The difference between running a job and running a business

Construction is chaos. Equipment breaks down. Weather changes. Owners move deadlines. Suppliers are late. That GC who promised your crew would start Tuesday? Good luck with that.

But the contractors who make real money don't manage chaos - they orchestrate it.

Here’s what’s at stake:

A 100-employee civil contractor with 50 machines and 80 trucks burns through nearly $20,000 every hour (100 employees at $55/hour + 50 machines at $85/hour + 80 trucks at $125/hour).

That’s like paying for 40 top lawyers ($500/hour each) to sit in your conference room. Just 30 minutes of daily idle time due to poor scheduling costs $2.5 million annually. When the stakes are this high, you can’t afford to wing it.

At $20K+ an hour, the best understand something fundamental: When you self-perform work, success isn't about individual jobs. It's about moving crews, equipment, and resources like pieces on a chessboard, always thinking three moves ahead. And just like chess, sometimes you need to sacrifice a piece to control the board.

This is about how to schedule your crews out, share resources, and win as a team.

The Three Meetings That Matter

Most meetings are BS. Not these three.

If you want to run a construction company, you need to master three things: bid work, build work that makes money, and lead people. Miss one and you're in trouble.

That's why there are exactly three regular meetings that matter:

1. Bid Reviews - Where you decide what work to chase
2. Cost to Completes - Where you track if your bids were right
3. Scheduling Meetings - Where you plan who goes where

Here's the cycle: You can't bid smart without knowing how busy your crews are. You can't price work without staying connected to daily P&L on existing jobs. And you can't pick the right margin without knowing where everyone is working.

The Discipline

Magic happens when the team builds the crew look-ahead together. This activity should happen at least twice weekly and involve planning every crew in your area for the next 2-3 weeks:

✅ Crew name and size 
✅ Job name, location, and number
✅ Equipment and trucking requirements
✅ Support/subcontractors 
✅ Material requirements 
✅ Production rates (tons per day, linear feet per shift, square yards per hour)

When you think about it, this brings together everyone in your organization: crews, equipment operators, truckers, material suppliers, subcontractors, traffic control, GCs, owners, engineers, inspectors. These aren't just names on a schedule - they're your team, and families depending on your ability to keep work flowing and everyone moving forward together.

Planning Horizons

I believe detailed, day-by-day, job by job crew scheduling many months out can be a wasted effort. Too much changes. Most beyond two weeks is fantasy anyway. That doesn't mean you ignore long-term planning or daily scheduling.

But what I’m referring to is Near Term Tactical Planning: Crew movements, equipment allocation, daily logistics. This is where you live.

Two Meetings, Not One

Here's what I believe world-class look ahead scheduling looks like:

Meeting #1: Prepare the Schedule
Operations team only - supers, PMs, field engineers. This is where you set your plan. Send it to the entire team when done.

Meeting #2: Review and Execute
Full team including ops, support, logistics, trucking, equipment, and senior management. This is NOT the prepare meeting. It's the review-and-tweak based on what changed since Meeting #1.

Don't try to do both at the same time. One person owns the master schedule and is responsible for sending it out at specified times each week. If everyone is responsible, then no one is.

What Excellence Looks Like

I watched a Superintendent voluntarily give up their best crew to help a struggling project hit deadline. That's when I knew we had the right culture. Excellence isn't just about your own job - it's understanding that sometimes you sacrifice your queen to control the board.

Everyone is prepared. Few "uh, let me check" responses.

Jobs are made ready for crews so you have options when plans change. The best superintendents always have their next two moves planned.

High accountability with zero drama. I've seen scheduling meetings where people report facts: "If we pull the paving crew off the airport job today, we'll finish the shopping center three days early, but we'll pay liquidated damages on the runway." No yelling, no emotions, just chess moves.

Data discipline drives decisions. The best contractors use real-time production data, GPS tracking, and automated reporting. Not because the software is magic, but because data discipline forces better decisions.

Jobs are observed with two eyes. Never move the iron in on a job that’s “ready” until we’ve gotten our eyes on it.

What Mediocrity Looks Like

You know it when you see it:

• "We can't go to that job because the One Call isn't ready"

• "We can't start because we didn't put out parking notices"

• "My job is the only one that matters” - not the overall company’s best interests

Mistakes are repeated. Management shows up unprepared. People who shouldn't be making decisions are making them. Teams placate screaming GCs instead of having realistic conversations about schedules. Crews work 30 hours a week when they should be getting 45. Divisions don’t share resources because they’re territorial.

The worst part? These contractors wonder why their best people leave for competitors who have their act together.

What I've Learned

Running a job is not running a business. You can make serious money by staying overbooked at full capacity. But you can lose even more by being lazy and not having jobs ready when crews finish early.

Self-perform prime work is incredibly valuable. When you control the work as prime, you determine when crews come in and out. As long as you're meeting the contract on public work, you can move people around to fit your needs. That flexibility is worth serious money.

Long-term prime contracts rule. Where you can keep multiple crews working for months or years. Instead of constantly moving people in and out, you just slide Crew A to the right on your schedule while Crew B starts the next phase. It’s something beautiful when you get it right.

Working for GCs has challenges. You see how often they're late or not ready, and suddenly your perfectly planned schedule becomes a daily fire drill. This shows why you should be prime on whatever you can within your risk tolerance.

Stuff happens, but you can prepare for it. Jobs fall through. Issues arise. I value GC schedules the way I do lottery tickets - not worth much.

I learned to stay hungry at the bid table after seeing how many jobs move to the right. Bid work like you've got 25% more capacity than you actually do and you're probably about close.

Words matter. I made the mistake of saying "Yes, I'll have the crew there Tuesday." I later learned to adjust: "We plan to be there Tuesday, weather permitting and barring any issues."

Pick up the phone for bad news. Especially with GCs and private owners who are liable to get excited. Don't email. Just call and email later.

Why This Actually Matters

The decisions your team makes determine when and where people work. You being ready and prepared determines whether men and women can feed their families with the requisite hours each week.

Respect planned weekends off even when it rains during the week. People need time with their families, and this is becoming more important with the workforce who won't tolerate the old "construction comes first, everything else comes second" mentality.

There will be constant changes and chaos throughout the week. Don't expect perfection. You may touch three jobs with one crew in a week. But don't plan for failure either. Plan for success, prepare for problems, and execute with discipline.

The Bottom Line

Keep your logistics and support teams in the loop. Give and take is essential. Revisit the schedule every few days.

Great superintendents are chess players who see the whole board, not just their next move. They understand that every decision creates the next opportunity.

This is your orchestra. You're the conductor.

Most contractors react to chaos. The best ones orchestrate it.

Your Turn

Make a system that works for you. I've seen informed scheduling transform struggling divisions into profit machines. The question isn't whether it works - it's whether you'll implement it.

Start with one division. Set up the two-meeting structure. Give it 30 days and track the results.

Most contractors will read this, nod along, and change nothing. They'll keep struggling with capacity, communication, and chaos.

That's their choice. But it doesn’t have to be yours.

How does your company handle scheduling? What works? What doesn't? Reply and let us know - we read every response.

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About the Author

Tristan Wilson is the CEO and Founder of Edgevanta. We make AI agents for civil estimating. He is a 4th Generation Contractor, construction enthusiast, ultra runner, and bidding nerd. He worked his way up the ladder at Allan Myers in the Mid-Atlantic and his family’s former business Barriere Construction before starting Edgevanta in Nashville, where the company is based. Reach out to him at [email protected]