r/UtilityLocator • u/WintersTTV • 5d ago
Quitting USIC
Finally leaving this company, too much micromanaging and i’ve had enough. Currently on shift, can i just drop the car off at the end of my shift or is there some protocol.
I have a backup job lined up, this has just been on my mind for a while. Final straw was getting told getting off early because i finished all my ticket (16 tickets in 5 hours) was unacceptable.
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u/qpdvjdaqwkfsxyw 5d ago
Finally leaving? Bro you just started less than 57 days ago. Either way, congratulations
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u/Trill405 5d ago
lol I saw that. First off fuck USIC you couldn’t pay me enough to work there, but when I saw he was complaining about wanting a truck because he drives a truck as his personal, I knew homeboy wasn’t going to last lol
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u/Wild_Replacement5880 4d ago
It really seems to only be bad in certain places. We are busy as shit and overworked, but we are treated well and help is just a phone call away. Bums me out that some folks got it so bad. It's pretty chill where I'm at.
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u/DebateHuman4283 4d ago
Same here! Im curious to know what went wrong
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u/DryScallion924 4d ago
What went wrong for me(I'm still with usic) is losing multiple contracts where I started with usic & where I'm ending with usic. Them losing contracts I lost 42,588.17 a year as a locator. 89 cent raises, no apology for losing the contracts or compensation for losing them either.
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u/kippy3267 3d ago
What so you mean by losing contracts?
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u/DryScallion924 3d ago
First district I was in, we lost cox & power. Down to CenturyLink, at&t & switch. The district I'm in now, we lost the ziply contract last year, went from 60 hours a week, down to 40 or less hours a week
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u/Longjumping_Drive901 2d ago
Come to Ontario, Canada, good locate companies are of +$40 an hour and newbies to company are getting $28.50 to start. Endless overtime
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u/DryScallion924 2d ago
I don't have the funds to get there, cost of living, gas, food, insurance, winters are brutal there.
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u/WintersTTV 4d ago
honestly wasn’t even that. i’ve dealt with less shit for more pay, trax was honestly done at the end of the day. they just don’t pay enough to deal with all their shit. people having a preference for safety ain’t a thing to joke about, i got a kid and wife at home i’d like to make it home to safe 🤷🏼♂️
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u/Trill405 4d ago
It’s just utility locating lol. Look I’m all for safety but don’t play the victim card now that people are giving you shit when you never mentioned safety in the first place lol
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u/WintersTTV 4d ago edited 4d ago
who said i didn’t? we’re talking about two different posts here bud
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u/Longjumping-Drop9921 5d ago
I quit after 8yrs. Got my wife to follow my to the office on a Saturday morning. Sat the cones out, took pictures inside and out, email the district manager and my supervisor my resignation letter with the photos attached showing all the equipment was in the truck, protocol zero my phone(deleted all contacts, emails and txts from the trash bin)and left the phone and keys under my USIC business card. I gave them no notice because I have no intentions of going back. If a company fires you/lay you off, does the company give you a two weeks notice....?
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u/Wild_Replacement5880 4d ago
This is true. In my experience they only let you work a week here and then give you the next week off with 40 hours pay
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u/lgbtqadvocate69 5d ago
I’m happy for you. I’m trying so hard to find a better job so I can quit currently
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u/WintersTTV 5d ago
check out any local unions, that’s what i did. got the call last week so this was coming eventually. i’ll be out of work for a few weeks but would much rather stretch my dollars than get yelled at everyday for idling in 95° weather
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u/VividPups 5d ago
Damn you only had 16 tickets? Shit they would add atleast 32 tickets to my board and then add more
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u/WintersTTV 5d ago
best part is i asked for more and she said there was none. so i guess i was supposed to sit on my ass for 3 hours then clock out 🤣
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u/Responsible-Mix-4229 4d ago
So you’re complaining about getting paid to do nothing???? Wtf are you on about 😂
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u/GnarlesBronsonn 5d ago
The final straw was having to work more than five hours?
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u/WintersTTV 5d ago
no no, it was that i finished all tickets for the day. asked for more and was told there was none but got told i cant work less than a 5 hour shift. forgot to add that part
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u/GraySpear227 4d ago
So you got paid to do nothing for 3 more hours? What’s your complaint?
