Crews claim Boring Company failed to pay workers and snubbed OSHA concerns(nashvillebanner.com)
nashvillebanner.com
Crews claim Boring Company failed to pay workers and snubbed OSHA concerns
https://nashvillebanner.com/2025/11/25/boring-company-nashville-shane-trucking-and-excavating/
42 comments
The original stated goal was to 10x the speed of existing tunnel boring machines by bringing up the cutting head RPMs, automating liner installation, and speeding up spoil removal with electric sleds. Which would seem like a good bet, except that there are a million other bottlenecks to the process. On top of that, it doesn't seem like they even solved their core problems.
It would be cool if they'd post a postmortem or something, but I get the impression that reporting bad news is a good way to get fired in an Elon-run organization.
It would be cool if they'd post a postmortem or something, but I get the impression that reporting bad news is a good way to get fired in an Elon-run organization.
I’m not sure why anyone believed this load of lies, tunnel boring is a mature industry with multiple companies that make tunnel boring machines, and tunnel boring has been around for well over a hundred years. The cutting heads move slowly because they’re between 3 and ~50 feet in diameter (1 to 15 meters for non Americans)
Anyone claiming they can 10x the speed of a physical process that has been worked on by thousands of engineers over more than a century is full of shit. Anyone who bought that explanation is either far too credulous or just doesn’t understand what it takes to bore a large diameter tunnel.
Anyone claiming they can 10x the speed of a physical process that has been worked on by thousands of engineers over more than a century is full of shit. Anyone who bought that explanation is either far too credulous or just doesn’t understand what it takes to bore a large diameter tunnel.
> Anyone claiming they can 10x the speed of a physical process that has been worked on by thousands of engineers over more than a century is full of shit.
Metal machining processes had been around for well over 100 years when tungsten carbide tooling came along, and that increased cutting speeds by 10x over HSS. It happens.
Metal machining processes had been around for well over 100 years when tungsten carbide tooling came along, and that increased cutting speeds by 10x over HSS. It happens.
Tunnel boring is only partly about boring the tunnel itself, bracing the tunnel and removing the spoils probably take as much time as boring the tunnel itself.
It’s a complex process with work crews, management layers, multiple subcontractors, multiple stakeholders, etc. Replacing the tool on a CNC mill with a tungsten carbide tool takes what, a few minutes? Assuming you already have the tool.
It’s also insanely easy to verify a tungsten carbide CNC tool is 10x faster at cutting metal than high speed steel vs. testing ‘This tunnel boring machine will be 10x faster.’
One takes minutes, the other takes years.
It’s a complex process with work crews, management layers, multiple subcontractors, multiple stakeholders, etc. Replacing the tool on a CNC mill with a tungsten carbide tool takes what, a few minutes? Assuming you already have the tool.
It’s also insanely easy to verify a tungsten carbide CNC tool is 10x faster at cutting metal than high speed steel vs. testing ‘This tunnel boring machine will be 10x faster.’
One takes minutes, the other takes years.
Sure but no one founded companies saying they were going to do exactly that until they actually had tungsten carbide tooling in hand and it was a production engineering issue.
What technology or research was the Boring company sitting on that it expected to utilize to get this advantage?
What technology or research was the Boring company sitting on that it expected to utilize to get this advantage?
You can't actually assess these things without hindsight. At any given time there's a dozen promising looking things but most of them never work out.
Lithium batteries were "coming soon" for like 30yr.
Lithium batteries were "coming soon" for like 30yr.
Which isn't the question: what promising things was the Boring company looking at? Not what they said they wanted to achieve, how were they planning on doing it?
Lithium batteries at all points were quite specific "we think <process> will reduce costs and make them viable".
Lithium batteries at all points were quite specific "we think <process> will reduce costs and make them viable".
Space launch is a mature industry with multiple companies. Anyone who thinks SpaceX can lower the launch costs by orders of magnitude is either far to credulous or just doesn't understand what it takes to launch a rocket.
