truck driver

laborer

operator

driver

equipment operator

Clean Harbors

Let me start by saying that all facilities seem to run differently, all have a different culture within the Clean Harbors culture (like comparing New York and Texas, same country but very different places). 

I worked doing the facility technician job for three years, at the time I applied it required post secondary education in chemistry, my facility was Ryley Alberta which is a landfill/transfer station in a segregated rural village. 

This job is very steady, there is work for the next 20 years in this facility however sadly there seems like there will be little to no net growth in terms of personnel and for that reason with some education this is more than likely going to be a temporary job for whomever takes it. You have the choice to live in a quiet town home to 500 people or drive 70-80km to the nearest city. I chose the latter, which did cost me 120,000 km and many hours of driving over three years. 

The pay is reasonable for the job, however if you’re an out of town worker which is more than likely then you’ll find out how underpaid it actually is (since the labour pool for this job in particular has been exhausted in the local area). For this reason, do not be shy to ask for the highest possible pay - because raises are unlikely at this facility - highly unlikely I will repeat.

This job is a hard hat, coveralls, steel toed boots kind of job, depending on your capacity it’ll be 10% office work,  15% lab work and the rest transfer station work (mostly labour), and any combination up to and including 100% transfer station work (unlikely but if you don’t know how to use a computer... that’s probably it). 
The opportunity for you is to learn about the landfill waste management business, how to tell a hazardous waste from a non-hazardous waste. You’ll have the chance to learn to operate a forklift, skidsteer, dump truck (roll-off), fire truck, vac-truck, etc, also get an intro to the office environment and lab work. There may or may not be side projects for you to use your own skills while earning overtime pay (like fixing lab/office equipment, doing special report projects, etc).

The tittle here was facility technician but at the end of the day this position might be more of a labourer than the guy who’s title is labourer. Some of your duties can be sweeping the floor, shovelling snow, plucking weeds, cleaning spills, bulking pails, drums or totes of chemicals, pressure washing bins, fixing things around the facility... etc. You can also be a driver in this position, ideally you’ll have a class 3 license so you can drive the required equipment but there is always someone who can drive it otherwise. Driving truck loads of garbage drums up the landfill can be one of your main duties. Opening drums is mandatory work, checking their content and classifying them according to the best disposal option (which you will be trained to do). Be aware, this job is dirty – smells? Yes. Rotten egg, dust, onion, decomposed stuff, grain, mining metal waste, rocks, sewer material, chlorine, pesticide, herbicide, acids, bases and most of all – petrochemicals and hydrocarbons, you're provided all the PPE and you will be better off using it. 

Overall there is hope within the company, however management will resist any attempt for your transfer to another facility unless its an actual move up. In a bull economy it could be quick after the one year (mandatory), otherwise you may get stuck there for many years (three for me).
You’ll learn something here, in terms of training at Riley you will only get what is essential for the job but any extras only the first aid and maybe confined space.
If you don’t have some major chemical knowledge, acquired through experience or schooling I don’t recommend that you apply for this job. Otherwise, I did the job and it kept me employed through the longest economic recession in Alberta’s history.

If I scared you away let me finish by saying that I don’t regret my choices but the taste is definitely bittersweet. I managed to get something better within the company, I hope it is as good as it sounds.

Good place to work but not perfect.

Pros:
- Home daily.
- Straight days, mon-fri
- Good benefits (life, dental, vision, medical).
- 401k match program.
- 10 paid sick days/year
- 40 hours personal time/year.
- 2 weeks vacation that increases with years of senority.
- Hourly pay with OT after 9 hours in a work day for local work. OT after ur 10th hour for non-local work (time and a half). They also pay double time on ur 12th hour to ur 14th in a day and everything after 50 hours/week is paid at time and a half.
- All drivers make over 100k/year, even the ones who work as little as they can. Some drivers make as high as 140k.
- Stat holidays off
- Safety is taken seriously. If the road conditions are poor due to winter weather, you are not forced to drive in it.
- If you do have a layover (which is not common), you are put in a hotel. You never have to sleep in the trucks (can if you want though). You are also paid extra for meal allowance if you do lay over.

Cons:
- Equipment is old and breakdowns are common.
- Level gauges on most tankers don't work, leaving you to guesstimate your load with hopes of not over filling your tanker.
- You only know what your job is going to be for the next day, but no further in advance. This results in being hard to make appointments when not knowing what time you will be done work on your appointment date.
- Elogs are on your company Iphone. It can be finicky and annoying at times.
- You drive a different truck every day.
- No advancement as a driver. Once your hired as a driver, you will always be a driver.
- There is favoritism with managment in regards to how they turn their heads for some employees but not others.

