Guest Speakers: Paul Chang and Perry Mayer
Senior Engineers with Caltrans, Division of Construction
On October 10th, the Northern California and Western Nevada Chapter hosted two representatives of Caltrans to introduce the Chapter members and guests to its material e-ticketing pilot program. The Pilothouse Restaurant on board the Delta King in Sacramento was the host venue for this interesting presentation.
As the attendees dined on a delicious salad, California State University, Sacramento student Melanie Rippel provided a report on the ACI Student Chapter's participation in the Concrete Bowling Ball competition help during ACI's 2023 Spring Convention in San Francisco. Along with donations from many concrete industry suppliers, The Chapter had contributed towards the students' expenses with a $2,500 grant.
Following dinner, Paul Chang explained that e-ticketing of materials is being promoted and funded by Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) as a part of its "Every Day Counts" initiative. The catalyst is primarily job safety, but the program also saves money and time. To date, more than 20 states are using e-ticketing at some level.
The initial investment will be painful, but the benefits will be immense. The program will eliminate boxes and boxes of paper for Caltrans projects, with all information instead being as close as your cell phone. Cell phone access on all jobsites will be necessary for the program to succeed but will make batching and delivery information available within 5 minutes rather than 3-4 weeks. It will allow all project stakeholders to literally know when each batch is due to arrive, including all the batch ticket information. The electronic interface, HaulHub, will work with most batching software - even those based on the old DOS system.
Caltrans is currently working with Cemex and CalPortland to identify pilot projects to test out the system. It hopes to have initiate 40-60 pilot programs in the next year to get input from a wide group of concrete suppliers. During this phase, both paper and e-ticketing will be used to compare data and test the HaulHub interface's reporting.
In addition to selecting 
pilot project, Caltrans is busy rewriting its Standard Specifications to accommodate the e-ticketing process. Perry Mayer is reviewing and borrowing from other states that have already adopted specifications. He also is receiving valuable "lessons learned" from these sources.
Caltrans hopes to have 100% mandatory e-ticketing for mix designs in place by 2025. Provided electronically and in real time, concrete suppliers can provide all necessary load information without delivery truck involvements, special hardware, or GPS tracking devices. A substantial Q&A session wrapped up the evening's presentation.
The Chapter would like to thank Caltrans' Paul Chang, Perry Mayer, and their supervisor Devin Porr, for taking the time to discuss this new initiative. And, thanks to all those who attended this event. We sincerely hope you found the program interesting and informative!