NASA procurement was (is?) full of pork barrel politics meant to provide jobs in as many states as possible. I would expect a lean private organization to easily beat NASA in cost per launch. What SpaceX has done is very impressive, I have a lot of respect for what they’ve accomplished.
Space travel is also far less mature than tunnel boring technology, I’d expect advances in space travel before tunnel boring because there’s low hanging fruit. Space travel used to be done only by nation-states, only in the last 25-30 years has private space travel been possible. Tunnel boring machines were invented 200 years ago and were useful about 150 years ago.
Space travel is also far less mature than tunnel boring technology, I’d expect advances in space travel before tunnel boring because there’s low hanging fruit. Space travel used to be done only by nation-states, only in the last 25-30 years has private space travel been possible. Tunnel boring machines were invented 200 years ago and were useful about 150 years ago.
Wasn't that the OPs argument?
Companies have been building tunnel after tunnel [..] and optimized the process. No one had tried to large scale industrialize satellite + space launcher production before.
Space launch still isn't a mature industry, what are you talking about?
I get the sense that the goalposts get moved to wherever he kicks the ball, even retrospectively. His whole vibe feels like he’s just real-life cosplaying Ironman.
While ending closer to a hapless Justin Hammer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3JCdchkNSY&t=9m53s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3JCdchkNSY&t=9m53s
My impression was that the main "innovation" was using sewer tunnel sized tunnels for cars. We already know how to build sewer tunnels relatively cheaply and quickly.
Much like the Hyperloop before it, the core assumption of the Boring company is ill-conceived. Tunnel boring isn't a bottleneck.
The costs of surveys, hvac, seismic research and maintenance required to keep a deep-underground tunnel going are much higher than cut-and-cover. So, even if tunnel boring was free, it still wouldn't make sense to prefer it over other options. There are very scenarios where deep-tunneling makes sense (dense cities, across rivers when bridges are infeasible), but they're the minority.
In most transit projects, cut-and-over is blocked not because it's a bad technical option. It's because NIMBYs refuse to permit on-the-ground disruptions or noise of any type. San Jose is the canonical example. It's a political problem, not a technical one.
The costs of surveys, hvac, seismic research and maintenance required to keep a deep-underground tunnel going are much higher than cut-and-cover. So, even if tunnel boring was free, it still wouldn't make sense to prefer it over other options. There are very scenarios where deep-tunneling makes sense (dense cities, across rivers when bridges are infeasible), but they're the minority.
In most transit projects, cut-and-over is blocked not because it's a bad technical option. It's because NIMBYs refuse to permit on-the-ground disruptions or noise of any type. San Jose is the canonical example. It's a political problem, not a technical one.
They should rebrand Screwing Company.
This is my favorite HN comment of the year. Thank you.
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That this is being built instead of “Let’s Move Nashville” is a shame.
> I maintain the belief that Boring Company's purpose, first and foremost, is to confuse and derail (pun intended) local efforts to build real transit.
Well that was the purpose of the Hyperloop too
Well that was the purpose of the Hyperloop too
Same strategy at different scales, Boring Company is to local transit what Hyperloop is to regional.
The original proposal was squarely aimed at disrupting CAHSR, but existing bureaucratic dysfunction is more than sufficient to prevent anything being built at that scale in the US, so Hyperloop was proven unnecessary and abandoned.
The original proposal was squarely aimed at disrupting CAHSR, but existing bureaucratic dysfunction is more than sufficient to prevent anything being built at that scale in the US, so Hyperloop was proven unnecessary and abandoned.
Which transit effort did they derail in Nashville? There was nothing on the horizon.
> [...] when multiple employees reported that a representative of The Boring Company was soliciting them to bail on Shane and work directly for TBC [...]
> [...] noting that many prospective employees won’t work on the project because of Musk’s reputation.
It's a sad situation, but great to see workers being smart: knowing who deserves loyalty, and who is not to be trusted.
> [...] noting that many prospective employees won’t work on the project because of Musk’s reputation.