Other stuff to mention:

- It's a union position, so the highest senority driver gets first pick at the jobs. As a noob, you will get the last job left, which isn't always the greatest job (as expected). On the plus side, in time, you will get the better jobs as you climb senority. The good jobs are REAL GOOD, so it's worth the climb. Being the lowest on the list isn't horrible though.
- Being union, you have to deal with some lazy union people (more so other departments than drivers). Can be frustrating at times.
- Different unions within the same plant. It causes issues.
- The drivers union is weak.
- Can be catty place to work. There is always some form of drama amongst employees.

All in all, i'd highly recommend working here as a driver. Not many trucking jobs offer steady days, mon-fri, home daily with weekends off and a 6 figure income.

I worked here for four years as a technician for 3 years and as a chemist for 1. 
My time was enjoyable while a technician but the unpaid commute to a remote location made it difficult to stay for long, so around the time I was looking into going somewhere else I got a promotion based out of the Edmonton Area. 
As a chemist it was good, many benefits were included with the job including a vehicle plus a paid commute, however the raise to take the chemist job was zero cents. 
Benefits are meh, 50% dental, never used the prescription, zero paid sick days, two weeks vacation, nothing to brag about, right on mid-low range. 
I would have stayed for longer but management tried to push me to take a job 1 hour North of Fort Mcmurray, at zero dollars net raise income. The way they tried to accomplish this was by cutting my paid commute (which was agreed upon hiring but not written in my contract), sent me back to $50k/year, so in order to stay at the same $66k/year or so they said I had to go up North. They did re-negotiate a contract at the site I was based at but the way the manager deals with you is "take it or leave it", so I left. 

Long story short, after four years subtracting inflation my wage went up by $0.95, so this is probably what you should expect: a quarter a year. 

Most managers were very good, especially at the Ryley facility, but even then, the only way to describe my last few months there is that I got earnings bullied into finding a new job.

In having said that, overall this is a not bad company, again good for 1-2 years of work, hopefully no more as the skills you will learn are not easily transferable to other companies as a chemist.
If I was in need of work I would work for Clean Harbors again, but be aware that asking for raises at this company is a waste of time, the raises you will get will be by working overtime, of which there is lots.

Was there for 2 months - job posting initially promised a rewarding career with lots of learning potential. None of that was true - not even the job description matches what I did on a daily basis. Instead was hired on as a paper pusher that had been left by previous person for me to follow up, which I had no idea of. 

Initial training had promise, but left me with only the basics on how to clear off the current backlog and left me with more questions than answers with nothing going forward. 

No time to do 5 different jobs at once.  Workload never ends - expected to work for them during weekends and holidays as well. 

Support of processes really bad - no backup from anyone else and even if there was backup, it took precious time out of your busy day to go through these processes which then compounds your workload even further and allows for bigger errors to happen because now you are forced to make shortcuts to the process. Tools to support processes looks good on paper, but is below average and when it does not work, it really affects your day's output and trying to resolve the problem, again they say it's not their fault, it's yours. 

Basically, you were the go-to person doing 5 different jobs at the same time, but not getting 5 different paychecks and if you could not handle the workload, you were blamed and it was the start of the termination process which does not go through the proper stages of the process established by current labor laws.

This company has a major disconnect between management and employees.  I worked at the head office in Edm and it is ridiculous, the staff in AP are scared of their boss; the billing and transportation depts are kept in the back because they are too loud (but the best group there); management all went to school together and are best buds - but are not friendly with other staff; purchasing manager is a complete joke -  most arrogant boss ever, works half days and even then he bluffs his way through conference calls and lies through his teeth about his "busy" work schedule - a complete joke!! If Norwell had any clue they would have someone there for him to report to - extremely unprofessional, awful work environment!!  Half the people are looking for other employment - no job stability, they don't tell you there are no sick days, they deduct a vacation day as sick days, no raises - yes no raises!!  WTH is that!!  Cancelled their stock program, cancelled their gym membership reimbursement - OH AND don't even think about training...you are left on your own!!  No moral and everyone in the field hates head office and visa versa...all you hear is complaining; the job description is not the actual job you do either; My biggest mistake ever was accepting this job!!  Do yourself a favor and save a headache....don't bother with Clean Harbors, they pretend to talk a good talk but are far from it and are not what they advertise at all.

Clean Harbors has grown by acquiring many small companies in Western Canada.  This stratgey has brough on considerable debt, and the fleet is aging in most of it's lines of business.

Due to this, Clean Harbors pricing is higher than it's competitors--often while providing less value than someone with newer equipment at a lower cost (fewer break-downs, etc).

