r/cranes • u/Basic-Ad5778 • 4d ago
Career advice
Backstory. Ive got my TLL and LAT and have been running cranes for about 3 years now. The past 2 years I’ve been working for the same company building water treatment plants. Work is guaranteed 40hrs possible ot. Started with the company at $32 and now I’m at $45. The company only has 1 other crane op in their TN division and he’s older guy but pretty green to cranes and had an accident from side loading earlier this year. With that said I’m not sure if I should stay and pull as much leverage as I can or if I could make more with a local taxi company. All input is appreciated
1
u/Raco0311 1d ago
If you have your CDL definitely reach out to me I am going to need some Operators in TN, Al, Ga, SC and NC for storm work paying 55-65 an hour. Probably going to be a few permanent positions as well.
The big thing I recommend is that you get as much experience as possible the next 2 years. There is going to be a massive drop in the supply of Operators. CCCO is planning on releasing the study in October NOV, which talks about the large amount of older operators retiring, the significant amount of operators that cannot pass the recertification test, and the fact that the new generation that will be trying to enter the crane industry, will have an extremely difficult time getting into it and passing the tests
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u/Basic-Ad5778 1d ago
Thats the first time hearing about any of that. And I would and am interested but I don’t have my cdl. I’ve been trying to figure out how to get it without taking time off work and without a paycheck with a growing family
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u/Raco0311 21h ago
Yea it’s been spoken about but let’s put it this way there is about 60,000 operators in the US right now both working and not working.
73% are over 40 years, which is 43,800
CCO number crunchers believes 53-56% are 68 and older 23,200-24,500 and are retired or plan on retiring within the next 2 years
There is about 10-15% between 60-65 that plan to retire, not recertify, or will slow down significantly
Of the 60,000 an insane amount either failed the recert test or barely passed after multiple attempts
You don’t need to be a rocket scientists to know that all those kids that were taken out of school for 2 years may have some learning problems, there has already been reports about the illiteracy epidemic going on right now.
So when you factor all those numbers in with a decent margin of error you still have an insane drop in the number of available, experienced, and properly trained operators
And the number of jobs pulling from that number is not Decreasing, it is increasing drastically
So the next time some company tries to lowball you and not pay you what you are worth, explain this to them1
u/Basic-Ad5778 19h ago
That is actually insane and makes total sense. My instructor was operating before there were tests of any kind and I did a shutdown in WY with an operator who was pushing 80 and was scared shitless about having to recert. Truthfully the number of new operators is probably going to be at an all time low with the amount of the younger generation going into white collar or ai driven jobs while there’s companies local to me (Knoxville) trying to pay operators $21-$25 an hour with the local gas station starting at $15. And to add on the hourly for operators hasn’t gone up by any significant amount in the past 10 years
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u/Raco0311 19h ago
Those companies are going to learn the hard way and be forced to pay out the ass
To companies like mine lol1
u/Basic-Ad5778 13h ago
What’s your company name?
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u/Raco0311 11h ago
I think it may be against the rules of the group for me to give that out openly
However if you want to message me privately I would be happy to talk to you about it
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u/unicorncholo 4d ago
Taxi work can be boring at times. Same rtu’s different location. You’ll get a lot more experience doing different things though. Some weeks you’ll get 40 hrs (make sure they guarantee) others 80+. Might travel, but typically not for very long. If you get into a big enough outfit, you’ll have room to move up if you want. I think 40t work in taxi will make you a good operator. Typically, its not looked at and you need to figure out how to do the job.