To crane or not to crane

I don't know enough about wages and market rates for the jobs you are looking at.

I have however worked around cranes with loads moved by them over the years to understand that this is a very special occupation. Personally I like cranes. But they are such engineering wonders of the world that you cannot make mistakes with them or around them. Asking tens of thousands of pounds to fly against all reason will find something that will break somewhere if it does, you don't want to be around.

Ask yourself this. Why are the crane division suddenly in need of drivers? What do you offer them? that other drivers have not tried in the past? Trucking big rigs is fun and awesome yes, but it's not a good reason to involve yourself in a line of work that frankly speaking does not tolerate mistakes.

I am not sure if you are content with hauling counter weights for very large cranes. Those are good loads too have. You might want to sit and think on this a while to see where your motivations lie.

There are tens of thousands of big trucks to drive all around the USA in any number of companies to hire you. What's the problem? Wny cranes?

I am not your opponet or trying to be difficult but you seem to be bored where you are because you don't get to drive anything often enough. Why cranes and why now? Me? I rather not deal with a driving of a crane. Those things sometimes require oversize, overweight permits and are a little bit underpowered. It would be a pain to get it around a city block, much less push it across a mountain somewhere.

 

Would you be following the press or crusher around to diff. junk/yards where they use a crane to load steel in press? If yes DOT loves to pick on some of those type trucks.

 

We work with cranes every day. All the crane outfits I know, the truck drivers have to help set up and tear the crane down. You'll need to learn crane signals and how to rig the loads you haul. You'll also need to learn how to set the outrigger pads.

Most of all, don't get caught just standing around during a setup/tear down. It's all hands on and everything moves really fast in a methodical way. Most truck drivers who do their jobs well will eventually get the opportunity to move up to crane operator if they wish.

 

OK, I don't know diddly about cranes. But I believe the more a person can learn, the more value he will be to himself and to his employer. Don't know what your experience level is, or your life experience level for that matter.
But somebody is going to be driving those cranes. If you really are interested, why not you?
Now with that being said, I'm going to sit back and watch the old hands tell me where I'm wrong. Maybe I can learn something.

 

People would be able to advise you better if you tell them more about your situation. Your experience, your background in your current division, your pay. How will the new pay be compared to the old?

You sound like you are willing to sacrifice pay for experience. If so, what is your plan, what are your goals?

How would this accomplish your plan?

 

I would do it. Craning is my favorite part of trucking. It's pretty fun a d challenging. Experience never hurts. Being versatile will mean you don't get laid off.

 

You are talking about two different jobs. I work for a crane company. I am a truck driver. The operating engineer aka the crane operator always drives the crane to the jobsite and then after set up he runs the crane. There is quite a bit of schooling and certification involved to be a crane operator, even if you start at the bottom running a boom truck.

 

The good heavy haul commanded want a lot more than a year of driving. And the more hands on experience the better. If you go the otr route it should be with an open deck carrier. Pulling a box around won't help you get a job with a heavy haul carrier.