events that uh happens when everything is going well. 00:04:30.639

--> 00:04:36.480 And and um yeah, there are a couple instances that didn't happen the way we wanted to this week. 00:04:37.439 --> 00:04:40.000 If you think about making the call, make the call. 00:04:40.240 --> 00:04:40.639 Yeah. 00:04:40.879 --> 00:04:43.199 If you're not thinking about making the call, you should be. 00:04:43.439 --> 00:04:43.920 Yep. 00:04:44.639 --> 00:04:45.199 Even me. 00:04:45.360 --> 00:04:46.720 I'm saying this to myself, everyone. 00:04:47.040 --> 00:04:48.480 Or or just a team's message, right? 00:04:48.560 --> 00:04:53.360 Or or you know, to whatever's fastest, you know, that we just need to get the communication out. 00:04:53.680 --> 00:04:55.600 Um very good. 00:04:56.000 --> 00:04:57.759 What are we gonna talk about today? 00:04:58.079 --> 00:05:05.839 Um so the our idea today is to kind of decode one of our concrete tickets. 00:05:06.079 --> 00:05:08.959 There's a lot of stuff on the tickets. 00:05:09.439 --> 00:05:27.920 And I would assume most of our drivers know what some, or maybe some of them know what everything is on there, but it'd be good to go through it, particularly anyone listening that has a ticket in front of them can follow along and look at the different um information that's shared on the ticket and what why it might be important to uh the different people that would be looking at the ticket. 00:05:28.160 --> 00:05:29.040 Does that make sense? 00:05:29.360 --> 00:05:30.079 I love this. 00:05:30.240 --> 00:05:33.120 You know, I love a tactical podcast. 00:05:33.360 --> 00:05:39.199 So anything where we have something in front of us and can get everybody on the same page is my favorite. 00:05:39.519 --> 00:05:40.800 Let's let's do it. 00:05:41.199 --> 00:05:41.839 All right. 00:05:42.240 --> 00:05:42.959 Where should we start? 00:05:43.279 --> 00:05:45.519 What do you what do you look at first if you're the driver? 00:05:45.680 --> 00:05:49.600 What's the the first thing you check when you pick up this ticket? 00:05:50.079 --> 00:05:52.000 I think there's a lot of things at once. 00:05:52.399 --> 00:05:56.240 The delivery address and the delivery instructions are at the very top, right? 00:05:56.319 --> 00:05:57.600 So let's just start with that. 00:05:57.759 --> 00:05:59.360 Um, the address is there. 00:05:59.600 --> 00:06:08.000 It should be if you're a driver, it should be paired with the directions that you get in on the tablet in your truck. 00:06:08.480 --> 00:06:14.639 However, those directions we cannot like adjust the way we're coming, right? 00:06:14.720 --> 00:06:20.639 So it's going to say this is the most efficient way to get from where you are to the job site. 00:06:21.360 --> 00:06:36.079 If there are delivery instructions on the right side of the top of the ticket, that supersedes the instructions that you might get on your tablet because the contractor may have said, you got to come in from the north, you got to come in from the south, or stay off third street or whatever. 00:06:36.240 --> 00:06:38.399 And so we have to follow those directions. 00:06:38.480 --> 00:06:42.240 So that is most important if there are delivery instructions up at the front. 00:06:42.639 --> 00:06:42.879 Yeah. 00:06:43.040 --> 00:06:46.399 So you are validating the information against the tablet. 00:06:46.639 --> 00:06:53.519 Also, if there's ever a discrepancy, that would be check with the play manager or check with dispatch if it says something different. 00:06:53.839 --> 00:06:54.399 Yep. 00:06:54.959 --> 00:07:04.319 Uh, after that, the next most important is you see your load size, which tells you, you know, do I need to drop my bridgemaster and push pusher axles? 00:07:04.720 --> 00:07:08.160 Just being aware of how many yards you have on is very important. 00:07:08.720 --> 00:07:11.600 And the slump that the company is. 00:07:11.759 --> 00:07:13.600 Ooh, I see the slump boxes like highlighted. 00:07:13.839 --> 00:07:15.519 The slump box is extra highlighted. 00:07:15.680 --> 00:07:17.279 So this is in the second row, right? 00:07:17.439 --> 00:07:21.839 So the things that are in this row are the time, that is the batch time. 00:07:22.000 --> 00:07:25.439 Uh, the mixed formula number is the mixed design code. 00:07:25.600 --> 00:07:30.720 Then you have load size, the yards ordered in the whole order, right? 00:07:30.879 --> 00:07:38.160 So if it says your load size is six and yard ordered is 12, um, you're either the first or second six-yard load. 00:07:38.240 --> 00:07:42.639 And that will tell you uh in the second row just below yards orders that yards delivered. 