CEMENT vs. READY-MIXED CONCRETE

Concrete vs. Cement

CEMENT is one of the basic ingredients used to make CONCRETE … just as FLOUR is one of the basic ingredients used to make CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES.  No one calls flour "chocolate chip cookies" … and no one calls chocolate chip cookies "flour" (or thinks the words should be used interchangeably).

When cement is mixed with water and other basic ingredients – sand, and gravel or crushed stone, – it forms a paste that glues these basic ingredients into a rock-like mass, which is known as concrete.

In technical terms, concrete refers to a proportioned blend of cement, water, and aggregates (sand, gravel or crushed stone), and specified additives that construction professionals place to construct driveways, sidewalks, patios, garage and basement floors, structural walls, piers, mats, beams and columns, and pavements.  When combined with water, cement chemically hydrates to form the paste that bonds the sand and gravel or stone into a homogeneous mass.

Concrete can be mixed at the job site by a homeowner or construction professional or ordered for delivery in a "ready-mixed" state from Schmitz Ready Mix or other area ready-mix companies.

Then Why is It Called a Cement Truck?

When area homeowners or construction professionals order concrete, Schmitz Ready Mix mixes predetermined proportions of cement, water, sand, and gravel or crushed stone to produce the ready-mixed concrete and delivers the material to the job site in a safe and timely manner in a transit-mixer truck, more commonly known as a "concrete truck."

There are no cement trucks.  The trucking industry calls the vehicles that deliver cement to the ready-mix plant "bulkers."  Most first and second-grade students know this, because Hasbro has always labeled its toy Tonka trucks correctly.  Unfortunately, many children begin adopting their parents' and teachers' word usage, based on a general lack of knowledge by the adult population regarding the words concrete and cement.

Grammar, Spelling, and Punctuation Rules

The ready-mixed concrete industry – nationally, and in Wisconsin – is inconsistent in spelling, the use of hyphens, and in word choices when referring to itself and its quality products.

Schmitz Ready Mix believes a hyphen is required when the words "ready-mixed" or "ready-mix" are used as adjectives to modify nouns, as in "the ready-mix plant," "ready-mixed concrete”, and "ready-mix industry."

Schmitz Ready Mix believes a hyphen is not necessary when the words "Ready Mixed" or "Ready Mix" are used as part of a compound, proper noun set, as in "Wisconsin Ready Mixed Concrete Association" or "Schmitz Ready Mix."

"Ready-mix" and "ready-mixed" are also not interchangeable.  Never use "ready-mixed" unless followed by the word "concrete," as in "quality, ready-mixed concrete" or the "ready-mixed concrete industry."

When the word "concrete" is absent, use "ready-mix" as in "ready-mix plant," "ready-mix dispatcher," or "ready-mix industry leaders."  Never use "ready-mix" if the word (or words, if you still refuse to use the hyphen) is to be followed by the word "concrete."

Building Our Communities

Concrete is more than a simple mixture of sand, stone, water, and cement.  The world’s most used construction material, concrete is beautiful, durable, versatile, practical, inspirational, and very environmentally friendly.  Since the turn of this century, construction projects in Wisconsin have used more than 10,000,000 cubic yards of ready-mixed concrete annually … approximately 8,000 pounds of concrete a year for every Wisconsin resident.

Concrete demand in the Southeastern Wisconsin counties of Kenosha, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Sheboygan, Walworth, Washington, and Waukesha exceeds 3,000,000 cubic yards annually. 

Concrete is the foundation for the high quality of life enjoyed in Southeastern Wisconsin.  Schmitz Ready Mix employees are proud of the essential role they play in building their communities.

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