? For Troubleshooters

How long were you a lineman, after apprenticeship, before you became a troubleshooter? 5 years maybe? Do troubleshooters get apprentices or do they train the lineman after an apprenticeship has been completed?

dont worry bout the trouble job just yet got to have at least 2-5 years as a rated man before your qualified and only time i have somebody with me is when we are doubled up due to a storm or im breaking in some one we dont have apprentices think your putting the cart before the horse

[OLE' SORE KNEES]

Originally Posted by riverhog14

How long were you a lineman, after apprenticeship, before you became a troubleshooter? 5 years maybe? Do troubleshooters get apprentices or do they train the lineman after an apprenticeship has been completed?

No I'm sorry son,most lineman train "trouble-shooters" on what they missed,and correct the problem and try to keep the correction in-house,there are a few good ones out there but most have have forgot about linework if they ever have knew it.Alot of times when it hits the fan we help "trouble-shooters" catch-up on calls, after they are caught up,we are doing the refered tickets,picking up wire,changing out Tx's,basic linework,etc. while they are at the yard sipping on coffee talking about how rough a night it was .

T-men teach lineman though there are a few good ones out there most times all you hear out of the crews is how they think you screwed them out of a call in when half wouldnt have come in any ways because the weather wasnt right or it wasnt an all nighter so lets not go there we all have em

[CenterPointEX]

Its pretty much a trade ya learn by doing. I spent about fifteen of my twenty years with HL&P as a trouble shooter on nights. We usually ran two man trucks. I enjoyed it most of the time, cept for the being away from family at night part. Lighting gave me a woodie.

[Bull Dog]

It takes a while to get the skills needed to be a troubleshooter. Proably 5 to 10 years after apprentiship. Yes We train the new guys usually a class man I get cause a apprentice cant handle it except for a few exceptions. When im done with them there ready to go out alone at night or have the sense to ask for help. Ive done it all before I got T man. Fogot more than most on crews know but i never rub it in. I had a choice run a line crew or trouble. I ran a crew for a long time so it was no big deal. My main job is safety i preach it all the time. Never had a man assigned to my trucks ever get hurt ever. Im proud of that record and i hope to finish my career with a perfect record. To all the apprentices i say Keep you ears and eyes open and turn on the brain first. Good luck to all the app out there and its not all luck believe me.

We have some really great trouble shooters. They earned the respect the hard way......have time......and real lineman. Our last contract did seem to draw a line in the sand right down the middle of the line department. You have the lineman and the troubleshooters. Seems the troubleshooters are the ones with the really big wallets and the lineman get the scraps. Our TS's team up and form a 2 or 3 man crew and avoid a call out for the lineman.....very chilly platform.

Now seems the fad is "Hire anything with a pulse".

[LINETRASH]

Man, I'll tell you what, I thought I was a well rounded journeyman lineman, what, with 17 years with the contractors, re-conductoring, working transmission, pole change outs, you name it.

Then I came here and got forced into the trouble shack. I did'nt know as much as I thought.

It has definitely been a grad school for journeyman linemen. Open neutrals, reading the beam on regs, wires down, dead critters, one shots, the list is long.

Knees, I feel your pain, I know quite a few real dumbasses and lazy asses who have no business in trouble. I know the line crews re-shoot every call that is referred, and if I was a foreman, I damn sure would.

Unfortunatly, Riverhog, at least here, any lineman can bid a t-man job. From fresh off the aprintice progam to hired off the streets.

Someone told me that the graduate apprinteces have to work as a lineman for x-amount of time before they can bid a foreman job. Not sure if the same applies to tmen. Maybe knees can shed some light on that.

Good luck

It took me 14 years as a journeyman before
i had enough time to get a trouble job at my company
you need at least 6 years at journeyman before you
can do trouble. We are the first responders work 24/7
rotating schedule. We cut power for fire depts to get
ladder trucks to get in the air, switch out lines after cars
take out poles.And anything else one man alone can do
















i

[loodvig]

They are forcing people, with 2 years as first class, to fill trouble shifts here. No one even bids the jobs so they hire off the street. So my question to Mr. Sore Knees is if it's such a tit job why is no one bidding it?
Have I missed or blown a call? Sure I have, I'm not perfect. Have I been teamed up to do a call? Yes! They run the list 2 or 3 times, and nobody comes in, what the fuk you expect them to do? I get a call and tell em I need a crew and pretty soon the truck cell phone rings and it's a lineman, who's at home, wanting to know just what the call is before they agree to come in. 'Can I get the night out of it' and so on.
Our pay rate is close to a crew leader here and some of our crew leaders have not 'been up' in years! "I'm senior to you, your up".