LTL to Equipment Operator (long post).

My hours have been jacked up as a city driver at my current company, barely getting 40 hours plus late start times. Got a good opportunity at a job working for my local county as an equipment operator. Sweet hours 7-3:30 besides when the snow is falling. 14 paid holidays, vacation up to 5 weeks, 5 sick days plus extended leave accrual. Fully funded pension plan plus 401k with a 5% match. BAD is an 8 dollar an hour decrease in pay starting off. Plus little to no overtime. It’s a 30k a year loss in pay. I would get a 8% raise yearly until I get to scale which currently takes 7 years to top out. I did the math and I would need to get a part time job to cover my current living expenses until the raises get up there. Looking for better hours but my hours will be messed up having a second job. I’m a single dad every other week too. My parents would help out when I’m working nights plowing snow. The current at scale pay is 3 dollars more an hour then I’m making now and the union contract expires soon so the wages will go up. Has anyone made the change and lived off ramen for a couple years? I like my current job but just tired of the jacked up start times. 8am- 3pm starts. Been in LTL for 10 years and switched to city work because I knew the divorce was coming. Appreciate any insight or advice. I’m 37 so I have a lot of years to work.

 

I’m out of a tiny center. Been cutting almost half the city routes daily. I’m the bottom guy so I’ve just been coming in to work the OB for a couple hours. All other LTL carriers are about an hour away. I don’t want to commute that far or move. This has been going on since October and it’s not getting any better.