00:07:42.800 --> 00:07:47.040 If that were to say 12, uh, you would be the second load out of uh two. 00:07:47.360 --> 00:07:50.160 If that says six, you know, you're the first load. 00:07:50.560 --> 00:07:58.399 You have the slump, the load number, the order number, which is, you know, not super relevant for a driver. 00:07:58.560 --> 00:08:04.240 Um, and then it's important to check your truck number is correct, right? 00:08:04.399 --> 00:08:09.680 That you got the correct ticket, because that has certainly happened before where somebody's grabbed the wrong ticket and gone to the wrong job site. 00:08:09.920 --> 00:08:17.040 But before you leave, you should know where you're going, how you're gonna get there, how many yards do you have on, and what your slump is. 00:08:17.199 --> 00:08:18.639 That's the critical information. 00:08:18.800 --> 00:08:23.839 And compare what slump you have to what slump you need to have on site. 00:08:24.079 --> 00:08:27.759 So that's kind of the information at the top of the ticket. 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:34.399 And then you have uh a quantity and codes and descriptions of items kind of in the middle. 00:08:34.639 --> 00:08:39.919 And these are primarily kind of the financial part of the ticket. 00:08:40.080 --> 00:08:47.440 So it's telling the customer you have, you know, let's use that example, six yards uh of a certain mix. 00:08:47.600

--> 00:08:49.840 And then these are the add-ons that you might see. 00:08:49.919 --> 00:08:58.720 So you might see you almost certainly will see a delivery charge, fuel surcharge, and then you know, any extra products if they have some different ad mixtures or fibers. 00:08:59.039 --> 00:09:02.080 Um, those are in that middle part. 00:09:02.159 --> 00:09:06.879 And that's just giving the customer some information on you know what are they being charged for. 00:09:07.279 --> 00:09:12.559 I think it's also very important for drivers because you're gonna see your mix design. 00:09:12.720 --> 00:09:19.840 Like in we have a ticket up right now, and it shows your mix design, and after that, it shows a no-ash mix, which is really important. 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:25.360 More experienced drivers will understand this, but no ash means it's gonna set up faster, you're gonna lose slump faster. 00:09:25.440 --> 00:09:26.480 So you got to keep that in mind. 00:09:26.559 --> 00:09:30.159 And then you have other products like recover, which is slowing down that set time. 00:09:30.240 --> 00:09:38.159 And if there's fiber in there too, that's a double check for oh, maybe they didn't say fiber when they sent you the ticket over and it didn't come over on the tablet. 00:09:38.320 --> 00:09:39.200 Well, that's your chance. 00:09:39.360 --> 00:09:47.840 It's second check is on that ticket and you can see how much fiber you need and always ask anyone if you're unsure. 00:09:48.320 --> 00:09:49.200 It will be there. 00:09:49.440 --> 00:09:49.919 Absolutely. 00:09:50.000 --> 00:09:54.320 So we should have a stamp on there, but it, you know, it's a human process, could break down. 00:09:54.399 --> 00:09:58.399 So double check if there are fibers on there, they need to be added to the load. 00:09:58.480 --> 00:09:59.679 So that's a good point, Lex. 00:09:59.759 --> 00:10:02.799 That's a critical thing to be aware of before you leave as well. 00:10:03.039 --> 00:10:09.120 As you get to the bottom third of the ticket, that is where the batch weights are. 00:10:09.519 --> 00:10:20.080 So this is information that um an engineer will want to know, or if there's ever kind of an issue with uh the concrete, then we can go back and look. 00:10:20.240 --> 00:10:26.879 Inspectors uh on job sites uh doing quality control or quality insurance will be looking at this. 00:10:27.039 --> 00:10:33.840 So this is the the actual contents of the mix that have been put in your truck. 00:10:34.159 --> 00:10:36.240 So you have your different materials. 00:10:36.639 --> 00:10:39.759 And if you see, like if you see SEM, that's cement. 00:10:40.159 --> 00:10:48.559 If you see like it starts with FA, um, that's a lot of times that's sand, and that's it's it's F ash is fly ash, slag is slag. 00:10:48.879 --> 00:10:59.440 If you see a code starting with CA, that's uh your course aggregate, your rock, water is of course water, and then a lot of times you'll get admixtures and they'll be just spelled out what they are. 00:10:59.519 --> 00:11:06.639 Um it'll have a design quantity, which is what like uh uh the mixed design is on a single yard, and then it'll have the required. 