When pouring the footing and retaining walls in a small infill lot there are several obstacles to overcome.
We would prefer to use a boom truck so that the filler hose does not need to be dragged across the forms. But when the lot is torn up there is not always room for the boom truck. Even though the pump truck is only 60% the cost of the boom truck sometimes the labor that is saved offsets the additional cost of the boom truck.
Where there is a conflict is when you get a labor only bid for the foundation and retaining wall. Then it is the job of labor to make their job the simplest regardless of the extra cost of the boom truck.
The pouring went well. The surprising thing is that instead of using a vibrator to make sure all of the concrete was smooth, they just had everyone hit the forms with hammers. It did a nice job and the concrete came out smooth.