[DannyWilson0]

I am curious about where the best place to work is in the opinion of install/techs out there in the field. My wife and I are considering relocating and we are trying to thoroughly research all the options and possibilities. I am interested in working conditions, pay levels, workload consistency, good sups and support. I am really happy with working for Ironwood here on Maui and my bosses are great and very supportive it is just too expensive to live in Hawaii with a large family these days. I am particularly curious about the Oregon and Colorado areas but info on any area is greatly appreciated.


Currently we are getting $29/$20 1st box is counted, I am using my own truck and they pay all my gas (which is great @ $4.66/Gal for 87octane).

 

[Mertzen]

Holy crap. Here in the NYC market most independent guys get around $70/15. A bit more for Ka/Ku.

I'd say move away from that lousy pay.

 

[joe diamond]

Exactly!

Holy crap! How often to you eat? What does a week of work at that rate produce? Of course they are supportive. You are filling their pockets.

Joe

 

[DannyWilson0]

I am an employee not a sub. I am provided all neccesary equip and supplies and don't have to worry about taxes etc... prefer to stay in this realm of opperation as oppossed to becoming a subcontractor and adding all the extra load to my plate

 

[Mertzen]

Oh in that case NY and around market makes 45/12.50 after three months with company truck. I think they stopped POVs.

 

[curt8403]

perhaps the best place to work is Hawaii

 

[joe diamond]

How does that work where an employee gets a piece rate?

You come in each morning and hit a time clock.right? Then you get a route, draw boxes & other eq and drive off. You stock the truck and turn in paper work and clock out. Right?

Where does the piece rate thing come in? What is the hourly rate?

Joe

 

[2dogz]

On the directv home page, down at the bottom, click careers. There's an online form you could fill out. It says work for independent company, but D* is buying out some of these recently. Never know what might pop up.

 

[RobertE]

I am curious about where the best place to work is in the opinion of install/techs out there in the field. My wife and I are considering relocating and we are trying to thoroughly research all the options and possibilities. I am interested in working conditions, pay levels, workload consistency, good sups and support. I am really happy with working for Ironwood here on Maui and my bosses are great and very supportive it is just too expensive to live in Hawaii with a large family these days. I am particularly curious about the Oregon and Colorado areas but info on any area is greatly appreciated.

Currently we are getting $29/$20 1st box is counted, I am using my own truck and they pay all my gas (which is great @ $4.66/Gal for 87octane).

I am interested in:

Working conditions: Plan on 6 days a week, starting at roughly 8 until your done, forever. Holidays, yep you work them too. You might even get paid a little bit extra.

Pay levels: Less & less each passing day. Will vary slightly by market. Nothing you'll be able to retire off of.

Workload consistency: No

Good sups: Not really

Support: :lol:

 

[Mertzen]

How does that work where an employee gets a piece rate?

You come in each morning and hit a time clock.right? Then you get a route, draw boxes & other eq and drive off. You stock the truck and turn in paper work and clock out. Right?

Where does the piece rate thing come in? What is the hourly rate?

Joe

Most HSPs don't have hourly rates. You get payed per job. Base amount for install and then more per extra IRD, fixed amount for upgrades, service calls etc.

 

[urnote96]

Most HSPs don't have hourly rates. You get payed per job. Base amount for install and then more per extra IRD, fixed amount for upgrades, service calls etc.

i can tell you the worst for Driving is NORTH and SOUTH dakota

 

[Mertzen]

i can tell you the worst for Driving is NORTH and SOUTH dakota

No kidding. I once had 3 service calls withing a 6 block radius. 2 realignments. Easy money.

 

[DannyWilson0]

perhaps the best place to work is Hawaii

I am working in Hawaii, and it is great, but the cost of living is a bit of a drag. $1600/mth for a 3br house(and that is an unheard of deal, avg is more like$2500+), $8 gallon of milk, $4 loaf of bread, $400/mth electric etc...

I really can't expect to get as good of a deal for working conditions as I have here, we basically operate in our own world without too much oversight so long as we continue to do our jobs well. There are only 3 techs here on Maui, an island of approximately 725 square miles with a population around 150 - 200K. The only office in Hawaii is on another island and there are no supervisors, managers, et all here on Maui.

As fas as Joe's question regarding employee's and piece work.

I get my W/Os by email the evening before and we have a couple of public storage units where we keep all of our equipment. I don't punch a clock but report my times via email on a daily basis. Hours only matter when you start to hit OT. We only work 5 days a week unless we want to work more. The only thing I can grumble about working out here is the 1.2 Meter dishes we have to use, and it takes 2 of them to make a full 5lnb setup. that's a pic of them as my avatar. We do get additional labor lines on our work orders for them at $30 a pop but 2 installs is a full day. I would rather be using SWMLines and do 4 a day. the slimline kinda works out here but only gets the 99/101/103 or the 110 & 119 but not all 5

 

[gen2rx7]

Currently we are getting $29/$20 1st box is counted, I am using my own truck and they pay all my gas (which is great @ $4.66/Gal for 87octane).

I use my own truck here and get $54 for the first Ird,$20 for every other IRD, and if they are DVR's I get $5 more. KA/KU dishes are an extra $12 also. I get reimbursed for fuel and I DON'T PAY FOR ANY MATERIALS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[deboxer1]

There is no such animal. Each area/ HSP is different. Even within the various office area's for the HSP.