Hey y'all, union journeyman operator here. Just reaching out to see if owning a dozer is feasible in the Bay Area or is it some outlandish idea? See tons of backhoe owner operators here. Obviously your network and establishing a reputation for quality work is what's gonna keep you a float. But I'm just curious if there are any of you out there who have gone down this road and could point me in the right direction as far as do's and don'ts?
There are some here but I don't think I know any that are dozer only. At least not under 80 years old. They mostly have a few different pieces of machinery and usually a couple of hired men. Plus dump with beavertail or lowboy which they may also hire out for outside moves. Also take into careful consideration whatever the CARB/DOT is going to make you do in the future with emissions. Plus you have to be your own wrench for the small to medium jobs at the very least. Ordinarily I would think starting out with a good older used machine and keeping your day job and phasing in as you build clientele would be the way to go but CARB may not allow running an older machine very long. Also what does the union say about side work?
like said already , look at what CARB/dot will let you run for older equipment , you might look into a d6 and doing some fire work on the side , it depends on where you are and if there is a need for just dozer work
Fire work hours are (or at least were) exempt from CARB restrictions as well as truck miles but better check and fire work is spotty. Some years it is gravy, some years nothing. Seriously, there must be a lawyer who knows these rules and can advise you.
ca.gov updated websites https://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/truckstop/truckstop.htm <on road trucks https://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/offroadzone/offroadzone.htm < off road equip
Hmmm... Speaking as a journeyman union hand as well with retirement creeping over the horizon and just chomping at the bit myself to purchase a Mecalac and hang out my shingle. I work for a company that does not shut down for weather we pretty much "bash on" through whatever hand were dealt weather wise. For me now personal income wise, it make no sense to purchase my beloved machine because I can pocket so much more of my income than I can carrying the O/O costs of a new company. Look at your customer support carefully and make sure you have some before the truck delivers your new machine. Or your just another guy with a dozer in the backyard. Also if you are going to maintain a union company check with your local. To keep my benefits current here I need to work at least a 1000 hours per year. As an O/O that number in my local goes up substantially so in that regard you need to be hustling. Do your homework!! Buying the machine is the easy part... feeding the beast is another matter.
Thanks for the input. I know side work outside of the union is frowned upon but I've heard of guys that get away with it. I think if I were to go out and buy a machine I'd probably drop out of the union. My game plan to have steady work would be to ideally self contract my work out to larger company's who are always slammed. Does that sound realistic? Don't know how I'd be able to build up a clientele right off the bat. I would like to cut fire breaks and get into the fire clean up side of things, but don't you need to be apart of the CA dozer operator group? Not sure how to get involved
With only one machine and no other equipment I think you will be in for a tough go. Work is not always balls to the wall. A contractor is not going to keep you when a company owned machine is idle. If they need an extra machine long term they will buy another. Not only do you need to make enough to pay for and maintain your machine, but also enough to pay your, insurance, annuity, retirement and the other union benefits you now enjoy. If you can not do this you are going backwards. That being said if you want to try it, there used to be agreements where you could sign a "project" agreement and pay your benefits to the union and keep your membership current. With a deal like that you could go back and forth. Good Luck.
In S. Cal larger contractors ARE NOT always slammed and $4,000.00 per week payments continue. Contractors Union-Non Union can be SLOW pay. With dozers, rubber tired dozers, compactors, loaders, excavators you have job-to-job transportation cost. $1,400.00 to move across 4 lane Hwy 79. Fire clean up, that is more wheel loader, bobcat, small excavator-hammer breaker type of work. With CARB emissions regulations, older economical equipment is finished! Good luck
Talent is the key to being a hired gun for the bigger contractors. most will gladly hire a talented owner operator operator especially on a finish crew .The way it is usually done around here is that they keep you on as as an hourly employee and then they rent your machine over and above that . often times they take care of your fuel and daily maintenance , pretty sweet deal . Good luck. If that is not your cup of tea we have found plenty of work for our dozers in the local farming industry . So Cal by the way.
I have been thinking of going in the opposite direction .I have been a self employed small time owner operator for the last twenty years and I have been toying with the Idea of going to one of the large contractors and getting a nice simple job ripping and mucking on some big spread around here. Just to wind down before retirement.
I was a owner operator for over 30 years. It is a tough business to be in now. Back in the 80's and to the early 90's you could do quite well as a owner operator. When the dealers and large rental company's came into the market , it had a chilling effect. You are competing with a organization that will give a machine on a rent to own contract. If the contractor has a lot of work coming down the pipeline that is hard to compete against. To give you a example worked for a large contractor for years. They worked my machine before their own. Then they started thr rent to own program. after a couple of years I left. With the price of machines now you will never get a rental rate to pencil out to make it profitable. remember you need to make enough to pay for the machine, wages, repairs and have enough saved up to replace it when it wears out. As a side note to machine which has the best return in my opinion is a skip loader. Cost vs. rental rate is the best. Plus easy to move around. usually easy work so not hard on the machine. I can remember more than a few jobs where the rental dozer got the tuff assignment. Think about what you will pay for a tier 4 machine, and the rental rate you are going to charge. The smaller machine is the better the return will be. Just play with some numbers to see what you think.
Skip loaders kick ass ! One of the most under rated machines on the market . Ford skip loader with a Tier something engine in it .
Skip loaders have never really been my jam. I feel like I'm breaking my neck every pass, but then again an 8hr day of ripping will do the same to ya, especially runnin the larger dozers. I'm hoping to possibly work up a deal with the current outfit I'm working for where I'll buy one of their used dozers as long as they got at least 1-2 years of work lined up for me. I don't think I'll pull the trigger on switching over unless I know I can at least pay off the machine.
Make sure you read and understand the emissions regulations. You don't want to buy a dozer (other machine) limited to 200hrs per year.
I owned dozers for 30 years but they were a support machine to scrapers. Can't say I would have survived on dozer work only. You are in a pro union area and that may make it tougher unless you go in the Engineers as an owner operator. Unless you have connections for hour work you would need a contractors license and general liability insurance to do much of anything contract wise. Not throwing cold water on your idea but that was my experience.
Mother Deuce, we sell Mecalac for all of New England. Give us a call at Lorusso Heavy Equipment 508-660-7600. Great machines. We have sold a lot this year. They are really starting to take off.
So I spoke with a union rep. There is a way to be an owner operator and maintain the union membership. I would need a contractors license, lncorporate my company (not an LLC), get a liability insurance policy, then sign my company with the union. I also spoke with a cat sales rep and he said that most of newer models (2012+) come out of the box capable to be updated to stay compliant with CA emissions. I think what I need to focus on right now is expanding my construction network, Anyone got any pointers?