I am a new member. I stumbled onto this site while "surfing the net" and so far, have found it profesional and full of knowledgable operators. Good stuff... Anyway,I have been laid off 3 times this year. First lay offs I have had in 7 years. The economy sucks and work is hard to find. I was Just laid off a prevailing wage job in Lake Havasu City AZ last week and have been looking . It looks like its time too go out of state. My Question is Are other people experiencing the same ceffects as we are here? OH ya if anybody needs help ill send ya my resume.....:Banghead
Welcome aboard. Work is getting hard everywhere. Luckily here in WA, we weren't hit as hard as fast with the slowdown. Bad weather this spring and lower than normal amounts of work have made it the worst work year in 25+ years. Hopefully next year is better, I doubt it could be any worse or this country will crumble.
the work outlook sucks. i am lucky to be working. i hate saying that.
Everyone here is swamped, I'm new in business and have been staying quite busy with jobs that others aren't getting to fast enough. Some guys are almost 2 months behind.
It is slow for the big companies here in PA. I heard that Popple has 100 employees laid off.
I know Im laid off. grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
I'M currently out of work due to rotator cuff surgery, but things are slow here in Nebraska. Before I screwed the arm up, we were working 8 hour days in the middle of summer, not a good sign. Things are tough all over... alan627b
What company/s did you work for in Az?
It's going to be an early winter. Small jobs starting no big jobs. We had equipment rented with operators most of the summer now things are slowing down.
Everyone including myself have skeleton crews going. Compared to last year I have no work. I have a few jobs that'll last 2 years, but a lot of small stuff. have
Just got laid off of tri suns engineering in Havasu.. Condie construction out of Utah but out of the 2.5 years i worked for them most of it was on the 40 million sewer improvent project in Bullhead. The rest was for small local contractors usually no more than 15 or twenty employees.
Just got laid off of tri suns engineering in Havasu.. Condie construction out of Utah but out of the 2.5 years i worked for them most of it was on the 40 million sewer improvent project in Bullhead. The rest was for small local contractors usually no more than 15 or twenty employees.
Well is there anythng going on in Vegas? What about Western States, they were the big dog out there in NV when i was there? Good luck, there's always the casinos.........haha J/K!
You wont be saying that in october of 2009. Sounds like chi town is a favorite to win the bid for the 2016 summer Olympics. If that happens, work is going to go crazy there.
Talking with our customers, it's feast and famine. One can't keep up and the other is hardly doing a thing.
Try Career Builder.com. When I was looking there was all kinds of people out west looking for operators.
lay off its slow here too. we laid off 5 laborers and 1 driver. we are crushing in the yard while we are waiting for 2 large projects to start, small company with 3 operators,2 drivers and 8 laborers. 6 years ago we excavated over 70 foundations in 1 year, this year we dug maybee 5 so far, most of our work now is state funded or commercial. doesnt look too good , bought a lot of new iron when it was hot but now the machines are parked, hope it picks up soon. we are now banking on a hard winter so we can get some plowing in. brian
We've been steady, nothing like we normally are. Myself, Ive stayed busy by "networking" with friends in the business. Things are scary around here as well. Im with Falcone, let it snow!
This is scary Today While out with my step son I saw a crew and 6 or 7 bunks of pipe (sdr35) and a couple of machines at a project that has been dormant for a long time. So I stop. Really dont have much going but Im offered 10 an hour cash. Unemployment for me is 120 a week for because of child support. I am not going to be able to pay support but i will be able to make my Truck payment and rent now. I feel Like A DIRTY WHORE. This is what it has come down to until it gets better. 3 weeks ago i made 24.50 hr......go figure... PS dont tell anyone LOL:Banghead
I know last year the snow helped a lot of guys out. I'm hoping for a good winter to. I like to get a lot of snow before Christmas, because I plow a large shopping mall that doesn't like to lose one space. So we haul snow right after the storm.
Work I just recently move to Billings Mt from Colorado. Economy is good here and alot of work is going on. I have a Job running a loader in a gravel pit. Our crusher crew is working 60 hours a week and we have alot of material going out. Good place to be right now. Should start to slow about December from what im told.
