Construction Equipment Owner

A lot of contractors use their trucks as advertisements for their companies, making sure they are clean, neatly painted, and have the company name and phone number clearly visible to potential customers driving down the road. But what about your workers in the trucks? Workers’ attitudes and behaviors can affect the way potential customers perceive your company. If a worker in one of your company’s trucks is driving erratically down the road or is seen yelling profanities at other drivers, it will leave potential customers who witness these acts a negative association with your company and could lead to you loosing business. Click on the comment button below to tell me about the different rules you ask your employees to follow when they’re on the clock for your company.

Almost every successful contractor I talk to emphasizes the importance of having clean, uniformly painted trucks and equipment that clearly state the company name and phone number on all sides of the vehicle. This says a lot about your business — it tells potential customers that you take pride in your company, and you’ll take pride in any job they hire you to perform for them. I’ve heard contractors say that professional, painted-on lettering — opposed to a removable decale — lets customers know that you’re a well-established company and not a fly-by-night operation. Another contractor told me that he sees his trucks and equipment as a great marketing opportunity because he knows people driving down the road will notice his trucks and read his company name, but he has no way of knowing if people see his phone book or newspaper ads.

Do you see your trucks and equipment as marketing tools? Tell me what you’ve done to make your vehicles stand out to potential customers. E-mail me a photo of one of your trucks or pieces of equipment and I’ll post it to an online photo gallery so Concrete Contractor readers can see the inventive ways other contractors around the country are letting their trucks and equipment speak for their companies.

I recently attended a two-day seminar on exterior decorative staining applications. Being a relatively new editor to Concrete Contractor, this was the first decorative training event of this sort that I have attended. I was impressed by the amount information instructor Jim Nielsen packed into the event, not only demonstrating stamping, staining, sealing, saw cutting and offering insightful tips, but also giving everyone who attended a chance to try all of these techniques. I know that training sessions like this happen all over the country for all types of decorative concrete techniques, and that’s great for the industry — knowledge is power, and the decorative industry is lucky to have so many knowledgeable leaders willing to share their knowledge. If you’re looking to break into the decorative concrete industry, or if you’re currently doing decorative work but want to learn a new technique, there are plenty of training opportunities for you to take advantage of all over the country. Visit your manufacturers’ websites, talk to you decorative suppliers or flip through the pages of industry magazines for information about upcoming training sessions you can take advantage of. 

The event I attended was sponsored by L.M. Scofield and held at their supplier in the area, Schmitz Ready Mix in Milwaukee, Wis. Approximately 40 people attended the event, all from the Milwaukee area. Many attendees were competitors in the concrete business world, but everyone worked together on group samples  during coffee and lunch breaks. If you’re interested in training, there are also opportunities for you to bring a trainer into your company for private, focused training for all your employees. There are also opportunities that allow you to travel to a training center, stay overnight a few days and explore a new city! Whatever kind of training works for you, take advantage of it. As the decorative industry becomes more educated and the level of quality continues to rise, decorative concrete will become more and more popular with consumers and the industry will continue to grow stronger!

If you’re interested in helping to promote concrete and construction careers to young people in your area, talk with your local home building or concrete association to become a member of, or help create, a speakers bureau for area schools. And don’t think an industrial arts class is your only audience - if you’re a decorative concrete contractor, an art class is a great place to reach out to creative students. Your local or national associations may also offer scholarships to students who choose to pursue a career in the construction industry - help promote these scholarships with a simple call or e-mail to instructors in your community. Two websites designed for young people considering careers in any construction field can be found through Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB); let teachers and parents in your area know of these resources.

I talk to contractors on the phone or in the field almost every day, whether it be for article interviews, training sessions I attend, or someone just calling up to say “hi” and offer an opinion or idea. One topic that often comes up in my conversations is a contractor’s difficultly in finding young workers who want to enter the concrete business. Some business owners say today’s Gen Yers and Gen Xers don’t have the work ethic of previous generations. Others say that Baby Boomers have pushed their children to attend 4-year universities resulting in many young people overlooking a career in the trades. These are just some of the factors that have made it more difficult for you to find employees. A shortage of workers is taking its toll on contractors all over the country and is forcing some communities and contractors to take a proactive approach to making sure they have enough people to fill construction jobs. The construction community in Pittsburg, PA, is planning ahead for an expected construction boom by looking at billboard marketing, among other recruitment ideas. In Madison, WI, the city has allocated funds to the local building trades council to help recruit and train construction workers in some of the city’s low-income neighborhoods. And in the UK’s surfing capital, Newquay, a construction firm is attracting and retaining employees by letting them surf during the work day.