00:11:06.720 --> 00:11:15.440 So basically it takes the design quantity multiplied by how many yards you have, and then batched is how many pounds were actually weighed up. 00:11:15.600 --> 00:11:20.720 So you can, and then there's a percent variance, the the difference between the batched and the required. 00:11:20.960 --> 00:11:26.000 Again, as a driver, um, that's not something you need to be totally looking at. 00:11:26.240 --> 00:11:39.360 I mean, if you see something where it was 50% off or something, it may be worth a question to uh the batch person, but that is um that that should be all be caught ahead of time by the batch person if there's any large variance. 00:11:39.679 --> 00:11:47.360 Um, it'll tell you or tell an inspector how much water is in each of the aggregates and total water in the mix. 00:11:47.440 --> 00:11:52.879 Um, and that's important because uh a lot of mixed designs have water cement ratio limits. 00:11:53.120 --> 00:12:01.279 And so calculating the water and the total cementitious, you can back into how much water can be added on site. 00:12:01.440 --> 00:12:03.039 And so that'll show up on the ticket. 00:12:03.200 --> 00:12:07.919 The one I'm looking right now says in the bottom right corner says to add 35.7. 00:12:08.320 --> 00:12:14.000 So that means you can add 35 gallons of water, and this load is still in the water cement ratio spec. 00:12:14.159 --> 00:12:16.559 Um, there could be a lot of reasons why you don't want to add that water. 00:12:16.639 --> 00:12:26.720 The slump could already be high enough, or um, you know, there could be other concerns, but just on the ticket, that's how much water you can add and still be in spec. 00:12:26.879 --> 00:12:29.440 There are certainly jobs that don't have specifications. 00:12:29.600 --> 00:12:34.960 We just have kind of a standard number put in where you could add more water than what they're saying. 00:12:35.039 --> 00:12:38.320 But that's, you know, the call for the folks on the site to make. 00:12:38.799 --> 00:12:43.600 Uh there is one field that I think that we should talk about a little bit more. 00:12:43.840 --> 00:12:48.080 And I just want you to think about the ticket as being a top-down process, basically. 00:12:48.240 --> 00:12:54.159 Before you get to the batch weight summary, there's an improved and received by signature box. 00:12:54.399 --> 00:13:10.080 This can be very important when we're having a customer that wants us to drive on their lawn or on their concrete or somewhere that we technically shouldn't be unless we have proper authority from someone else to do so. 00:13:10.240 --> 00:13:21.840 So let's make sure that you when you get to that job, if someone's asking you to do something, you write it on the ticket and you get their signature so that we have our basis

covered when it comes to something like that. 00:13:22.159 --> 00:13:22.399 Yep. 00:13:22.480 --> 00:13:34.080 Pretty much any residential job where we're crossing the curb line, or, you know, if it's a not a new construction job and we're going in someone's yard or something like that, that is uh, or a driveway. 00:13:34.159 --> 00:13:37.279 We we definitely need to get signed because that's a waiver of liability for us. 00:13:37.360 --> 00:13:49.279 So that if a homeowner backs uh a fully loaded ReadyMix truck onto their driveway and it buckles their driveway, they're not coming back to us and saying, you know, it's your fault, you got to replace this driveway. 00:13:49.440 --> 00:13:51.039 So that is very important. 00:13:51.200 --> 00:13:56.799 There's also an area to add just above the batch weights if there's any additional water. 00:13:56.960 --> 00:14:00.639 Now we do collect this from Digital Fleet and the end of your load. 00:14:00.799 --> 00:14:09.679 Um, but it is also helpful to have a second place to verify that water if you want to, you know, if you added 10 gallons on site, put 10 gallons there. 00:14:09.919 --> 00:14:18.399 Sometimes as we're investigating issues, it's it's easier to see it if it's right on the ticket, and the customers could believe it more readily. 00:14:18.480 --> 00:14:27.519 It seems like if you somebody added 80 gallons of water, you can write it right on the ticket and we scan it in and we have that to show them, you know, a year later. 00:14:27.679 --> 00:14:30.720 That that's pretty powerful rather than pulling it from a report. 