Are we close to the edge?

**Bad Robot** · June 3rd, 2010, 09:02 PM

With all of the talk of the "race to the bottom" in the contract locating business, a thought occurred to me this morning. Every new season we brace for things to get tougher and expect to see more barriers placed in front of us, whether it's new rules or tightening of the belt. Somehow though, we seem to make it through to the end pretty much intact. However, this year I am seeing far more techs "hitting the wall" and even earlier than last year! I think my company in particular has pushed everything past a reasonable point, be it productivity or on time goals, or even just having enough working tools for the entire crew. Let's face it, most contract locators bitch a lot about things, and I don't really think that's a bad thing at all. But the level of frustration I see here is way passed what I've ever seen come before. I don't think this can go on much longer without a total breakdown.

At what point do you think the contract locating industry as a whole will collapse? Do you think we have already passed the "tipping point", where we will never be able to straighten this mess out?

**locator00566** · June 3rd, 2010, 09:46 PM

I've been contract locating going on 10 years now. I have seen and been through so much change in the industry. The past couple of years have been too much. More work less pay. Demanding more from techs, taking away pay, charging to home garage trucks, gps, idle time, safety, etc... I'm tired of being pushed to the brink. Never getting a phone call saying "Good job" on having no damges and busting my ass everyday. Only phone calls about, your truck has idled over the limit or questions about why I was here or there. Management has lost touch with what us techs go through in the field. Everyday i come to work. I hate my job more and more. I've already hit the wall and theres no turning back. I feel I will quit or get fired soon. I just don't give a damn anymore. Whats the point.They make work harder and harder each year with no extra pay. I'm not the only one feeling this way. There are a lot of techs out there with one foot out of the door/

**sprayandpray** · June 3rd, 2010, 10:01 PM

I believe we are in a 'down' phase of the business. The way I see it is 10+ years ago when I hired on I felt more appreciated than today and I believe it's directly tied to the employment situation. The harder it is to find qualified applicants the more we are appreciated. However, right now there are probably 2 to 3 times more applicants per job than 5 years ago and Management is tending to use this to 'get even' with us while they feel they are calling all the shots. Hopefully, this situation will not last that much longer and the pendelum will swing in the other direction.

**yahoo** · June 3rd, 2010, 11:03 PM

I would have to say that things will be pretty much the same 10 years from now...........business will be business as usual...some personal some not!!! IMHO

**3in13notbad** · June 4th, 2010, 07:57 PM

the past 14 years that ive been doin it, lots have changed. its went from protect the plant and utilities have your back and try to make money. now its make money,utilities want to protect the contractors then protect the plant. if there a damage the locator is out on his own tring to fight a fight with no backing. if the office loses your pictures or anything your getin nailed for it. this use to be a fun job not alot of pressure, do your work have some fun to unwind get tickets done right and go home

**HWYRIPR** · June 4th, 2010, 10:22 PM

This business will only get tougher. No matter what company you are with or utility you contract out for! Sad but true. God bless a locator!! The majority of this world has no idea of how much crap we take to protect their life and basic luxuries!!!!!!!

**UULC** · June 5th, 2010, 02:55 AM

S & P,
You are so correct. 10 years ago you could not find a qualified person. I have been looking for over a year. I have looked at contract, private and government locate work. I had to take a job driving a truck. I am looking for something in the field. Now with all the cuts there are more locator's then jobs. This sucks. I have applied to most of the jobs on this site with no return calls except from USIC in Texas who said I was unhireable. I think it was the DM who use to be a regional manager who did not like me.

**sprayandpray** · June 5th, 2010, 06:59 AM

Sorrry to hear your problems UULC. They are basically telling us they are not re-hiring anyone that used to work here. There were 2 who they agreed to re-hire but only 1 passed the new Attitude/Aptitude test. It has really put us in a bind in certain areas.

**ProfessionalLocator** · June 5th, 2010, 07:45 AM

Originally Posted by sprayandpray

Sorrry to hear your problems UULC. They are basically telling us they are not re-hiring anyone that used to work here. There were 2 who they agreed to re-hire but only 1 passed the new Attitude/Aptitude test. It has really put us in a bind in certain areas.

