A Day in the Life of a Crane Operator
There are many different types, makes, models and sizes of cranes but the BCACS is primarily focused on mobile cranes, tower cranes, boom trucks and self-erect tower cranes. Recently, we had the opportunity to interview several mobile, tower and boom truck operators who have many years of experience. We asked them what attracted them to the business; how they started, what they love and what they’re not too crazy about. They told us about a typical day and what it’s like running the crane, and offered their advice for those who are considering a career as an operator. Click on the tabs below to read the first three stories.
Jim (Mobile Crane Operator)
Introduction
Jim worked on mobile cranes for nearly twenty-five years before becoming an instructor in 1999. He started his career moving houses and heavy equipment where he learned his trade and the value of teamwork.
“They had a couple of cranes to handle the timbers and blocks – that’s where I started running cranes. I was a labourer / crane operator / truck driver.”
Mobile cranes are used to do work a boom truck can’t do – higher lifts, heavier loads, and lifts that need a longer reach. Jim has worked on a variety of different sites.
“I’ve worked on building bridges, worked in pulp mills and refineries, and on construction sites setting up and taking down tower cranes. Work takes me out of town about 25% of the time. If you like to travel, there are lots of opportunities.”
Being a mobile crane operator has been a very satisfying career. Jim takes pride in the fact that he has contributed to building lasting, useful structures.
“I’ve been on projects like the Cambie Street Bridge in Vancouver, where I worked for nine months. I go over the bridge and think, ‘hey, I helped make that’. When I go across another bridge on the Coquihalla I think about the great crew I was with. That’s what I like best – the sense of accomplishing something good.”
Typical Day
Jim is usually up by 5:00 am and arrives at work by 6:00. His work day starts in the yard where he picks up his crane. Jim usually does ‘taxi work’, meaning the crane and operator are hired out together. He likes the variety but he knows this kind of work is not for everyone.
“That’s what some people can’t handle about this type of crane work. Some people like to know where they’re going every day.”
When he gets to the yard he inspects the crane and finds out where he’ll be working that day.
“Sometimes finding a site can be a challenge, especially in the city if you’re unfamiliar with the one-way streets. If you’re driving a big crane truck and you end up in a dead end, what are you going to do? You can’t turn around.”
Once he arrives at the site, he hopes there will be someone there to open the gate and that there will be a place for him to set up. If someone from his company has assessed the site beforehand, he’ll have detailed instructions when he gets there but things can change, and they do.
“One of my biggest frustrations is reaching a chaotic site and not knowing where to go or what to do on the job. Then I have to get on the phone and talk to someone from my company, or the customer.”
An average day can be anywhere from eight to 12 hours long.
“Long days happen when you have to go to the yard, pick up the crane, and take it to a site. With a big crane, you’ll have a tractor-trailer come with you with extra components like counterweights and an extra crew to help you put it together. Then you work to get the job done in one day and you have to disassemble the crane and take it back to the yard in the evening because you might have another job to go to tomorrow.”
Running the Crane
The first thing a Mobile Crane Operator does after arriving on a site is set up the crane. This is outdoor work and can take anywhere from fifteen minutes to a few hours, depending on the site and the type of crane.
“Every day, I hope for good weather; working in the rain gets to me. You don’t see so well, you’ve got to get all bundled up and you still get soaked.”
Once the crane is set up, he runs it from the cab using levers or joysticks.
“Some of the older cranes can be very noisy and using ear protection is essential. If you don’t, you’re asking for trouble. I stay in the crane most of the day. I pack a lunch and take breaks in the cab but it’s not lonely. I spend all day in constant communication with other people. You operate using hand signals from the crew, but if you can’t see the crew or the lift, you’ll be using radios. Working this way has its own special challenges. There is an established system of hand signals, but not everybody knows them. Communication between the operator and signal person must be clear to both. If a signal is not understood, work must be stopped for clarification.”
Responsibilities
In the crane industry, the number one priority is safety and the operator is ultimately responsible.
“You’re responsible for the crane and if you have a crew from your employer, quite often you’re responsible for them too. When it comes right down to it, you’re responsible for anyone who comes anywhere near that crane.”
Jim feels that people on site don’t always understand the operator’s responsibilities. Tensions on the job, if there are any, usually arise over safety issues.
