katrina

[mtb345]

can anyone tell me about the work force in la or miss

 

[white_boyz1]

work

im from south la and right now business is exploding more and more everyday.we cant get enough people down here to do the work...

 

[digger242j]

Question for white_boyz1--I've always heard that wages down south tended to be somewhat lower than some other parts of the country. Has the demand created by the curent situation changed that at all?

 

[LowBoy]

can anyone tell me about the work force in la or miss

I got caught up in that "Big Lie" in Gulfport, Ms. back in Nov. thru Jan. of '04/'05. Promises were abundant, work wasn't. Just exactly 6 days ago while on my way to Houston, I decided to swing by my old "stomping grounds" on US HWY 90 in Gulfport, Ms. and drove through all the affected areas for about 30 miles heading west, till I got back on I-10. It all looks the same as it did 2 years ago along the beach, somewhat cleaned up but not pristine, with piles of debris and weeds dominating the empty lots. I have the pictures of the still busted-up business signs and various buildings that remain standing, if you'd like I'll scan and post them. Didn't really see a need to of those pics, other than this topic coming up...
Being a veteran of that whole mess down there, my only advice would be to make sure you have a solid, varifyable, credible source with which you would be working through. There's a TON of "decoys" in the "disaster relief" game, and the "debris removal specialist" game as well. It was a low blow to find out that we, the ones doing the nasty cleanup work in some of those contaminated areas were getting paid $3.00/cubic yd., and the billing company was receiving $38.00/cubic yd. for organizing a few crews.
I'd never get involved again in that type of deal. Especially when it's federally regulated and/or funded...it gets mighty complicated, and the corruption dominates the business arena at that point, unfortunately.
In addition, I could count on one hand, honestly, how many debris removal/ excavation/ construction crews I saw with my very own eyes, in a 30 mile strip between Gulfport and Waveland, Mississippi that Sunday. That raises a red flag to me right there, with you inquiring about work down there, and me getting a birds-eye view of the progress, indicates that the same type of "hype" is being generated to lure unsuspecting contractors from 1500-1600 miles away to come and work. Why not use the locals? Why aren't they busy doing it? When I was there, and many others from the northeast, all we ever heard was..."How come y'all are down here...we got plenty of people needing work right around here"...I wasn't and still am not the least bit predjudice, nor do I have a single predjudice fiber in my being, but they (not all people, just some really ignorant individuals,) really resented us Nor'Easterner's doing what we were doing.
I'm not alone in this either. Many others feel the same way, many others lost a heck of a lot of money, and unfortunately a lot more in some cases.
The organization of those situations plainly STINKS...Can't seem to get an honest, fair person to run the show.
Sorry if I'm rambling on with a negative overtone, but it's coming straight from the horse's mouth.(Or some other part of the horse, some may think.)
Be very careful in your decision making process. There's plenty of work to do around New England, slow as it seems.

Digger...at the time I was involved and tending to business down there, a good example of differences in wages would be: Traffic Control/Flagger; $10.00/hr. Excavator Operator (I was one periodically to help maintain production on other crews,); $18.00/hr. Laborers; $10.00-$14.00/hr.
Considering we were working in a known, designated bio-hazard zone that no one formally revealed that fact to us, therefore never implied any need for PPE, respirators, etc., the pay for everyone in that zone I thought was extremely conservative. Even though FEMA was funding ALL phases of the cleanup, wages varied considerably contractor to contractor.
It was obviously...a mess, no pun intended.:usa

 

[portcityrigging]

I got caught up in that "Big Lie" in Gulfport, Ms. back in Nov. thru Jan. of '04/'05. Promises were abundant, work wasn't. Just exactly 6 days ago while on my way to Houston, I decided to swing by my old "stomping grounds" on US HWY 90 in Gulfport, Ms. and drove through all the affected areas for about 30 miles heading west, till I got back on I-10. It all looks the same as it did 2 years ago along the beach, somewhat cleaned up but not pristine, with piles of debris and weeds dominating the empty lots. I have the pictures of the still busted-up business signs and various buildings that remain standing, if you'd like I'll scan and post them. Didn't really see a need to of those pics, other than this topic coming up...
Being a veteran of that whole mess down there, my only advice would be to make sure you have a solid, varifyable, credible source with which you would be working through. There's a TON of "decoys" in the "disaster relief" game, and the "debris removal specialist" game as well. It was a low blow to find out that we, the ones doing the nasty cleanup work in some of those contaminated areas were getting paid $3.00/cubic yd., and the billing company was receiving $38.00/cubic yd. for organizing a few crews.
I'd never get involved again in that type of deal. Especially when it's federally regulated and/or funded...it gets mighty complicated, and the corruption dominates the business arena at that point, unfortunately.
In addition, I could count on one hand, honestly, how many debris removal/ excavation/ construction crews I saw with my very own eyes, in a 30 mile strip between Gulfport and Waveland, Mississippi that Sunday. That raises a red flag to me right there, with you inquiring about work down there, and me getting a birds-eye view of the progress, indicates that the same type of "hype" is being generated to lure unsuspecting contractors from 1500-1600 miles away to come and work. Why not use the locals? Why aren't they busy doing it? When I was there, and many others from the northeast, all we ever heard was..."How come y'all are down here...we got plenty of people needing work right around here"...I wasn't and still am not the least bit predjudice, nor do I have a single predjudice fiber in my being, but they (not all people, just some really ignorant individuals,) really resented us Nor'Easterner's doing what we were doing.
I'm not alone in this either. Many others feel the same way, many others lost a heck of a lot of money, and unfortunately a lot more in some cases.
The organization of those situations plainly STINKS...Can't seem to get an honest, fair person to run the show.
Sorry if I'm rambling on with a negative overtone, but it's coming straight from the horse's mouth.(Or some other part of the horse, some may think.)
Be very careful in your decision making process. There's plenty of work to do around New England, slow as it seems.

