Pump Operator Roundtable

By Ashley Kizzire, Constructive Communication, Inc.

Concrete pump operators meet challenges daily on the job site. Highly skilled and trained, concrete pumpers keep a constant eye on safety and often adapt to unknown conditions on site. The pumping industry has changed in many ways over the years, and today’s pump operators undergo rigorous certification to demonstrate their knowledge of safe practices and proficiency with their valuable equipment. Here, four recent nominees for ACPA’s Safe Operator of the Year discuss their profession and the issues they face.

Q: In your opinion, what skills are most important for a pump operator to have?

Billy Hubbard: The most important skill is paying attention to everything going on, on the job site. You can’t watch just one thing. You have to watch everything going on—above and below. That includes your mixer trucks and outriggers.

Antonio Rincon: Punctuality. When you show up late, you start rushing, which makes it difficult to complete all safety steps necessary for setup, and that is when mistakes are made and accidents happen. Knowledge of the equipment you’re operating is also important. Understanding the brand of the equipment and how it operates makes a big difference in the success of the job as well as the success of the operator.

Marlon Chaves: Attention to safety is so important for an operator. You have to be aware of so many details about the job site, such as power lines and holes. You can’t forget things or get distracted.

Tyler Wood: I would say that safety and a positive attitude are very important. It takes a positive person to run a concrete pump because there’s a lot of stress and it takes a positive attitude to get it done. Also, common sense is essential.

Q: What personal characteristics or qualities equip a person to be a successful pump operator?

Hubbard: You need to have an even temper and be able to get along with all kinds of people and personalities. You have to get the project done in a timely manner so everyone stays safe and you don’t lose a pump.

Rincon: Integrity, patience and common sense are very good qualities that make you a more qualified operator and employee. Keeping the pump clean is also very important. Not only does it help you always know where everything is so you can be more efficient on the job, but if your pump is always clean, you can detect any kind of cracks or damage to the pump that could cause problems during the job.

Chaves: You have to be friendly and able to get along with a lot of different people. Sometimes people on the job may want you to set up the pump in places that you don’t feel comfortable doing. But you have to have the ability to let them know the way it should be set up. Being able to get along with people makes the project go better and safer.

Wood: To get the job done well day after day, you need to have an overall work ethic, be willing to work the long hours and long days, as well as be able to do it day in, and day out. An attention to detail is very important. From the second I start the truck, everything has to be safe. With the truck, it’s my life and everyone’s life when I’m driving. Pump safety can be underestimated. I was training someone today and told him that if you’re in a hurry and you set up unsafe and the truck tips over, it doesn’t benefit anyone. Careful setup and common sense are essential.

Q: What has changed most since you became an operator?

Hubbard: Mix designs are getting harder to pump and people are giving you less and less area to set up. Job sites are getting tighter. With the mix designs, you have to pay attention and see if the mix is going to set up quicker. The harsher mixes will pump harder. You have to pay even more attention to the spacing of the trucks, and not sit too long with concrete in your hopper before another truck comes along. Sometimes, you might have to pump a mix with real big stones in it and you can jam up easier. You have to listen to your trucks.

Rincon: A lot. The new regulations and technology mean not everyone can be a pump operator. When I think back 10 years, the regulations and technology were not as good. Jobs were dangerous and safety was not as strict. New regulations make qualifying to be a pump operator as professional and skilled as it should be. Technology on the pumps has also changed significantly. A good example would be the remote box. New technology related to the remote box helps us to control the boom smoother and safer.

Chaves: People are taking safety more seriously now. For example, years ago we didn’t have to wear glasses but now we do. It’s good that safety is a big issue and every job has safety requirements.

Wood: The industry has changed drastically -- both on the EPA side and safety side. When I started, people didn’t wear hard hats or gloves. They’d wear shorts and short sleeve shirts. Now we have all of the personal protection equipment -- hard hats and other gear requirements. The environmental requirements have also changed. We have tarps, safety cones, and riming now has to be done in a certain area. Washing out now has to be done in a mixer, while it used to be wherever. The biggest change is on the safety side, which is great.