“It’s important to be able to stand your ground when you think something is not safe.”
Running the crane can be exhausting because the operator is constantly focused on a lot of variables that affect the safety of their work.
“You’ve got to be alert the whole day and as long as you’re working, there’s a good chance you’re going to be under stress. You go home at the end of the day and you’re mentally wiped but if it was a good day and you had a good crew, you go home pretty happy.”
Crane Culture
Spending most of his day in the crane means Jim doesn’t get to socialize on the job, especially on sites where he’s the only operator. Even though being a mobile crane operator is nothing like an office job, he’s not immune to interpersonal politics. The key to success is earning respect. Age and experience help. Getting the respect of other people on the site goes hand in hand with earning the trust of customers.
“Don’t go thinking you’re too special. Keep the ego in check because people won’t put up with it; especially the customers. You irritate a customer and the next thing you know he’s on the phone to your company saying that next time he hires a crane he doesn’t want you as his operator.”
Aptitude and Training
“You need to be able to get along well with others, think for yourself and work independently. It also helps to come from a background where you are already used to being around heavy equipment. You also need good depth perception so you can make precise judgments about landing loads safely. If you don’t have good depth perception, forget it. Don’t even think of doing this job. You need to be able to handle stress and be willing to work long, hard hours. Laziness or not showing up for work when you’re supposed to will get you kicked out very quickly. Being late or not showing up doesn’t cut it. Quite often there’s a crew sitting there waiting for the crane and if that crane’s not there, the job can’t be started.”
Jim encourages new operators to get trained properly.
“Employers have to do their due diligence. They have to make sure you’ve got some training and know how to run the crane. If not, they’re asking for trouble. When I started, 30 years ago, there were no courses you could take. You needed to learn on the job and by making mistakes. These days, you can still learn that way but you don’t have to. There are places to go for training.”
Once people become operators, they tend to stick with their jobs and stay in the industry for many years. Sometimes people move up and become supervisors or foremen and occasionally people buy their own equipment and go into business for themselves as independent owner-operators.
Advice
“My advice to anyone considering a career as a mobile crane operator is to take into account both the good and the bad. One of the most difficult things about this work is the long hours. The more hours you work the more money you make because there’s time and a half and double time but after a while that double time doesn’t mean anything. Some people love those long hours. I knew a couple of guys who no matter how many hours they were asked to work, they were always there. They liked the pay cheques.
It’s important to recognize the impact being out of town and working long days can have on your personal life.
“I know a guy who quit crane operating because he had a couple of little kids growing up and he wasn’t around enough to be a good dad. Some guys realize, too late, that their kids grew up without them.
And there are ways this work can affect your health. Learning healthy ways for dealing with stress, eating properly and getting enough sleep are very important. So is exercise.
“You get out of shape sitting there, and that’s not good. You can sit in your crane for hours and days in a row then suddenly, you’re required to get out and work. Then there goes your back and the injury may last for years.
For all that, operating mobile cranes has been a rewarding career for Jim.
“There’s variety, the money’s good, it’s different every day and there’s a lot of satisfaction in going home happy after doing a good job and building something lasting.
Ed (Boom Truck Operator)
Introduction
Ed is a boom truck operator who works for a large building supply company in the Lower Mainland. He started out working in construction. While recovering from a serious car accident, he worked in a machine shop and eventually became a driver, making two trips a day from Vancouver to Whistler.
“I had to get out of that kind of driving. I had a friend with a boom truck; he hurt his back and couldn’t work so he asked me to drive for him. He taught me how to run it and I decided this was a job I would enjoy.”
For Ed, the combination of physical work, mental challenge and variety makes driving boom trucks a satisfying career.
“Your job isn’t just to take stuff off your truck. You might go onto a job site and be hanging big walls, moving equipment and machinery or moving containers around. There are so many different things to do every day and I like the variety.”
Typical Day
Ed’s day starts early. He usually leaves his house by 5:45 am and goes to the shop to pick up his truck. On the way to work, he’s already thinking of the day ahead – the job sites, the work he’ll be doing, his truck and, of course, the weather.
