Shortages of Concrete Pump Operators in the U.S.

The Conco Companies have an advantage in being one of the largest pumping companies in the Western U.S. serving customers in Southern and Northern California, Washington, Oregon, Nevada and Colorado.  As a result, we are not as affected as other smaller companies by the statistics indicating an overwhelming lack of qualified pump operators in the U.S.   

According to the American Concrete Pumping Association’s Summer 2014 edition of Concrete Pumping, there is a real shortage of trained pump operators in the industry but they along with others are working to address the problem.  The American Concrete Pumping Association (ACPA) offers safety and training programs and is the only nationally recognized organization that provides safety certification to pump operators.   

The ACPA cites other organizations that are working to make people aware of the profession and encourage them to join the field.  One website, MyMajors.com offers students a free quiz that helps to identify an aptitude for a particular career path.  According to their site, they provide “student-friendly assessment technology and access to information about a variety of majors at a broad range of institutions.”   One of the career options includes pump operator and they describe what the job responsibilities are and how to go about getting the proper training.   

The article mentions ConcreteCareers.com as a good source for finding already qualified pump operators.  They have strong ties with the ACPA and their website states, “Since 1976, Concrete Careers has been a supplement to the concrete industry’s human resource expertise by identifying and matching individual talents, abilities and experiences for specific staffing requirements.”

The article finishes up with an interesting discussion on the importance of retaining employees.  The recommendations include ensuring all employees are adequately trained and receive on-going safety and technical training.  This is something we do at Conco on a regular basis.   We are proud of the fact that every one of our concrete pump operators are ACPA certified and that our pumping division completed 2013 without a single lost time accident. 

Sources:  mydigimag.rrd.com/publication/?i=216900

The Conco Companies are one of the leading commercial concrete contractors in the Western United States.  We have four regional offices serving California, Washington, Oregon, Nevada and Colorado and are experts at creating cost-effective solutions that take advantage of the most up-to-date techniques.  Our concrete services include commercial, educational, parking and other construction development as well as public works projects.