Need Help with bidding

[tophopper]

I currently work for 3 municipalities, 2 on an hourly basis and one on a per job basis. 80% of my work is private sector work. i dont do any contract muni work, no money in that!

 

[darkstar]

be real ... asplunde or davey here in tennessee charge 62.50 for 3 man crew plus bucket, chipper , boom truck ..... personally we get around 150 to 200 for the same ,,,, go figure ,,,i watched my competition helpers .....sit around for 2 hours the other day milking the clock .... F@#$ them,,,, we tree people need to stick together and make $$$[[[[[[[ how many deaths this year ??? ]]]]]]] today we got 2000,,,, after overhead ,, ,,,,for 6 hours .... it was a good day dark

 

[MasterBlaster]

I hear ya, bro.

 

[Ekka]

asplunde or davey here in tennessee charge 62.50 for 3 man crew plus bucket, chipper , boom truck

How can this be? It doesn't make any sense.

What ever you are paying your staff as an hourly rate you can double as overheads of employing them, plus your gear has to make money.

I hire a tower with operator and it costs around $80 an hour plus travel for a 70' ... so why give that away for free to the local municipality?

 

[treeman45246]

The big companies here charge $90/hour for a two person crew to municipalities... nowhere near the $62.50, but most of the contracts are unit rather than hourly. The unit prices can appear incredibly low. I didn't understand this at first, having a background in the private sector. Municipal contracts don't look like a lot of money, but when you consider the pruning usually consists of simple sidewalk, street clearance and some deadwooding, it isn't that bad. Being streetside trees there is rarely any dragging of brush, and your next job is 30 feet away. This work is bid to be performed during the winter here, so it keeps dozens of climbers working during a normally difficult time to find work. It's not for everyone, but it can be a moneymaker if you work it right.