“I don’t look forward to working when it’s raining because some job sites are mud holes. When you’re on a residential job site and there’s nobody there, you have to put all the dunnage (pads for under the outriggers) down yourself, maybe three stacks of two by sixes, and it still all sinks into the mud. Then you just get totally muddy. It makes the whole job harder. You’re more tired by the end of the day. On a sunny day it’s awesome. You drop your load, take your chains off, and it just goes much quicker.”
Once his truck is loaded, Ed drives from the shop to the worksite. Most of the sites he works at are residential, but other lumber companies might serve both residential and commercial construction sites.
When he arrives, someone is usually there to tell him where they want the load.
“Often, it will be split up between several spots - some in the front and back, on the roof, in the basement. Hopefully you only have to set up once and do it all from there, but sometimes you have to set up two or three times.”
If the job goes smoothly and he has someone to help unhook his chains, Ed can be finished in 45 minutes. When it’s busy, he says he might hit eight different job sites in one day, making for long hours during the summer.
“If it has been an easy day, at the end of the day I’m fine; but on some long days, when I’ve done a lot of work and I’ve been really pushing it, I go home, have a shower and that’s it. I’m done. I just go to bed.”
Running the Crane
When Ed’s not driving from site to site, he’s busy running the crane from outside using controls such as push-buttons and levers. Some new trucks have remote controls which, he says, can make the jobs go really quickly.
Working out in the elements can be physically demanding.
“You’ve got to have some fortitude. Standing in the rain and hail hurts and when you have a load up in the air, you can’t just stop and go running for cover. When it’s freezing cold and the rain’s pounding, you have to stand there and watch because it’s your crane and anything could happen.”
The operator needs to be on constant alert. Accidents can happen and so can injuries, especially to your back. Ed says he ‘works smart, not hard’ to protect himself against the unexpected.
Responsibilities
The operator is responsible for the crane and the safety of its operation.
“When you show up on a job site, there are a lot of variables you have to look out for. If the ground is rough and muddy, a crane truck can sink - then you’re done. There are also many things to look out for. There are overhead wires, brick boxes and lots more that you have to know is there, even if you don’t see it. You have to be really aware of your surroundings.”
Even when someone tells Ed where they’d like to have the load placed, it’s up to him to decide whether or not it’s practical and safe. The operator needs to set up in the safest spot with the best angles that will keep the truck balanced and stable. This can be challenging depending on the topography of the site, and jobsite supervisors aren’t always going to be aware of how these factors will affect your work.
“Sometimes, there will be nowhere to set up on site and you have to set up on the road, blocking part or all of a lane of traffic. On commercial or bigger sites, there’s always a flag person to direct traffic, but on smaller sites there isn’t. In those situations I put my safety cones out so nobody crashes into my stabilizer while I’m running. I don’t worry about the traffic anymore; if I did I’d always be nervous. I’ve been hit by cars, spat on, had stuff thrown at me and even been physically assaulted. They tell people who ride bicycles to ‘take the room you need’. That’s what I do: I take the room I need.”
Crane Culture
Ed feels that people respect him on the job because he’s earned his reputation by not compromising.
“I make myself clear in a very non-confrontational way. I just tell them how it is. They don’t tell me how to do my job and I won’t tell them how to do theirs. I’m not compromising my safety, their safety, or the truck. I get a lot of people requesting me specifically.
“I don’t drink. Most guys who drink and party don’t last long. You’ll see them at all the different companies and once they’ve made their rounds they’re out. If you’re drinking and doing drugs it’s going to show in your work. In this job people can really get hurt.”
Aptitude and Training
According to Ed, the most important qualities an operator needs are diplomacy, strength of character and good judgment.
“I think the person in charge of running the crane and the crane truck should have a strong character and not be easily bullied or intimidated. I’ve seen guys who were intimidated and got into some very dangerous situations; they’ve flipped their trucks and hit overhead wires.”
Getting trained, says Ed, is really up to the operator.
“It might be true that after one day of training you can take the truck out bring it back and set up some chains but that doesn’t mean you’re ready to go out on your own.”
Though some big companies are able to offer training, Ed feels that learning from an experienced operator is the best way.
“When I first learned, the owner of the truck went out with me for a month and he showed me: if you do this, this is what will happen. He taught me how to handle the variables of different sites. He would create situations so he could show me what to do and what not to do. I’ve seen a lot of accidents that happened because the operator didn’t know how to handle a particular situation. Sometimes operators do something they shouldn’t because they’re afraid to lose their job. Would you rather go home with a clean conscience that you didn’t kill anybody or worry about getting fired?”
