Over the course of time, I have worked with many ground guys, and of course thousands of days solo. When working solo I constantly ask myself, "Would a ground guy be of benefit right now?"
At the
end of every solo day I ask myself, "If I'd had a ground guy today, how much time would he have saved me?"
And at the end of every day working
with a ground guy, I ask the same question, "How much actual time was saved by having him all day?"
Of course, these are speculative questions, but for fun I'll share.
ASSUMING he shows up on time, is sober and doesn't break anything during the day, has brought his lunch and fluids and doesn't need to leave early, sticking me with the end of the cleanup alone.... basically, he has a perfect day and works at a reasonable rate, I find that on an average day he will shave a couple hours off a day. One would think two men would be twice as fast as one man, but it just doesn't work that way.
So, at $15 an hour (not including workman's comp., payroll takes, etc.) that 8 hour day nets him $120. From my side, he saved me two hours, but those two hours cost me $60 each and I'm still having to do a large amount of the cleanup. I find I would rather work the extra couple hours and I get paid $60 per hour for that time. $60 per hour becomes my real cost for the employee, not 15.
Of course, you can blow holes in that theory all day long. For you guys with major equipment, buckets, cranes, gargantuan chippers, garage full of saws this would certainly not apply. Guys doing mostly takedowns, municipal work, ROW and power line utility also would not apply.
Solo simply does not apply for most, I would think. For myself, I have occasional days where I really wish I had help. Usually I can judge upcoming jobs and arrange help in advance, but on the whole, ground guys want steady work, not be called in just when needed. Committing to having help means having them there, regardless of whether you need them or not, paying them whether they're being useful or not, taking on all the responsibilities, liabilities and risk whether you want it or not.
I'm mulling all of this over therapeutically. This next week I am hiring 2 guys, they've already been interviewed and we're all good to go. Two because I want the cleanup done, and am hoping two guys can crank out the cleanups and free me of that completely. Two guys should be able to do the work I normally do myself. What I will do with them both while there is no cleanup to be done? Keep shelling out the money and see how it goes.
The reason for solo guy hiring two groundies? An insane number of jobs stacked up, almost 80, 3 dozen estimates still to do and averaging ~ 5 new calls per day. This is literally a dream come true, and I am extremely grateful. I've been booking Winter work all Summer when possible, but it's just gotten to a point where managing the work load on my own is no longer sustainable.
Solo does have its downside(s). I'm giving teamhood another try. I respect you good bosses out there. You're my inspiration right now.
