Both trucks turn up with concrete. The difference is where the mixing happens, and that one detail decides how much you pay, how long you wait and what happens when the job on the ground turns out not to match the drawing. If you order concrete more than a couple of times a year, it is worth ten minutes of your time.
The one thing that actually differs
Ready-mix, sometimes called drum-mixed, is weighed and mixed at a batching plant. It goes into the drum wet, the drum turns to stop it setting, and it is driven to you. Whatever is in there when it leaves the plant is what you get. The clock is running from that moment: most mixes have to be placed within about two hours of batching.
A volumetric mixer carries cement, aggregate, sand and water in separate compartments and batches them through an auger at the back of the truck, on your site, as you pour. Nothing is mixed until you want it mixed. It is a small plant on wheels rather than a delivery van.
Where the money goes with a plant-batched load
Guessing the volume is the expensive part of ordering ready-mix, and you have to guess before the truck is loaded. Order light and the pour stops halfway across a slab. You wait for a second load, which arrives with its own minimum charge, and by the time it is discharged the first half has stiffened. You now have a cold joint through the middle of a floor that was supposed to be one piece.
Order heavy and the surplus is yours. You pay for it, then you find somewhere to put it. Most people are told to add 5 to 10% for safety, which is another way of saying build the waste into every order. On a 12m³ commercial slab that habit costs you roughly a cubic metre every time, plus the cost of getting rid of it.
With a volumetric truck neither problem exists. The driver batches until the formwork is full and stops. You are billed on the meter, so the figure you work out beforehand only tells us how much material to load at the Effingham yard. It is not a number you are held to.
What that means for your job
Grades, standards and the delivery ticket
Mixing on site does not mean mixing by eye. Our trucks batch designated and designed mixes to BS 8500 and BS EN 206, metered and recorded, and you get a ticket showing what was supplied. We cover every grade from C8 to C50, along with screeds, fibre-reinforced mixes and foamed concrete.
Building control officers see volumetric tickets every week and they are used to them. If your inspector wants the mix confirmed in advance, tell us at the point of order and we will put it in writing.
Small orders and part loads
We deliver from 1m³, which suits a shed base, a small trench fill or a patch of hardstanding. Orders below 3m³ are subject to a part-load charge. For orders of 3m³ or more there is no part-load charge, so a full domestic slab or a commercial pour is priced on the metered volume alone.
Ask for the part-load figure when you call and it will be on the quote, not on the invoice as a surprise.
When ready-mix is still the right call
Big continuous pours. If you are placing 60m³ into a raft in one go, a queue of plant-batched trucks running to a schedule is the sensible way to do it, with a volumetric truck on hand for the tail end if you want one.
For almost everything else on the smaller end, from 1m³ up to about 10m³ a visit, the on-site batch wins on cost and on nerves. Trench fills where the depth is anyone's guess, phased pours where one bay follows another, sites where the excavation is still open when the truck arrives.
Give us the volume and the postcode
We will confirm the grade, the price and a two-hour delivery window on the call. Same and next-day delivery across Surrey and the surrounding areas.
Quick answers
Is volumetric cheaper than ready-mix?
The rate per cubic metre is comparable. It usually lands cheaper on the invoice because you are not paying for a rounded-up load or for surplus you have to dispose of.
Does it meet British Standards?
Yes. Designated and designed mixes to BS 8500 and BS EN 206, metered and recorded on the ticket.
How much access does the truck need?
Roughly 3m of width and 4m of height, on firm ground. The chute reaches about 3m from the back of the truck. Where it cannot get close enough, we can pump.
Can I change the grade after the truck arrives?
Yes, up to the point the batch is mixed. Tell the driver what the ground is doing and he will set the mix accordingly.
What is the smallest order you deliver?
1m³. Orders below 3m³ carry a part-load charge, which we will quote before you commit.
Who you are dealing with
Surex Concrete is based in Effingham, minutes from Leatherhead, and the business is run by people who came out of the construction industry rather than into it from haulage. The trucks are ours, the drivers are ours, and the person who answers the phone knows what a kerb race needs and what a garage floor needs.
Builders, groundworkers, landscapers and facilities teams across Surrey order from us weekly, largely because the truck turns up when we said it would. If a delivery window is going to slip, you get a call before the slot, not after it.
Business accounts are available if you order regularly. Call 0800 669 6500 and ask.