I can't beg or buy a day off. Been running hard for the last 3 or 4 years. Last winter had a little down time just because the weather was horrid and it wasn't safe to move equipment on the roads. Got a lot of deferred maintanance done at least. No time off though, work was waiting as soon as it was fit to go. Thought today might be an early quit, with it being a holiday and all, but yesterday at noon got orders to have a project ready for a concrete crew Tuesday morning. Was threatened to have to work Saturday so I had the trucks running for the drivers when they got there this morning, busted balls and did a two day job in one.
hey, even a dirty whore needs love ya gotta do what you gotta do.
up here in new york was digging 2 pools a day last year went down to 4 a week to 4 a month now iam working on my own for knukle dragging builders p.s. does every builder have a mandate to do everything at least 2 times ???
Been working 65-80 hrs a week all summer with an occasional 90-95. Was laid off in December last year for about a month, first time I went that long in 15 years, then I could'nt take sitting around so I went on the north slope for a couple months. 100-120 hrs a week for 8 1/2 weeks straight. Needed a few days off and came home, was dispached the next day and have only gotten a day or maybe 2 off a month all summer, with the exception of the 3 day weekend over the 4th.:Banghead I think I am just fortunate to stay busy though. Seems most of the other outfits will be winding down and going to skeleton crews. With the exception of mining, things here slow down quite a bit in fall and throughout the winter, unless your a "Sloper". Then it pics back up in Dec, Jan and stays strong until summer hits. Alaska's economy seems fairly strong and has always treated me fair. The problem we have seen, is finding good help. Seems many people dont want to work, they just want a paycheck, and try to do as little as possible to get it. Is it like that other places too?
oh yea how much they payin whats the cost of living up there?? i here from tv everythings more exspenive in alaska besides block island you have the highest electricty prices on average if the pay was right and there was housing id be up in a heartbeat
In east TX things are ok with all the plants (refineries ETC)out here they keep things going. There are a lot of guys looking for work, but a good hand should be able to find in a reasonable amount of time.
Work Alan Sorry to hear that your companies work is slow. We have been so busy that we have been working 18 hour days since the first of the year and falling behind. Companies are calling everyday and work keeps flowing in. I don't see anything slow about construction in Nebraska. In talking with other companies the economy is good in Nebraska for companies, that are able to do a variety of work. I wish things would slow down, so I could have a day off.
Slow work What do you do in NE. ? Yal'll do slow down in the winter don't you ?
Cost of living in this town is a rip off! Other places around the state are fair. Just look on Alaska craigslist to get an idea. Not much different than many other places. I work union, So depending on the job, its prevailing wage or 80%. My slope gig is actually a bit less, but big hours. On the slope, all room and board is included with the outfit I work for. All camp living there and NO permanent residents, but on the other hand, you spend no money for months on end if you dont want. Just COLD as hell is all. Electricity here now is I believe .11 cents a KW hour I think. Some places are much more. Winter work slows a bunch, but it can usually be found if you want to work.
Hurting this year and just keeping my head above water, where others that have been in business for years are out....Sad..
Busy I do several kinds of construction. Install sanitation sewer (Tough instalation), DOT/EPA work (feedlots, environmental clean up) Build and install structural components for several large companies along with Operating cranes I'm busy 24/7 365 days a year. Never have a slow time. Winter is a good time to work on the feed lot lagoons as they are froze up. From what I can see there is no slow down in work for the next five years. i never wanted to get into just moving dirt or farm work as everyone can do that. I like the tough challenging stuff.
Its a good thing your so diverse things have really slowed for a lot of people in NE.
It's slowed way down here. I just lost a job that I had been working with the caretaker for 18 months on to coordinate it. Lost two other erosion/shoreline jobs due to water not being lowered this fall as scheduled. Nothing I can do about that. I'm sure I'll be ok, but every phone call is returned asap and I'm looking at everything people ask me to, even if I don't normally do it. Just can't turn anything down in this economy, you never know. Good luck.
I'm in the deep sewer business to, but it's slowing down big time up here. The DEP is making towns convert to sewer from septic, but a lot of towns don't have the money. The town I live in is trying to come up with $900,000 to pave roads. We have 80,000 +/- people in my town. Not much public work coming out, absolutely no private work. Guys who went out and bought all big, brand new machine are going to be going under if work doesn't pick up soon.
