Concrete waiting time and part-load charges: what to check per truck and on the invoice

Waiting time is a surcharge for keeping a truck mixer on site beyond an allowed unloading period — typically because the pump, the crane or the formwork was not ready. Part-load (or short-load) is a surcharge for delivering less than a minimum volume per truck, because the truck costs almost the same to run half-empty. Both are set by the supplier’s terms or your supply agreement; the free time, minimum volume and rates vary by supplier, so take them from your contract, not from a rule of thumb.

Each truckload normally travels with its own ticket. Contents vary by supplier, but they typically include the volume loaded (m³ in Europe, cubic yards in the US), the mix or strength class (for example C25/30), exposure class and consistence, and the batch or loading time. Arrival and discharge times, and any water added on site, are often written by hand on site.

In Portugal, each load travels with a transport document — usually a guia de remessa — which by law must describe the goods with quantities and state the date and time the transport started. It does not have to show the arrival or discharge time, so if waiting time matters, your site has to write it down. See guia de remessa explained.

1. 01Check the mix: strength class and other specifications on the ticket match what was ordered for that pour.
2. 02Record the volume delivered, and whether the truck discharged all of it.
3. 03Write the arrival time and the end-of-discharge time on the ticket, and have both sides sign.
4. 04If the truck waited, note why (pump late, formwork not ready) — it decides whether a waiting charge is fair.
5. 05If a load is refused or partly returned, record it on the ticket; in Portugal the regime requires an additional transport document when goods are not accepted immediately and in full.
6. 06Photograph the ticket and send it to the office the same day, tagged with the project and the pour.

The full list of invoice checks is in common supplier invoice discrepancies, and the general method in how to reconcile supplier invoices.

• Waiting charged for trucks whose times were never recorded — the supplier’s times are the only ones available.
• Part-load charged on a load that was at or above the minimum, or charged twice.
• A higher strength class invoiced than delivered.
• Volumes summed incorrectly across dozens of tickets.
• A returned or refused truck invoiced as delivered.
• Pumping charged on a day the concrete was placed by crane and skip.

Concrete is one of the materials Audiree was built around. The site photographs each ticket (guia) as the truck arrives; AI reads every line — class, volume, unit, price and any extras on it — and matches each line by meaning to the concrete contract of that project. On the monthly invoice, lines are checked against the tickets and the contract: price against contract, unit consistency, designation identity (C25/30 vs C30/37), and totals. Extras such as pumping or part-load charges are checked against the contract price list where they are contracted items. What matches is approved automatically; each difference goes to the review queue with the exact amount.

Audiree is built in Portugal and works today with Portuguese construction companies. Reading is layout-agnostic, so documents from any supplier can be processed; if you work in another market, a demo with your own documents is the honest way to check the fit.