anybody here a crane operator?

[eastcoast]

I have recently become injured at work and this was brought to my attention that this may be something I can do going forward,I have 10 years truck driving of basically every combination of trucks,and the last 5 years operating equipment and driving a lowboy hauling equipment,unfortunately for me this is a relatively hard and physical job and I may not be able to go back to it after this injury and possible surgery and recovery because of the chance to re injure etc,so wcb is looking into a career change for me and this is one I have always looked at,I guess my question is what kind of wages can a guy expect/type of work/how long to be a journeymen mobile crane operator/benefits/union vs non union and anything else you guys can think of would be a great help to me.

[SinisteR]

I am a crane operator and will answer what I can. I work on the union side of things and the wages can be as low as $29/hour to as high as $55+/h. It all depends on what kind of crane you are running on what collective agreement.

The average guy will probably earn somewhere between $36-$42/hour. It is a 3 year apprenticeship. 1st years earn 70% of journeyman wage, 2nd 80%, 3rd 90%.

There are physical demands involved with the job. An operator is responsible for assembling and maintaining his crane. This can be easy if you are running a small Rough Terrain crane in a site with lots of riggers. It can be very demanding at times if you are running a crawler that needs to be pounded together with sledge hammers and miles of heavy cable pulled. Taxi work can also be very tough as you have to continually set your crane up on sites and then make it ready to travel on the road, sometimes multiple times a day, usually with little or no help.

Depending on your injury it may also not be good as you can be stuck in an often uncomfortable cab/seat for very long stretches and not have anyone able to relieve you. Also many cranes are awkward to get in and out of the cabs if flexibility or climbing is an issue.

I am not gonna start a debate here about the whole union/non union thing. Both probably have pluses and minuses. I'm sure there are good and bad companies to work for on both sides and both have some good opportunities.

That said most of the large heavy lifting in Alberta is handled by union companies. They have most of the very large iron. They also have a lot of the larger heavy taxi fleets.

The non union side has a lot of the small construction yards, fab shops, and boom trucks.

Depends what kind of work you are after.

The benefits include a cab that usually keeps you warm and dry.

The downsides are that it is one of the few jobs where you can be held directly liable for any accidents or injuries that occur during a lift since the operator is the one who is ultimately responsible for every aspect of his crane and lift. If a rigger rigs something wrong and it falls out of the sky, its your fault. If a signalman gives you a bad signal and something happens, its your fault. You will be going to court and are able to be sued directly, unlike most other trades where the company and supervision is where the heat usually is since they are responsible for the workers.

There is a lot more to it as with everything in life but hopefully that gets some of your questions answered.

[BC HUNTER]

As a retired op of 30+ yrs it is a great job if you can take stress,boredom,
hard phisical work at times, getting rigged at times with a swamper that is
dumber than than the cable he is hooking up! I would go back to it in sec as
I loved the chalenge of being on the edge at times.

[eastcoast]

Originally Posted by SinisteR

I am a crane operator and will answer what I can. I work on the union side of things and the wages can be as low as $29/hour to as high as $55+/h. It all depends on what kind of crane you are running on what collective agreement.

The average guy will probably earn somewhere between $36-$42/hour. It is a 3 year apprenticeship. 1st years earn 70% of journeyman wage, 2nd 80%, 3rd 90%.

There are physical demands involved with the job. An operator is responsible for assembling and maintaining his crane. This can be easy if you are running a small Rough Terrain crane in a site with lots of riggers. It can be very demanding at times if you are running a crawler that needs to be pounded together with sledge hammers and miles of heavy cable pulled. Taxi work can also be very tough as you have to continually set your crane up on sites and then make it ready to travel on the road, sometimes multiple times a day, usually with little or no help.

Depending on your injury it may also not be good as you can be stuck in an often uncomfortable cab/seat for very long stretches and not have anyone able to relieve you. Also many cranes are awkward to get in and out of the cabs if flexibility or climbing is an issue.

I am not gonna start a debate here about the whole union/non union thing. Both probably have pluses and minuses. I'm sure there are good and bad companies to work for on both sides and both have some good opportunities.

That said most of the large heavy lifting in Alberta is handled by union companies. They have most of the very large iron. They also have a lot of the larger heavy taxi fleets.

The non union side has a lot of the small construction yards, fab shops, and boom trucks.

Depends what kind of work you are after.

The benefits include a cab that usually keeps you warm and dry.

The downsides are that it is one of the few jobs where you can be held directly liable for any accidents or injuries that occur during a lift since the operator is the one who is ultimately responsible for every aspect of his crane and lift. If a rigger rigs something wrong and it falls out of the sky, its your fault. If a signalman gives you a bad signal and something happens, its your fault. You will be going to court and are able to be sued directly, unlike most other trades where the company and supervision is where the heat usually is since they are responsible for the workers.

There is a lot more to it as with everything in life but hopefully that gets some of your questions answered.

thanks for the info I have been doing some research lately and this job profile has been coming up again and again as something I can do as an alternative,and this may be just the "start" I have been looking for,not saying it's good that I have an injury but might as well make good from the bad,I have a shoulder injury and will likely have to get surgery in a few months it's not totally shot but I have been put from very heavy work down to medium-light work,it's my non dominant arm and I can find ways around it but I know I can't go back to what I was doing before and I don't want to take a step backwards in pay or anything else,I have worked around cranes in the past doing shutdowns and always had an interest in them just didn't know where to start,I have a few other things to check out but this one is my favorite so far.

[silver]

I think some of the advice you have been given is quite good. Ten tears ago, at age 45, I figured a career change was in order. I have done my share of rigging, and run picker. Picker is o.k. but you are out in the weather and I got tired of frost bite. Getting into a crane can be tough because every body wants to be in there. Having WCB on your side might help, I havent had much luck with them. This is a trade that I should be able to work at into my seventies. There is alot of grey hair in crane cabs these days, and retirements are coming up,so there will be job vacancies. I must say ,it is the best job out there. Good luck

[u_cant_rope_the_wind]

I have to agree wth every word SinisteR said as I to used to opr cranes I was in the pileing buissnes, worked at the time they were called western caissons now known as AGRA i worked 18 years there, started out as a common labourer then an oiler then a rigger then an operaror, on both the drill machines and the cranes, and evry word that SinisteR said is very true

[silver]

I forgot to mention this part, a couple of years ago I was making $37 an hour plus another $5 an hour job retention bonus. So , here after the crash I have got the hourly back but I am still waiting for the retention bonus. Good luck.