Speaking of slow work...we pulled into the local Mobil and a foundation crew all the way from Jaffrey, NH was sitting there. Talk about traveling to find work.
WOW I'm in Boston, MA thats a good 2 hour drive from me. I've gone to New Hampshire and Maine for work, but not when it was slow, just to bid jobs I was asked to bid.
thank god or whoever just landed 4 decent size site jobs almost had to go gobble on the corner:usa
We have work to do, It just wont stop freakin raining!! last week and so far this week I've only worked 25 hours total and the 7 day forcast shows rain for everyday lakes are 6' above normal, First time we've never had a burning job to go do, would not have to worry about fire spreading.
You let the rain stop you? Here, it has rained nearly everyday since the 4th of July. Maybe 5 without. It's really getting old, but if we didnt work when it rained, we would'nt work. Has not even reached 80 this year at all and in the 70's only about 5 times as well. September is usually one of our worst months, this year was the worst July on record. Snowed 3 times at the 4500' elev mark in JULY!
cant work in the rain here if your just trashing a mountain or somthing it probally dosnt matter but if you have jobs with concrete, slopes with public roads or ditches for pipe on the side of em working in consistent rain is a waste of money, not only will you not make any but youll end up oweing it.
Ummm Lots of slopes, curb and gutter, manholes, pipe work, state highway job with 500,000 tons of fill. Sidewalks, concrete bridges,keystone walls, 30' slopes, ditches, median and lots more. I live in a rainforrest. This is only one of many jobs I have worked on. Just need to learn how to deal with the rain and make things work. We dont have a "Dry season". If it's not raining, its snowing. I am sure Dwan can verify what I am talking about. Nobody said it was easy, or fun. Its life.
we have had a bad summer in the uk weather wise, we now also have the credit crunch so all the house building has come to a standstill and to top it all fuel is around $2.5 a litre
I dont know sharky must be just we dont know how,you need to come down start your own site work crew 24 7 all winter long everyone else stops in winter and heavy rain you would be a billionare. srry let me exsplain it better it cost more to work in the rain everone bids for dry weather the state county fed exspect it that way and usually want work done in the summer dryer season plain and simple, not that we cant work in the rain as i stated before you cant afford to.Yes it may hinder our work and cause more unemployment but when has the government or big bus. worried about that?
This topic is a good thread especially with the current economic situation. Let's try to keep it on track.:cool2
I agree. Not trying to stir the pot, and things slow in the winter here also depending on what your doing. Obviously there are things that cant be done in freezing temps, most concrete pours need to be tarped and sometimes heated until they cure even in summer months. The major problem for us is paving, because is does have to be dry, however sometimes that never happens. Unlike many places "Down South" we ALWAYS bring our rain gear to work, and if you have ever heard Alaska weather sucks? you heard correct. As far as being a billionaire? I am working on it
I sat home for 2 weeks before being called up for a job that I'm presently working on. I was told Friday to expect 8 more weeks, and then there is another planned outed in November. So I guess that will be 10 weeks of work, at least I hope. I'm a 1st year apprentice, and this is all still new to me, Layoffs? But it is what it is.
Slow work From the people I talk to and do business with, work has not slowed down in Nebraska and surrounding area, if you are willing and capable of doing several things. The only people I know of in the construction field that are slow, do basically one thing, not diversed, or do poor quality of work. Ag economy is good with the construction of soybean and corn processing plant. Cargill, ADM, Bunge are building new, expanding and rebuild old plants. Cargill Cedar Rapids Iowa is looking for people to rebuild that plant, after it was flooded, that is a several year project. Cargill Blair Nebraska is building, ADM Columbus Nebraska is in a five year building stage. Hawkins, Pink are looking for operators and labors. Tradesman magazine is full of companies wanting workers. How can there be a shortage of work, with so many companies looking for workers??? Lots of road, commercial and environmental construction going on. We got several projects last week and just teamed up with another company to do a larger project. We have looked at expanding, but that opens another can of worms that we do not want to deal with at this time. Winter will slow down some work depending on how bad the winter is and the type of work. But that is every year.
