A Lifelong Lineman: From Childhood Roots to Storm Response

Early Years

I am a third-generation lineman. My dad took me to a job when I was a kid, and I fell in love with the trade. My first job was for Henkels & McCoy doing backyard pole changeouts and reconductors in Detroit.  I spent the first 15 years of my career on the outside and then went to a utility for 15 years and then went back on the outside for the last five years. 

Tramping in the Trade

I am going into my 35th year in line work. After starting out at IBEW Local 17, I tramped out west to a utility company in Phoenix. I worked for Salt River Project (SRP) for 15 years, helped to build their apprenticeship program and met some wonderful people during my time there. I’ve also worked in Boston, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, Florida, Louisiana, Kansas, Missouri and Arkansas. During my career, I’ve served as an apprentice, journeyman lineman, superintendent, general foreman and foreman and have done work like temporary pole changeouts, cable replacements, transmission maintenance and construction. 

Day in the Life

I run a training center for IBEW Local 17. I’m very busy building new training tools, setting up training and helping with apprenticeship interviews. My day-to-day responsibilities are overseeing a 116-acre training facility, taking care of the grounds and equipment and coordinating the crane, underground and welding training. At this time, I am building a telecom apprenticeship program and in the process of putting together plans for a substation. 

Challenges and Rewards

My major challenges are diving into things that I’m not familiar with, and getting good at them is the reward. I try to stay outside of my comfort zone. I’ve never been a big-time equipment operator, but if I see something I don’t know how to do, I do not walk away from it. At 59 years old, I dive into it and figure out how to do it. 

Safety Lesson

My friend’s son was killed by induction, and it definitely changed my mindset on how we should approach grounding practices in this industry. I helped this kid in the trade, and it hit me really hard when he died. Lineworkers may think we should do grounding a certain way because it’s the way we have always done it and no one is getting hurt. That is not true. We need to do more training in this industry. 

Memorable Storm

Hurricane Katrina was a chaotic storm. We started it in Miami, and we finished it out in New Orleans. When it started, it was a Category 1, and we never thought it would turn into anything. It rained for two or three days before it hit, We traveled across the southern states like Alabama and Mississippi to bypass the country roads, and fuel was $7 a gallon. I had never seen anything like that. When we got into New Orleans, it was ripped apart. Due to the amount of damage caused by the hurricane, I watched people suffering with nowhere to go. They were completely lost. We were living in our trucks and staging in Amite, Louisiana. We came home after 45 days, but some crews were there for a year.  

Future Plans

I would definitely go into this industry again. I love being outside building power lines and working with some good people. I’ve probably got about three or four years left, and then it’s off to retirement.