Construction Driving - I Need To Bounce Another Idea Off You Guys...

What about a successful, rather large, family-owned asphalt/sand/construction company that's looking for a scale operator? I couldn't drive one of their trucks (side-dumps, bellys, ends) right away because they want to see 1 year of driving experience first. However ...

Here's what happened. I called and asked if they were looking for drivers. Yes. I started speaking with the recruiter and we clicked. Would I be interested in working as a scale operator, at least for a while? Yes. (I said yes, cause, well, right now I'm unemployed, right?) But here's the thing: This company prefers to hire and promote from within. If I worked with them now, learned the job, did really well, kept my CDL w/endorsements, she said I could start pushing towards driving for them after 6 months in the scale operator position. Certainly, in the yard and in their quarry, I could drive when they needed, ...I dunno'.

Here are some benefits that I see.

*I can't go OTR for a couple of years, anyway. I need a local, Denver-ish job because I still have to be here for kiddos.

*I care about company loyalty and really like this company's good reputation around Denver.

*I've seen their work and their process. They're bad-ass. They'll show up with 12 side-dumps full of asphalt and whatever, all other machines ready too, at 7:00am for a 1-mile stretch of road and get it all done in no time.

*I really like their trucks - Macks and Kenworths ..and they're always clean-looking. Pretty impressive for construction.

*I'd rather (eventually) drive side- and belly-dumps than freight.

What are your thoughts on this kind of job and the potential for pursuing construction driving? The way I see it, with a local freight company, I'd be doing a heck-of-a-lot of dock work, anyway, before I drove full time.

See where I'm comin' from? Do you think there would be a way to work that into a written agreement in a contract whereby they'd write a job description but also put it into the language that they'd need me to move trucks around and start transitioning into full-time driving?

I dunno'... I think the company itself sounds like a winning-attitude-type of place to work...

What kinds of things do I need to think about, here?

-mountain girl

Well, sounds like what you were looking for, minus the scale operator thing. It never hurts to give it a shot and hopefully they will honor an agreement with you and have you driving in 6 months! I say go for it.

Well, sounds like what you were looking for, minus the scale operator thing. It never hurts to give it a shot and hopefully they will honor an agreement with you and have you driving in 6 months! I say go for it.

-RT

K.... (nodding head. smiling. evil grin.)

-mountain girl

I agree , go for it and see what comes of it, you could see if they will put it into a job description (driving) but If you are taken by the compny as it is, why no trust them? Best Luck to you MG

I agree , go for it and see what comes of it, you could see if they will put it into a job description (driving) but If you are taken by the compny as it is, why no trust them? Best Luck to you MG

-MRC

Yeahhhhh. That's kinda' what I was thinking. I've had a little damage done in the past month. It would be cool to kind of re-start, get some work/trust time in. See if they'd hire me as a combination of both so that I could do a little driving around if things got slower but let them know through my work ethic that I'm a team player ... It would seem as though a company that's not huge, nation-wide might have a little room for some creativity ...

-mountain girl

I currently work for biggish construction company, we do lots of asphalt out of our plant for ourselves, city, county and DoT along with other companies and landscapers, and we have a big yard for various road building materials, sand, gravel, different sizes etc.

And here are my thoughts. Scale operators I know are all fat, they sit on their butts all day and get zero exercise at their job. ( I'm not saying all scale operators are fat but all the ones I know are!) In order for you to become a driver here 2 things would need to happen. One, they would need to have someone else to run the scale in order for you to be away from it to drive. And two, there would need to be an opening or at least an available truck for you to drive.

So while they may say you can do both it can only happen if one and two are met. However a job is a job and you would probably learn a lot about trucking just being around all the trucks and drivers. You will need a short class to get scale certification, but its easy. If you like sitting on your butt all day chatting with truck drivers and answering the phone and quoting the price of base-course 20 times a day, then it might be for you. I'm not trying to dissuade you, but I am calling it like I see it, here where I work.

I took this job I am doing now to get some experience and make some money, and you may be in somewhat the same boat as I am. So if you take the job my advice is to think of it as solely the scale operator job, and not get your hopes up too much about driving for them until you see how it plays out.

Phil

Well, sounds like what you were looking for, minus the scale operator thing. It never hurts to give it a shot and hopefully they will honor an agreement with you and have you driving in 6 months! I say go for it.

-RT

K.... (nodding head. smiling. evil grin.)

-mountain girl

Mountain Girl, I was going to mention Phil to you because he and I have talked before and I knew he worked in a similar type situation. I kind of agree with him on not getting your hopes up too high for a driving position to become available, but you don't have to get fat! Listen, we all have to put beans on the table and you've got kids you are still raising, so do what you got to do.

Construction is winding down right now and 6 months from now it will just be starting.if you notice all the equipment that I haul that is all for road construction jobs all that equipment has to get there somehow. I think you should go for it those road construction companies get a lot of overtime and if you happen to be on specific road projects you will receive Davis Bacon wages

Taking all of what you guys said into account: I promise, no matter what, I won't get fat. ...And ....Nooooo. I don't like sitting on my butt all day. I like climbing in and out of the truck, and you guys know I love driving these things. That said, watching all the trucks come and go without me, might be a bit rough on my psyche.

1) They are hiring drivers but they're looking for drivers with at least a year's worth of tractor-trailer experience. The recruiter also said that they'd want me to keep all my license and endorsements up-to-date because they promote from within and after 6 months, I could formally apply for a driving position, again.

2) Between December and the end of February, the construction work is sparse but they spend most of that time on preventative maintenance, getting ready for the next season. I'd be doing less weighing and maybe? some driving around?

Pat, are you saying that during that time they might need me to help move the heavy equipment, say, on a low-boy or regular flatbed? (Evil grin. Sounds like fun)

-mountain girl