For some reason this is not uncommon in the locate industry. One place I did work for had a policy of not rehiring anyone who resigned. People who resigned got blacklisted with a "do not rehire" penciled in on their personnel file. But if you were fired for failing a drug test and you could come back after six months. Also those who damaged out could come back after 12 months.

That was another policy, any manager could write "do not rehire" into the employee record jacket and every manager anywhere in the firm was not allowed to hire that employee. The blacklist phrase required no documentation from the company and the HR department backed the procedure.

I became aware of the extent of the blacklisting when one locator did get rehired. This was only because a local manager in another state wanted an experienced locator and did a follow up. The manager asked what the employee did to get themselves blacklisted as their unemployment records showed the got laid off due to a reduction in force. The answer was they had high damages and tardiness and the local manager insisted on documentation, which there was none. So only with the effort of a local manager did the locator get hired, HR department did nothing but back the policy.

**ProfessionalLocator** · June 5th, 2010, 09:03 AM

We are close to the edge and the industry of contract locating firms can indeed fade from existence.

The problem is multilevel on the parts of both the utilties that hire use and the nature of contract locating firms.

The utilities that hire use have found themselves between a rock and a hard place. They hired contract locating firms and dismantled their own locator workforce in an effort to reduce costs so that the local rate regulation entities would be pleased with them. Also to squeeze out a little extra profit.

Most utility companies are very displeased with the contract locating industry. The service is poor resulting in outages that adversely affect their customer relationships and with that favor of the local government regulators. Rates have risen sharply in recent years and to restart their own locate departments is far too costly. Plus their old locators are now retired or hold positions within the company that they are not willing to leave to go back to locating. Many want to bring locating back in-house locating but are pressured not to spend the money needed.

The contract locating industry is being squeezed from inside the industry and from outside. The utility firms are pressured to accept the lowest bid resulting in locate firms not being able to provide a safe level of service and still make a profit. The inside pressure is from the structure of today's locating firms. Today we are in most cases far from the start up locate firms of the 1970s. Many of the pioneers in this industry have long been owned by other firms. These other firms are often groups of investors with no real ties to the locating industry, just stockholders. So they are pressured to demand greater and greater profits from the locate firms they own and this means cutting costs which means cutting quality of service.

The contract locate industry is now "close to the edge" and if the utility companies ever figure out the solution (there is one and I am not going to state it here, they are listening) then we could fade out over the next ten years.

**6feetunder** · June 5th, 2010, 09:55 AM

Originally Posted by pipehorn king

I've been contract locating going on 10 years now. I have seen and been through so much change in the industry. The past couple of years have been too much. More work less pay. Demanding more from techs, taking away pay, charging to home garage trucks, gps, idle time, safety, etc... I'm tired of being pushed to the brink. Never getting a phone call saying "Good job" on having no damges and busting my ass everyday. Only phone calls about, your truck has idled over the limit or questions about why I was here or there. Management has lost touch with what us techs go through in the field. Everyday i come to work. I hate my job more and more. I've already hit the wall and theres no turning back. I feel I will quit or get fired soon. I just don't give a damn anymore. Whats the point.They make work harder and harder each year with no extra pay. I'm not the only one feeling this way. There are a lot of techs out there with one foot out of the door/

You hit it right. Every year it's like what's next, what will they take this year or what new expectations will be put on us. They have taken away all incentives to go above and beyond like they expect from us, but as a result all they have now is a bunch of worker drones going through the motions that will eventually die one way or another from lack of motivation. Let's face it, for most people just getting your standard pay is not enough to deal with constant interrogations and abuse that we are being put through.

**big boots mcghee** · June 5th, 2010, 10:05 AM

Are we close to the edge? I'd say so, and I'd say there's a number of guys that are about to be pushed over that edge very soon. On top of all the incentives that have been taken away in recent years, all of the new policies & procedures that have been implemented, all of the equipment and fleet issues, etc., the one thing that guys could count on year in and year out - overtime - is being compromised as well. The one thing that has made this job worth it for me over the years is the fact that overtime was unlimited during dig season. Now? If guys can't produce or hit their daily goals then their entire crews are being restricted to 8 hour work days and no weekend work, regardless of how much work there is.