Digger...at the time I was involved and tending to business down there, a good example of differences in wages would be: Traffic Control/Flagger; $10.00/hr. Excavator Operator (I was one periodically to help maintain production on other crews,); $18.00/hr. Laborers; $10.00-$14.00/hr.
Considering we were working in a known, designated bio-hazard zone that no one formally revealed that fact to us, therefore never implied any need for PPE, respirators, etc., the pay for everyone in that zone I thought was extremely conservative. Even though FEMA was funding ALL phases of the cleanup, wages varied considerably contractor to contractor.
It was obviously...a mess, no pun intended.:usa

Excellent advice. I , too went to the coast following Katrina. I spent 7 weeks in New Orleans with the Corps moving their equipment in and helping the mobilization effort. After I left New Orleans, I opted to drive thru the Mississippi coast area and have a look-see. With my KW truck , 35 ton detach Lowboy & Gehl 7810 loader I was offered around 20 jobs within the first 3 hours of being in Gulfport. But I had a gut feeling. I agreed to move an oversize loader from New Orleans back to Gulfport. The round trip took 14 hours due to the detours, chaos, etc.. I made it back to Gulfport with the loader and unloaded. I parked my truck within 300 feet of the man that hired me for the move and climbed in the sleeper for the night. I expected to collect my money the next morning. I got up about 6 the next morning and climbed out of the sleeper. What I didn't see confirmed the gut feeling I'd had.
This man's camper, trucks and the loader I'd just delivered ...all gone. The "pro storm chasers " parked next to him denied knowing him or where he'd went. I knew better.
I left there and went to Bay. St. Louis, MS.. This would prove to be the mistake of my life.
I pulled into town and found literally hundreds of trucks and loaders parked along 90 just outside of Waveland. Drivers and helpers gathered here and there. I assumed for the moment, I'd missed out...again. But when I got to Waveland and crossed over to the south side of the tracks, it looked as though the storm was the day before.
I also watched as the ones that I'd just passed along Hwy. 90 drove by with resentful glares.
Most got a good look at my equipment and my out of state tags , none though were hospitable or returned a wave.
Anyway, I went on about my business the next few days and had several good jobs lined up.
I'd been hired by a local to retrieve a fishing boat from a wooded area in Kiln. Halfway thru the job, he handed me $500 on a $7000 job and said the Corps was going to do it for free. Words were exchanged and I thought the hell with it. I loaded my equipment and drove back to Waveland in my 1/2 ton Ford truck. This is around 11 PM, I went to bed and woke up at 3:30. the gut feeling again. I dressed , fired up the old Ford and headed to Kiln. I got there just before 4 AM and the closer I got the worse the gut feeling. I got to where my truck was........and it and everything I owned was gone. Truck, lowboy, beams , jacks, tools, clothes, every fu#$ing thing I owned. Gone.
And nobody, all locals ,within a few feet saw or heard anything.
I followed the lowboy tracks to the first tight turn they had to make and found the ditch ramped over with firewood and a guy wire and a stop sign ran over. Tore up asphalt proved they bellied out in the ditch . Thus the reason for the firewood. There was one house 100 feet away. The occupant said he was home all night and saw nothing. BS !! The headlights of the KW would have been in his front window and ironically the fire wood on his porch was the same as the firewood in the ditch. He never offered help and shut his door on me.
I came to the realization weeks later looking for my property that the locals don't want outside competition. Of any kind. In that part of the country, an outsider is fair game to everybody. They'll target you if you have valuables they want and when the time is right, they'll get you. They know where you are at all times while it's happening. You are their only threat.
They won't snitch on each other for any amount of money and when you're picked apart , they'll move on to another victim.
If you protest or make a stand , the harrassment starts. As it did with me.
I left there being shot at and shooting back. I wanted my property....but not that bad.
So, the moral of my "true story " is: If you go there, you can't turn your back on your property for even a few minutes. You can't trust those that come off overly friendlly and inviting. Don't trust anybody is a good rule to live by. I may sound looney but take it from my experiences and the 19 months I spent there, outsiders are not welcome. That's just the way of the coast.
I lost everything to the thieves and was lucky to get out with my life. I rebelled against them only wanting what was mine. I knew too much about them and had stayed too long.
If you go , remember my words and you'll see.

 

[portcityrigging]

Lowboy , can you and I talk private ?

Would like to swap stories