It's a sad situation, but great to see workers being smart: knowing who deserves loyalty, and who is not to be trusted.
Come with me
And you'll see
A world of OSHA violations
xAI notched up EPA violations for running a mountain of gas turbines illegally
Tesla collects a variety of regulatory violations like they're paid for it.
SpaceX...OSHA, FAA, EPA
Boring company...
etc.
Tesla collects a variety of regulatory violations like they're paid for it.
SpaceX...OSHA, FAA, EPA
Boring company...
etc.
Yeah the fines are designed to provide incentive to operate like you value your worker’s and others’ humanity even if you don’t have the humanity to really do it. It’s useful because our business economy mostly incentivizes businesses to treat people like fungible economic units of potential profit and loss. If the business is run by someone more interested in stroking their ego rather than optimizing profit and loss, the whole thing breaks down. Yet another example of the real work not working like an economics thought experiment.
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The response from the Boring Company executive feels like gaslighting.
> Buss later clarified that he does not believe The Boring Company has a “common” practice of missing payments to vendors, but rather missed payments happen sometimes during “the normal course of business.”
I’m sure this small business owner spent a lot of time and effort trying to get this corrected, but got no cooperation from Boring Company. If Vice President Buss or others want to look trustworthy, they need to explain in a public post-mortem what happened, and how they’ll avoid it going forward, and how they’re making this company whole including for their lost time.
> The final straw that caused Shane to pull his crew from the site was when multiple employees reported that a representative of The Boring Company was soliciting them to bail on Shane and work directly for TBC on Monday.
And this is just deeply unethical. They’re basically holding a fraudulent business relationship with the purpose of poaching employees, it seems like.
> Buss later clarified that he does not believe The Boring Company has a “common” practice of missing payments to vendors, but rather missed payments happen sometimes during “the normal course of business.”
I’m sure this small business owner spent a lot of time and effort trying to get this corrected, but got no cooperation from Boring Company. If Vice President Buss or others want to look trustworthy, they need to explain in a public post-mortem what happened, and how they’ll avoid it going forward, and how they’re making this company whole including for their lost time.
> The final straw that caused Shane to pull his crew from the site was when multiple employees reported that a representative of The Boring Company was soliciting them to bail on Shane and work directly for TBC on Monday.
And this is just deeply unethical. They’re basically holding a fraudulent business relationship with the purpose of poaching employees, it seems like.
I believe Twitter (after the Musk purchase) also regularly refused to pay its bills: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/09/musks-unpaid-bil...
So, the Greediest Person In The World [0] also cheats subcontractors and workers out of their pay, and poaches employees — who would have guessed?
[0] a far more accurate way to describe those who hoard wealth without helping the people or society who got them there, vs the usual praise as the "richest"
[0] a far more accurate way to describe those who hoard wealth without helping the people or society who got them there, vs the usual praise as the "richest"
Just like the president he looks up to.
Maybe that's the American Way? (/s but not really).
Maybe that's the American Way? (/s but not really).
I love the comparison with fictional characters that we all agree are evil and overly rich: https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidewalt/2012/04/20/billionai...
Somebody worked out that Smaug would be the 14th wealthiest American.
Somebody worked out that Smaug would be the 14th wealthiest American.
There is a high demand for negative reports on any organization affiliated with Elon Musk. It is unsurprising that a robust supply has developed for it. I got paid very slowly by Verizon once, and McKesson another time, but nobody cares. I'm perfectly willing to believe that Musk's companies are worse than usual in this regard, but I'll need something better than plural anecdotes. This isn't a court, and innocent until proven guilty doesn't apply. But neither does guilty until proven innocent.
I hate to moan, but in my professional career ( whatever that was) - nothing is more of a red flag than a missed payment
I thought those were part of "the normal course of business" (quoting VP of Boring Company).
Cheyana(1)
Anything they do happen to build is incidental to that goal, and as such it's unsurprising that actual construction would be a shitshow.