Seeking a Ground Worker/Truck Driver

[Mellow]

Near Tampa, Florida. Must have a Class B CDL. $15 to $20 an hour to start. No tree experience necessary; will train.

 

[FireFighterZero]

I think i would have made a good ground man.

 

[cory]

Agreed.

Strong, smart, mechanical, hard working, irreverent. You tick all the boxes.

FL maybe too hot for you.

 

[treebilly]

Jim would make a good ground man, but I think he would be more valuable as a mechanic that occasionally pulls sticks.

 

[MasterBlaster]

You would not make it as a ground hand, Jim.

Like that would ever happen, lol! You already have it made!

 

[SkwerI]

McDonalds pays $15 per hour and they work in air conditioning without a Class B. Unemployment is less than 4% so your pool of potential employees is mighty small and quite dingy. Good luck.

 

[MasterBlaster]

And Mcdonalds is easy, IME.

 

[Stumpshot]

To put it in perspective, city arbs here pull $18-25/hr, no CDL necessary, but definitely a plus. And our cost of living is probably a good bit lower. You'll probably have to up the ante to closer to $25/hr to get a good, hard working recruit with a CDL.

 

[vharrison]

Mellow, have you tried Craigs list? I put an ad in the other day and the price is up to $ 45.00. I could not believe it, seems like yesterday I paid 8$ for an ad.

 

[SeanKroll]

I wonder about all the dedicated job sites...Monster, Indeed, whatever else that I haven't heard of? My guess is Monster was big 8 years ago, and I just don't know it.

 

[squisher]

$15/hr. is room and board included?

 

[MasterBlaster]

Haha.

 

[SeanKroll]

$15/ hour is almost double minimum wage in FL. You're looking at someone with a Class B CDL. You're lucky to get a passenger vehicle driver's license for most people willing to do ground work.

You want someone not only to drive the truck, but be responsible for not breaking the truck. I think you're going to need to go higher for quality.


Why did you lose the old one?

 

[Mellow]

I appreciate the input, even the smartass comments. You might be right about upping the ante.

My current driver/groundman is moving on to other pursuits. He's been with me almost 12 years. I think he might be burned out from the heat and hard work.

 

[Nutball]

Maybe there's a ground man somewhere looking to hire you

 

[MasterBlaster]

Whoa!

That's a whole 'nother angle!

 

[Stumpshot]

I wonder about all the dedicated job sites...Monster, Indeed, whatever else that I haven't heard of? My guess is Monster was big 8 years ago, and I just don't know it.

I was going to suggest checking out Zip Recruiter -- I hear their radio ads from time to time.

 

[Mellow]

I hired a guy; he starts on Monday. No CDL but I just figured out that its not required for our vehicles.

From the DMV website: A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles: Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.

He's an ambitious 19 year old but he's short-term since he'll be leaving for Air Force Boot Camp early next year.

 

[SkwerI]

You're just now figuring out CDL requirements? Surprising. That's usually a really big deal when buying or selling large trucks, as well as registering and insuring them.

 

[Stumpshot]

Sometimes DOT stuff is a bit of a maze; even the DOT officer that came out and walked us through an initial review wished us luck, intimating they made it so complex no one could figure it all out. We're just now realizing that we don't need to register, inspect, or license the chipper (8,000 lb.). It's towable equipment, not a trailer. Could save us $$$ per year, just that little revelation.

 

[Mellow]

You're just now figuring out CDL requirements? Surprising. That's usually a really big deal when buying or selling large trucks, as well as registering and insuring them.

I know, right? I guess after driving bucket trucks for 30+ years up until 2 years ago, I just assumed a CDL was needed for anything bigger than a pickup.

 

[Nutball]

From what I've been told, a CDL isn't needed for our chip and bucket trucks, but I always see people requiring it in employment ads. Our trucks aren't the smallest, but probably not the biggest either. I don't know though

 

[Stumpshot]

We are interstate (Kansas & Missouri) and our trucks are 33,000GVW and 60,000GVW. Our (hopefully soon) bucket truck will likely eclipse 26,000GVW, so we are firmly in CDL territory. Oops, time to go pee in a cup! At least I hear poppy seed bagels don't throw the tests anymore.

 

[SeanKroll]

From what I've been told, a CDL isn't needed for our chip and bucket trucks, but I always see people requiring it in employment ads. Our trucks aren't the smallest, but probably not the biggest either. I don't know though

Look inside the driver's door for stickers.

If you need a CDL and don't have one, you're in big trouble if stopped.

Juice-brakes?

 

[mike in pa]

FL maybe too hot for you.

Nice place to visit, but I would never want to live there.