Still, a lot of smart and savy people work here.  I enjoyed my colleagues, and selling the Clean Harbors portfolio can lead to some interesting conversations--mostly because Clean Harbors can offer so many lines of business to it's large customers.

The pay was below avergae for simlar jobs in this neck of the woods, but the worst part about the job is the bonus strucutre.  Many people have had money problems either hitting bonuses, or getting paid out on them if they were super-successful.  As a result, many of Clean Harbors best people have left in roles like Business Development.

Overall, it's a decent place to work, but they are not competitive versus other companies nearby.  I'd say it's a great place to get your foot-in-the-door, gain some experience and contacts, and then leave for greener pastures.  You can learn a lot working here, and I was always given enough latitude to drive my business the way I felt was right.  For this, I must give management an A+ rating.

Field phone calls and messages to the other employees, help payroll by entering employees time daily. Handle all incoming and out going mail, faxes and packages, and disperse as needed. Work with the managers and book flights for employees and book hotel accommodations and maintain reservations. Help with receivables when needed and set up new jobs for data to be entered to, enter appropriate data and type up invoices to be sent to customers. 

I have learned a great deal from this office, I learned to use the Clean Harbors system and Excel as they deal with a a lot of spread sheets. I learned a bit about both the receivables and payroll process.

The management was great, they were patient and very helpful when providing me with the information needed to book either flights or hotels. My co workers were fantastic and  very helpful. Could always go to any of them if needed help with anything or advice on how to do something.

Hardest part of the job, was being bombarded on the busiest days when having tight deadlines to meet. I most enjoyed the people I got to work with and feeling like you are more than just a co worker, they made you feel like family.

My tasks at work are very diverse and yet very directed with many KPI.s and time lines that effect a variety of operational groups with in the company.
Typicaly i will spend 30% of my time in the office with the key Supervisors and managers directing and advising, working on budgets and revenues (P and L's) , 30% working on project bids and 40% in the field on site with the shutdown crews, directing , guiding and co-ordinating, the project.
I have been doing much mentoring and leading through a stratejic plan to elevate our staff to management levels.
I have learned to be more effective in my daily directives with the leadership and mangement mentors i report to.
My co workers have great expertise in the industry and are a very valuable resource to plug into on many of the projects and jobs we do.
The hardest part is to balance work home and spiritual life. I work 6 days a week 12 to 16 hours.
The most enjoyable part is achievemnet of key goals and winning major projects as it reflects on the performance of my leadership. I am currently doing all the work of a Director but do not have the associated title, benefits or salary.

I worked at Clean Harbors for 4 years as an Operator. Clean Harbors as the core company is very focused towards it employees and their well being, and advancement. That being said the management from branch to branch is very different. there is a lot of favouritism (close with management and supervisors) and generally branch management is not willing to help its employees in any manner whether that be broken equipment, training, required PPE, time off, or performance based raises (never doing the reviews if they don't like you). They will constantly send you out of town with less than 24hrs notice and you can expect to consistently be away from your home and family for 2wks-1mth (only those close to management get consistent home based work). Safety training within the segregated branches is ignored and they will make you do jobs that you are unsure about or not familiar with, with absolutely no formal training other than someone who kinda knows the job and equipment (I was on sites where people got hurt over this). If you refuse, since they cannot fire for the refusal they will sit you at home (with no pay) until you quit. That being said the fellow drivers and labourers are generally really good to work with and talk to, and are willing to help guys through uncertain situations.

I worked at this company at the Ryley landfill division for nearly 5 years. Every week going back the thought wasn’t about what to do all it was is how are we getting in trouble today. The management here is absolutely terrible. They have no clue what they are doing and have no clue how to manage themselves let alone anyone else. The pay is even worse for the hazards you work in and even if you are the longest lasting employee new hires can be paid more than you. I knew the place inside and out and that still wasn’t good enough. The management promotes bullying and even adds in to get things more heated. If you like being treated like absolute garbage then by all means work here. But take my advice and avoid it at all cost. Even now I hear how everything is my fault or how the managers are going to treat me next time they see me. When I started there we had full crews of new hires at the same time as me. When I left I was the last of those hires there. This facility itself is trash and unless management changes there’s no way I’d even advise my worst enemy to work there. 
Also, my last week there they made us run the track hoe and rock trucks with no windshields.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Truck driver 45 salaries reported	$33.03 per hour
Laborer 23 salaries reported	$26.41 per hour
Operator 17 salaries reported	$34.40 per hour
Driver 10 salaries reported	$31.69 per hour
Equipment operator 5 salaries reported	$28.90 per hour

Working at Clean Harbors: company overview and reviews

Clean Harbors

Clean Harbors ratings

Popular jobs at Clean Harbors

Salary satisfaction

Job seeker tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected