Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: With hard work comes great work. What I like to say in Spanish is quere words of wisdom, Edwin, words of wisdom. If I can give any words of advice to somebody that's interested in construction is go out there and get it man. Do it. If you don't start it, you're not going to find out.
[00:00:29] Speaker B: Well, Edwin, I appreciate you coming on today, you know, to the podcast and you just want to get to know a little bit how your Moss history got started here, man.
[00:00:37] Speaker A: Oh, thanks for having me. I initially started at Moss, I want to say September of 2018. I got offered a position to be a loop truck assistant. My father at the current time was a loot truck driver. I was concurrently going to college, trying to finish that up and was looking for a part time job. Really. He voiced it here to his boss.
They talked to Garrett. Within two days they had me here interviewing offer me a position as a lewtruck assistant. They're very flexible, flexible with scheduling, stuff like that. So you know, I signed up as quick as possible doing oil changes, hydraulic fluid changes, anything, you know, to do with the machinery, fueling, greasing, that was our job mainly.
[00:01:14] Speaker B: So when they first introduced you to the, the position, did you know anything about moss though?
[00:01:19] Speaker A: I didn't really, didn't even know anything about moss. Anything about wet utilities, anything about excavations, nothing.
[00:01:26] Speaker B: So you kind of went in blind per se, right?
[00:01:28] Speaker A: I was, I was greener than that, but, you know, nothing. So I really got to, while doing that, I got to, you know, realize the bigger picture of plumbing. You know, it's basically plumbing but just in a bigger scale. Trenches, safety procedures, embedding requirements, grades, why everything matters on the plan. You know, because I was fortunate enough to talk to foremans or anybody on the project and just be curious and ask what's going on. You know, everybody was always helpful and oh, this is this, this is that. Little pieces of information like that that know, stuck to my brand and helped me on.
[00:02:00] Speaker B: So, so when was it that you transitioned to. Because you started off as a assistant, right, to an actual driver or did you know.
[00:02:07] Speaker A: So I actually, I didn't get a chance to be a driver. I don't have a CDL, but it was December of 2019 when I was getting ready to graduate. Garrett Moss is very involved in every aspect of the business. Not just running the show, but every, every aspect, every department. He's involved. I can speak that for a fact because even as a lube trick assistant, he was always very vocal with me and my dad always kept track of me. Hey, what's going on? You know, you ready to finish school or how's it going? You know, I would hate to see you with a degree, you know, still being a lube trick assistant. I was like, oh, no. You know, kept him up to date. When I was getting closer, he was like, hey, I mean, you know, you want to come in for an interview? Maybe have a spot for you?
And I was like, well, sure. I really don't have anything planned right now, so, you know, worth the shot. Some people call it fade. I call it destiny. You know, it was destined for me to come. Interview the first. Started out as they offered me an estimating coordinator role that was really delegated. Creating emails, stuff like that, getting stuff on our schedule, running early takeoffs, learning what a takeoff was, actually reading plans, finding out how everything's connected, every page matters, stuff like that. It all started from the field. Getting to know what the. What was going on there. Now going into plan and a computer.
[00:03:18] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:03:18] Speaker A: Trying to connect that.
[00:03:19] Speaker B: So you're kind of putting two and two together from the experience that you had out in the field being, you know, an assistant loop truck driver.
[00:03:27] Speaker C: Right.
[00:03:28] Speaker B: So, you know, that transitioned into you getting a opportunity to come on board and work in the estimating department, Right. On the pre con side of things.
[00:03:36] Speaker A: Yes, sir.
[00:03:37] Speaker B: So, like, do you remember what one of your first projects was or, you.
[00:03:40] Speaker A: Know, man, it's been a while.
I want to say the first project like that I actually got a warrior. First project I ran a takeoff on. First project I ran a takeoff on was like a.
Want to say, like a little coffee shop just so I can get familiar. It was familiar with, like, you know, items that we pick up and, you know, stuff like that project that I got awarded. I want to say it was called Avery retaining. That was the first project that I got officially awarded on my own.
[00:04:05] Speaker B: Yeah, that's really cool that, you know, that you. Those are the type of things that kind of stick to us. Right. Our first award, our first step into getting a project and all that.
[00:04:12] Speaker C: Right.
[00:04:12] Speaker B: But at that time, did you know, like, how estimating really impacted the field or, like, how important it really is for these bits to come out?
[00:04:20] Speaker A: So I want to say it took me maybe close to within a year because my main focus was just coordinating, setting up our schedule and stuff like that. Once I started digging into more, doing takeoffs and, you know, digging, messing around with our estimating software, that's when I started coming to the realization of what being in the estimated department really impacts and what impact that has for the overall company, you know, because in theory, if we don't get any jobs, if we're not doing our proper job, running a show, doing sales, having conversations, building communication, building relationships, we're not going to be able to continue running the rest of the stuff. So it's kind of like domino effect is what I call, you know, we, we hit one, you're just going to hit the next and keep going.
