Hornbeck is going under! We have lost 5 guys in the Tug and tank barge fleet this week and more quitting at the end of there hitch!
[QUOTE=panhandlemariner;49882]Hornbeck is going under! [/QUOTE]
If this is fact then things are going to be VERY interesting for the next couple of months!
interesting… do tell more
Hmm, so 5 guys quit the tug and barge fleet and this is forcing the company to go under. I like to hear people claim that the company can’t run without them but people quit everyday and like magic people get hired.
I doubt he meant it that way
[QUOTE=Sukker;49928]Hmm, so 5 guys quit the tug and barge fleet and this is forcing the company to go under. I like to hear people claim that the company can’t run without them but people quit everyday and like magic people get hired.[/QUOTE]
No 401K matching, 3 year vesting on insulting bonus, not to mention you must sign a arbitrary agreement just to get it! No raise in 5 years but the CO’s get millions in bonuses every year. Too many layoffs. We hire ex Coast Guard guys for the “training dept” what training dept. you have laid off half your fleet you don’t pay for training! Expensive insurance, co-pays, and deductibles. WAY too much paperwork, if you took the time to do all the paperwork the actual job would never start! Micro-managing, install camera system on every vessel and relate every injury to human error. You weren’t wearing your hard hat, that’s why you cut your finger! I have been here 8 years and it gets worse and worse every year This was one of the best companies to work for till 5 years ago. Pay rates are way lower than other comparable companies. Way too many chiefs and not enough Indians. Will not approve repairs to their vessels. Marketing dept. is a JOKE! So is the human resource dept. In house testing of critical equipment, they preach safety but there just preaching cause’ I see a lot of pencil whipping going on here!
People are just getting tired of being treated like crap, it is not the way it was when I got in 8 years ago with Hornbeck. The dayrates are way too high, no pinned units, and a crappy marketing team as well. There are roumors of pay cuts here as well. I would have to see a drastic change in the way the company is now run to have any hope of them pulling through this, Hopefully the drilling ban will lift soon and they will be all right, but never will they be the “company of choice” again.
I don’t think a company cannot run without me, but the boats cant run themselves!
I can vouch for how many Companies suck at taking care of the people that actually make them money. My comment was directed towards a business will still continue on no matter how many people quit. It just turns into a game of supply and demand (i.e. if we throw enough money out there the people will apply).
I can only speak for the tug and tank barge side. I think they made a mistake in not pinning there units! It’s very insulting when you are sitting weather-bound when a pinned unit on the same contract as you heads out to sea! I think they need to suck it up and lower there dayrates on dove vessels as well. As someone on here posted some money is better than no money!
They made that mistake a long time ago. First when they bought the two Tidewater tugs, then when they rebuilt the Otto Candies scrap. Their fist mistake was bringing in John Burns ( the same guy that screwed over the Maritrans tug people ). The second was hiring a idiot designer ( can’t spell arcitech ).
And like you said they make all these safety rules then if you follow them you are no longer needed.
Well good luck to them. Bless their hearts.
I just hope they don’t kill anyone before the changes that need to be made take place. Like Bouchard did a few times.
Yea, John Burns was Ruthless! I heard he was trying to get on at Vane Bros. while still at Hornbeck. I think we hire too many ex- coasties for the office. The marketing team sucks too, asking too high a day rate for wire boats and “conventional” barges. The only thing the customer is interested in is…<O:p</O:p
How fast can you get it from point A to point B, What are the dicharge rates
<O:p</O:pWire boats so number one is out if the weather turns, conventional barges? They have electric motors but have the same discharge rates as the angle drive pumps! How can you justify higher day rates for new stuff with old technology?<O:p</O:p
So true. Lordy I feel sorry for anyone at Vane if John Burns teams up again with Rick Ialuchi (sp?)
Why they don’t go with a JAX system or even a Bloudwoth system is beyond anyones thoughts. Carl was told over and over again what would happen.
I just got a call asking of my availability for HOS, but it was not by HOS. It was by a Crewing agency. They wanted U/L personnel for temporary spots for HOS. I never got back because I was not interested. But does anyone know what’s up with this? It almost sounds like spot work, but I have no idea why HOS would outsource this. I am not sure if it was for the Achiever or Iron Horse. I dont know about the Strongline and Centerline. For those two vessels, someone told me that you can run those with a large OSV endorsement. Not sure how accurate that statement is.
I wish I new what was up. It is hard to plan out your personel life if you don’t know what is up with the Company that you are working for. I understan that times is still hard but the office is still growing and the equuipment is still not getting the attention it needs because the money I guess is short. No raises in I think around 5 years and taking stuff a way from the people that is out on the boats makes you wonder. Some people are still getting heafty bonusses and if the stocks goes up that makes there bonusses even bigger. I do hope things hurrys hope and changes so people once again feel proud to say they are a Hornbeck employee. [B] Better Comunication would be nice.[/B]
[QUOTE=CaptRob1;50386]I just got a call asking of my availability for HOS, but it was not by HOS. It was by a Crewing agency. They wanted U/L personnel for temporary spots for HOS. I never got back because I was not interested. But does anyone know what’s up with this? It almost sounds like spot work, but I have no idea why HOS would outsource this. I am not sure if it was for the Achiever or Iron Horse. I dont know about the Strongline and Centerline. For those two vessels, someone told me that you can run those with a large OSV endorsement. Not sure how accurate that statement is.[/QUOTE]
Hornbeck has been using C-Mar to crew up the vessels for jobs that are short term. I was hired that way during the BP spill as Master on a couple of their supply boats. Their reasoning is that they didn’t want to hire anyone to just lay them off soon after. They have laid off or fired quite a few folks and won’t be hiring anyone on a permanent basis until they rehire their laid off folks and have room to hire more people. They have some boats working out here in deep water with drillships and Semi Subs but not many. I am out at GC 653 servicing the TLP Shenzi for BHP Biliton and hear some HOS boats occas. on the VHF…