Well thing here have well lets say nosedived to say the least with a good sized muck-shifter gone belly up, government contracts being defferred ,employment in the sector has dropped by 16% in less than a year and it has rained all summer ,the level is at something like 350% above normal so everyone is on short time on the big road jobs,with very little small jobs starting this close to the winter dark days ahead.
Back to work Its been a month since i started this thread and my prayers have been answered. I started a prevailing wage job in VEGAS last week for a company with plenty of work mostly prevailing wage. :usa I am very lucky to have this job at a time when the economy sucks for a lot of people. Everybody experiencing hard times during the down turn keep your chin up .
I wonder what is going to hapen this winter?
We do see quite a few Americans moving to western Canada for work. And we have a lot of workers come in from central and eastern Canada. The east is experiencing hard times, thanks to the slow down in manufacturing. For years now, a steady flow of workers has moved west from the east to fill the jobs in Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia. Even with relatively high wages, worker shortages continue. Oil and mining related work is providing a lot of jobs in these three provinces. Many of the available jobs are not near major urban areas and may involve working away from home. A friend recently quit his white collar job after more than twenty years and hired on as an off road truck driver at an open pit coal mine, driving a 300 ton machine. Totally inexperienced, his starting wage at the mine was higher than he ever made at his former job. If anyone is interested, obtain a copy of the weekend edition of the Saskatoon, Calgary, or Edmonton newspapers and have a look at the help wanted sections. You might be surprised at how many employers are looking for help, especially for experienced, competent workers.
Still Slow Hello RKO. I am still working to get my arm back in usable condition, but as far as I can see, Omaha at least is till way off pace compared to normal. I dropped in at Negus and Son's yard a week ago, big dirt work is still way off the usual pace, few new jobs being let for bid. Part of the problem is, most of the outfits you mentioned are non-union companies, and I'm not ready to jump ship and work non-union around here. Our biggest local competitor,McArdle Grading from Elkhorn, went rat last year, their new scraper hires get $15 per hour with questionable benefits. New stuff is nice, but not worth a $7 per hour drop in wages to run. I'll worry more about it when the doc says I can work again. What part of the state do you work in usually? alan627b
That's not true I help McArdle on weekens and all the guys i talk to are makeing 18-19 per hr. On the other hand the benefits are questionable. Thay pay me relly good to run their hoe's.
Alan Hope your arm heals OK. I don't know who told you That McArdle starting pay for operators is 15 dollars but that is not right. Most companies in Omaha start an operator out around 20 dollars and up an hour depending on experience. I don't know what McArdles benefits are like but Pink, Hawkins and most other companies benefits are pretty good in Omaha. I don't want this to be a union/nonunion topic but most of Omaha/Lincoln are going nonunion, so you might end up think working nonunion any way. Hawkins benefits improved after they went nonunion. They pay 100% of your insurance and put 10% of your gross check in a 401 plan (it does not cost you a cent) they have an incentive plan. Pink pay about the same and you insurance cost a little each month. They usually don't lay off operators in the winter. I have subcontracted or operated equipment for several companies and the companies that do several types of work are still busy. I don't like to operate scrapers. I like to operate, excavators, dozers, front end loaders and cranes. I love pipe work (the harder the better) and structural work. Negus does mostly one thing move dirt and anyone can buy/rent a scraper and move dirt, expecaly if they don't have other work. If things are so slow for Negus why did it take them so long to do a small dirt job between Herman and Scribner, that job should have been a week job but the machines sat for days not doing anything?? I work mostly in a 400 mile area of eastern Nebraska, and things are not slow there. The work is there you just have to adjust to what needs to be done. Get a copy of tradesman and it is full of Companies wanting operators, welders, and other tradesman.