[00:04:59] Speaker B: Yeah, I, I agree. Domino effect is a really good way to put it because a lot of people don't realize how important, how critical it is for the estimating team to, to really push out these bids.
[00:05:09] Speaker C: Right.
[00:05:09] Speaker B: I'm not very familiar when it comes to like estimating.
[00:05:11] Speaker C: Right.
[00:05:11] Speaker B: I, I, I understand very little of it. So how, how does a, a bid become a project, an awarded project? What's, what's that process look like?
[00:05:20] Speaker A: I'm lucky enough to go you department here. So it's, it starts with the estimating coordinator. They get flooded with a bid invite from general contractors with, you know, their due dates. We try to do our best job to organize that in our CRM. It's like our bid management. We have weekly meetings, sometimes every Monday to try to coordinate and dictate what projects should we bid, what client that treat us great.
[00:05:47] Speaker B: So it's relationships right there.
[00:05:48] Speaker C: Right?
[00:05:49] Speaker B: That's, that's a really big thing. I know that Garrett really talks on that a lot is relationships, relationships. Relationships.
[00:05:54] Speaker A: Yes, sir. It's, we're trying to maintain our relationships. We're trying to build new relationships. So it's a matter of what projects are out there and what projects are suitable for us. And always trying to break the ice with new clients. So it's delegating that after it gets assigned to an estimator. Each estimator usually has a estimator assistant, helps us run our takeoffs when it's real busy. Sometimes we have to step in there and, you know, do our own takeoff as well. So you run the takeoff we have not just with our general contractors, but we have to have mutual relationships and communication too, with our vendor suppliers in pipe, aggregate embedment, any specialty items like bores, you know, traffic control, pumping, anything that you can think of and you can name, we have to have those relationships built because we can't provide a quote without having that backing.
[00:06:41] Speaker B: Yeah. So it goes from the relationships to, say, the contractors or the owners that want to be on their projects to the relationships that we have with our subcontractors as well.
[00:06:49] Speaker C: Right.
[00:06:50] Speaker B: You mentioned like bores Right.
There are subcontractors. Right. Our hydro vacuum contract users are, you know, the TV contractors and all that good stuff. Right. So those relationships also come in place whenever you're doing your bids as well?
[00:07:02] Speaker A: Yes sir. Yeah. Because we have to, you know, at the end of the day it's an estimate. So we just have to try to be as accurate as possible to, to give, you know, operations teams the best coverage is what I like to call it as possible. Then we have to build off of that and you know, try to try to do better in a way. Once we have that situated, that's when we start what I like to say, organizing, formatting to input into our estimating software. So we use this estimating software called Heavy Bid HCSS Cloud system. And that's where we do our manipulations of time material. A lot of variables take into effect, you know, when building we have to think about depths, profiles, grading in existing conditions, watery, rocky. So we use multiple handful of details that we can find. I like to consider estimating kind of like an open book test. So you know, you have all the information that you need. You, you, you just have to know where to look for it. Being geotech boring. So know, you know, if it's rocky, if there's a lot of water, stuff like that that can help you visualize and map out the project. So in theory we're just not picking up items and, and throwing them on. Like how I like to think about it is we're building the project in our heads and using these tools to finalize it on a paper.
[00:08:18] Speaker B: Yeah. From what it sounds like there's a lot of variables, a bunch of variables that come into play from the very beginning.
[00:08:23] Speaker C: Right.
[00:08:24] Speaker B: Because you, you've mentioned several things now. You've mentioned, you know, the subcontractors and then us as a contractor and then other variables like you know, the depths, the geotext and all that good stuff, which I'm assuming is, goes back to scheduling as well. Right. Which is something that you guys have to work on of like, you know, hey, they want us to meet a certain schedule. So if it is a certain depth, it's going to push us more because we have to do more digging if there's water, if it's rocky, you know, it's more, more work that we have to do on our end. So you have to make sure that there's money in there for that.
[00:08:58] Speaker C: Right?
[00:08:59] Speaker A: Yeah. Each project has its own level of complexity.
Being big, small, medium, we dedicate and cater time to each of them equally Sometimes the smaller projects are more. Want to say complex than the larger ones, because larger ones, there's more work to be done and we could just plan and organize that better. Sometimes the smaller ones take a little bit more time, especially if it's downtown city work, you know.
[00:09:24] Speaker B: Yeah, it's a congested area. Right. So it's a lot more complex when it comes to, you know, installing, you know, water line or sewer line. There's different areas or obstacles that you have to go around to. To be able to really.