**ProfessionalLocator** · June 5th, 2010, 10:13 AM

Originally Posted by big boots mcghee

Are we close to the edge? I'd say so, and I'd say there's a number of guys that are about to be pushed over that edge very soon. On top of all the incentives that have been taken away in recent years, all of the new policies & procedures that have been implemented, all of the equipment and fleet issues, etc., the one thing that guys could count on year in and year out - overtime - is being compromised as well. The one thing that has made this job worth it for me over the years is the fact that overtime was unlimited during dig season. Now? If guys can't produce or hit their daily goals then their entire crews are being restricted to 8 hour work days and no weekend work, regardless of how much work there is.

I have seen this no overtime rule imposed many times. It is done for many reasons but only lasts until the utility company finds the locate firm is not performing the contract. There is no clause that says the locate firm will only do the tickets if it feels it gets enough profit. Actions like this are a breach of contract and enough for the utility firm to dismiss the locate firm.
Of course this happens in many of the locate firms and the utility companies feel they have no place else to go for service, the next firm will just do the same thing.

**Shadowcat** · June 5th, 2010, 03:24 PM

Originally Posted by big boots mcghee

Are we close to the edge? I'd say so, and I'd say there's a number of guys that are about to be pushed over that edge very soon. On top of all the incentives that have been taken away in recent years, all of the new policies & procedures that have been implemented, all of the equipment and fleet issues, etc., the one thing that guys could count on year in and year out - overtime - is being compromised as well. The one thing that has made this job worth it for me over the years is the fact that overtime was unlimited during dig season. Now? If guys can't produce or hit their daily goals then their entire crews are being restricted to 8 hour work days and no weekend work, regardless of how much work there is.

Sounds like another corporate asshole that needs to get out here and locate a few projects with us. Sadly we still have projects that need to be done during the dig season. Some of these projects are just bastards, some of them it takes me half a day to just mark up a couple blocks. This is mostly due to the amount of crap in the ground here in KCMO. Not to mention that not all of this shit tones or has correct records....i.e. MGE gas lines.

I say to hell with them. Eventually they'll quit that crap restriction on overtime when 60 percent of your tickets are past due, contractors are calling them and not you ( this works well at USIC. Explain to the contractor what crap is happening, then give them your DM's number and have him direct his anger toward the DM and not you), and customers threating to go to another locating company it OTP is not at a certain percent.

Hang in there....eventually that restriction will go by the wayside, then you get to cleanup all the past dues. That'll be when you rape them on overtime. This sounds like a Rick Henry thing that is going on, this guy tried the same shit a couple years ago and it didn't work then either.

**big boots mcghee** · June 5th, 2010, 03:45 PM

Originally Posted by Shadowcat

Sounds like another corporate asshole that needs to get out here and locate a few projects with us. Sadly we still have projects that need to be done during the dig season. Some of these projects are just bastards, some of them it takes me half a day to just mark up a couple blocks. This is mostly due to the amount of crap in the ground here in KCMO. Not to mention that not all of this shit tones or has correct records....i.e. MGE gas lines.

I say to hell with them. Eventually they'll quit that crap restriction on overtime when 60 percent of your tickets are past due, contractors are calling them and not you ( this works well at USIC. Explain to the contractor what crap is happening, then give them your DM's number and have him direct his anger toward the DM and not you), and customers threating to go to another locating company it OTP is not at a certain percent.

Hang in there....eventually that restriction will go by the wayside, then you get to cleanup all the past dues. That'll be when you rape them on overtime. This sounds like a Rick Henry thing that is going on, this guy tried the same shit a couple years ago and it didn't work then either.

The crews to my immediate east and west are on overtime restrictions. Mine (thankfully) is not restricted, but that's only because we exceed the productivity expectations, and it isn't because guys on my crew work twice as hard and churn out great numbers. A few guys I work with are still doing low profile tickets the old school way. For now it gets us over the hump and allows us to continue to get decent hours, but gps is is right around the corner and the guys putting up the great numbers will soon be exposed.

I am not too worried about the hours restrictions regardless. The work will dictate how many hours we absolutely need to work, and like you said, if there's too many late tickets a couple of irate contractor phone calls will help necessate some changes.