Work orders....who gets them, who gives them?

Friendlytree

Friendlytree

Location
Bangor, PA
I am looking for info on work orders. If you give them out, how does it go? Just hand them to the crew and say go? Do you map them out, have gps in trucks, pictures or maps on the work order of the property? How detailed do you get on the orders?

If you get orders handed to you, tell me what you like and don't about them. How can they be imporoved or do without?

Any info would be great, or if you have copies of work orders to post that would help. I use a word doc now for work orders, proposals, and invoices.
 
I give them - obvious basic info like name & address, we use gps, but any variations are noted (ie truck routes). I use a basic map - hand drawn - with locations and species - removal or prune and specs on type of pruning & cleanup. We also include pictures taken on site when the estimate is done. We also note any septic, hydro etc on the wo. we get as specific as we can, I also generally chat about any of the more difficult jobs with crew before they go out. hope this helps.
 
Basic address info, name of client, hand drawn site plan with trees marked. Written instructions pertaining to the work and equipment required.

Since we don't have GPS in the trucks, what I'd like to see is closest intersection and whether the site is north, south, east or west of it.
 
I do them for the utility I work for, over a hundred a week sometimes. Gives address, contact info, when we contacted them. Has a section for notes, a section for the work and an area for a diagram if needed. Trees are usually marked with a small dot for trims and easily seen red dot for removals. Work is given with a map of the area and has the job numbers on the map to help with routing and efficiency. Do use GPS at times.
 
We use a combination of google maps/google calendar on smart phones. It really is the cats meow. No paper, incorporate photos, tool lists, work prescriptions, use geotagging via gps and all that good stuff. Very efficient and intuitive so long as the networks are up.
 
Our work orders for the municipality are pretty straight forward. The date, address, name of complainant if any, telephone number etc. We have a basic column that has check boxes to what type of work: pruning, removal, stump grinding, planting, root pruning etc. Then there is a larger box for specifics, type of tree, type of pruning, notes on job.

If there is any chance of there being confusion (which there usually is), I print out my photos I took of the tree(s) when I did my initial site visit, mark on the photos the work that needs to be done and notes, and then sometimes print out a google map if the tree is in a weird area without a specific address (park or garden etc.). There are several sheets to tear away, and they get filed and logged so we can go back and check to make sure it was closed out. Hope that helps.

Oh, and one thing I would like to change about the workorders is to have one workorder for an entire project. Right now we have one work order to remove, one to plant, and then sometimes another to inspect. It would be nice to come up with a system to put it all on the same work order.

jp
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I do a little with work orders. Being a sub i see several different types and write my own from time to time if I am setting up work as a consultant.

I hate when they say "trim tree". What was sold to the HO, is it clearance work or a fine prune?

Many of us use key words to let the crew know what is expected; trim means you are going against growth patterns to trim away from a structure or adjacent plant, where prune means you work with the way the trees grow.

"Fine deadwood & thin" is a high cost nit-picking crown-clean then scale back to 1/2 inch, 3/4in and hazard deadwood. With each less thinning is done to decrease the amount of debris to process. Hazard DW is mostly a low cost minimalistic job with any green mass removal specified in the W/O. E.G. "Haz.DW & prun low limb over house to reduce, light trim away from spruce"

I like to see estimated man hours so the crew knows what is expected.
 
You beat me to it Paul. The reason we have A-300 is so that anyone supposedly, can bid and perform the work to the customers satisfaction. This obviously means training the sales person and the crew foreman to be thinking on the same page and should allow the competitive bid process to work equally with all bidders. When I was in business, I would get frosted when I spent my time with the HO explaining exactly what we could and would do and the next guy would come in, tear up the trees and smash all the plants under it. Generally I'm not one for a lot of government regulation, but this may be one area that could use a little as far as company competency.
 
I am a contract climber in the Portland area. One of the tree services I regularly work for uses work orders for their jobs. Those work orders are one of the things that frustrates me most about working for this company. They are very vague and often have ID wrong. The other day I was supposed to prune a very large Chinese elm in a backyard. The workorder was scribbled on a piece of paper and just said "prune ash tree." There was no description of how long I was supposed to spend on the tree or how detailed I was supposed to go. I ended up doing a very detailed prune and a bit of elevation that the customer wanted because the work order didn't tell me not to. It turned out to be fine that I did that, but just imagine if it was only bid for 2 hours of work when I spent 5 hours doing it. Having a detailed work order can be the difference between a job making or losing money just for that reason.

Knowing how gentle to go on a yard can also be important for removal jobs. Yesterday I was told I could be hard on a front lawn because the customer wanted to save money. If I had blocked the tree down instead of dropping it on the lawn it would have been slower and thus less profitable. Those kind of things need to be written down to make the crew more efficient and effective on a job. When you are doing something with confidence you usually do it faster than if you are unsure of yourself.

What I like to see on a work order is an address, a detailed list of all plants to be worked on (ie: large maple, ne corner of yard), and a detailed description of what exactly the work entails.
 
Thank you for all the info so far. All the basic stuff you guys said are on my proposals and work orders. I write very detailed descriptions of the work pretty much to the A300 standards. I guess I'm just still nervous about handing my guys a work order and saying go do it. If I can't be around for the day, I usally go to the job walk through it and then leave todo what I have to. But this is alot of my time wasted todo this. I know my guys can handle this, but it is more I worry something will not go right, I am a very detailed person.

I like the ideas of using pictures of the trees or property, I have always thought this would be a great idea but have not done it.

I will send my guys out with a work order on properties that we always work on and they know already.

I guess the biggest thing is me letting go and trusting everything will go fine.
 
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