Graders payed more?

[Jimothy]

Motor grader operators get payed more then other machinery or is that a myth? I know that is highly subjective just have an chance to learn On an older machine wouldn’t be getting paid and will be painful I’ve used some ancient stuff before and sometimes figuring out each machines quirks can be detrimental to learning haha

 

[skyking1]

I'm a union operator, when I go out I get a negotiated rate when i get there. That does not mean I can't negotiate for a higher rate, that dispatch rate is a minimum I have done that before, when I had to run a big job from the seat of a hoe.
I know that a fast and efficient blade hand can make a development job go well. It would not surprise me that a hot hand could negotiate a good rate.

 

[ovrszd]

A brand new machine is worthless without a good operator.

An old worn out machine is priceless with a good operator.

So, for me, the operator is worth more than the machine.

 

[20/80]

Motor grader operators get payed more then other machinery or is that a myth? I know that is highly subjective just have an chance to learn On an older machine wouldn’t be getting paid and will be painful I’ve used some ancient stuff before and sometimes figuring out each machines quirks can be detrimental to learning haha

This can be a tricky question, A experienced operator on a blade is worth their weight in gold and can save a contractor thousands with little to no headache's so his rate of pay should reflect that, but in my department the rate is the same whether you can operate a blade properly or not, as long as you pass the grader test you are suppose to be able operate and do the tasks that are asked of you, the grader test today in my department as long as you can show that you have a pulse you will pass. that so called new blade operator gets the same rate as me were I have been operating a blade going on 20 years, Some new blade operators in my department I would not let them operate a wheel barrel, but they get the same rate, personally I don't think its right, and what really bothers me is when i'm asked to clean up their mess.

 

[Jimothy]

Just because your pay check says “operator” doesn’t make you one you have to be at a certain level of efficiency

 

[20/80]

Just because your pay check says “operator” doesn’t make you one you have to be at a certain level of efficiency

Yes, that's the way it is today, but when I was trained as a grader operator there was 6 tests that you had to score 80% to meet the departments level of efficiency to qualify as a new grader operator, then you had to operate on your own for 6-8 months then your final evaluation then test, if you scored lower then 80% in any of the tests you were out, today there's one short test, the skill level of a new grader operator in our department today is next to nothing, we have alot of new bad attitude no pride grader operators today, this new level of testing does not weed them out.

 

[ovrszd]

This analogy applies regardless of the noun used to identify the talent.

 

[skyking1]

I think it takes a different set of skills to be good at road maintenance and upkeep, versus doing new road and development work reading stakes ahead of a paving crew.
Either one takes years of experience to be good at.

 

[crane operator]

If I remember right from the old union scale wages, grader was its own category of operator, and right at the top of the scale.

 

[John C.]

I haven't seen a scale page since the seventies. Maybe someone has access to a union hall that splits up the type of operators somewhere.

 

[skyking1]

some highlights of the classifications on the 2018~2021 Local 612 contract:
Group Iaaa
tower cranes over 250'
Friction cranes 200 tons or more
group Iaa
tower cranes 175 to 250'
shovel, excavator 90 metric tons or more
Group Ia
tower cranes up to 175'
Loader overhead 8 yards and higher
shovel, excavator 50 tons to 90 tons

Group I
Motor patrol graders
cranes 45 through 99 tons
loader over 6 yards but not including 8 yards
shovel, excavator over 30 up to 50 tons
Dozer quad 9, HD41, D10 or larger
Group II
cranes 20 tons through 44 tons
shovel, excavator 15 tons through 30 tons
Dozer D9 and under
Group III
Shovel, Excavator under 15 tons

There are many more categories under the lower groups, but the top 3 are mostly crane operators.

From group III to the top scale it is a little over $3 difference. Not that much really.

 

[Steve Favia]

I haven't seen a scale page since the seventies. Maybe someone has access to a union hall that splits up the type of operators somewhere.

Local150 Chicagoland area,motor graders are class 1 along with hydraulic backhoe’s,cranes,combinations with rear bucket bigger than 1 yard or with attachments,concrete conveyor’s,pavers just to name a few.6/1/21 scale,$51.80 plus $45.85 fringes plenty of work coming this year,especially for crane and backhoe hands had to permit in quite a few last year the district halls were pretty much empty,gonna be even more this year with all the work this season.

 

[cuttin edge]

Depends on where you work. I know the government rate for my grader is highest when I am fine grading for asphalt, but I don't get anymore money, but on the other hand, they pay me my grader wage to drive truck so.... Finish grade operators are hard to find. Some guys can grade for miles without a ripple, but can't follow a set out profile for a new road surface. GPS systems can do this efficiently , but they are costly. I am sure a good grade control system is a lot cheaper now, but I remember a company paying almost $100,000 over the price of the new grader years ago. A good crane operator is a high paying job, and mostly union. Wages here in New Brunswick are not as high as in Alberta, but oil money is big money. Best hope for good money on a grader is mining, or oil work. If you can fine grade, a paving company is your best bet. There are road mainainence gigs that can pay good as well, but your money is in big projects that make big money.

 

[cuttin edge]

Motor grader operators get payed more then other machinery or is that a myth? I know that is highly subjective just have an chance to learn On an older machine wouldn’t be getting paid and will be painful I’ve used some ancient stuff before and sometimes figuring out each machines quirks can be detrimental to learning haha

Depends on you definition of ancient. My Volvo grader is a 2011. They bought it new, and it has around 5000 hours. To me it is new compaired to what I have driven before. A 20 something year old has taken it a few times in hopes of turning him into a fine grade man. He was telling me how they sent him on a job on that old Volvo

 

[Jimothy]

Depends on you definition of ancient. My Volvo grader is a 2011. They bought it new, and it has around 5000 hours. To me it is new compaired to what I have driven before. A 20 something year old has taken it a few times in hopes of turning him into a fine grade man. He was telling me how they sent him on a job on that old Volvo

I believe this is 1970s gallion, or champion paint is decent and the man threw a new cutting edge on it but certain things arnt plugged in anymore haha

 

[skyking1]

Finish grade operators are hard to find

We can just leave it at that. True statement!

 

[cuttin edge]

We can just leave it at that. True statement!

It's something you have to stay at to. We don't do as many road jobs as we used to. Did one this summer, and found myself really rusty, and the inspector wanted the string inside the line, not just touching it.

 

[skyking1]

That is the thing. Some equipment you can just hop on and the old skills well up out of nowhere and you are doing a decent job in a day or so. That's not going to happen with running a grader.

 

[Tinkerer]

Welcome to HEF, Jimothy !
Interesting pipe terminations in your avatar photo.

 

[ovrszd]

That is the thing. Some equipment you can just hop on and the old skills well up out of nowhere and you are doing a decent job in a day or so. That's not going to happen with running a grader.

My philosophy has always been "when you quit learning something new on a Grader you are no longer an operator".