Industries · Dirtwork

dirt work software

Andrew Drish, founder
Published October 28, 2026. Updated November 3, 2026

Dirtwork software runs the work after you win the bid. Your guys' hours. Your machines. Every load. And the job's profit, every day. SmartCrew does all of it in one app your crew will actually use. It's built only for dirtwork and heavy civil companies with 5 to 100 employees.

The short version

"Dirtwork software" means three different things: takeoff and estimating, machine control, and running the job. SmartCrew is the third one.
One phone app for the field: GPS clock-in by job and cost code, the machine, daily inspections, haul tickets and the daily report.
One office screen for you: timecards, equipment, the shop queue, hauling, scheduling and job profit against the bid.
It fits every dirtwork trade: excavation, grading, sitework, utilities, septic, land clearing, hauling and heavy civil.
It doesn't do takeoff, machine control, telematics boxes, payroll processing or ELD. Keep those tools.

SmartCrew office dashboard: live labor, material and equipment cost, active projects, overtime hours, a map of crews on jobsites and a list of who is clocked in on which job and machine

SmartCrew phone app home screen with a large Clock In button and the week's days

What is dirtwork software?

Dirtwork software is any software a dirt work contractor uses to bid, dig or run the job. Search for it and you'll find three kinds mixed together. They don't do the same thing.

The three kinds of dirtwork software
Kind	When you use it	What it does	Examples
Takeoff and estimating	Before the bid	Measures the plans, figures cut and fill, builds the number.	AGTEK, InSite, HCSS HeavyBid
Machine control	In the cab	GPS grade control on the dozer or excavator.	Topcon and the other survey brands
Running the job	After you win it	Hours, machines, loads, inspections, daily reports and profit against the bid.	SmartCrew

Examples are named from each company's own website. SmartCrew doesn't do takeoff or machine control.

Most owners already have the first one, or a spreadsheet that does the job. The third one is where the money leaks. That's the part we built.

So here's the simple version. Use InSite or AGTEK for takeoff. SmartCrew runs everything after the bid. That operations half is best all in one dirt work management software. QuoteIQ, the home-service CRM that ranks for the same search, is QuoteIQ vs SmartCrew. The heavy civil writeup is all in one heavy civil software.

What headaches does it fix?

Paper timecards. Lost haul tickets. Machines that quit on the job. Endless spreadsheets. And not knowing what a job made until it's too late.

No more chasing timecards.

GPS clock-in at the job.
Your guys pick the job, the cost code and the machine.
Payroll-ready timecards by Friday.

Keep your machines moving.

Daily and DOT inspections from the phone.
Problems go straight to the shop queue.
Each machine's hours and service on its own record.
Machines assigned to jobs on the schedule. See where each one is.

Know your profit. Every day.

Labor, equipment, materials and change orders on the job.
Budget against spent while the job is still going.
Haul tickets land on the job the same day.

Which dirtwork trades does SmartCrew cover?

SmartCrew is built for one thing: heavy civil and dirtwork contractors with 5 to 100 employees. Excavation, grading, sitework, underground utilities, paving, road construction, demolition, septic, directional drilling and land clearing. That's all we do.

These are all basically the same guys. Crews, iron, trucks and tickets. Only the week looks different.

Dirtwork trades and what changes for each one
Trade	What's different about the week	Read more
Excavation and earthmoving	Machine hours and export loads are most of the cost.	Excavation software
Grading and drainage	Lots of short jobs. Crews move twice a day.	Grading contractor software
Sitework	Several crews on one site, one budget.	Sitework contractor software
Water, sewer and trenching	Pipe, fittings and stone are real material cost.	Underground utility software
Septic	Small jobs, permits and inspections.	Septic contractor software
Land clearing and mulching	One or two machines far from the shop for days.	Land clearing software
Dump truck and hauling	Every load is a ticket and a dollar.	Hauling software
Heavy civil	Bigger jobs, public work, certified payroll.	Heavy civil software

What does a dirtwork day look like in SmartCrew?

Clock in. Get to work.
One big Clock In button. GPS records where. He picks the job, the cost code and the machine.
Inspect the machine
The daily inspection goes in from the phone. A failed check turns into a service request for the shop.
Log the loads
Each truck's ticket goes on the job: import or export, material, yards, pit. Paper ticket? Snap a photo and the AI reader types it in.
Switch jobs without a new timecard
Crew moves to the next job after lunch. Log & Switch, and the hours split on their own.
Clock out. You're done.
Photos and notes go in the daily report. The office sees it right away. The hours are already on the right job.

SmartCrew phone app asking the worker to pick a project, an activity code and the equipment before starting

SmartCrew equipment inspection form on a phone: DOT or daily inspection, machine, hours or miles, and pass or fail checks for brakes, steering, lights and tires

SmartCrew hauling log on a phone: date, truck, project, import or export, the pit the load came from and notes

On the phone: pick the job, cost code and machine; do the inspection; log a load. (Demo account; names are made up.)

A SmartCrew job page for a culvert replacement: revenue, expenses and profit, budget versus spent for labor, materials, equipment, other costs and change orders, a jobsite map and hours by employee

The office view of one job: budget against spent for labor, equipment and materials. (Demo data.)

Why not a time tracking app or enterprise software?

We looked at both for our own family business. Here's what we found.

Time tracking apps were too basic. Enterprise software was too complicated, confusing, and expensive.

Andrew Drish, SmartCrew founder

A time clock like BusyBusy or ClockShark does the timecard well. On a dirt job, the timecard is one piece. The machine, the load and the profit live somewhere else.

Enterprise software like HCSS HeavyJob or Procore can do a lot. It's built for bigger companies, with more setup and a bigger bill.

That's why we built SmartCrew. Simple for the field. Powerful for management. Fairly priced for owners. The 2026 roundup puts 13 apps side by side.

What doesn't SmartCrew do?

Takeoff and estimating. Keep your takeoff tool. Put the bid budget in SmartCrew and track actual cost against it.
Machine control. Grade control is its own system. Our GPS is for clock-ins, not the blade.
Telematics boxes. We don't sell hardware. Machine hours come from your operators at clock-in.
Payroll processing. You get payroll-ready timecards. We integrate with QuickBooks Online today.
ELD. SmartCrew does the DOT inspection, not the driver's logbook.

Four of those modules have their own product pages: the construction CRM, job file storage, the safety app, and crew communication. The full writeup is all in one dirt work software.