steveair
05-26-2001, 11:56 PM
Hello,
Just wanted to see if this may be a little out of the ordinary or if this is 'typical' for the industry.
I had to pick up a few pallets of moss rock the other day, and went directly to the stone yard. When getting there, boy did I fell like I stepped into another world.
First of all, everyone I saw either had a can of Budweiser in his hands, or at least had one close by sitting on a pallet of stone. The guy in the skidsteer, loading trucks, had one in his hand and a cigarette in his mouth (Pretty neat trick). When tractor trailers came in, the guys would get out, walk to the fridge, and grab a 'nice cold one', get loaded (I mean their truck, well, I guess themselfs too), jump back in, and head out.
This was all at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, but I'd imagine it was about the same at 7 am.
To make the story even funnier, I had to hand pick some stones for a rock garden, and of course, no one could help me. So, I loaded the pallets myself, and after about an hour, went to look for someone to load/weigh me in and take my money. At that point, I couldn't even find anyone. A few guys were loading trucks, and I had to stand in front of them to get them to stop (a little risky) When they did stop, put out their cigarette, and swallow a swig of their beer, they told me to 'hold on a minute' and then just continued.
By this time, it was 5 o'clock, and I had to meet a client. So I left, without the stone that I had just spent an hour loading, and left.
The meeting with the client was right down the road, so after, I decided to go back.......I get there and theres one guy loading a truck. He stops and asks 'what the hell do you want'. I replied, 'I want the dam stone that I loaded by myself and no one would load before'.
He laughed, said give him a minute to finish his truck, then came back over. First thing he said was, "want a beer".
Well, at this moment, my day was shot, I was pissed, and I said 'sure'. So, after a quick one (believe me, this is not a typical thing, as I know how 'unprofessional' this is, but..certain situations require 'creative' solutions) he loaded my truck finally.
Of course, it wasn't going to end this easy.
Right when I was about to pay, some more 'good ole' boys stop in the party began. I was forgotten about again. At this point, I figured what the hell. Before I knew it, I was having another beer and talking 'stone talk' with these guys.
When I got home that night, I sat down and thought to myself if I need to factor in 'supplier relations' into my bid sheet. If these homeowners had ANY clue what we contractors have to do to get a job done, they would faint. I would love explaining to a homeowner a typical 'trip' to the stone yard and why that is why 2000lbs of rock costs $500 and why the job is running a day behind schedule. How the hell do you factor things like this into your estimate.....
In this day of age, people think its 'wal mart world', where you just stop in, pick up what you need, pay and leave. Little do they Know. Mr. wal mart sure doesn't run any stone yards.
Its a wacky business we live, but I have to admit, it gives us some good stories to talk about.
steveair
Just wanted to see if this may be a little out of the ordinary or if this is 'typical' for the industry.
I had to pick up a few pallets of moss rock the other day, and went directly to the stone yard. When getting there, boy did I fell like I stepped into another world.
First of all, everyone I saw either had a can of Budweiser in his hands, or at least had one close by sitting on a pallet of stone. The guy in the skidsteer, loading trucks, had one in his hand and a cigarette in his mouth (Pretty neat trick). When tractor trailers came in, the guys would get out, walk to the fridge, and grab a 'nice cold one', get loaded (I mean their truck, well, I guess themselfs too), jump back in, and head out.
This was all at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, but I'd imagine it was about the same at 7 am.
To make the story even funnier, I had to hand pick some stones for a rock garden, and of course, no one could help me. So, I loaded the pallets myself, and after about an hour, went to look for someone to load/weigh me in and take my money. At that point, I couldn't even find anyone. A few guys were loading trucks, and I had to stand in front of them to get them to stop (a little risky) When they did stop, put out their cigarette, and swallow a swig of their beer, they told me to 'hold on a minute' and then just continued.
By this time, it was 5 o'clock, and I had to meet a client. So I left, without the stone that I had just spent an hour loading, and left.
The meeting with the client was right down the road, so after, I decided to go back.......I get there and theres one guy loading a truck. He stops and asks 'what the hell do you want'. I replied, 'I want the dam stone that I loaded by myself and no one would load before'.
He laughed, said give him a minute to finish his truck, then came back over. First thing he said was, "want a beer".
Well, at this moment, my day was shot, I was pissed, and I said 'sure'. So, after a quick one (believe me, this is not a typical thing, as I know how 'unprofessional' this is, but..certain situations require 'creative' solutions) he loaded my truck finally.
Of course, it wasn't going to end this easy.
Right when I was about to pay, some more 'good ole' boys stop in the party began. I was forgotten about again. At this point, I figured what the hell. Before I knew it, I was having another beer and talking 'stone talk' with these guys.
When I got home that night, I sat down and thought to myself if I need to factor in 'supplier relations' into my bid sheet. If these homeowners had ANY clue what we contractors have to do to get a job done, they would faint. I would love explaining to a homeowner a typical 'trip' to the stone yard and why that is why 2000lbs of rock costs $500 and why the job is running a day behind schedule. How the hell do you factor things like this into your estimate.....
In this day of age, people think its 'wal mart world', where you just stop in, pick up what you need, pay and leave. Little do they Know. Mr. wal mart sure doesn't run any stone yards.
Its a wacky business we live, but I have to admit, it gives us some good stories to talk about.
steveair