I'm Not the Shadow... I was told new hires were starting at $15/hour by both other operators and by our union reps, so there may be a vested interest/ biased opinion thing going on. The day may come when I work non-union here, I'm just not ready to do that yet. I did it before one winter when I went out to Arizona on vacation, and got a job running a brand new 621G auger scraper. I am not saying the union is always the best thing going, as I have to look out for #1, and that is me! The way it's going right now, it will probably be December before I will be released/able to go to work, which is usually lay-off time in this state for dirt guys anyway. Who knows what this winter will bring, I sure don't! Alan627b
Sanford And Sons Excavating Negus' problem as I see it is they are slow to adapt to market conditions and changes in the industry. People say they have been going out of business for 40 years...They are mostly set up for bulk dirt moving and when that work slows down it takes them a while to adapt. They have a laser grade set-up for a few machines, but are way behind the ball when it comes to GPS and new technology. Using the old scrapers they do could make sense, as long as you have plenty of mechanics (they do) and a decent shop capable of full overhauls (they really don't) and the parts remain available (but for how much longer, the newest 627B's were 1986 models, and most of ours are older than that.) It's getting old working for a company that always seems on the verge of financial disaster, I'll admit. And the old junk sucks to run when it's bitter cold or searing heat, and I'm thinking of what to do. The only real compensation working there is they are fairly laid back, and I know the people I work for and with. I did the M&S thing a while back, and while the new scraper was nice, the being treated like a inhuman robot sucked. The only time anybody talked to you was to yell at you, and I don't appreciate being treated like a mushroom. (Being kept in the dark and fed BS!) Often times,our boss will tell you what he wants done and will let you figure out the best way to accomplish it, without breathing down your neck constantly. Of course, other foreman don't always give you enough info, and that sucks, so it's a toss up. My problem is, there aren't enough other dirt companies in Omaha, and I'm not ready to rip up stakes and move away from here yet. I did way too much of that stuff as a kid. I may have to eventually, but becoming a touring professional at age 45 doesn't thrill me too much. We'll see what happens, meanwhile, the earth keeps turning! alan627b
Hawkins One thing I noticed about Hawkins...we've worked with them before on some jobs, we usually do their big dirt work. I have seen employees of theirs running a machine in the morning, and running a shovel in the afternoon. I have no problem with lending a hand, but I didn't sign on to be a laborer either. Honestly, I'm not in the shape to do that these days for long periods of time, after banging around on 627's for 15 years!:beatsme Damned if you do.....etc. alan627b
I don't know about the Herman job, but I know this....for a while this summer, they were down to buying their diesel fuel with cash supposedly because their credit was over extended....which was unsettling. I am not sure where things stand right now, as of July 28th, I haven't been working. As bad as this may sound, it's possible everything may have been broken down! Nothing new there, believe it or not. Now you see why I am pondering the future! You wouldn't happen to be working their job on Highway 31 and Harrison Street, that project is about 8 miles away from home. Just curious. alan
I enjoy being both an operator and an labor. Setting in an machine all day gets old fast. Besides I want to know for fact were the lines are so I don't cut them. I know Negus does most of their big dirt jobs. They say it is cheaper to hire Negus than do it them selves.
No I'm not working on the Harrison street job. The last job I was around Negus was last year out at Waverly/ Camp Creek exit on I80. Negus did the tree removal and Dirt for that job. I got tired of waiting for Negus to get the trees out of my way so I removed some myself. The same happened with the dirt I needed dirt to install the culverts and got tired of waiting for Negus to haul it. So I hauled what I needed with the 963 Loader.
The Herman Job should have been a week or two Job at the most. Negus took all summer to do it. Because Negus is on a cash basis does not make things slow in Nebraska. Every good contractor I know and talk to is busy.
Who ever told you new hires are only getting 15 dollar is not correct. Or they are poor help. I know for a fact that they start people out at 20 plus an hour. I don't mean to make you mad but why don't you change to a company that has good equipment and finances to back them. I sold a couple pieces of equipment to Negus That I would not even think of running, and they thought they were great.
Failure to adapt is most companies reason for failure. From what I can see Negus is one set away from failure. I've changed many times what type of construction I do to keep ahead of the times. It's like I said before any one can do the easy jobs like moving dirt, so do something no one else can not do. M&S is not a fair comparison, That was a way for one person to rat hole a lot of money (if you know what I mean). There is several construction companies in Omaha. Hawkins, Pink, Double D, Dirt Inc, just to name a few. It is just up to you to make the change.