Anyone working on big inch pipelines in B.C. or Alberta

[pfi572]

Anyone working on any of these big inch pipeline projects in Alberta or B.C. ?

 

[Hoehand79]

Ya i am whats up?

 

[pfi572]

Ya i am whats up?

Just curious if anyone kind of local were getting any work ?
Have a couple buds inspecting on Trans Mountain .
What area you working in ?

 

[Hoehand79]

I'm working on the tmx in edson for midwest and yes I know they hired some local s that were out of work

 

[pfi572]

You would think the hiring pool would be better now that things are slower .
A bit ago it was tough finding people that could piss straight among other things ? Lol
A lot of equipment drivers out in the field . Not operators .

 

[Hoehand79]

They also bought atleast 12 sxs from ryders that I know of...this job is going to a big boost for the local economy and support hundreds of families for a couple yrs atleast so im fortunate to be on this project thats for sure...had to post a picture what I did yesterday lol

 

[Hoehand79]

You would think the hiring pool would be better now that things are slower .
A bit ago it was tough finding people that could piss straight among other things ? Lol
A lot of equipment drivers out in the field . Not operators .

Same old story its who you know not what you know...but those cowboy days are over until the next boom im thinking because you can be replaced in a heartbeat right now...

 

[pfi572]

They also bought atleast 12 sxs from ryders that I know of...this job is going to a big boost for the local economy and support hundreds of families for a couple yrs atleast so im fortunate to be on this project thats for sure...had to post a picture what I did yesterday lol//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200920/57973dff2dc29fa30e1862271401b5d6.jpg

Very nice Sir

 

[S.W.A.T.]

Nope, hardly any locals are working on the cgl project, majority are out of towners. Even native companies are getting squeezed because of not being union. Bug joke if you ask me. I had a brand new excavator lined up to go out but because we aren't union we were denied. My price was better and my operator had more experience and newer machine but because we aren't union we got sent home.

 

[pfi572]

Nope, hardly any locals are working on the cgl project, majority are out of towners. Even native companies are getting squeezed because of not being union. Bug joke if you ask me. I had a brand new excavator lined up to go out but because we aren't union we were denied. My price was better and my operator had more experience and newer machine but because we aren't union we got sent home.

This is what I was wondering about .
Thanks for posting !!
Surprised you were even considered to be honest ?
Not very often these big P/L contractors bring in subs with one piece including Operator .

 

[Hoehand79]

Nope, hardly any locals are working on the cgl project, majority are out of towners. Even native companies are getting squeezed because of not being union. Bug joke if you ask me. I had a brand new excavator lined up to go out but because we aren't union we were denied. My price was better and my operator had more experience and newer machine but because we aren't union we got sent home.

Ya i can see that for sure...i was supposed to go to SA in vanderhoof i was orientated and DNA tested for over a month , phoned my contact there and they said they had too many name hires and had to get their union numbers back up as i was also a name hire. I switched gears and it worked out better but ya the union isn't all what its cracked up to be

 

[pfi572]

Not sure if it’s still the same as years ago ?
Back then a lot of the union personal came from lower mainland or out east .

Better add that I don’t care where people are from but unions don’t hire local .

 

[Hoehand79]

This is what I was wondering about .
Thanks for posting !!
Surprised you were even considered to be honest ?
Not very often these big P/L contractors bring in subs with one piece including Operator .

Those days of owner ops have gone the way of the dinosaur as well...and usually it was the smaller non union outfits that hired subs (flint,parkland,tahk) that I know of for sure . There isn't much opportunity left for guys to break out with their own equipment. I have over 20 yrs in the seat and I see a future of just running gear for American s /Italian s /European s ect because all these joint ventures are taking over sadly...

 

[Cyle]

Those days of owner ops have gone the way of the dinosaur as well...and usually it was the smaller non union outfits that hired subs (flint,parkland,tahk) that I know of for sure . There isn't much opportunity left for guys to break out with their own equipment. I have over 20 yrs in the seat and I see a future of just running gear for American s /Italian s /European s ect because all these joint ventures are taking over sadly...

Unless you get into a different industry which it seems many operators are trying to do. Anytime I looked for a operator it was guys who had done pipeline, oilfield, etc thinking that experience was relevant to digging basements. I couldn't be happier being a one man show doing residential. No one could give 2 chits about unions, and can do jobs cheaper then the big guys with big overhead and in many cases incompetent operators.

 

[Hoehand79]

Unless you get into a different industry which it seems many operators are trying to do. Anytime I looked for a operator it was guys who had done pipeline, oilfield, etc thinking that experience was relevant to digging basements. I couldn't be happier being a one man show doing residential. No one could give 2 chits about unions, and can do jobs cheaper then the big guys with big overhead and in many cases incompetent operators.

