Dirt Talk by BuildWitt Judd Palmer w/ JP Excavating – DT 414
Feb 5, 2026
Judd Palmer, president of JP Excavating — a St. George civil contractor known for mass excavation, paving, and complex sitework. He recounts scaling from one backhoe to big municipal and airport jobs. Topics include solving a runway clay failure, bringing paving and trucking in-house, fleet repainting, and a new training bootcamp to build talent and company culture.
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Cruise Reward Between Flood Jobs
- After finishing one emergency flood job early, Judd rewarded his crew with a cruise.
- He arranged equipment transfers so they could immediately start the next emergency project.
Protect Weekends To Sustain Teams
- Protect workers' weekends and avoid unnecessary seven-day schedules to preserve safety and morale.
- Judd refused weekend shifts on the airport job and still hit aggressive targets.
Bring Key Trades Inside
- Bring critical trades in-house if repeated external failures threaten schedules.
- Vertical integration reduces dependence and protects project completion.