Advice
The most important piece of advice Ed would offer to a person thinking of going into the crane industry is to get the proper training.
“Don’t just settle for a day or two; get an experienced operator to teach you by taking you out with them in their truck. Ask questions. Be willing to learn.”
His second most important piece of advice is what he thinks of as the ‘golden rule’.
“If you don’t feel comfortable and safe doing it, don’t do it.”
Ed gets a lot of satisfaction from his work. He loves the independence and the responsibility of being accountable for his decisions.
“What I like is that I’m my own boss on the road. I call the shots on the job.”
A great day at work makes him feel good at the end of the day.
“The best days mean T-shirt weather, working on a job, or even two or three challenging jobs. I like running the crane - it’s challenging; it’s exciting. You know: big toys for big boys.”
Frank (Tower Crane Operator)
Introduction
Frank has been operating tower cranes for 29 years. He works on high-rise construction sites as a ‘producer’, meaning he works during the busiest phases of construction when schedules are tight and the building process is in full swing. When a job winds down, Frank moves to another site and a ‘closer’ takes his place.
He got started with tower cranes when his family met with extraordinary financial demands.
“I married young and had three kids by the time I was 25. One of my children was disabled and even with help from others, expenses were high. At the time I worked in steel fabrication with little opportunity for increasing my income, so I trained as a tower crane operator. I wanted to earn more money and worked every hour they threw at me.”
The days are long – often 12-14 hours – but the money is good and Frank has found a lot to love about his job: the variety, the fast pace and the independence. And there are the magnificent views from high above the city in the crane.
“That’s the beauty of being a tower crane operator; you never miss a sunrise.”
Typical Day
Frank gets up at 4:45 am so that he can leave for work by 5:15. On the commute, he listens to the news and pays specific attention to the weather.
“Tower cranes are directly affected by the weather, especially the wind, so that’s probably the first thing I’m paying attention to when I wake up in the morning. I’m usually the first person to arrive at the site. When I get there I put my gear on, clock in, and wait for the other guys I’m working with. We discuss what happened the day before, what didn’t work so well, what to try today.”
On good days everything runs smoothly.
“All construction sites are schedule-driven, but high-rise sites are even more so because they try to achieve a floor a week. A small glitch – something breaking down for an hour – can throw the whole schedule off for a week.”
As he climbs up the crane, he does a routine inspection. He looks at critical structural areas, bolts and connections, checks for damage and makes sure the brakes, drives and moving parts are all working properly. When he settles into the cab, he looks out over the site noting changes and work that needs to be done. He also has incredible views of the whole city.
“When you’re downtown you can see the whole city coming to life.”
Running the Crane
Frank works alone in the cab all day long. Other than meeting other workers at the beginning and end of the day, his only contact is by phone or radio.
“A lot of people don’t like that isolation factor. If people leave tower cranes, it’s often because they like to do more physical work or because they don’t like being cramped into something the size of a telephone booth for 10-14 hours a day.”
There’s no bathroom up there in the cab.
“The bathroom issue doesn’t have to be a problem. I recently trained a young woman in her twenties. She is physically fit, so she doesn’t mind climbing down a couple of times a day. There’s nothing to stop a woman from going into this trade.”
The pace of the work is very demanding.
“When the job is in full production, you have no time. Your hands are on the sticks for the most part and you don’t get a break. As soon as you’re finished with one person, somebody else is waiting for your crane.”
Frank loves the variety of tower crane work compared to other types of cranes. On a typical day, he performs hundreds of lifts, unloads trucks, pours concrete and moves equipment and materials around the site. He’s involved in most aspects of the building process and has a unique perspective on the whole site.
“A lot of operators get the ‘God attitude’ because they’re above everyone, looking down on the job site. Because of this, they might start trying to call the shots on the worksite, thinking they’re superior because they can see everything. We all go through it but we have to remember that at the very least, this is a two person job. It’s only possible if you have your rigger or your partner down on the ground.”
Responsibilities
Safety is Frank’s number one responsibility and his top priority.
“Everything I do is related to safety. For every load I pick up, I have to select the safest route for it.” He’s constantly looking around at all the other equipment and people on the site. The most challenging thing for him is trying to predict human behaviour.
