Big box treeco's

[treevet]

I have noticed a national company in my town for a decade or more now. Just recently though, while on our Urban Forestry Board I have noticed them even more and it doesn't seem quite kosher.

This company that begins with D does all the tree pruning, almost all of the removals and does all the fertilization, and all of the planting with apparently no comparative bids (no bid contracts).

Just recently since the threat of EAB infestation the town despite 2 consecutive majority vote downs of insecticidal treatments by the Urban Forestry Board, along with the advice of this company, the city has decided to treat our trees with a soil drench on all remaining ash trees.

Initially a couple of years ago the treatment was pushed through ostensibly to give the Maint. Dept. more time to stage removals (no sight of EAB here yet). Now they have changed to doing no more removals and increasing treatment expenditures.

Guess who is doing all the treatments with no competing bids just as in all the other services and nursery stock they provide?

Anybody have similar experience in their town or a take on this?

 

[pdqdl]

Are we talking about the City of Cincinnati?

A town that big will be subject to FAR (Federal Acquisition Regulations), and will be obliged to take bids on almost everything. Request copies of the bids under the Freedom of Information Act, then study the contracts and the method of award. Chances are good that they are following the rules, but that you just haven't learned those rules yet.

Little towns can get away with doing everything with the "good 'ol boy" network until somebody stirs up some trouble.

You'll figure it out.

 

[Scottscape]

Davey!

 

[treesquirrel]

Are we talking about the City of Cincinnati?

A town that big will be subject to FAR (Federal Acquisition Regulations), and will be obliged to take bids on almost everything. Request copies of the bids under the Freedom of Information Act, then study the contracts and the method of award. Chances are good that they are following the rules, but that you just haven't learned those rules yet.

Little towns can get away with doing everything with the "good 'ol boy" network until somebody stirs up some trouble.

You'll figure it out.

Yep, +1.

 

[Taxmantoo]

So, how does this happen, is one particular council member behind it?
What happens if somebody goes to a council meeting and raises the point during public comments?

Seems like Cincinnati's claim to fame is 'we're less crooked than Chicago'.

 

[pdqdl]

...

Seems like Cincinnati's claim to fame is 'we're less crooked than Chicago'.

I never heard that before. That's not saying very much, is it?

(of course Kansas City might get laughed at if they claimed to be less crooked than Chicago. KC is so dirty (historically) that the police department is regulated by a Board of Commisioners that are appointed by the State, so the police department is supposedly free of political influence. Every KC cop has statewide authority to enforce the law, just like the Highway Patrol does)

 

[treeclimber101]

Chances are after carefully reading the contract and fully understanding you would find that the contract is so cheap , but so large you couldn't handle it anyway, ask yourself how can Asplundh afford a truck chipper and two men for 125.00 an hr.

 

[treevet]

Are we talking about the City of Cincinnati?

A town that big will be subject to FAR (Federal Acquisition Regulations), and will be obliged to take bids on almost everything. Request copies of the bids under the Freedom of Information Act, then study the contracts and the method of award. Chances are good that they are following the rules, but that you just haven't learned those rules yet.

Little towns can get away with doing everything with the "good 'ol boy" network until somebody stirs up some trouble.

You'll figure it out.

A suburb....been stirring up trouble....looking for you to figure it out.

 

[treevet]

Chances are after carefully reading the contract and fully understanding you would find that the contract is so cheap , but so large you couldn't handle it anyway, ask yourself how can Asplundh afford a truck chipper and two men for 125.00 an hr.

Really don't want the work. Just want them out of town and maybe the quality of work/decisions would go up. I am a taxpayer as well.

 

[woodchux]

Asplundh recently started advertising for residential work in the local newspaper's business listings...I guess that ABC is really putting a hurting on them around here.

 

[treevet]

Asplundh recently started advertising for residential work in the local newspaper's business listings...I guess that ABC is really putting a hurting on them around here.

Damn, never heard of that in my 40 years in biz. Bet they could do some low ballin'. Always seemed inevitable to me but maybe they had a trade agreement with the utility to not go public or something in the past?

