What are you paying loaders, when not supplied by the venue?

Matt

Reply posted by Jason on February 24, 2002

Matt,

There are things to figure like what type of load-in and load-out, and the difficulties of such. I keep and support my own crew. No matter the gig, they each know that they will make at least 100 per person. If the gig is harder and the money is better (depending on how much gear we supply), these guys know they will make better money.

If you want a valuable and dependable crew, be sure you treat them good. Take care of them, and they will take care of you and the business. My crew is always happy and ready to work for me.

Whether I need just one crew hand or a dozen, all it takes for me is a call and they are there, no questions asked. We all like to make money, and it comes by making good tunes first. I don’t even have to ask for volunteers when it comes to doing the free non-profit gigs. They happily volunteer and we work as a team. Damn, I love this business!!

Reply posted by Harry on February 24, 2002

It depends what level you are at. I see most often anywhere from $10 per hour to $22 per hour with a 4-hour minimum. The higher end is IATSE and usually there are not less than 20 hands. I think $8-$12 is fair in the South.

Reply posted by Craig Leerman on February 24, 2002

Here in the Mid-Atlantic area (Baltimore/Washington) the union has two different categories for loaders. TRUCK LOADERS and GENERAL LOADERS.

TRUCK LOADERS get paid by the truck (average here is $30.00 per 40 foot trailor). Truck loaders work in a minimum team of 4 hands per truck, and NEVER LEAVE the truck. Their only job is to unstack and unload the trailor and get the items out the door to the GENERAL LOADERS who then push it where is goes. After the one trailor is unloaded, the TRUCK LOADERS then move onto another trailor.

On very large tours or broadway shows, there may be many teams of TRUCK LOADERS. On load out, The TRUCK LOADERS only job is to load and stack items in the trailor. TRUCK LOADERS are generally only used when there are at least 4 trucks on the call, or at certain theaters where it is written in the contract. TRUCK LOADERS don't have a minimun number of hours for the call, they work until the trucks are loaded/unloaded.

GENERAL LOADERS are the folks that take the items from the TRUCK LOADERS and push it out to where it goes. These folks are called PUSHERS when there are TRUCK LOADERS onsite. General Loaders average around $18.00 in Baltimore and $20.00 in the DC area. When there are no speciffic TRUCK LOADERS assigned to the call, the GENERAL Loaders unload and unstack inside the trucks also. (They don't get a different pay rate for unloading) GENERAL LOADERS usually have a 4 hour minimum for the in, and a 4 hour minimum for the out.

Which is why most show accidents happen on the out. The union, in their haste to get home quickly, and still get paid for 4 hours, combined with the road crews haste to get loaded and back to the hotel for sleep, combined with the trucking company's haste to get on the road, makes for a very dangerous workplace!

There are also 3 different non-union labor companies (that I know of, there may be more) based here in the area. They all charge the customer between $20.00 and $36.00 per hour for General Labor. (They pay their labor between $14.00 and $20.00 per hour) They do, however pick up the insurances, and taxes for the labor.

I personally have two different rates for labor. LOADER and TECHNICIAN. I expect my Technicians to help load and unload the gear right alongside the Loaders. Loaders get paid for a 4 hour in, and at least a 2 hour out. Loader pay is $18.00 per hour. Techs get paid for a daily rate depending on job/skill. We also pick up any parking fees, and we feed the crew (even the loaders get lunch) And, we don't ever count on a promoter providing us labor except in the union houses. We always bring enough people to do the job.

Craig Leerman