Working for Asplundh

I never have, but my boss did for nearly a decade. These are my takeaways and perception of it all, to be taken with a grain of salt:

The pay for a journeyman is on par with the average climber pay in these parts, and he said there were decent benefits too, and 401k retirement. He was in the IBEW union.

I've gathered that there is a big difference between hourly crews and contract crews. Hourly crews operate out of the same "home base" whereas contract crews are working wherever their awarded contract span is. Could be 10 minutes from home, could be 2 hours from home. Hourly crews get more overtime for storm work, etc from what he has told me. Hourly crews seem to be doing predominantly removals, while the contact crews are doing mostly line clearance "trimming."

Based on what he has told me and what I have seen from the local crews, including a couple guys I am friends with locally, the culture is a mix. Our local hourly crews are great, humble guys that get the job done efficiently and safely. They act professionally and are great representatives of their company. I have also come to learn that there is much "bravado" within some crews, which really isn't much different than any tree service. No matter where you look in this field, there will always be that one chest pounding, I'm faster than you, I don't need to tie in twice, that's for p×$$!es type. FWIW, around here at least, they are spur climbing prunes, so if that's a moral dilemma for you then look elsewhere, but honestly I think that's line clearance as a whole.

My boss can rig anything, I am confident about that. Years of managing overhanging limbs over the lines and roadways, whether climbing or in the bucket, has instilled a great deal of rigging knowledge and confidence.

I know it's not first hand knowledge but I hope that helps a bit.
 
thank you for your thoughts on the subject hit a couple nails on the head lol I spent a year doing line clearance work out here in the Bay Area but have spend the majority of time in the res world (currently) was trying to put out some feelers cause we’re thinking about moving on line clearance seems to be the ticket in the area we are headed interesting about the contract/hourly guys though again thanks dude!
 
I don’t blame you that’s ridiculous I’ve spoke with the outfit out there and the wages were surprisingly really good non union state as well over here the utility guys are represented under 1245 and the wages are very good but nothing their is ran like a good union shop it was the most scabby shit I ever seen in my life but no one really cared I had coke from a brief UA plumbers local so I thought I was Norma Rae in there
 
This is based on observation of quality of work.

It really depends on the crew. Around here I every once and a while see some good line clearance work, and always think to my shelf “ahh the fill in crew musta showed up”. That’s because the vast majority I see in my area is utter shit.
When I go to Seattle I see much better work! I don’t know if it’s serviced by asplund or not. I’d also imagine the number of complaints would be off the charts if what they were doing isn’t defendable. I can also imagine that the lower quality guys would get pushed out into the rural margins
 
That’s seems to be what I hear from the majority about line crews lol @ evo I saw a lot of that when I was in line clearance here at home the one thing I’m optimistic about is from what I learned here with real treeman new age and old I think I could get out on an average line clear and just slay a tree count again my observations I can’t speak of every crew out there but the ones I was with no one had throw line couldn’t ropewalk couldn’t roll a flip line (yet stabbed everything they climbed) so if we got to a tree that was 32” plus everyone was pretty much dead in the water a bit of track I know just saying

Edit: I’m not trying to make my thread a bash line clearance I was just venting I guess it was a very unpleasant experince I had there not the place to learn very glad I bounced when I did
 
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Jackohh1412 said:
That’s seems to be what I hear from the majority about line crews lol @ evo I saw a lot of that when I was in line clearance here at home the one thing I’m optimistic about is from what I learned here with real treeman new age and old I think I could get out on an average line clear and just slay a tree count again my observations I can’t speak of every crew out there but the ones I was with no one had throw line couldn’t ropewalk couldn’t roll a flip line (yet stabbed everything they climbed) so if we got to a tree that was 32” plus everyone was pretty much dead in the water a bit of track I know just saying

Edit: I’m not trying to make my thread a bash line clearance I was just venting I guess it was a very unpleasant experince I had there not the place to learn very glad I bounced when I did
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My understanding is asplund is the largest tree company in the world. And if your that big it must have some good crews that did right by the trees.
 
I inquired about a job with them once. Their wages weren’t anything special. They will hire just about anybody, your daily hotel allowance only affords enough to share a cheap room with multiple crew members, and the daily food stipend doesn’t afford you much either. I asked the recruiters in the town about average costs of meals, and hotel rooms….. they were much more than what asplunder offered for road gigs. I asked them if they (the recruiters) would enjoy sharing hotel rooms full time, and eating cheap meals out full time… They agreed they wouldn’t…..I’ve also been told stories of them keeping the cheapest equipment available on trucks to prevent thefts from staff.
 
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I worked for them for one day as a fill in on a crew. Cold ass day in late January, busted butt all day hoping to get offered a full time slot. Other crew guy put the chainsaw behind the chipper curtain (old chuck n duck). I chipped the chainsaw, or rather most of it and got blamed for it. Never given any further consideration for FT position. Probably for the best anyway.
 
I worked for Asplundh in Washington as a union journeyman. It's got it's good and bads. There's the silly politics of things, the overbearing corporate structure, the lazy dogs who get by doing the bare minimum because the contract protects them.

There are also some fantastic opportunities with them. Our local was one of the highest paid, so we made a healthy living without storm work. Like others have said, some of the trimmers are jokers and some take pride in doing things right. If you work on Avista lines in Washington, you'd better try to make good cuts and present them with a good image because your work will be audited.

Some of the most talented climbers I've met have been Asplundh climbers. You'll become a gangster on spikes. They get dogged about that, and some contracts are moving towards a higher acceptance of rope climbing. A big reason you spike most climbs is safety and efficiency. Again, modern innovations in climbing are changing that but some of the old guys are die hards.

Some days you could be in the woods doing cross country spans, some days you could be running some cool equipment (like giraffes or logjacks), and some days you could be working on grannies prized backyard beech tree with a buried single phase.

They have a decent training program in the Midwest. It's one of only a handful that you actually go to college while you're training. You also can challenge the test. If you are a b rank climber, you might think about challenging it. If you are not the most comfortable in a tree, take the apprenticeship. It's two years, you still get paid well, and you will learn the confidence needed to keep you from killing yourself.

You'll have to do sketchy shit sometimes. Reaching through a primary, despite MAD, is common. The lines never get shut off. You're working hot always. But it's thrilling and varied work. It has purpose and a lot of opportunity. I loved it. Despite me starting in private side arb, I really enjoyed it. A lot less dealing with yuppy customers and just getting work done. I also worked with some of the top crews. We'd go hammer our work out (often times unit count) and relax the rest of the day.

If you've got more questions reach out. Depending on where you are it could be worth it. The very worst part was them taking our top handles away. Literally the worst. But I'd be happy to answer questions.

Climb on,

Brandon
 
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