Early Years
My friend was preparing to go to line school, and he invited me to come with him. Instead, I joined the Operating Engineers Union to become a journeyman heavy equipment operator. I enjoyed this job, but I couldn’t help but being drawn to line work. More of my friends had gone to line school and began their careers as lineworkers, and it looked interesting and fun. I applied to Local 1249, and they told me I needed to finish my crane license, attend line school or get some experience to be competitive. While I worked on my crane license hours, I worked as a line technician for eight months for Verizon, which had a climbing school in Virginia. I then got a temporary field helper job as a flagger for my utility. After a few months, I won a bid on a line progression job, and I topped out as a C lineman after completing the three-and-a-half-year apprenticeship this past December.
Day in the Life
At National Grid, a C lineman can work all voltages and perform all duties while accompanied by a hot stick lineman. I will hold this title for two years and then be sent to hot stick school where I will become a fully qualified hot stick lineman upon completion. As a C lineman, no two days are the same, which is part of the job I love. Unless we have a big job scheduled and assigned, we could be doing anything from maintenance, 911 and service calls and trouble work to setting new poles or upgrading and installing new equipment.
Challenges and Rewards
We are on call 24/7, and we often work late or through the night due to wind and storm damage, motor vehicle accidents an equipment failures. For me, one of the biggest challenges is finding a sustainable work/life balance. I love my job, and I’m still taking in a lot of new information and experiences daily. I find myself having a hard time saying no to the callouts and overtime to the point where I’m not seeing my family as much as I’d like to and ending up burning myself out. The biggest rewards come from the customers and their appreciation after working all night to get their power restored. Learning and being part of a trade that has an abundance of work and opportunities while earning a decent wage is also really awesome.
Safety Lesson
I came into this career with a high regard for safety, and I’ve been lucky so far with none of my own eye-opening experiences. By hearing others with more experience talking about their near misses, I've learned if it can happen to them, it can happen to me. I've learned no matter how long you've been doing the job or the task you are about to do, we are humans who can make mistakes. When you add in the long hours, lack of sleep and variables that come with an old deteriorating system you really need to take every opportunity to protect yourself.
Memorable Storm
We are located east of Lake Ontario and service the southern portion of the Tug Hill Plateau, so we stay busy locally with storms throughout the winter. As for out-of-town trips, I've been sent to Buffalo and Albany, New York, a few times for winter storms. Both places have substantially more backyard and rear lot lines crowded with trees and fences. You can’t see from one pole to the next in most places, and you can’t access the areas by equipment, so you have to weave services in between trees, set poles and run new wire by hand with your tools.
Competing at the Lineman’s Rodeo
Rodeoing has given me an outlet to scratch my competitive itch while bettering my line work skills and safety. When I found out National Grid had a Lineman’s Rodeo Team, I think I was probably the first name on the roster for tryouts that spring. This will be my first year competing as a journeyman. My team and I recently made the trip down to the NSUJL Rodeo in Pennsylvania on our own to gain a little extra experience and prepare for the International Lineman’s Rodeo this year. We placed first in the speed climb, third in hurtman rescue and received an award for fastest speed climb of the day.
Plans for the Future
I'm proud of my career, background and path that brought me to where I am now, but I wish I would have gotten into the power industry sooner. There are so many avenues and types of work in this field, and I want to be where I am going to see, experience and learn as much as possible. As much as I enjoy learning and gaining experience, I enjoy sharing what I’ve learned and helping others who have the same outlook and approach as I do. Someday if and when I'm ready to slow down, I could see myself becoming a trainer or educator in the industry.
