Eastern Concrete, Cemex, Maschmeyer delivery pros rise to challenge

Eastern Concrete Materials veteran Ed Rieper took the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association’s 2017 National Mixer Driver Championship, staged at the Gaylord Texan Resort in Grapevine, Texas, during the group’s ConcreteWorks Conference. The first place finish earned the Saddle Brook, N.J., driver a $2,500 check from the NRMCA Truck Mixer Manufacturers Bureau, and adds to his 2016 National Mixer Driver Championship fifth-place and 2015 NRMCA Driver of the Year honors.

Joining Rieper atop the field, second to fifth: David Mangold of Cemex USA, Cocoa, Fla., who finished fourth in the 2015 competition and was 2016 Driver of the Year runner up; Gary Bethea of Maschmeyer Concrete Co., Lake Park, Fla.; Benny Grippe of Ferrara Bros. LLC, Flushing, N.Y.; and Allen Rogers of Concrete Supply Co., Lancaster, S.C.

The National Mixer Driver Championship combines a 12-station challenge course measuring contestants’ ability to maneuver rear or front discharge mixer trucks in common plant or site conditions; visual vehicle inspection and computer-based reaction time tests; and, written exam. The NRMCA Operations, Environmental and Safety Committee opens the competition to drivers prevailing in mixer truck roadeo or challenge events hosted by state and regional associations, or by producer members.

From left, first to fifth place: Eastern Concrete’s Ed Rieper, Cemex USA’s David Mangold, Maschmeyer Concrete’s Gary Bethea, Ferrara Brothers’ Benny Grippe, and Concrete Supply’s Allen Rogers. Dallas’ Redi-Mix Concrete, a sister business of Eastern Concrete and Ferrara Bros. under U.S. Concrete, held up its end of the bargain for a parade of mixer trucks leading to the challenge course.

Drivers choose a front or rear discharge mixer for the challenge course, shown here at the On Target station.

Soon after entering the challenge course (right), drivers arrive at the Railroad Crossing station, which measures the closest stop at a safe distance.

Drivers navigating the Tightest Turn station attempt to position their mixers as close as possible to a traffic barrel without stopping.

The National Mixer Driver Championship visual vehicle inspection test follows the course challenge, awarding points on the ability to spot defects typical in a pre-trip inspection. Drivers are given five minutes and can walk around the vehicle twice.

The Bowling station has become a challenge course fixture after a 2012 National Mixer Driver Championship debut.

Lafarge Louisiana’s Latoya Davis was among drivers living up to Chute Hoops station crowd expectations.

MIXER DRIVER SURVEY FINDS LOWER VACANCY RATES, FEWER CAPACITY CONSTRAINTS

The National Ready Mixed Concrete Association 2017 Mixer Driver Recruitment and Retention Survey results are markedly brighter than those of the previous two years. Some 36 percent of respondents turned down business due to lack of drivers in 2016, versus 51 percent the prior year, while the driver vacancy rate dropped about two points for a third consecutive year, to 4.6 percent as of December 2016. Just over 90 percent of 2017 survey respondents cite plans to hire additional mixer drivers this year, up from 72 percent last year.

The survey examines the mixer driver pool between January 1 and December 31; 2017 respondents represent 30 percent of NRMCA’s estimated 2016 total of 75,000 drivers. The group also estimates the ready mixed concrete industry payroll at approximately 135,000, mixer drivers representing 56 percent of the total.

The mixer driver pool was estimated to be approximately 75,000 in both 2015 and 2016, up 5,000 drivers from 2014. The turnover rate dropped to 28 percent last year from 32 percent in 2015. For 2015 and 2016, respectively, the turnover rate equates to about 23,075 and 18,600 drivers (quit and released). Of the drivers who were hired and then left in the same year, 4,800 did so in 2016, a decrease of more than 50 percent from the previous year. Of note, 85 percent of producers provided a mentor program to new hires in 2016, versus 49 percent the prior year.

In the survey’s three-year history, respondents overwhelmingly noted their biggest hiring challenge was finding drivers with ready mixed concrete delivery experience. Seventy-six percent of producers will only hire experienced drivers, typically rejecting new, commercially-licensed drivers or those under 25. Nevertheless, the industry managed to hire between 20,000-22,000 drivers each year between 2014 and 2016.

Mixer drivers’ average age in the survey was 47, the same as the U.S. Department of Transportation’s and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2016 estimated age of heavy equipment commercial drivers. While a mixer driver’s average time on the job dropped to 9.6 years in the 2017 survey from 10 years in 2015-2016, the BLS reports only 29 percent of American workers have more than a 10-year tenure with their respective companies.

The annual survey reports on staffing levels, retention rates, average age, tenure rate and internal job mobility. It also looks at total turnover, voluntary turnover, involuntary turnover and layoff turnover rates, plus reasons drivers quit or are terminated. Conducted under the auspices of the NRMCA Operations, Environmental and Safety Committee Human Resources Task Group, the survey also includes recruitment methods, hiring trends and challenges, and projected next-year hiring levels.