Read on to learn whether workers believe the office is in tune with the field, why we watched a 365 excavator eat a furniture store, and how pain and exhaustion are a blessing.
Workforce Poll
For this week’s poll, I asked the following question:
“Is your company’s leadership in tune with the field?”
I followed with, “Why or why not?” Here are some of the top answers:
YES
- “Our leadership is in the field with us.”
- “The boss still does the work.”
- “They have an initiative to make leaders spend more time in the field.”
NO
- “HR has no idea what we do, yet they make all the rules.”
- “20th-century leadership with a 21st-century field.”
- “They expect the same production regardless of conditions.”
- “They haven’t ever done the work.”
- “They never visit us in the field.”
- “The office listens to the superintendent who only feeds them what they want to hear.”
Weekly Update
This weekend is family weekend at the University of Arizona in Tucson, where my sister's a senior. Before drinking with college kids, I figured I'd visit some awesome contractors in my homeland. Every trip's a business trip...
After brainstorming, I organized visits with three companies—Ground Level Demolition, Fisher Sand and Gravel, and Rummel Construction.
Our first stop was with Ground Level Demolition demolishing an old furniture store in North Scottsdale. Funny enough, my parents are past customers of said store. While my parents preferred the store filled with fancy furniture, I like it better with 365 and 345 high-reach excavators atop it.
Crews used the high-reach excavator to dismantle the wooden roof structure, while the 365 pulled structural steel from the building and tossed it into piles. They even let me take the 365 for a spin… My future career as a demolition operator is looking bright.
Next, we drove north of Phoenix to one of Fisher Sand and Gravel's crushing spreads, just off the interstate. They toured us through the plant and showed us what it takes to transform sand and rock from a nearby wash into an aggregate base and three products for asphalt.
The operation supports ADOT's new I17 flex lanes project. With two new interstate lanes to build through the mountains of Arizona, the project will consume over 900,000 tons of aggregate. Rather than haul it from town, Fisher's crushing operation only a few miles from the site is the most cost-effective option.
Finally, we ended the trip with Rummel, one of the best earthmoving contractors I've had the pleasure of visiting. We started the morning watching 637 and 657 scrapers make way for a new landfill cell, but shockingly, the earthmoving wasn't the day's main event.
What we were after were their trucks. No, not off-road, but on-road transport trucks. Our goal was to show people what it takes to mobilize 657 scrapers from one location to another.
Just after sunrise, two Rummel transports pulled onto the site, loaded with monstrous 657 scrapers. Each load was over 250,000 pounds.
As soon as the trucks stopped, the heavy haul crews removed the chains, unhitched the trailer, and drove the scrapers off in minutes. Once completed, they tidied up and were back on the road to haul two more before their 12-hour window was up. As the trucks pulled off, awaiting mechanics took over to prepare the scrapers for work that afternoon.
Watching the Rummel crews move 657's was a treat; fortunately, it'll all be on our YouTube channel soon!
Business Lesson Learned
As anyone can likely imagine, running 100 miles in a day is painful and exhausting.
My body started to hurt around mile 30. Around mile 70, the pain was unlike anything I’d experienced before, and as I stopped to pee, I’d feel myself falling asleep.
I didn’t say a peep about it, though, because I realized everyone felt that way.
The pain and exhaustion were only the table stakes… The bare minimum to have a shot at finishing the race.
I’ve learned the same goes for business. I’m working hard, but no one cares. I’m exhausted, but no one cares. I shouldn’t get a pat on the back for doing the bare minimum to compete.
Most people stop when it hurts, but that’s only the beginning of doing anything meaningful, and that’s where I stand today.
Podcast
While all guests are special, this week’s is extra special! A few weeks ago, my mom stopped by Nashville to visit, and I managed to convince her to join me on the podcast. We spent an hour going down memory lane to discuss how I became interested in equipment as a child, my trials and tribulations with aquariums, and how she raised me. I had a surprising amount of fun with this one, and I hope you enjoy it too!
Vlog
While there are no “fresh” vlogs for this week as we sort through editing our backlog, enjoy what may be my favorite video we’ve produced this year featuring Eberhard tearing up the main runway at Zurich International Airport. If you’ve seen it, maybe give it another watch. It’s a good one!!
