1) Your local has a diameter that it services -- So whatever your jurisdiction is, say Cleveland and some surrounding cities is what you either do service, modifications, or new construction. You wont travel to other locals and work without transferring. I have a 27 mile diameter I work in, and they pay mileage etc depending on where I'm at within that diameter. Service travels every day, mods can take weeks at the same job site, new construction can take a couple months depending on the number of stops.
2) Some people work 40, others work up to 84 depending on the time frame for the job. I came out with a guy that went to a 40 hour week job, I went to job working mon-sat & 12 hour days. 40 should pretty much be guaranteed unless the economy tanks
3) It is shift work, most commonly 6am-2:30pm in my local... not sure about others. I know service guys are on call also.
Also, the first year is probationary. So show up everyday and bust your a**. It's cool work, I enjoy it a lot -- plus all OT is double time!
It's mostly surrounding counties. Cleveland is one of the smallest locals by size.
Depends on the Job, the contractor and what you want to do what your mechanic tells you. I work 10's M-Th for my normal 40, I usually work M-Sat 10's for 60 hours a week. The time in the morning is usually when the contractor wants you to work whether it be 6am or 7 am, but I have worked a job that started at 4am. Shift work is job specific, you usually won't see that in New Construction or Modernization, but if you work a service route that requires a Elevator mechanic onsite 24/7 than shift work can happen. From my understanding this is rare and mostly at Large hospitals.