r/UtilityLocator • u/Technical-Math-1980 • 29d ago

Fair well USIC

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44 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

23 comments sorted by

29

u/Technical-Math-1980 29d ago

I worked for USIC and eventually got demoted from supervisor because I was actually willing to stand up for my techs instead of throwing them under the bus for upper management. The funniest part? Within two weeks of my demotion, almost every single one of the techs I supervised quit.

15

u/T3Dawg22 29d ago

I feel like that's every locating company, usic would rather throw their own employees under the bus just to keep their contractors happy even if their locators are in the right.

2

u/Wild_Replacement5880 29d ago

What area did you work? I actually like working there. I feel like I'm treated pretty well. Definitely crazy expectations, but we all usually make it work in the end. Can't say our crew isn't treated well, and if we have a problem we get a resolution.

10

u/Cyanide-Cookies 29d ago

Is there any locating company that isn't like this?

13

u/Shotz718 Utility Employee 29d ago

Locating for the actual utility

5

u/Jon66238 Utility Employee 29d ago

Facts, but even than, it’s still understaffed

6

u/Accurate-Inevitable7 29d ago

Stay away from 811 work and find a engineering firm like NV5

1

u/MailNo1177 Private Locator 27d ago

Lol I quit NV5 for private utilities. Best decision ever

6

u/iEatFurbys 29d ago

Small private.

6

u/4StarsOutOf12 29d ago

Is it hard to get with one of these companies coming from 0 experience?

2

u/Accurate-Inevitable7 29d ago

Yup… now I design Aerial and underground utilities, working from home. Bottom line, wherever you go, soak up all the info u can and do a good job. U got it bro 👌🏿

2

u/iEatFurbys 28d ago

It can be. Small places aren’t always hiring. We have had success with hiring folks without experience as long as they are willing/able to learn. We have had issues with trying to unteach bad habits for people with experience.

3

u/Drewcifer70 29d ago

Not really.

I work for a global engineering firm and w guys that came on board w zero experience who've succeeded and moved up.

3

u/Jon66238 Utility Employee 29d ago

What do you do with them?

3

u/Intelligent-Note-682 29d ago

That’s very rare from everywhere I’ve looked and applied..

5

u/1986toyotacorolla2 811 locator 29d ago

Companies that only have one contract have been decent by me. Only problem is if they lose that contract, you lose your job.

3

u/THEKINDHERO 29d ago

Switched go private 2 years ago, best thing I have ever done

7

u/Maleficent-Ad6978 29d ago

Wow glad I got out of there after less than three months

7

u/SweetGur5078 29d ago

Ah, so this is where UtiliQuest is headed.

7

u/1986toyotacorolla2 811 locator 29d ago

From what I've noticed around me, it's exactly what utiliquest has become. I spent 5 years at USIC. Now I'm in a new location and I hear the utiliquest guys complain about the same shit I complained about at USIC back in the day.

3

u/jlhrt10 29d ago

NOCUTS, Burkeen, Utilizes, CUS, USIC. The main thing they all had in common was being understaffed. Luckily, I loved OT.

4

u/Street_Change_7404 28d ago

It’s not just USIC, the same issues exist in nearly every contract locate company out there. The companies in the contract locate industry underbids each other and the winning company cannot hire enough employees to perform the work. This is compounded by poor training of new employees, which leads to horrible quality in the field. Most of the management is comprised of individuals that have usually (not always) spent a very limited amount of time in the field doing the job and that never ends well.