• Born in Indianapolis, Indiana.

• Proud father of his 19-year-old daughter, Savannah.

• Enjoys golf, softball, working out, church, family and volunteering for the Special Olympics.

• Describes himself as easygoing, funny, hard working, spiritual and organized. His coworkers would describe him as easy to get along with and having a “parade” truck because it's so clean and organized.

• Inspired by his father, Jack. His father has served as a huge support system for Travis's mother, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's five years ago, and his sister, who was in a motorcycle accident 31 years ago at the age of 19.

• His favorite boss is Sam Scott, because they understand each other and communicate well. His favorite coworker was Josh Sawyer, who was a good worker and a friend. He said it was fun teaching a younger lineman some of his experience.

• His favorite project was the first big job he had as a new crew leader. His crew installed a new circuit coming out of a substation, so they laid out a lot of primaries. He said it was a great learning experience as a new crew leader to direct the crew, make sure safety procedures were followed and the job was getting done in a timely manner.

Early Years

My brother, Jack, was working for H.J. File Corp. as a journeyman lineman the summer before I left for college. I worked with him doing apprentice work that summer. Years later in 1990, I was hired by Indianapolis Power and Light (IPL) as an apprentice. I can still vividly remember my first day on the job. I climbed a 35-ft CL5 pole to change the light bulb. When I got to the top, I froze and would not climb down. They had to send a bucket truck to attach a hand line to my belt to get me down. I have come a long way since then.

Day in the Life

I am currently a crew leader/lineman on a two-man trouble truck. Our daily work assignments come directly to us on laptops that are mounted in all trucks. The first thing I do is review projects to assess material needs for scheduled jobs.

As a two-man trouble truck, we are generally the first guys on the job. We assess if it's going to need a bigger crew or if we can do the job. We do anything from troubleshooting, changing transformers, refusing cutouts or pulling up downed primaries. We are currently upgrading our system by putting in more automated, which is helping our customers by providing more reliable power and reducing outages.

Challenges and Rewards

The biggest challenge is providing cost savings for the company and the customer while still providing reliable power for the customers. It's also a challenge to do the work safely. The future of this industry may have difficulties because it's becoming tougher to find guys who want to do this type of work not only because of the risks that are involved but the elements that we work in every day.

The biggest reward is doing storm work for people who have been out of power for hours, days or even weeks. They are so grateful for our help. They make us feel like heroes.

Safety Lesson

When I think about safety, two instances immediately come to mind. One guy, Butch, was badly burned and lost a leg because of it. And the other guy unfortunately lost his life. Both of them were good friends. It greatly instilled the value of safety in all areas of my life at work and at home. Butch is now a safety advisor. You can't help but think of safety when you interact with him.

Storm Moment

Back when I was a lineman, we were on mutual assistance in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It was the fourth day of storm work. We went to dinner that evening and as we walked in the restaurant people started clapping and thanking us for the help.

Future Plans

I would definitely go into the power industry again. It has provided a great living for me and my family. It also has taught me many life lessons, and has been exciting and rewarding. I have really been blessed having this job. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is considering entering the field.

In the future, I hope utility companies continue to listen to the ideas of crew leaders and linemen. I think future growth of the power industry will depend on it.