00:14:30.879 --> 00:14:35.919 So yeah, in an ideal world, you'd re report it on Digital Fleet and write it on the ticket. 00:14:36.159 --> 00:14:39.440 Just looking at this, I realized we skipped another important part of the ticket. 00:14:39.600 --> 00:14:40.879 So we better talk about that. 00:14:41.120 --> 00:14:46.240 On the middle right-hand side, uh, there'll be a grand total on a COD order. 00:14:46.399 --> 00:14:59.759 So if we need to collect money from a COD, um, it'll give the total there and it should have a stamp on the tickets that says please collect if you need to collect from the a COD customer, a check or a cash. 00:14:59.919 --> 00:15:06.559 I mean, most of the time they're paying with credit card CODs are now, but we still have some holdouts that do it differently. 00:15:06.720 --> 00:15:09.039 So if you need the total, it's it's right. 00:15:09.279 --> 00:15:19.600 It's also important in case anybody asks that our printed tickets have an SDS warning on the back of the tickets with information on cement burns and things like that. 00:15:19.759 --> 00:15:27.840 So um that's some kind of legal and required um environmental disclosures that that go with delivering concrete. 00:15:27.919 --> 00:15:29.679 So that's on the back of the ticket. 00:15:30.240 --> 00:15:42.000 There's also the barcode on the ticket that might not make sense to anyone, but we scan these in, and that barcode helps us um index them in the system so that they can be retrieved when we need them. 00:15:42.240 --> 00:15:46.399 Um so every single thing on it has a purpose. 00:15:46.720 --> 00:15:49.759 Even if you don't, even if it doesn't matter to you, it matters somewhere. 00:15:50.080 --> 00:15:50.240 Yep. 00:15:50.399 --> 00:16:00.000 And we do have uh there's a section for times and that that is a little archaic because we have everything GPS mapped so that it is not not super important. 00:16:00.080 --> 00:16:03.519 I guess you can use that field if something really weird happens, right? 00:16:03.679 --> 00:16:15.039 If there is a delay for something um really uh unusual that you think it'd be important for the office to know at some point, um, that would be a good place to write down some of those times or a reason for delay. 00:16:15.279 --> 00:16:20.240 But um, most of the time you don't definitely don't need to worry about filling that out every load. 00:16:20.639 --> 00:16:21.919 There's so much on here. 00:16:22.000 --> 00:16:23.039 It's crazy. 00:16:23.120 --> 00:16:26.000 That there's something we take for granted a hundred times a day. 00:16:26.080 --> 00:16:30.799 Yeah and you know, hardly give it a second look, but there really is so much to it. 00:16:30.879 --> 00:16:39.600 So I'd actually be curious if people, you know, as you're listening to this podcast, if you have any questions or something that we didn't talk about, I would love to follow up on that. 00:16:39.759 --> 00:16:40.000 Yeah. 00:16:40.159 --> 00:16:47.840 Um, or if you have any stories or experiences of issues or mistakes with tickets or something that you learned. 00:16:48.000 --> 00:17:02.159 I mean, I know back from back from when I started, I know there was uh, you know, a lot of times it's easy to just see like John Deere at the top of a ticket and you think that you know where you're going because you went there five times yesterday. 00:17:02.320 --> 00:17:02.559 Right. 00:17:02.720 --> 00:17:07.359 And if you don't really look close, it's easy to to overlook that you're going somewhere else. 00:17:07.440 --> 00:17:10.960 So yeah, uh so many details to pay attention to so many times a day. 00:17:11.039 --> 00:17:13.200 But have we covered the ticket? 00:17:13.759 --> 00:17:17.039 Yeah, decoded, bit messy, bit messy. 00:17:17.279 --> 00:17:19.039 But maybe the producer can put this back in order. 00:17:21.759 --> 00:17:22.559 Godspeed. 00:17:22.960 --> 00:17:23.279 Okay. 00:17:24.319 --> 00:17:26.880 Do we have a word, word of the week? 00:17:27.119 --> 00:17:28.000 Um, yeah. 00:17:28.240 --> 00:17:30.400 So I will I had had a few different ideas. 00:17:30.480 --> 00:17:32.079 I'll just pick one kind of at random. 00:17:32.240 --> 00:17:34.400 Let's do uh reinforcement. 00:17:34.799 --> 00:17:39.200 So concrete uses well, let's start it a different way. 00:17:39.359 --> 00:17:41.680 Concrete is really strong in compressive strength. 00:17:41.759

