Yes sir , got to agree with you there .Work normally offered by the big Tel Co 's has predominately been Line-Item for as long as I can remember . I believe most of the Primes are getting paid that way , and converting it to Unit for Duct , Peds , Hand-Holes , etc . Primes are making Bank on all the other Items they are not passing down . Have noticed a few Primes that were almost in Bankruptcy from the Dot Com busts , now have brand new Office Buildings , Management fleet is all brand new , and through the grapevine , you hear of the Suits bragging about all thier new ( personal ) toys . Also hear of alot of turn-over in their mid-level and blue collar employees , because it becomes obvious to them the prime is reekking in profits , and not treating them accordingly . And the contractors , well , we are just a necessary evil to them . The primes know the state of the industry , and use it to thier advantage . If all you ever dangle in front of a horse is rotten apples , eventually the horse has to eat the rotten apples , or , starve to death . So , you end up with a lot of dead horses , and the rest suffer from the disease of malnutricion .
Answering the question regarding anyone making money ? ; the only profittable contractors I have noticed in this area , have been the very small operators ( with low overhead , usually 1 0r 2 missle crews , or 1 HDD ) , and the very large operators ( many missle crews whom one could presume are being paid hourly or daily rates that are somewhat below the going average ) .
