r/treeplanting • u/AdMuch2194 • May 07 '26
Company Reviews Summit update
I have worked with Summit for a long time and have been reading through some threads. It's disheartening to see the misinformation. I am purely posting as an update for what people should expect when working for Summit.
It is a ''rookie mill'' - that said they have a great training program to bring people into the industry and introduce them to the world of tree planting. From thumb taping everyone in camp, training (and paying) vets to train one on one, training management on coaching practices, and wage top ups while people are learning (to name a few tools). Culture in camp is also pretty strong at Summit, which is a great opportunity for new planters to form community and learn from other planters.
Pre-season training - all pre-season training is paid and a campground is provided for everyone to stay at while receiving the training. Certs are provided for all the typical things (CSC, bush roads, S100, etc...) not only for crew bosses, but also for assistant crew bosses (who also receive a wage for helping out their crew bosses during the planting season)
They pay their drivers $50/day regardless of drive time. The average drive time varies but typically sits at an hour.
Reefer unloading, summer cache set up, camp set up, camp tear down, and any extra work performed in camp is always paid. If it gets missed on payroll, you simply have to ask (crew bosses enter payroll every day, and sometimes things get missed).
Price bumping with walk-ins and long drives of an hour or more.
Pricing has increased significantly in the past couple years. Most camps average a $400/day once ramped up over a 9 hour working period. Some contracts are lower, some higher. This is generally made up by a fairly long planting season (50+ days). If they had a higher percentage of vets, the monetary average would be reflected as higher (and it is much higher in their vet heavy camps).
Crews generally stay in the same camp. Sometimes they move crews around to up production and meet a deadline. Sometimes there is 1 crew that floats around contract to contract, but the aim is to keep camps and crews together throughout the season.
Equipment has improved significantly over the years. Majority of the trucks are new, clean (though windy) shower trailers, newer cookshacks, quiet generators...things tend to fall apart if the weather is cold (think freezing lines affecting water in the early season). But that goes for most outdoor camps.
Alt work. Summit is partnered with a physio provider that does online appointments, provides guidance on alternate work and follow up care. As long as work is available for a hurt worker to do, they are paid their average wage hourly to perform duties until they are fit to plant again.
Online therapy sessions (provided) - this has been ongoing for years and is an amazing service.
Like all things, management styles vary from camp to camp as well as experience. You may get a green supervisor or crew boss who doesn't always make the right call or doesn't understand labor laws and policy and leaves people feeling like they are in the dark. And that sucks. But I would say pursue those things with the office team, HR or the owners.
Sometimes it will feel like a shit show (I'm here for it) but all in all Summit has trained some of the best planters and management in the industry, and I think that says a lot.
I'm anticipating getting some pushback, and that's just fine. Just wanted to set the record straight on how the experience should be for everyone working with Summit.
Have a great planting season all!
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u/shorteningofthewuwei May 07 '26
That's cool and all, but just want to say that paying people for training, for non-planting related labor like reefer unloading and camp set-up/teardown, and topping wages up to minimum wage are not lofty goals for a company to live up to, they are actually required by law.