Union girls moonlighting

[wiley_p]

Had a contractor tell me he couldnt use me on a storm job cause my price was a little high. That's fine by me the reason I charge so much for after hours work is well its after hours. So he calls a foreskin from Asplundh and he tells him 300.00/hr this is for a 4 man unit with bucket and chipper. This is the 4th time I have seen these clowns underbid work. I think they are doing it cash money. I've bid against them on the level and in daylight on standard tree work they have a high manhour price and they sometimes go a little high on hours. I've seen them go around the block and do a "prune" job on their lunch hour for cash. Just wanted to know what you guys thought about this. They did this large hemlock that was on the house in the dark, from 1000-0430 dosnt 75.00 aman seem way cheap for that kind of show. If this is being done who picks up the tab if there is an accident.

 

[ROLLACOSTA]

report them thats the best thing to do .. i hate moonlighters

 

[ORclimber]

2 parties are getting directly ripped off, as in criminal. The utility company the crew is supposed to be working for and Asplundh. If that crew was reported down here the union couldn't help them.

 

[OutOnaLimb]

Call up the Asplundh General Foreman and report that crew. I used to work for Asplundh and doing side jobs is a serious No-no. If they are using Asplunds buckets, chipper, and saws then it is just wrong. Dont get me wrong, I used to do residential side jobs on the weekends but I used all my own gear and saws. Hell that is how I got started with my own company. Asplunds primary mission is line clearence, so if you see the big orange trucks pruning or removing trees with no power lines in site, you know the girls are moonlighting.

Kenn:Monkey:

 

[wiley_p]

I have never had a crew do work on the side so I figure the only way they have enough comfort doing it is the upper level sups give their blessing.

 

[OutOnaLimb]

Trust me, upper level management doesnt know whats going on. The foreman of the crew is using Asplundh Equiptment to do private work on the side. The rest of the crew is pocketing the cash. Its common among the Aspludh crews. They are doing their jobs and a home ower offers to pay them cash to trim or remove trees on their property. With the equiptment that they have you can hardly blame the foreman for agreeing and doing the job under table. Something on this level is outrageous. I felt guity for once using an Asplund climb line to do a private side job on the weekend.

Kenn

 

[MasterBlaster]

Hey I did it myself 25 years ago.

I ain't lost no sleep yet, but it WAS wrong.

I wuz just a whippersnapper then...

 

[ORclimber]

A few years back an Asplundh guy down here took a bucket out on the weekend. The general forman noticed the truck missing and waited to see who brought it back. When the guy saw the GF sitting in the yard he tried to keep on going. Kind of hard to outrun a pickup in a bucket. The guy was a shop steward for the union and got fired with a no rehire. I heard they were going to press criminal charges, but don't know what happened. At least down here side work is discouraged.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

The worst part of line clearance guys doing tree trimming on the side, is that all they know how to do is vee out trees, top them, cut them down, and always wear spikes.
To them, trim means top, or remove all the limbs on one side. LOL.

 

[ORclimber]

Geez Mike, you don't have to be line clearance to butcher a tree. I woulda thought your biggest gripe would be the fact that the moonlighters aren't covered by WC.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I learned a lot of what NOT to do when I wuz slicing ROW's.

 

[wiley_p]

In defense of the Asplundh folks out here, I,ve asked them to do as nice a job as possible(remember their resposibility is to keep the power lines clear, tree considerations are secondary) they have done so, and made it easy for me to maintain a customers shared tree.

 

[Husky288XP]

Does Asplundh make a big deal about their men doing side jobs, with the men's personal trucks, gear, chipper, etc. What I mean is that the employee is doing his own work on his own time with all of his own gear. I am just curious because one of the big tree services in our area that I worked for told the crews you are not allowed to do side jobs period and made you sign a contract.

 

[Nathan Wreyford]

Originally posted by Husky288XP
I am just curious because one of the big tree services in our area that I worked for told the crews you are not allowed to do side jobs period and made you sign a contract.

That has always made me laugh. Companies just don't get it that if they take care of their employees in the first place, they won't be looking for side jobs. They only look for work because their needs aren't met at the one job they have.

.02

 

[igetbisy]

put 'em in check

go straight to them, tell them that you cant blame them for being opportunistic, but they are a little out of line underbidding you and any other local tree companies simply because they have the equipment at their disposal. tell them to try buying, maintaining, and insuring all that equipment, hiring a crew, and then loosing their business to another bunch of wage earners with little appreciation for the outrageous responsibility it takes to make your own living running your own business.
likely, they will tell you to go screw yourself, and well, what else can you do, but inform your fellow, company owner, their boss, that he is being taken advantage of, and possibly being put in jeapordy by these disrespectfull, egotesticles.

 

[ROLLACOSTA]

get there vehicle regestration [i take it they will use the same truck all week] and then ring your local tax office
with the details..also inform there area manager ..imo once guys like these moonlighters get a taste of the cake they will want more and more nip em in the bud be cruel to be kind..i hate serious moonlighters we got tons of em here

 

[Rob Murphy]

Overtime work.

When your hourly rate, in normal hours, covers all your overheads it is possible to be cheaper after hours even when paying higher wages.This is the Cream. Local line contractors here work this system all the time. They have "private work" crews that are hard to compete with on their level.
So.........go to a different level or different niche market.

 

[wiley_p]

Rob, excellent point Never looked at it that way. I'll remember this for myself, funny it sems obvious what with my fanatical minding of fixed cost and profit.

 

[a_lopa]

so true rob murphy,i worked for a co that had towers putting up fibre optics they were creaming it big time, they had tree crews tower 12'' chip 4 guys working cheap get in the door(the one with the greasey pole)for power cos.at the time they could not lose,ive never seen so much money made with so little done,alas it didnt last forever it was funny in the end it was like rats in a sinking ship.anyone thats doing line work wants a $cashie,a hogologist im freinds with 53 had triple by pass heart,they wanted him out bad they fired him for selling mulch

 

[begleytree]

you guys seem to be working on the assumption that it is pvt work off the books. I happen to know Asplundh has pvt work crews in cincy, Ohio, with a GF for it and all. They started it back about 3-4 years ago. In other areas they charge their men for the use of the equipment for private work (like here) Some GFs don't want to deal with the additional headache and make it policy not to allow equipment out for other than ROW work, but some do allow it. Tell me that if you could rent a bucket and chipper for side work that you wouldn't take advantage of it. Especially with some of the rigs I've seen pictured on site!
Remember, you were just starting out at one time, and you underbid to get your foot in the door. I don't condone the 'theft' of company equipment if its not allowed, but if it is.........
Feels different being on the other side of it now, doesn't it?
I'd be more worried about the guys working out of the back of a pickup with a rental type chipper than a few guys trying to make ends meet doing 2-3 side jobs a month. They are picking up price shoppers anyway, so they are not affecting you guys charging premium money at all
-Ralph