I use to dig basement s for superior trenching and the money was crap so unless you are in that rhelm to run into "connections " in that line of work then I'm going to stay put. Not into working for half the money in hopes of running into the right person to get a contract and last I heard its slow going in that field of work as well

 

[Cyle]

I use to dig basement s for superior trenching and the money was crap so unless you are in that rhelm to run into "connections " in that line of work then I'm going to stay put. Not into working for half the money in hopes of running into the right person to get a contract and last I heard its slow going in that field of work as well

That's interesting I didn't think the pay would be that much different, but to pay someone to work out of town it's gotta be a lot more, I really have no idea what operators are getting in residential but I figured probably like $30/hr? Except for new Canadians of course. Tried to hire operator last year when it was really busy, but never could find anyone who had actual basement digging experience. Too many oilfield operators who think any monkey can do it will run you out of business really quick.

It's my slowest year ever, but still a decent amount of work, and pays well. One good part of this slowdown is it will get rid of a lot of the people who shouldn't be in business.

 

[Hoehand79]

That's interesting I didn't think the pay would be that much different, but to pay someone to work out of town it's gotta be a lot more, I really have no idea what operators are getting in residential but I figured probably like $30/hr? Except for new Canadians of course. Tried to hire operator last year when it was really busy, but never could find anyone who had actual basement digging experience. Too many oilfield operators who think any monkey can do it will run you out of business really quick.

It's my slowest year ever, but still a decent amount of work, and pays well. One good part of this slowdown is it will get rid of a lot of the people who shouldn't be in business.

Ya well I would get assigned a dig and most were a day and half with the services the odd time I could stretch it to 2 full days. And you are right there is alot of wannabe s out there and when it picks up those guys will all come back just to have meat in the seat...its funny when the line slow down and I go civil I figure I gotta up my game but thats not the case alot of average ops in the city as well. You name it ive probably done it with a hoe and pipeline is where its at 6 days i clear 3800 best i did in the city was 3400 for 12 days so...

 

[pfi572]

That's interesting I didn't think the pay would be that much different, but to pay someone to work out of town it's gotta be a lot more, I really have no idea what operators are getting in residential but I figured probably like $30/hr? Except for new Canadians of course. Tried to hire operator last year when it was really busy, but never could find anyone who had actual basement digging experience. Too many oilfield operators who think any monkey can do it will run you out of business really quick.

It's my slowest year ever, but still a decent amount of work, and pays well. One good part of this slowdown is it will get rid of a lot of the people who shouldn't be in business.

It’s like I said in a earlier post ? Drivers and operators are two completely different people .
I good operator will adapt to task at hand with no problem whatsoever.
I have had lots of so called operators show up and say , I have never built something like this ?
I just tell them it’s just moving material and if you can operate I will give you the scope of the project and it will all work out .
Most don’t give good operators the credit they deserve?
Can show up on time ?
Can operate anything?
Look after the equipment they operate ?
Pass a drug test?
Not a drunk ?

 

[Cyle]

Ya well I would get assigned a dig and most were a day and half with the services the odd time I could stretch it to 2 full days. And you are right there is alot of wannabe s out there and when it picks up those guys will all come back just to have meat in the seat...its funny when the line slow down and I go civil I figure I gotta up my game but thats not the case alot of average ops in the city as well. You name it ive probably done it with a hoe and pipeline is where its at 6 days i clear 3800 best i did in the city was 3400 for 12 days so...

Yea that's a lot better money. On average doing basements my 210 is making me $200-$300/hr depending on the job so it's pretty good for me as a owner operator. There is plenty of people doing basements right now for nothing, like the guys digging for the big builders, they are digging a basement, backfill, and services for like $3500 on a small house which is stupid and not making any money. I've been approached by some and told them I will let my equipment sit before it will work for that rate. There is a ton of guys who have no idea what they are doing, there is one turban company who actually had a video on their website showing a operator putting dirt back and patting it down into low spots on a dig, it's unbelievable. I mean it takes a long time to get really good at doing basements, most people think it's easy but there's a lot to actually do a good job.

 

[Hoehand79]

Yea that's a lot better money. On average doing basements my 210 is making me $200-$300/hr depending on the job so it's pretty good for me as a owner operator. There is plenty of people doing basements right now for nothing, like the guys digging for the big builders, they are digging a basement, backfill, and services for like $3500 on a small house which is stupid and not making any money. I've been approached by some and told them I will let my equipment sit before it will work for that rate. There is a ton of guys who have no idea what they are doing, there is one turban company who actually had a video on their website showing a operator putting dirt back and patting it down into low spots on a dig, it's unbelievable. I mean it takes a long time to get really good at doing basements, most people think it's easy but there's a lot to actually do a good job.

Well if this economy every turns around and you get swamped keep me in mind lol no but seriously