Blue Collar Jobs

DWF

Member
Location
Barron County Wi
I just saw on TV where they were talking about pay for jobs. They are trying to encourage young people into blue collar jobs. They had several different jobs with the pay posted after the job. It said welders can expect to earn $150,000 to $200,000 a year. The one that floored me was the average for a truck driver was $142,000 a year. I have been driving all sorts of trucks for years and I'll have to find out where those jobs are.
DWF
 
Yeah I must be rich and good looking, because i've done both jobs at once. Not as good a welder as Jon f Mn
 
Mr Google reports the national average salary for truck drivers is $ 50,749. Guess it depends on the news article one reads.
 
I?m taking electrical in trade school now. There students that
already have gotten university degrees that say there?s not
enough white collar jobs so they?re looking at trades. We?re
told start our pay for 1st year apprentices are in the area of
$15/hr but can get to $25-35/hr here but you can get double
that in other areas as you advance and pass block exams.
 
(quoted from post at 17:59:27 02/05/20) I just saw on TV where they were talking about pay for jobs. They are trying to encourage young people into blue collar jobs. They had several different jobs with the pay posted after the job. It said welders can expect to earn $150,000 to $200,000 a year. The one that floored me was the average for a truck driver was $142,000 a year. I have been driving all sorts of trucks for years and I'll have to find out where those jobs are.
DWF
Were they talking about job opportunities in the Yukon? Perhaps the South Pole?
 
(quoted from post at 23:57:10 02/05/20)
(quoted from post at 17:59:27 02/05/20) I just saw on TV where they were talking about pay for jobs. They are trying to encourage young people into blue collar jobs. They had several different jobs with the pay posted after the job. It said welders can expect to earn $150,000 to $200,000 a year. The one that floored me was the average for a truck driver was $142,000 a year. I have been driving all sorts of trucks for years and I'll have to find out where those jobs are.
DWF
Were they talking about job opportunities in the Yukon? Perhaps the South Pole?
I don't know, but I'd like to see that again. I don't know if it was Weather Channel or Fox Business probably Fox and "Fake News".
DWF
 
When I was forced to retire by my doctor I was making $55 per hour driving a dump truck in the area. But I had to also pay insurance and fuel etc. Not sure how that figured out per year.
 
I think they cherry-pick those numbers to attract applicants. Those wages for welders are not for go-to-work-and-weld-all-day jobs. More for oil industry and pipeline work, desert, arctic, jungle...
I was in tool and die for a while and six-figure wages are not unheard of but they come with tons of overtime.
 
I sure don't know any welders making that!

Especially around here, welders are too plentiful, every shop has a stack of applications on the desk.

Very few speak English.
 
Those may be blue collar jobs...but they require a level of skills. The HVAC guy that works on my furnace has very good computer skills to work on this space-age HVAC system that seems to always have a glitch. The blue collar person with "no skills" and no willingness to ever learn any skills is in a tough situation. Those good paying "no skills and no interest in learning any skills" jobs of the 60-70-80's are gone and are not coming back. Don't matter who you vote for.
 
maybe they are referring to commercial divers welding deep saturation dive on the north sea oil fields. or possibly nuclear reactor divers.
 
Hi I know for union pipeline welders $1000 a day for there craft and rig pay with living expense. Oil
field and gas.... field. The average work week is 6 /10 hr days ... in summer sometimes 7/12s.
Everything over 8 time n half. Holidays double and triple time ... all depends on prejob.. I used to work it
! I also have nephews who mine coal ... $150,000 / if not more.. lots of overtime on both occupations. I
also have ran heavy equipment in the $50.00 hr range ... there are lots of good paying jobs If you want
to work.
 
I worked with an electrical contractor once that had a degree in electrical engineering. I was surprised. I asked him why he was working as a commercial electrician and not an engineer. His reply was that he made more money working as a tradesman than as a professional engineer. My son started as a weld grinder, progressed to pipe welder and has worked his way up to project manager. Not bad for just going to a trade school. Took him about 15 years, but it has been worth it. His company is always looking for qualified welders/fabricators. There are some very good blue collar jobs out there, but they do require training and a strong work ethic.


OTJ
 
Family friend works as a nuclear plant welder, top quality worker and works lots of overtime.
Makes $140k. That $200k would interest him. Please provide location and employer/employers' names.
He'll send an app.
 
(quoted from post at 14:59:27 02/05/20) I just saw on TV where they were talking about pay for jobs. They are trying to encourage young people into blue collar jobs. They had several different jobs with the pay posted after the job. It said welders can expect to earn $150,000 to $200,000 a year. The one that floored me was the average for a truck driver was $142,000 a year. I have been driving all sorts of trucks for years and I'll have to find out where those jobs are.
DWF

Just remember, it is not how much you make, it is how much you can save!
 