[00:09:36] Speaker A: And on. On top of like what I mentioned, you know, depths, existing conditions, there's also. We live in the dfw. We're blessed to be in the dfw. But every municipality sometimes have its own city standard details, city standard ways of doing things, you know, being public or private work. So we have to throw that on the. On top. So.
[00:09:56] Speaker B: So Fort Worth may have different details than Dallas does.
[00:10:00] Speaker C: Right.
[00:10:01] Speaker B: So they expect things a certain way than Dallas does.
[00:10:05] Speaker C: Right.
[00:10:05] Speaker A: You're not going to bid a job in Plano like you do one in downtown Dallas. You know, it's going to get you out of the race.
[00:10:11] Speaker B: Well, that's. That's very important to keep in consideration. We do work in dfw, so we can go. We. I think we've gone as far north as I think Sherman and Denison and then as far south as I think Lorena.
[00:10:23] Speaker C: Right.
[00:10:23] Speaker B: And then, you know, all the DFW and outskirts.
[00:10:26] Speaker C: Right.
[00:10:27] Speaker B: We've gone up the prosper. We've gone up to Fort Worth. I think Weatherford at some point we went up there. We went to Red Oak, Cleburne. I mean, we're all over the place. So that's a lot of variables that come into play when it comes to your bid.
[00:10:39] Speaker C: Right.
[00:10:40] Speaker B: I mean, that's just. That's pretty impressive when it comes to really narrowing down a number at the end of the day.
[00:10:46] Speaker C: Right.
[00:10:47] Speaker B: Because there's one. Some at the end of the day.
[00:10:49] Speaker C: Right.
[00:10:49] Speaker A: It's a matter of time management and communication and trying to stay on top of all while also multitasking with. With things. You get hit on the daily. You can prep and you can plan as much as you can ahead of the game, but the more you plan, the more that you're gonna just get hit with stuff. You know, it's. It keeps me busy. I like it, man. It's. It's been a journey. Every aspect that I've been involved in with this company has allowed me to visualize and see how everything.
It flows kind of like bringing it back to, like the lube trick days.
The way Moss is, it's a very lubricated running machine.
So every little aspect, every department matters in its own way. You know, going back to that, if we don't have our machines properly lubed, properly fueled, we can't install pipe. If we don't have our laborers, pipeman, foreman's superintendent, project management. If one slips up, you know, it messes up something for everybody. So everything has to be in union working together. I take that and try to instill that now in the estimating department with our personnel that we have that are starting off like I was once, and try to keep the communication even with ourselves here in the office. And then, you know, try to see if they need any pointers, any help. I like to consider us all as one. It's not, you know, I think it's about eight or nine of us now still keeping that. It's just one unit.
[00:12:09] Speaker B: You know, I think the domino effect is a good comparison that you used overall for Moss. Right. So we all. All have our portion of the company to. To provide, to. To keep everything flowing.
[00:12:20] Speaker C: Right.
[00:12:20] Speaker B: But then each department as well, has their domino effects.
[00:12:23] Speaker C: Right.
[00:12:24] Speaker B: Just like you were saying, you know, y' all are a team. We're essentially all the team.
[00:12:27] Speaker C: Right.
[00:12:28] Speaker B: But then y' all have yalls portion that affects everything down the road.
[00:12:32] Speaker C: Right?
[00:12:32] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:12:33] Speaker B: It's very important to. To keep that in mind and that you see it.
[00:12:38] Speaker C: Right.
[00:12:38] Speaker B: Because not everybody sees the domino effect. They just think that their job is.
[00:12:41] Speaker A: Yeah. They're just here at a 9 to 5.
[00:12:43] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:12:43] Speaker A: Clock in, clock out.
[00:12:44] Speaker B: Only their job matters. And that's not the case here.
[00:12:46] Speaker C: Right.
[00:12:47] Speaker B: And I think everybody sees that here at Moss is that everybody's position and job matters here.
[00:12:53] Speaker A: I think that's one of the parts due to Garrett just making this place a great environment to work at. I don't think I've ever viewed it that way. Like, you know, clock in, clock out. I'm happy to be here. You know, I like coming to work every day. I like putting in the time. I like putting in the effort. Not just the rewards for me, but for the whole company. You know, there's several hundred families that we're providing for. Yeah. That could be a lot of stress on somebody's shoulders, but I find pride in it being able to. To do my part and help out the rest of. Of the people that work here. For us, nobody's bigger or smaller than anybody else. We're all the same. We're all trying to Provide for our family.
And that's one of the things that really speak out to me and drives me to continue coming here and doing the best that I can.
[00:13:38] Speaker B: Yeah, I think that speaks volume, man. That speaks volume because you're not just, you know, looking at your.
How Moss impacts you, but how it impacts everyone, up to the people out in the field, right back to that Lucha driver that you once were.
[00:13:52] Speaker C: Right.
[00:13:53] Speaker B: I really appreciate you coming on board today. You know, I think you are vital to the team and to Moss, and everyone always looks forward to talking to you, man. There's. I don't think there's a person that's ever said, you know, there's Edwin. It's always. You hear Evans laugh, man, it's, you know, something fun's going on, Right?
[00:14:10] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:14:10] Speaker B: And so, you know, like I said, we appreciate you coming on board today and, you know, giving us your story here at Moss.
[00:14:16] Speaker A: Yeah, man, I'm happy to be here. Yeah, I get commented about my laughs most of the time, but it's just, you know, one of our core values. We never take ourselves too seriously. So it's, you know, we're serious at work, but sometimes it's good to just step away from the screen and have a good laugh because it makes you feel human. You know, you're not stuck at. We're not robots, we're not computers, you know, so it's good to have a good laugh. And I like being a part of the company. I like being a part of our process, about the bigger picture. Throughout the years, I've been able to be involved in great projects, projects around here.
It being Compass, Project Maverick. We're blessed to be partnered with Polk Construction. So we've been a part of, you know, a plentiful of schools around the Metroplex. And it's just great to see our industry, you know, continuing to grow.
And hopefully we keep being blessed and the market stays like this because I can't see myself anywhere else.
[00:15:09] Speaker B: Yeah, that's. That's pretty cool, man, to be able to see school here, school there. And, you know, Moss was a part of it. You know, I've been with, you know, my daughter and I'll drive down the road, and you're like, oh, we were on that project. You know, we were on that project. And, you know, when I say we, I say Moss.
[00:15:24] Speaker C: Right?
[00:15:25] Speaker B: Because, you know, I'm not the one that, you know, pushed out the bed. I'm not the one that was the project manager, you know, but we all, as a whole, had a part, a part into completing that project, which is, you know, pretty cool.
[00:15:37] Speaker A: Yeah, my family gets bored of me doing that all the time.
Like, hey, you know, I, I, I estimated that. Or we did this project, put money in there.
[00:15:45] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:15:45] Speaker A: It was like, that's the 10th time you told me that if I can give any words of advice to somebody that's interested in construction is go out there and get it, man. Do it. If you don't try it, you're not gonna know that feeling of what could have been, you know, what ifs. Yeah. So mostly people are routing just college. I did the college route myself and I was just, you know, landed here. But there's other, other trades that, that we can count on. Construction is always going to be here. Hopefully if you don't start it, you're not going to find out. Opportunity is everywhere. You just have to put yourself in a place where you want to be.
[00:16:16] Speaker B: Words of wisdom, Edwin.
Words of wisdom. I think there's a lot of people that could appreciate those words because sometimes you just need that drive.
[00:16:24] Speaker A: I know it's just our company core values, but I take that, those meanings, those definitions, and also apply it to my personal life. With hard work comes great work. So in order to get the outcome that you want, I believe that you have to put in the work, you have to put in the extra time. Do whatever you have to do to master your craft. If you don't practice and, and practice, practice your craft, how are you going to get better? Yeah. What are you doing to get yourself there, the planning that you're going through? Oh, I don't really have a plan. I was like, well, there goes your step one. Make a plan. Set your goals. You know, you can start with daily goals, weekly goals, monthly goals, and proceed and go on. And I guarantee you you're going to get where you want to be. What I like to say in Spanish is get it espod. So, you know, if you want it bad enough, you going to get it.
[00:17:04] Speaker B: I think one of the best things that our core values correlates with, we know it's a win win when we all win, right?
[00:17:10] Speaker A: Yes, sir.
[00:17:11] Speaker B: And so the reason I say that one is because y' all win those projects, right? You'll get them awarded. From there, everything's just a chain effect, right? The PM started getting involved. The super general, superintendent, superintendents, foremans, up to the, the field workers, and then at the end of the day, they go home winning because they're able to go home to their family.
[00:17:30] Speaker C: Right.
[00:17:30] Speaker B: So yeah, we all win.
[00:17:32] Speaker C: Right.
[00:17:32] Speaker B: And that's. That's the biggest thing there.
[00:17:33] Speaker A: It's always good to. To know that what you're doing is rewarding, you know, not just to yourself, but, you know, to everybody else. Just thankful to be here, man.
[00:17:43] Speaker B: Thankful to be here. Well, like I said, we appreciate you coming on board today. We appreciate you coming and having some words of wisdom from Edwin.
[00:17:52] Speaker A: Well, thank you, man. I appreciate the time. And, you know, let's just keep on rolling.
[00:17:57] Speaker B: Keep on rolling.
[00:17:59] Speaker C: Three, two, one. Here we go, Sam.
