What would you do?

[littledenny]

Guys, I need a gut check --

I was doing a regrade and add gravel on a driveway job today. The guy who normally hauls gravel for my jobs, showed up, right on time. This guy is a jem, in my opinion, the best gravel spreader in these parts.

Job was to pull up a hilly drive, spreading the load on the length of the drive. As normal, we chatted a bit, discussed the owner's desires, etc. As fate would have it, his last drop was a dump, not a spread, and he hadn't set the chains. Instead of getting the spread I needed, I got a half load pile, and the rest in about 20 yards.

Realizing the problem, he jumped out of the truck, begged forgiveness, and headed out to get another load to finish, at his expense. I still had equipment on site, and managed to work the piles in before he got back.

The driver caught me out of earshot of the HO, and told me to collect his normal charge for the first load from the HO, and keep it for my troubles - spreading it around and working it in. The second load was his freebee to the HO. I thought his actions were pretty honorable.

Since the HO got more gravel than he had to pay for, and is very happy, and I got what I'd expected to get out of the deal, am I a champ or a chump in taking the gravel money? My inclination, since he's my regular hauler, is to pay him for the cost of the gravel. Yea, I spent some additional time on the site, and burnt some fuel, but I just don't feel right having him go in the hole on this.

Your thoughts?

 

[DKinWA]

Stuff happens I spread a couple of loads for a guy one time and while he went in to get some money, I cleaned the rock off the trailer hitch and unhooked the spreader chains. When he came out he said his wife wanted one more load, so off I went. Came back to start the spread and out it came in a nice big pile Yep, I forgot to set the spreader chains :crying

It sounds like you've got a good relationship with him, so you might split the cost with him. This way he doesn't go in the hole and you get a little something for your extra work.

 

[Steve Frazier]

I would definately compensate him in some manner, if he's the guy you say he is he deserves it. Have you ever made a mistake while using his services and cost him time? If not, do you think he'd charge you overtime if he did? I don't think I'd expect a freebie in this scenario.

 

[Bob Horrell]

I do a lot of this kind of work and have a trucker I have worked with for over 5 years. He and his drivers are the best spreaders around. He goes out of the way to meet my shedules and be on time. The couple of times something like this happened I took the extra time needed to do the job and told him "no problem, that's what tractors are for". I know he goes out of his way to help me out and I wouldn't penalize him for a simple mistake. God only knows I have made enough of my own.
If the guy was a jerk, then I might have a different answer. But if he was a jerk, he wouldn't be making the offer.

 

[CT18fireman]

I would make sure that he at least got the cost of the material covered. I could see him dropping a delivery charge or material upcharge, but he still bought the material.

 

[digger242j]

I agree with the other replies above, and for what it's worth, the company that we get most of our aggregates from won't even allow their drivers to set the chains. I don't do a lot of that kind of spreading, but on the few occasions that I've needed to, the drivers have done their best to spread the load out as they dump, but what you get is usually a bunch of piles two feet high. I think they must've had an incident sometimw in the past when somebody forgot to un-set the chains, and when they went to dump the next load, tore the truck up.

 

[kamerad47]

I do alot of trucking & some of this people think is says CAT D4 on my bumper it's a truck not a dozer!!!! does he get paid to deliver & spead ??? Around here you what it spead you better put $$$ in my hand!!!

 

[Bob Horrell]

The guy I mentioned above that spreads for me is really good. If I say I want it 3" thick, that is what I get for the most part. He even spreads good backing up. I do a lot of horse arenas and driveways and having a good guy like that really saves me a lot of time. Of the 4 other guys working for him, 3 are on par with him and the fourth is getting there. He is a newer guy and I am helping him learn how to spread evenly by giving him signals on whether to speed up or slow down and when to raise the box.
When they put sand in an arena there will always be some areas not covered real well near the edges or where one box ends and another starts etc. It is done well enough that I can finish a 300 by 150 foot arena perfectly flat in about 2 1/2 to 3 hours. I am one of very few guys that they have to spread for but they don't seem to mind since I get 300 to 350 loads a year from them.
I have a guy that waters for me that is equally as good. This guy knows exactly how to lay down water depending on what type of job I am doing. I also give him a lot of business each year. To me it is priceless to have guys like this because it makes me look better and actually do better.
Once we did a 1/2 mile long road up a steep hill to four homes. The homeowners had a roadgrader grade the road with a nice crown and all the necessary cutouts etc. After that they wanted road base put on the road but were getting very high bids because they were told by everyone bidding that the road was too steep to spread from a truck so it was going to take a long time to get the base on evenly. Someone told them about me and I bid it based on having the base spread from the trucks. I didn't even have my truck guy look at it; I just knew from working with him so much that they could spread it. One guy on the steepest part stalled his truck and dumped a big pile out and then got stuck in it (air suspension is not good in these type situations). I was able to give him enough of a tug with my tractor to get him unstuck. I smoothed out the pile while my water guy watered it and track rolled it so we could keep on going and not hold up the other trucks.
We started at 7am, spread 22 transfers of road base, leveled it all out and was ready to roll it with a roller by 2:30 in the afternoon. I ended up having to roll it the next day because I didn't think I would get done so soon and didn't schedule the roller to be delivered until the next day.
The homeowners told me later that the other guys that bid it real high heard that someone did it in less than a day (with one skiploader) and came buy to look at it. They couldn't believe it came out so good. It really helped my reputation for this kind of work. If they hadn't done the great job of scheduling the trucks, spreading, and watering, I would probably still be working on it. This is why the "partnerships" I have with these guys is so important to me. If someone makes a mistake once in a while, I just let it go. Well, not exactly, since there is always teasing whenever there is a screw up, but it is all in fun.

 

[littledenny]

Thanks, Guys

The moment this all happened, my Karma told me that paying the driver anyway was the right thing to do. Since I'm pretty new to this business, I'm learning quickly how to deal with life's situations, and this is a good example.

My next big problem will be to get him to take the money - This guy is pretty proud of his work, and I'm sure in his heart, the "public" mistake on his part hurt him more than the money he's out on the job. He's the type of guy that you could trust with the keys to your toolbox.

Anyway, rest assured that I'll take care of him.

 

[DennisJonesCon.]

How about ya'll coming to TN and starting a partnership w/me...... I sure could use honest business people w/ Chriatian values.

Bless ya'll

 

[littledenny]

Where, exactly, in Tenn are you?

I'm seriously considering relocating from Ellijay. Wife teaches in Dalton, and we're getting tired of maintaining two households. That said, I'm looking for a home place in Dalton, and a weekend place somewhere in the hills and trees.

You just never know.....

 

[DennisJonesCon.]

I'm in the middle of Knoxville and Chattanooga, just off I-75.....Sweetwater Valley area.

 

[digger242j]

See Rock City.

See Ruby Falls.

 

[2004F550]

Its material, it costs money, it was brought to you at a high cost w/ fuel, insurance costs etc, its a dump truck, not a spreader, spreading is an extra and not usually part of the cost of delivery, just an ok since you asked deal, at least at my company..... so pay for material you got