Hi jhr, I`ll see if I can shed any insight from my perspective, hopefully it helps. When you are talking arborists and line clearance trimmers, you are talking two different animals, at least in my neck of the woods. It would be purely coincidental to have an arborist on a trimming crew, not that those skills would hurt you, but other than being able to identify species so that you know their growth rates to know how far back to trim them, most of your skills would be wasted. Having a chemical applicators license is a plus in many cases, as is having at least a class B CDL.. So now you should decide whether or not you are going to obtain actual arborists training or dispense with the formalities and immediately try to get in with a utility. A note about going right to a utility is in order. I believe that Niagara Mohawk, a National Grid subsidiary, is the only utility in the Northeast who employ there own tree trimmers. All others, including NiMo work extensively with contractors. If you were in NiMo territory and you were a contract trimmer, you can often circumvent the union rules on hiring and come right in as a trimmer, often above the starting payrate also. So I`m not saying that you can`t get on with a utility as a trimmer, just that the opportunities are very limited, but in many cases supervisors for the trimmers are hired from the contract ranks. Obviously you will need a great deal of experience and knowledge if this is your plan. All utilities that I`m aware of hire general laborers, not tree related, and you would probably be surprised to find out what they pay, so get in a utility if you can. Generally speaking, utilities pay at the topend of the scale in a given area and also have all the medical benefits and 401ks and so forth. Even with market deregulation it will take years before utilities balance the wages and benefits with outside entities performing similar work. The guy I referred to in the other post, making $30 an hour actually makes about $27 + bennys which equals about 34% in this case, medical, dental, optical, life, death and dismemberment insurance as well as company contributions to the 401k and soft benefits like paid vacation and sick time, oh yeah, 6 months full pay disability too. This is not me typing this to you, this is your subconscious mind speaking,"GO UTILITY". If you can`t at this time, try municipal, they generally have decent pay and good benefits without working themselves to death in most cases. Next I would suggest working for a clearance contractor, at least to learn the ropes well, and then you may be able to hang out your own shingle to bid against them. Be forewarned though, you will work your a$$ of as a contractor. They normally get the jobs where you can`t get a bucket in, but you will be a skilled climber, LOL. The utility guys here in NiMo country typically do the high profile stuff from the side of the road from their buckets and using shiny new equipment. A funny thing has come to my attention though about buckets, apparently more guys are freaked out from being 56' in the air in a bucket than the number bothered by spiking their way up a tree that high. It`s all perception for the most part, I have seen a few bucket trucks laying on their sides, usually down an embankment. That`s got to be an exciting ride, LOL. But you are still better off strapped in than not. If you can, get someone to let you go up in a bucket while they fly it from the ground, if you aren`t OK with it, you can stop right there before you invest too much time trying to get the job. On the other hand, if buckets and heights, up to the 105' towers, don`t bother you, see if you can get in somewhere as a line mechanic apprentice. Oh yeah almost forgot to mention high voltage, up to 345,000 volts around here, but that`s less likely to get you than a fall. There is a nationwide shortage of line mechanics with some utilities paying 10 - 20k dollar sign on bonuses and relocation expenses. Once you are a journeyman line mechanic you can expect to make in the neighborhood of 6 figures on a regular basis, and much more in a good storm year. Keep in mind that neither of the jobs I`ve mentioned is a good fit for a person who doesn`t have good safety habits and a reasonably good attention span. Sorry this was so long winded, Russ
