Yep, carry a locator and locate all that stuff, but that isn't actually part of the job. They simply don't pay enough to be out there doing someone else's job all day. They pay to have a line buried, and we pay taxes so utilities can be marked by the guys in the city trucks!
If I wanted to play locator, I'd be a locating contractor! Advocating more work for less pay, when large cable companies rake in billions, isn't helping.
You've gotta do 10 or more of these types of jobs a day as a subcontractor to see any real money. Easier to do individual projects than it is to bury cable line. Which is honestly what I'm transitioning to. They can figure out how to bury those lines themselves! They'll call when the hourly guys bang up enough equipment, and rack up enough utility damages lol!
Customers offer me work all the time, and I'd rather work for them anyway! Not killing myself on 250ft drops, for $15-$32 a drop. That's not worth the fuel to operate your truck and machine, and fixing unnecessary damages, no matter how cheap, takes away from the already low price for the work you were there to do! Plus time you lose, doing someone else's job!
No thanks, I'm not a company man! The companies love convincing you everything's your job! It's bs! I've watched them run guys out of business with that nonsense!
