If you love to travel and like to build or repair machinery, then becoming a welder is the perfect career choice for you. They earn a decent amount of money along with having creative job satisfaction. But how much is it? Today, we’re going to cover everything about traveling welder salary and how you can pursue a career in it.
What is a Traveling Welder Called?
If you’re interested, you must know that their jobs even range from underwater welding to the furthest corners of the world. For this reason, a traveling welder is called a “Road Warrior”. The name reveals all, They are the warriors of the road.
Becoming a road warrior is not just a job, it’s a lifestyle of skilled welders. There’s even a community of welders who live on traveling while working as a traveling welder. A lot of commercial projects are dependent on road warriors who are efficient welders.
What To Do Welders Do?
There’s always a high demand for pipe line welders who can move quickly. Road warrior welder are responsible for repairing pipe lines in various industrial facilities along with other commercial welding operations. They also perform military support welding jobs in their lucrative welding career.
Jobs in welding also include fusing metal, constructing new pipes, and doing other tasks while move to various places. Many welders specialize in a certain field, such as diving, working for alternative energy sources, working with racing teams, and domestic energy production building.
Given the harsh conditions in which welding may be required, many traveling welders have extensive expertise and training with a range of travel and survival equipment. As needed, welders may be required to work 45-50 hours a week and even in holidays or weekends.
Do Welders Travel a Lot?
As entry-level welders, you’ll find major types of welder jobs locally where you won’t have to travel much. But on the other hand, travel further distances to other towns or countries, giving them the opportunity to visit new locations while having new welding experience.
Welders who travel have better career opportunities of working as military support welder, industrial pipe welder, and in shipbuilding. All these jobs require efficient welding technicians and mediocre welders need to have years of experience before they can work in such welding positions.
What You Need to Know About Safety
Welding is a process that has been used for centuries to join metal pieces together. The welding process itself may not be complex, but the potential dangers certainly are. Because of the dangers involved in welding, it is important that traveling welders take necessary precautions to ensure their safety.
Some of the dangers associated with welding include:
- Burns: The sparks and heat from the welding process can cause serious burns.
- Eye injuries: The intense light from the welding arc can cause serious eye injuries, including blindness.
- Fumes: Welding fumes can contain harmful chemicals that can cause respiratory problems.
- Noise: The noise from a welder can cause hearing damage.
Is It Worth Becoming a Road Warrior Welder?
Salary for welders who travel will vary depending on the welding technician himself judging how much efficient he is. The annual salary also depends on the sort of job they do, the industry they work in, and the geographic location where they work.
Who can travel definitely makes good money, even more than welders who work locally.
As a road warrior, your degree of experience is the first major aspect that impacts how much money you can make. You can greatly enhance your earning potential as you extend your skillset.
It’s not unusual for welders or underwater welder to get more than $100,000 per year. Traveling welders’ salaries can even increase if their credentials are more specialized.
Can You Be a Road Warrior Welder?
Becoming a welder is actually easier than you think. You don’t have to pursue higher education to become a traveling welder. The only thing you need is a degree in welding and proper experience.
You can work in any energy industry or as a self-employed independent contractor. In general, the latter category has the most earning potential as you can choose your own working hours and hourly wage.
How Do You Become?
To work, you must have a minimum of 1-year experience of working as a welder and a driving license. Employers prefer candidates who are familiar with heavy welding equipment of the welding industry.
Companies may also put you through a physical fitness and capability test to guarantee that you can work in difficult conditions. To work as a military welder, you may have to finish lengthy training.
Strong mechanical abilities and in-depth knowledge about the welding industry and welding equipment are required to work in this position.
How Much Money Does Make a Year?
In the United States, the annual salary of a welder who travels ranges around $60,170.
In the welding industry, traveling welder’ salaries can even reach $64,850 per year if the welders are working abroad.
How Much Do Make an Hour?
The hourly rate of a welding technician will increase if he knows how to use unique and heavy welding equipment. On average, make $55-$60 an hour.
What is The Job Descriptions?
To find an employment opportunity, you have to go through several job descriptions. We’ve compiled a summary of job descriptions.
Duties and Responsibilities
They are required to put piping systems and construction units together, maintain them, and install them. The traveling welder will have to work as a pipeline welder in both outdoor and indoor construction sites of the manufacturing and fabrication sectors.
Must be physically fit and should have knowledge about alternative energy sources. The welders should also know metal arc welding and be skilled at handling heavy welding equipment.
You also have to inspect welding materials, execute tasks prior to pre-welding, maintain the welding equipment as per the specifications, and adhere to safety requirements.
Traveling welders might also have to work in confined spaces and in inclement weather. You must be able to read schematics and design welding plans in order to be a competent pipe welder. You have to pay close attention to detail and be able to produce a smooth and uniform weld.
Required Qualifications
As per most job descriptions, you must have a high school diploma to work as a traveling welder. An apprenticeship or diploma from a trade school is also required to present your knowledge of welding.
As welding certification, AWS certification is also required by a lot of employers. Experience of working as a pipe welder is a must-have skill to become a traveling welder.
Also, you need to have basic knowledge of ANSI, ASME, and API codes. Knowing how to handle heavy welding equipment is an added qualification. You need to have the ability to identify and troubleshoot crucial details. Interpreting schematics and having technical skills are also required to be employed at top companies.
Along with these, you need to have an adequate amount of skills in communication and be able to work in diverse workplace cultures.
Offered Benefits
According to the job descriptions, these are the basic benefits you’ll find.
Traveling the World
The ability to move and see new areas is perhaps the most compelling reason to pursue a career in this sector. You might have to move all the states as well as most nations across the world.
A career in welding will require you to execute difficult welding jobs in the Middle East as well in well-established energy industries and the Gulf of Mexico, which produces 17 percent of all crude oil produced in the United States.
High Earning Potential
Most of the job descriptions focus greatly on salaries. Over time, travel compensation, and per diems – all help to increase your earnings potential.
Jobs offer more on top of your standard salary, and some even cover time spent in transportation, such as commuting to and from the job site.
You’ll also receive a per diem each day, which is intended to cover hotel, meals, and other miscellaneous expenditures spent while on the road. You may be qualified for truck pay, which is a supplement to your hourly rate that you might be paid for driving your own truck and using your own equipment.
When all of these things are considered, it’s feasible that your real take-home income for work will be more than the reported hourly rate.
How to Get Job Quickly?
If you’re an experienced and skilled, you’ll find it comparatively easy to get a job quickly. However, for newbies, job posting sites like ZipRecruiter and Job Hero could be good options to search for jobs.
You can also search welding jobs where you’ll get some contacts in the welding industry along with welding certification. If you work as an independent contractor, making new contacts at such institutions could get you traveling welder jobs quicker.
How to Find the Best Welding School?
There are many factors that determine if a welding school is the best fit for you. These include location, cost, quality of education, program availability, and size of the school. The type of welding you’re interested in also plays a role in your decision.
Conclusion
As a traveling welder, you’ll have the chance to visit intriguing areas on a regular basis and take on new duties while learning about the newest welding techniques and equipment.
If you have a high school diploma and if you’re eager to move and ready for a career in welding, having an open, positive attitude toward these possibilities may indicate that traveling welder is the ideal career choice for you.
