The concrete is finally down. But the day didn’t go according to plan. The crew ran short on concrete. A balance load had to be ordered. People and equipment waited. Production slipped, and the next operation started later than expected. You already know what happened. The crew knows what happened. The superintendent probably knows what happened. But six weeks from now? That’s a different story. Someone may ask: Why did production fall off that day? How long was the crew actu

You can have the right excavator, a good operator, plenty of trucks, and a capable crew—and still have a bad excavation operation. The problem is not always how fast you can dig. Sometimes the problem is everything happening around the excavator. Too few trucks and the excavator waits. Too many trucks and the trucks wait. Either way, you’re paying for something that isn’t producing. That is where excavation planning needs to go beyond asking: How many trucks should we send? T