Q: What advice would you give to a young person interested in, or just now entering the pumping industry?

Hubbard: You have to always be on your toes. And always asking questions—like how do I get ready mix trucks to the pump? Where do I put my truck? You see new people every day. You’re not seeing the same job site every day, or the same shop every day. And you’re always pouring different things—a wall one day, a slab next day. Every day is different. You get to see all aspects of building. You’re not just on a wall crew doing walls all day.

Rincon: Learn as much about how the equipment operates as you can. Having mechanical skills makes you a more elite operator. Always be on time, be as clean as you can be and give 100 percent effort, and you will be great in this career.

Chaves: When somebody new is hired, I first let them watch what I do. I talk to them and explain all the things that you run into and go from there. Operating a pump isn’t something they will learn in one or two weeks. Pay always seems to be a topic of conversation. I just explain to them that pay is based on experience—do not expect to make what a 10- or 15-year veteran makes right out the door. It takes time to learn everything you need to know. Every day you learn something new. Every day you get better at it.

Wood: I would suggest that a young person should give it a try. The first year is hard, after that it becomes a routine. Routine is key. When you vary from your routine is when you could have an accident. I find the work enjoyable by making the job easy for everyone. Remember when you have good days. It’s a rewarding job. You are one of the most technical pieces of equipment on the job, so your work is important.

Q: What role does safety/ACPA certification have in performing your duties as a pump operator?

Hubbard: It makes you realize how important safety is, from the pre-trip, to the setup, pumping, cleanup and getting home safely every day. It also helps you make sure everyone else gets home safely too. You need to know how outriggers are set up. After going through ACPA training, you realize how important safety is.

Rincon: Safety is always first and always most important, and ACPA is all about safety. Everything falls back onto safety. Knowing and understanding the rules and regulations for each class of certification anywhere from trailer pumps to big booms and placing booms helps you understand the rules and regulations of the equipment.

Chaves: Now, the general contractor often requires the pump operator to be certified. It’s not something that just anyone can do.

Wood: Our safety role is number one, period. The biggest thing is that every person on the job makes it home at night. It’s as simple as that. There’s no other way around it. You can do your job, but if someone doesn’t go home, it doesn’t benefit anyone. The ACPA is educating people about what could happen. Preventing potential problems before they have them. We send people to the ACPA certification program—our pump operators and even our crane guys. It’s important for everyone on the job to know how to be safe on a job with a pump.

Q: What attracted you to become a pump operator?

Hubbard: At first, I was attracted to the money. Then I realized I would get to meet different people every day and see different aspects of construction every day. One day you’re down in a hole, then the next day you’re doing a high rise.

Rincon: The first time I ever saw a concrete pump was in 1988 while I was making a brick delivery to a job site in Texas. When I lived in Mexico, when a building or house was being built, it took about 20 men and a lot of buckets to pour concrete, so this equipment was amazing to me. I immediately wanted to learn everything about it. One thing for sure, concrete pumping changed my life. It gave my family and me a better financial way of living and I am lucky enough to love what I do.

Chaves: It took me two years to actually get hired because I had issues with my driver’s license. When I finally got hired, I started out washing trucks, and the owners finally let me go out to the job sites as a helper on the trailer pumps. I watched the boom operators run the boom pumps back in the yard, and then I knew I wanted to drive one of them. It caught my attention to see how they work. So I worked my way up to being an operator and here I am. I started out on the 28-meter booms and worked my way up to the largest pump in the fleet—the 61-meter.

Wood: The biggest thing was the trucks—I thought they were so cool. When I was little, my dad (who is also in the industry) was doing an addition on our house and the 36-meter Putzmeister came in. I thought, it moves concrete from point A to B. You can carry a bucket of concrete and it’s heavy as a rock, but this thing moves concrete 130 to 150 yards in an hour. The trucks are what fascinated me.

Q: What do you like most about being a pump operator?

Hubbard: I like the variety and being on the go. I don’t have to come into a shop working within four walls, or be in a shop or yard all day. I get to drive to different places.

