Help... Newbie Mixer Driver

how big of a bag a sugar?

 

one of those like a milk carton, 5lb i guess they are. a mix rich in cement it might eventually set but it would be a good while.

all my tips are geared to rear dumps by the way.
always drain your water out of the mixer unit lines in freezing weather, it gets expensive replacing water valves when they burst.

 

I drive a ten yard mixer. You definitly have to be careful when youre fully loaded. Poppy is right, don't ever let anyone put u in a dangerous situation. If a contractor want's one of us to do something questionable, something we know that is dangerous we get on the radio and call the boss and if it is too dangerous he'll tell them, hey were going to have to figure something else out. Same goes for ***hole contractors. WE had one a while back that was cussing all the drivers out and gettin belligerent, and threatening a couple of us. So one of us got on the horn and called the boss and he came out and told him to lose the attitude or he can get his concrete from somwhere else. He changed his tune real quick! You don't have to put up with it. If they give you any problems ask them where they want the pile! LOL

 

Do not tail gate. On a front discharge mixer a sudden stop it will spill out they usually have tag axles which adds braking. If your driving a rear discharge truck you are probably hauling 70 to 75 thousand pounds on three axles worth of breaks IE six brake drums where as on a eighteen wheeler can be hauling 75 t0 80 thousand with 10 brake drums. adjust your breaks weekly even if it has auto slack adjusters. Tighten em down back them off a quarter turn when there cool.

 

Some of the places they try to get u into are crazy. I've had contractors have to doze down trees just to get back to where I could get to the footing.I also had one where I had to have a bulldozer chained to me to help me back down and pull out cause the hill was so steep. It get's rediculous sometimes.

 

notarps you sound like someone who has been there done that

 

Until u get a truck that hasn't been chipped out in a long time. The second truck I was in, I must have chipped between a quarter and a halfyard out of it. But like notarps said, if u get in there every once in a while and beat the fins it will fall right off,before it gets too thick.

 

When tailgating a foundation, always be perpendiculr to wall not parallel.
Never go across grade on a hill.
Watch all 6 sides of your truck[top,bottom, left, right, front, back]
When in the county,ask where the wellhead, septic, and leachfield are.

 

If you drive a rig with a bridgemaster leave the #### thing down going down gravel roads...... Many of my fellow coworkers raise the bridge( strong arm or whatever you want to call it) the minute they hit gravel which ruins the road when your loaded. I might drop my bridge pressure for a yar uner so it doesnt sway as much but slow down and leave bridge down.

One other thing never try to go up a hill with the drum stopped I made that mistake once and dumped 2 yards out the back just to keep the truck from rolling over. Also if your going up a steep hill you might have to keep the bridge down to keep the nose down.

Another handy thing to have is put a cb in the truck doesnt need to be anything fancy but when your paving off an interstate its nice to be able to let the oncoming traffic know you are coming up out of the median or whatever the situation might be.


The truck I started in had 3.25 yards chipped out from the previous driver. Now Im in an 06 Mack Granite with 10 yd Mcneilus mixer its a good truck but typicall Mack fashion underpowered.

One last thing thing the cleaner you keep your truck the better it makes you look. My truck gets acided and the cab washed weekly and the air and fuel tanks get polished every 2 weeks and you would be suprized how much a contractor/manager will judge the driver just from the look of truck.