“I might see a hazard because I am 400 feet in the air, but other people might not see it or ignore it and do something they’re not supposed to do. After a while you get good at reading people’s body language and figuring out what they’ll do next.”
But accidents can happen. He was involved in a fatality incident about 25 years ago.
“It wasn’t my fault, but you never forget those things. If you even so much as pinch a person’s finger, you don’t feel good about it. If you’re not operating safely, the crew doesn’t trust you. You can tell if you approach with a load and everyone walks away. They have to have confidence in whoever’s up there and there’s nothing worse than having a crew member refuse to work with you because you’re unsafe.”
Crane Culture
“There are only two excuses for not being at work when you’re a tower crane operator. You’re either in jail or you’re dead.”
New operators usually last for about six or seven years before they quit. The long hours, isolation, lack of physical activity and cramped spaces eventually get to them. The other big factor is the impact such long days can have on their personal lives. Even keeping up a hobby can be difficult.
“Say you want to take a photography course. If it’s eight evenings, you’re going to miss half of them, so it’s hard to get yourself involved in things like that.”
Raising a family can be very challenging.
“My wife used to drive to the job site, put out a picnic on the lawn in front and I’d climb down at lunch time. That’s when I’d see my kids. They were still asleep when I left in the morning and they had already gone to bed when I got home at night.”
On the job, he feels that he is trusted and respected by other workers, but there is occasional friction.
“Sometimes people get the impression that because you are up there in the cab, sitting with a heater in the cold weather, you’re not actually doing any work. They can’t see what you’re doing and they might harass you a bit. But we make other people’s jobs easier. We’re here to provide a service and we do it for seventeen different trades.
“It’s an important job. You participate in almost every facet of the construction process. If you’re a good operator and you treat people fairly, you’re going to get that respect in return. Respect breeds respect. It’s a nice job that way.”
Aptitude and Training
In Frank’s opinion, some of the most important personality traits for a tower crane operator are adaptability, diplomacy and being able to stay cool under stress.
“The environment changes from minute to minute. You really need to be able to roll with the punches up there. The supervisors have a million things to think about and they might not see that your issues are important. You have to present your concerns in a reasonable, adult way.
“There have been times when I’ve completely blown up and overreacted; it happens and it takes some work to try to rein yourself in. Everyone handles stress differently. I’ve seen operators climb down and get into face-to-face arguments. Find a better way to deal with it.”
The best way to learn the skills? Experience. Although more accessible formal training is being planned, courses are hard to come by and employers don’t always have the time and resources to give operators all the training they need. Frank advises people that are interested in joining the industry to start out in construction. Learn the building processes, and work with an experienced rigger.
“Learn the rigging job and do it for three or four months minimum. It’s essential to learn what it’s like to work with a crane, from the ground, and then get up into that seat. Offer to help with maintenance, inspections or whatever. Get yourself exposed to it. Nothing replaces on-the-job experience.”
Frank says that once people get trained and build confidence, they tend to stay in the trade. The earning potential is a very important factor.
“It’s a $100-125,000 a year job – from the day you start! And it requires very little formal training. You might have to take some courses, but it’s not like four years of university.”
Advice
The most important thing is to be aware of the impact this career will have on your health and your personal life. It’s crucial to achieve some balance by keeping up your social life, interests and hobbies.
“You need to protect yourself from injuries on the job. Common problems include neck and back pain caused by repetitive motion. It is also important to wear hearing protection. The crane produces noise. It is not quiet and peaceful up in the cab.
“Eat well, get enough rest and exercise to help stay in good physical condition and prevent the weight gain that can accompany the job. Diet plays a huge role in your ability to stay alert all day. Eating the wrong foods can make you tired, fat and irritable. It’s easy to slip into bad habits. It took me years to realize that when my body’s stiff and sore, I need to get up and stretch. Now I do that; go out and do a brief inspection or fix something. Two or three minutes then I’m back in the cab, feeling refreshed.
“At the end of the day, you don’t need a pint of beer to unwind. Take a walk or a bike ride, go to the pool and sit in the steam room or the hot tub. If people have good eating, sleeping, and living skills before they become a crane operator, they’ll usually maintain them as they go on.”
What’s Frank’s advice to prospective operators?
“Go for it!”