I think what you are seeing is statistics where a comparatively few jobs that REALLY pay well (Like Nuclear power welding for example) that
completely skew the average pay for that particular profession. Also I would think that truck driver pay would be averaged in with Hazmat
transportation, which should pay more.
 
Somebody worked some numbers. Those may be peak numbers that were then extrapolated into yearly compensation in some sort of "what
If" scenario.

I've seen these kind of reports over the years including for the profession that I went into. The ones for my profession......well
they really cherry picked the numbers and left out the dues you pay to get there.
 
Well that was back in 2000 and every year I got money back when I filed taxes. I never pay attention to the paper work that was what my tax person was for so no I did not really know what I was making per year and did not care if I did I was doing well and that was all I cared about
 
I used to make a gross of about 100,000.00,to maybe the close to 150,000.00 or a bit more with the truck. The bigger figure was during the 4-5 dollar fuel period then pull all the expenses off and it was still a decent living. I owned the truck and trailer not leased to anybody. Was motor carrier for 15 years.
 
$142 for a truck driver?? Or is that how much you could make if you owned a fleet of trucks?? Bill
 
(quoted from post at 20:04:15 02/05/20) Well that was back in 2000 and every year I got money back when I filed taxes. I never pay attention to the paper work that was what my tax person was for so no I did not really know what I was making per year and did not care if I did I was doing well and that was all I cared about


It really doesn't matter if you don't make any money because you can just work more hours to make it up.
 
Just like most places. They lie in the help wanted ads they place. They list all sorts of wonderful things to make a crappy job sound interesting ! Sure be nice if they would tell you what they really want.
 
This song says it best. The people that sent the jobs could bring them back, but, you're right, they won't.

Not everyone, for many reasons, have the where with all to develop the technical skills to advance themselves.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Szclr2caFG8
 
In my local starting pay for an apprentice that knows nothing 16.69 per hr. Local 164 IBEW Jersey City N.J. Electricians
 
Thanks, the video was poetry. The jobs won't be back because Americans won't pay the high prices that would result from bringing them back.
Interesting that we are now trusting the same folks that off-shored the jobs, to bring the jobs back. Not likely. So much for vision. I just wish some of them would have asked 30 years ago, "what will happen when the jobs are gone, but the people are still here"?
Ashe said in the song "Get out of the Limo and look around".

I just read a statistic that 30 million working age Americans read and do math at the 3rd grade level. That limits job prospects.
 
Pipeline welders can make the $200,000 a year. But its a hard life - you spend the year travelling at the speed the line is built. You live out of campers or hotel rooms. You work in all kinds of weather and you provide your own equipment. If your idea of fun is laying on the ground in North Dakota in January (not that July is a lot better) welding the bottom side of a 40" pipe line while you wife and family are a 1000 miles away it might be the life for you. Pay is $60-$80 and hour with per diem in at $100 to $200 a day.
 
There is a great Technical school here. Mitchell Technical Institute. One of their recruiting
posters shows their grads start at a higher salary and graduate with 10% of the student debt, and
have a much higher immediate employment rate than, DRUM ROLL... Harvard U.
Has a high National rating.
 
That nuclear plant doesn't move - he can live with his family and be home every night. Pipeline welders live at the end of the pipe line and make it home once a month or so - and have the same skill (or better) than his. That's how you make that extra $60K a year.


Or you can be a welder at the local Caterpiller plant and make about $19 an hour.
 
"[b:654c4848f0][i:654c4848f0]I must be rich and good looking[/i:654c4848f0][/b:654c4848f0]"

Both have worked better for me than education or experience.
 
How many do that after failing to find a job" How many "government" and Sociology majors do we need.
 
Average Salary After 10 Years
$136,700 vs. $34,300 national median
Years
Average Earnings
after 6 years
$96,800 per year
after 7 years
$113,600 per year
after 8 years
$119,900 per year
after 9 years
$123,000 per year
after 10 years
$136,700 per year
10 years after enrolling, the average income of former Harvard University students who are working and no longer in school is $136,700, which is 299% higher than the national median. Sources, U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard / Department of Treasury.
 
(quoted from post at 23:25:18 02/05/20)
(quoted from post at 14:59:27 02/05/20) I just saw on TV where they were talking about pay for jobs. They are trying to encourage young people into blue collar jobs. They had several different jobs with the pay posted after the job. It said welders can expect to earn $150,000 to $200,000 a year. The one that floored me was the average for a truck driver was $142,000 a year. I have been driving all sorts of trucks for years and I'll have to find out where those jobs are.
DWF

Just remember, it is not how much you make, it is how much you can save!

The best advice in this thread.
 

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