Any fellow lineman out there?

So...I like this and don’t have a clue what’s happening. What’s in the little bag? Why the little bird? What’s the thing that looks like the robot training to take over your job?

 

Worked in a lineman department for 2 years, learned that’s not I wanted, lol. When you have a button in your vehicle that calls life-flight to your location, that’s when you know it’s dangerous. It was interesting and met some crazy folks.

I prefer operations, I’m at work right now, watching controls and equipment, LOL.

 

When I transferred down to Southern Bell (Bell South today) I worked in Miami as a cable repair tech / cable splicer (upgraded in NYTel 3 years prior). 99.9% of the poles were sticks in Miami but I never used hooks again, I'd just whip out the 28' fiberglass ladder and climbed up to work. My boss Marvin wanted to know why I didn't use my hooks and I told him because I didn't want to!

We did have to qualify with hooks before we could leave NY, which I did with no problems. Most of the work down there was digging up splices anyway. I never understood why my truck had a shovel and a pry bar on it until I had to use them. Only time a digging crew was called was when you hit coral or needed to get under the asphalt.

 

Journeyman Lineman out of L.U. 317 WV. I do transmission and distribution.

 

Watching the videos LinemanBarn shares of this helicopter work is nuts! I’ll stick to a bucket!

 

I don’t always do helicopter work , this was from 2016. It’s fun for about a week and then you realize it’s still work. I do prefer to be in a bucket though because I have control of my own movements. I don’t mind climbing every now and then either.

 

IBEW journeyman lineman here! I work for the utility company here. They sold off all our transmission stuff and got rid of that whole department. Now we just do distribution. Some days I wish I didn’t work at the utility, but it’s very nice knowing where I’m going everyday.

 

Sleeping in your own bed every night means a lot. I would love to be home. Unfortunately where I live non union has took over for the most part and made out wages so low I can make over $20 more on the hour to travel north 3 1/2 hours. Even if I worked at home groundman up here make more than I do as a JL at home.

 

We are changing out insulators that “little man” is the hook that is holding my ladder in the air and the big loop where you put the smiley is where the helicopter picks it up when we are done. The bag has all my bolts and parts for the new deadened.

 

Just like a lineman. Can’t go 5 minutes without telling everyone they’re a lineman.

In all honesty Do a lot of contracted work with Eversource spraying ROWs.Worked around a lot of them and you have my respect.

 

I’ve been a member of IBEW Local 47 which is a Lineman’s Local since ‘07 however I work on traffic signals and residential street lighting. All of my work is out of a bucket truck. Highest Voltage I work-on is 600 Volts. Down the road I may look into moving into power distribution.

 

Yeah it’s a shitty boat your in there. It is amazing that amount of people that have such a hatred towards unions. I mean I see why.. big pay, benefits, retirement.. yeah who wants that! Hahaha

 

Exactly I have never understood it. I have a guy I went to high school with that’s a non union lineman and I asked him one day why he stays non union. He said he’s not going to pay a union hall dues to work. I asked him how much he made last year and he said 90k. He asked me how much I made and I told him 185k and I took almost a month off. He just looked at me funny. I’ll pay dues to make double the money and all the benefits , being able to drag up and leave if I don’t like it means a lot to me too. I could leave where I’m at now and be somewhere else tommorow.

 

A union negotiated pension is also good to have!

 

Railroad lineman ny to new haven ct , overhead trolley wire on trains , plus power lines , metro north rr , 20 years retiring soon sept , moving my Tacoma to location that I can’t decide on yet , Tennessee, New Hampshire , maybe , best job I ever had , we climb steel catenary , drive on rail etc

 

Remember when telecom was just, “tip and ring”

Sort of been the “Jack of all trades”. Pulled all sorts of cable, ran fiber, spliced, soldered, electrical work, etc. Whatever the job called for, had to react and adapt. “Can’t be done” wasn’t allowed as an opinion.

 

I’m able to write-off my Union dues on my taxes so I don’t mind paying them. I worked non-union for the first six years of my career but at least for me there hasn’t been much difference. That said though, I have very little interaction with anyone from my Local; I’ve just never been a fan of their ‘It’s us against management’ attitude plus I wish they were more neutral on their politics.

 

It just depends. In your field you make more. For our company where location determines union or non union or Europe union. However, at the end the union guys make less. It is what it is, and everyone gets certain benefits.

 

I must ask. 600v? I know down in the states your "high low voltage" is 480v. Is most of the street lighting just run on a higher voltage for wire sizing?

 

As an ex-transmission guy (worked down in our control center) I appreciate the heck out of you guys. Always answering the phone and getting the lines back up after storms.