Rincon: I take a lot of pride in helping to build the city I live in. I like seeing Houston grow and being a part of those projects, which include anything from parks to high rise buildings. When I am in the car with my kids, I always point out the buildings I have helped to build and they think that is so cool. I am a hero in their eyes, and that is a great feeling.

Chaves: You get to meet people every day. You go to different places. I like what I do— getting to know and getting along with different people. I have made many friends on the different job sites and that goes for my fellow co-workers as well. We help each other out and keep each other company throughout the night when we are out pumping. Most of the big jobs happen during the night in Florida, so our schedule can be hectic. Even though we work long hours, we still like pumping—it kind of gets in your blood.

Wood: I like being the last one on the job. It feels rewarding when you’re the one that does the final part that puts everything together. The way I look at it, when I pull up to a job, the hard work has been done by all the laborers. They moved the ground, formed the work, and they’ll finish it. When I place the concrete, it seems like the finishing piece of the puzzle. It’s rewarding to feel like that. It’s not that the job is easy. There’s a lot to it, and we get to see the project all come together.

Q: What one project stands out as your most impressive and why?

Hubbard: A high rise in Cincinnati—Great American Tower at Queen City Square. It was the first big mat pour I had seen. We put in the most yards I had ever seen that night. We started onsite at midnight on Saturday and finished Sunday around four in the afternoon. We had five pump trucks onsite and 500 yards an hour coming at us. That was neat to see and be a part of. It’s the tallest building in Cincinnati now.

Rincon: The Galveston Railroad Bridge Project was the most impressive and difficult job I have worked on. We had to get concrete placement very far out into the water. The bridge is also retractable, allowing bigger and wider ships to pass through. That was six years ago and to this day, every time I drive by it I can’t believe we were able to do that and that I was a part of it.

Chaves: I’ve been to so many places, and I always like jobs where I know the guys and I know the contractor and we all get along. It’s great when they know me, and every time I get there they are happy to see me and I’m happy to see them.

Wood: We did some big slabs for the Hormel factory in Snowflake, Arizona and Holbrook, Arizona. They were 500 yards a pour. We had to move the pump three to four times. We then came back two days later and poured a wall around the whole thing, which then involved moving the pump five or six times. It was impressive to me because it was such a big job that depended on one pump, and one guy in charge of everything.

Q: How do you find balance with the inconsistent work hours and your personal time?

Hubbard: You just have to find balance in your life. If you really want to do something, you find time to do it. Whether it’s a Saturday or Sunday, you’ll still be tired. The schedule is inconsistent. If it rains, then you’re not working. If it’s snowing, you might go in at midnight and get off at 10 or 12.

Rincon: I put quality into my work and quality into my family time. That was hard to learn but made a big difference. When I am at home, I am 100 percent with my family, and when I am at work, I am 100 percent with my job.

Chaves: It’s hard, but I just have to be flexible and make adjustments.

Wood: Finding the balance is hard. You just have to make it work. I make sure to have the most fun and enjoy the time I do get off.
 

Billy Hubbard: Hubbard began his career with Cincinnati’s Ramcrete, Inc. in 2007, after completing diesel mechanic and welding school. Since that time, Hubbard has achieved ACPA certification and is known for his dependability, experience and professionalism.

Antonio Rincon: Rincon has worked as a pump operator since 1989, and for Houston’s Hi-Tech Concrete Pumping Services, LLC since 2003. Committed to safety and high-quality performance and service, Rincon is ACPA-certified and operates pumps in all sizes from line pumps to large booms.

Marlon Chaves: In 2002, Chaves began his pumping career with C&C Pumping Services, Inc. of Groveland, Florida, as a trailer pump trainee. Today, he is ACPA- certified and is qualified to operate all of C&C’s pumps—from line trailer pumps to 61-meter booms.

Tyler Wood: At the age of 15, Wood began working for McClure Concrete, Inc. of Aurora, Colorado, as a part-time employee. In his current role as a pump operator at McClure, safety is always a top concern. Wood has earned ACPA and other industry certifications.