diff --git a/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/exceptions/QRuntimeException.java b/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/exceptions/QRuntimeException.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..40b58c00
--- /dev/null
+++ b/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/exceptions/QRuntimeException.java
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+/*
+ * QQQ - Low-code Application Framework for Engineers.
+ * Copyright (C) 2021-2022.  Kingsrook, LLC
+ * 651 N Broad St Ste 205 # 6917 | Middletown DE 19709 | United States
+ * contact@kingsrook.com
+ * https://github.com/Kingsrook/
+ *
+ * This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as
+ * published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the
+ * License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+ * along with this program.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+package com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.exceptions;
+
+
+/*******************************************************************************
+ * Base class for unchecked exceptions thrown in qqq.
+ *
+ *******************************************************************************/
+public class QRuntimeException extends RuntimeException
+{
+
+   /*******************************************************************************
+    ** Constructor of message
+    **
+    *******************************************************************************/
+   public QRuntimeException(Throwable t)
+   {
+      super(t.getMessage(), t);
+   }
+
+
+
+   /*******************************************************************************
+    ** Constructor of message
+    **
+    *******************************************************************************/
+   public QRuntimeException(String message)
+   {
+      super(message);
+   }
+
+
+
+   /*******************************************************************************
+    ** Constructor of message & cause
+    **
+    *******************************************************************************/
+   public QRuntimeException(String message, Throwable cause)
+   {
+      super(message, cause);
+   }
+}
diff --git a/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/model/data/QRecordEntity.java b/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/model/data/QRecordEntity.java
index ed6548d0..cc2f1a9b 100644
--- a/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/model/data/QRecordEntity.java
+++ b/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/model/data/QRecordEntity.java
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Locale;
 import java.util.Optional;
 import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.exceptions.QException;
+import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.exceptions.QRuntimeException;
 import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.utils.ListingHash;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.LogManager;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.Logger;
@@ -75,7 +76,7 @@ public abstract class QRecordEntity
     ** Build an entity of this QRecord type from a QRecord
     **
     *******************************************************************************/
-   protected <T extends QRecordEntity> void populateFromQRecord(QRecord qRecord) throws QException
+   protected <T extends QRecordEntity> void populateFromQRecord(QRecord qRecord) throws QRuntimeException
    {
       try
       {
@@ -89,7 +90,7 @@ public abstract class QRecordEntity
       }
       catch(Exception e)
       {
-         throw (new QException("Error building entity from qRecord.", e));
+         throw (new QRuntimeException("Error building entity from qRecord.", e));
       }
    }
 
@@ -99,7 +100,7 @@ public abstract class QRecordEntity
     ** Convert this entity to a QRecord.
     **
     *******************************************************************************/
-   public QRecord toQRecord() throws QException
+   public QRecord toQRecord() throws QRuntimeException
    {
       try
       {
@@ -115,7 +116,7 @@ public abstract class QRecordEntity
       }
       catch(Exception e)
       {
-         throw (new QException("Error building qRecord from entity.", e));
+         throw (new QRuntimeException("Error building qRecord from entity.", e));
       }
    }
 
diff --git a/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/processes/implementations/etl/streamedwithfrontend/AbstractTransformStep.java b/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/processes/implementations/etl/streamedwithfrontend/AbstractTransformStep.java
index 960bdf1e..4cfdcacd 100644
--- a/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/processes/implementations/etl/streamedwithfrontend/AbstractTransformStep.java
+++ b/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/processes/implementations/etl/streamedwithfrontend/AbstractTransformStep.java
@@ -92,4 +92,23 @@ public abstract class AbstractTransformStep implements BackendStep, ProcessSumma
       return (transaction);
    }
 
+
+
+   /*******************************************************************************
+    ** Allow this transform step to specify the capacity of the pipe being used by the process.
+    **
+    ** The specific use-case for which this is being added is, in the case of a process
+    ** with many records being extracted, if the transform job is too slow, then the pipe
+    ** can get filled, and the extractor (who puts records into the pipe) can time out
+    ** waiting for capacity in the pipe to open up, while a slow loader is consuming
+    ** the records.
+    **
+    ** In other words, for a slow transformer, setting a lower pipe capacity can help prevent
+    ** time-out errors ("Giving up adding record to pipe...")
+    *******************************************************************************/
+   public Integer getOverrideRecordPipeCapacity()
+   {
+      return (null);
+   }
+
 }
diff --git a/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/processes/implementations/etl/streamedwithfrontend/StreamedETLExecuteStep.java b/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/processes/implementations/etl/streamedwithfrontend/StreamedETLExecuteStep.java
index ba808189..0e28a20a 100644
--- a/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/processes/implementations/etl/streamedwithfrontend/StreamedETLExecuteStep.java
+++ b/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/processes/implementations/etl/streamedwithfrontend/StreamedETLExecuteStep.java
@@ -79,7 +79,12 @@ public class StreamedETLExecuteStep extends BaseStreamedETLStep implements Backe
          if(loadStep.getOverrideRecordPipeCapacity() != null)
          {
             recordPipe = new RecordPipe(loadStep.getOverrideRecordPipeCapacity());
-            LOG.debug("Overriding record pipe capacity to: " + loadStep.getOverrideRecordPipeCapacity());
+            LOG.debug("per " + transformStep.getClass().getName() + ", we are overriding record pipe capacity to: " + loadStep.getOverrideRecordPipeCapacity());
+         }
+         else if(transformStep.getOverrideRecordPipeCapacity() != null)
+         {
+            recordPipe = new RecordPipe(transformStep.getOverrideRecordPipeCapacity());
+            LOG.debug("per " + transformStep.getClass().getName() + ", we are overriding record pipe capacity to: " + transformStep.getOverrideRecordPipeCapacity());
          }
          else
          {