Dealing with wet soggy job sites? Here are two tips to help you free up your truck -- and your cash!

1. Ever get stuck in the mud at a job site in the spring? Here's an easy escape plan. Keep a bag of Portland cement in the back of your truck or the trunk of your car. Open it up and throw the contents under the wheels. Watch as it quickly soaks up the water thereby freeing your vehicle to exit.

2. Want to make your cash stretch a little farther? Here's one way. Instead of using regular wood use MCA's Splitless Lumber product for footing or curb and gutter applications. This lumber has truss clips, or bands, hydraulically pressed into the top and bottom sides. These bands keep the lumber from splitting so that it can be re-used many more times than regular, un-reinforced lumber. While it may cost a little bit more initially, it really does pay for itself in a very short amount of time.

Chuck Ruth at Alliance Contractors has been using them for many, many years. "I've been using them ever since MCA came out with them, at least ten years or so, says Chuck.. "The extended life more than offsets the cost difference." While Alliance uses them primarily for curb and gutter work, they come in pretty handy for residential construction footing applications, too.

"They hold up to the wear and tear of the job sites as well as the sometimes rough loading and unloading on the trucks," says Chuck. "We like how they perform for us and we like the money we save."