 

[BC WetCoast]

Davey!

Can't be, they're not franchise.

 

[treevet]

Can't be, they're not franchise.

I'm wrong not him.

 

[pdqdl]

Chances are after carefully reading the contract and fully understanding you would find that the contract is so cheap , but so large you couldn't handle it anyway, ask yourself how can Asplundh afford a truck chipper and two men for 125.00 an hr.

That's easy. They also get paid per hour (on some utillity contracts) for each saw or machine on the job. I think they get paid per truckload dumped of chips, too. Have you ever seen how full their trucks are at the end of a day?

Have you ever seen an Asplundh office? Around here, they just work out an agreement to park their trucks somewhere. The crew shows up, and they go to work. VERY low overhead.

When they get into some overtime from storm damage...Dig in the spurs and ride it hard.

It helps if you can gouge the labor on the cheap side, shorting pay or docking hours whenever possible, while billing for each conceivable minute on the clock.

They don't get paid for production, and the cash keeps coming in. Those little whisper chippers don't cost that much, and the clock never stops ticking. At the end of the month, that turns into a pretty big bill.

 

[clearance]

Asplundh

It helps if you can gouge the labor on the cheap side, shorting pay or docking hours whenever possible, while billing for each conceivable minute on the clock.

Can't let this go. I have worked for Asplundh, and know many who have or do also. Never ever heard of someone working for them being shortchanged on hours, or pay. That is in B.C., Canada.

 

[pdqdl]

Here in KC, they are known as the company that starts more tree services than any other. Darn near everybody that I have hired (who wasn't a stoner and couldn't get hired by them) either used to work for them or knows somebody that did.

They don't cheat anybody that I ever heard, but they are notorious for being exceedingly tight & cutting corners. Maybe I am just listening to the grousing of ex employees. Myself, I never worked there.

 

[treevet]

That's easy. They also get paid per hour (on some utillity contracts) for each saw or machine on the job. I think they get paid per truckload dumped of chips, too. Have you ever seen how full their trucks are at the end of a day?

Have you ever seen an Asplundh office? Around here, they just work out an agreement to park their trucks somewhere. The crew shows up, and they go to work. VERY low overhead.

When they get into some overtime from storm damage...Dig in the spurs and ride it hard.

It helps if you can gouge the labor on the cheap side, shorting pay or docking hours whenever possible, while billing for each conceivable minute on the clock.

They don't get paid for production, and the cash keeps coming in. Those little whisper chippers don't cost that much, and the clock never stops ticking. At the end of the month, that turns into a pretty big bill.

Sounds like some pretty tough competition if they enter the private sector with us.

I worked for Bartlett in the early 70's. Very similar. A lot was rented for trucks that were beat and chippers that were ancient. The office was a junked schoolbus. They paid you next to nothing but were always "lobbying for a raise for ya".

Shame Asplundh still has to use those Whisper chippers when the lowliest company has a ten times better chipper than they do in a self feeding unit.

Probably cause they invented them and they have a zillion of them they cannot unload cause nobody wants them (and because they (Asplundh) are cheap?).

 

[pdqdl]

...
Shame Asplundh still has to use those Whisper chippers when the lowliest company has a ten times better chipper than they do in a self feeding unit.

Probably cause they invented them and they have a zillion of them they cannot unload cause nobody wants them (and because they (Asplundh) are cheap?).

Lower maintenance. No hydraulics. Fewer moving parts.

Besides, they don't get paid for production, so why waste money on a higher production machine?

 

[lego1970]

Not to get off track from the OP, but in a lot of places Asplundh also doesn't have all the specialty climbing gear, rigging gear, big saws, stump grinders, stand behind loaders, grapple trucks, sprayers, and other high dollar equipment that some of the big residential tree companies have. Don't get me wrong, Asplundh has some high dollar equipment like helicopters with brush cutters on them, train carts with cutters on them and a bunch of other stuff, but they probably charge alot more for the specialty equipment. They also have tremendous buying power and are probably self insured.

 

[Rftreeman]

I never knew thee were big box franchise tree company's, I do however know of a few nationwide companys...