As a skilled trade that takes pride in our chosen vocation, it is vastly important that we ensure the welfare and industry professional standards that we take pride in. As our infrastructure becomes increasingly more congested and projects updating our nation’s neglected pipelines begin to let — we are going to find ourselves surrounded by more and more competition that is ill equipped to meet the needs of our customers, as well as our communities at large.
The demand of a better infrastructure will clash with a rush of new pipeline suppliers, putting municipalities and infrastructure-supporting companies in a quagmire. The reason that this will happen is because there is virtually no set standard or certification industrywide, aside from the gas pipeline contractor’s operator qualification program. So, once the high-paying, prevailing wage, guaranteed work begins to let, prospectors will seize the opportunity to invest their retirement into a directional boring machine.