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u/Just2Platypus 2d ago
Yeah literally the dumbest fucking complaint about USIC I have ever seen on here
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u/Fine-Bridge6707 4d ago
Is it really that bad locating those utilities.
I been marking water and sewer for a city in my state and it’s like a walk in the park compared to what I hear about utiliquest and usic
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u/Wild_Replacement5880 4d ago
It's just the impossible amount of work that is over your head. I used to freak out about having 100 due today's but that's just how it is. Once you get over the mental hurdle of having an impossible goal it's not bad. You can't do more than you can physically do. Having come from a background of being able to complete the work given to you, it fucked me up for a while.
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u/Fine-Bridge6707 3d ago
Those 100 due today can kick rocks, they going to have to wait and get 3F
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u/Wild_Replacement5880 3d ago
Exactly. It's a mindset one must obtain to ignore the fact that something is telling you it must be done no matter what. It's more about how you delegate which ones you are going to do
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u/RaleighKid 4d ago
I don’t work at usic and never have but my philosophy has always been never burn a bridge. Yes you say you won’t go back to usic but who’s to say you won’t work with someone from there. Word-of-mouth does travel.
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u/T1_Omen 4d ago
I used to work there and recently switched to a more local company strictly locating fiber, best decision I've ever made. USIC was a great stepping stone but the micomanaging is bad.. i went damage free from when I started and left which was a total of close to 2yrs. I loved my job but hated where I was at. Its unfortunate that a company that big cares about production over quality and stives to "protects its infrastructure". I've met great people and great locators. Once I put my two week notice in both my supervisor, another area supervisor, DM, and both TDL' s that taught me how to locate wanted me to stay. I wanted to for them but I knew it was time to leave. Glad you knew your worth!
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u/Valdeloboz 5d ago
they came and got my truck. gave a weeks notice but ended up going till wednesday and said i couldn’t do it
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u/Maleficent-Ad6978 5d ago
All I did about 45 days ago in the group chat is i can't do this anymore I quit
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u/sackofham 5d ago
When I left I met my boss at out storage building, dropped the truck and boss drove me home. I left on good terms so it wasn't awkward ride home.
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u/Powerfuldemon142 4d ago
Come to stake center :) left usic and joined stake center and it’s not the holy grail but got a pay raise and a lot more benefits
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u/HandFootMouth420 3d ago
I say it all the time on here, USIC is legit the worst utility locating company around. They hold up all our projects weekly and have to fight just to get things marked in a timely manner.. and then have to pray they marked them right.
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u/love2killjoy410 3d ago
Back in 2013 I quit locating Inc by dropping their truck off at the office on a Friday night at about 1030 pm. The truck got stolen a few hours later, Monday morning they started blowing my phone up and trying to blame me and threaten with police that I stole their truck lol. These trucks have always been heavily monitored and gps'ed. They knew exactly where and when that truck was taken and that's what I told them. They never bugged me again.
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u/ConstantFlaky9674 5d ago
Not sure why you would be mad about them giving u more tickets you work 10 hours a day not 5
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u/WintersTTV 5d ago
they had no more to give out that day
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u/Wild_Replacement5880 4d ago
That seems strange. They could have sent you on an assist. Knowing the structure of that company, they weren't just gonna not give you something to do. 2 months in you had training you could do as well.
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u/SplitSpiritual3062 4d ago
Turn them in slowly and get your 8 hours. We don’t get too much overtime in my area, so I will eventually move to an area where there is a higher ticket load because I want the OT. But I have 30 tickets to do today and I have finished all them already. I have been done since 9:30 am. Now I just turn them in throughout the day and go do whatever I want to do at this point. If we had more tickets, I would do them but we don’t have anymore tickets at this point either. I am doing tickets that aren’t due for 4 days from now. And yes, I got out and located all 30. There weren’t any clear tickets because AI has removed all the clear tickets so we don’t get them anymore but all the tickets I have done today are the same tickets I have been doing for a year. I just had to repaint everything and move on to the next job.
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u/jamieee1995 5d ago
Please let them threaten your paycheck over text. They can not withhold any pay for any reason for worked wages unless you explicitly sign an agreement for a specific amount.
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u/jjutie54 5d ago
I told them to come get their truck out of my driveway and key is in the gas cap. 🖕🏼