Cement Mixers

To start off with they are concrete mixers. Cement is the powder.

I am not a mixer driver but I run cement bulkers so I can't say much about your day but what I will say is it requires you to be a long term planner and understand the bigger picture. It is a seasonal business, and it is also very reliant on the economy (local construction intentions).

What I mean by big picture is that you have to be smart with money. You need to be diligent and set money aside for the slower winter season, there will be days where you won't be called in for work or maybe only for a part day. You need to save up through the summer and set money aside for it. In the summer you will be working long days and on the weekend and you will have that urge to take time off or turn down overtime or saturday shift because you are tired. But that is what you have to battle. This is why it isn't for everyone. You need to look at your finances before you go for an interview so you can ask questions about how busy they are at different times of the year. Some guys will sell you on the paycheque you get in the summer but glosses over the winter. With that ask how they rotate shifts when it is slow, if they are a seniority dispatch you need to be cautious.

I can't speak to any experience myself but unloading a bulker you have time to watch what is going on around you. I think it is a great job, you are paid by the hour, home every night. There will be stints of waiting, waiting to get loaded, waiting to pour the concrete. You should also be a person that likes to clean their equipment. You will spend the end of everyshift washing your truck down so that there isn't a build up of concrete on it. Also being a morning person is helpful, there are a lot of days at the plant that I haul to where the first trucks are loading at 5am so guys are at work at 4:30 if not earlier.

 

Where at in Ohio are you at? Is it Union or non union job your putting in your app for? I drive a mixer and a dump truck for a concrete company here in Chicago. Its nothing special really. Show up to work you back under or drive through depending on the plant setup and get loaded with an order go deliver it and do it depending on how far the drive is and how long the contractor takes to off load, usually 3-4 times in a busy day. I also do work around our plant, chip out my truck when it needs it, and about anything else that needs to be done. Not sure how much longer I will be at this job just because of how slow it is right now and the Union BS I have to deal with. I worked all winter and a few guys voluntarily laid themselves off and now the health insurance for them is about to run dry so they are coming back to work and forcing me the lower guy on the pole out of work.

Like said above it is seasonal usually kind of depends on where your at. Also for our work time we cant really load trucks before 6 AM where we are because of the rules for the noise and everything. I do work when busy in the summer 10-12 a day and 7-noon on Saturday. What is the pay they are going to start you at?

 

Yeah, the ride is pretty bad and does hurt your body! No suspension on the drives, a 10 inch thick set of leafs up front and a booster to put more weight onto the steer. The bounce you all over the place!

You really only need to chip out the truck 1 time a year depending on how clean the inside is kept when you rinse down and wash out at the end of the day. Like said above to, time is usually close but then again when your dealing with Chicago traffic time is just whatever!