--> 00:17:52.640 So when you push concrete from either end, um, or you put weight on a concrete slab, um, have a concrete pillar that's holding up a house or a building, whatever, it's really good at it. 00:17:52.799 --> 00:17:57.599 Like it's really resistant to compressive loads. 00:17:58.000 --> 00:18:04.960 So that is the key reason that concrete is used in so much uh different construction activity. 00:18:05.359 --> 00:18:15.920 The problem with concrete is it's not very good at tensile strength, which basically pulling loads or you know, sometimes shearing side to side loads, those types of things. 00:18:16.240 --> 00:18:22.000 So um we use reinforcement, um, traditionally steel. 00:18:22.079 --> 00:18:32.000 So that could be rebar, wire mesh, things like that, that help the concrete resist pulling actions or you know, side to side movement, things like that. 00:18:32.240 --> 00:18:46.240 Like I said, most of the time it's steel, but uh more recently, you know, they have a lot of kind of macro fibers um that are made out of polypropylene that give reinforcement, but they they serve the same purpose basically to give concrete uh more tensile strength. 00:18:46.319 --> 00:18:55.279 And I think a good way to think about this, whenever I do the concrete 101 class, uh I take a piece of paper and I say, you know, paper has really good compressive strength. 00:18:55.359 --> 00:19:00.000 You can put a piece of paper down on the floor and you can drive a car over that paper. 00:19:00.079 --> 00:19:10.319 And as long as whatever is underneath the paper is strong enough, the paper is going to be fine when you drive a car over it because it's you know, it has decent compressive strength. 00:19:10.480 --> 00:19:14.400 But if you take paper and pull it from both ends, it's really easy to rip it in half. 00:19:14.559 --> 00:19:19.519 It's very simple, has very very low uh tensile strength, right? 00:19:19.759 --> 00:19:22.640 So uh Lux is dubious that I can rip a paper in half. 00:19:22.880 --> 00:19:26.400 You just, you know, you just but sometimes it's easiest to make a little bit rippy. 00:19:26.640 --> 00:19:27.359 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:19:27.519 --> 00:19:28.480 We are pulling it apart. 00:19:28.640 --> 00:19:30.000 It's low tensile strength. 00:19:30.240 --> 00:19:32.319 So anyway, I was hoping you were gonna karate. 00:19:35.200 --> 00:19:37.839 He does jujitsu, not uh karate. 00:19:38.400 --> 00:19:44.720 So paper is similar in that it it it is not good at resisting the pulling action, but it has decent compressive strength. 00:19:44.799 --> 00:19:48.960 So um that's a good way to think of concrete, and that's why we put reinforcement down. 00:19:49.119 --> 00:19:54.079 And a lot of times we have mixes that are designed to work with specific types of reinforcement. 00:19:54.319 --> 00:20:06.079 So, like, for example, on the I-74 bridge, there are so much steel reinforcement in the columns that we had to use a self-consolidating mix that could flow through all that tight rebar congestion. 00:20:06.319 --> 00:20:12.880 So, you know, the the reinforcement sometimes dictates the type and of concrete we can use. 00:20:14.240 --> 00:20:14.720 Good. 00:20:14.960 --> 00:20:15.599 Fiber. 00:20:15.839 --> 00:20:16.559 I was nervous. 00:20:16.640 --> 00:20:18.000 You started about fiber. 00:20:18.240 --> 00:20:21.839 You started with a lot of big words, but then you brought it around at the end. 00:20:22.319 --> 00:20:23.519 Lex wasn't listening, clearly. 00:20:23.839 --> 00:20:25.519 The paper, the paper example helped. 00:20:25.759 --> 00:20:26.000 Yeah. 00:20:26.240 --> 00:20:37.039 I guess the only thing I'd add with fiber is that um steel reinforcement gives tensile reinforcement along a specific axis that the steel runs. 00:20:37.279 --> 00:20:44.880 And the benefit of fibrous reinforcement, like macrofibers, is that gives it reinforcement in all directions, which is good. 00:20:45.279 --> 00:20:54.000 But if you have specific tensile forces pulling in one direction, then the fibers are giving kind of low level reinforcement in all directions. 00:20:54.079 --> 00:20:57.440 So sometimes you need fibers and steel in that situation. 00:20:57.519 --> 00:21:05.759 Uh, but fibers can be uh a really economical uh alternative to low levels of steel or wire mesh. 00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:07.440 Nothing to add, Lex? 00:21:07.759 --> 00:21:08.720 You're all set. 00:21:09.039 --> 00:21:09.359 Okay. 00:21:10.319 --> 00:21:10.799 Yeah. 00:21:11.039 --> 00:21:11.440 All right. 00:21:11.519 --> 00:21:12.880 Thanks for listening, everyone. 00:21:13.039 --> 00:21:14.480 We'll talk to you again next week. 00:21:14.799 --> 00:21:15.440 Thank you.