PDA

View Full Version : ? For Troubleshooters



riverhog14
02-03-2006, 10:15 AM
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?

nor-easter
02-03-2006, 06:33 PM
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
02-03-2006, 06:47 PM
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 .

nor-easter
02-03-2006, 07:27 PM
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
02-03-2006, 09:49 PM
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
02-04-2006, 08:18 PM
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.

Lizzy Borden
02-04-2006, 08:35 PM
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
02-04-2006, 11:13 PM
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

T-Man
03-03-2006, 01:45 AM
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
03-03-2006, 07:57 AM
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".

troubleman036
03-04-2006, 09:51 PM
Well we run 1 mantrouble trucks 24/7 365 on shift at all times.We never have riders unless in training.We repair everything that we can in a reasonable time by our selves execpt xfmr change outs pole xfrs ext. It is a learn as you go you can not really train someone cause no 2 calls are ever the same.But we give our crews plenty of work.Its pretty simple they say just keep fire in the wire the meters turning and the lights a burning.

zapped74
03-05-2006, 07:27 AM
Did 21 yrs as a lineman got trained by riding with several old school troubleshooters that could do linework standing on there heads in the rain it is a 24/7/365 proposition I work rotating swing shifts. Been doing this now for a year and don't regret it a bit. Dealing with the public can be a pain in the butt otherwise it is one of the best gigs you can get into as long as your wife goes along with the program (working Christmas 4th of July taking vacation days on Saturday and Sunday to have a weekend off) and you know what :rolleyes: still learning new things every day just about.

australiantroubleman
03-06-2006, 08:06 PM
Good point zapped ive been doing it since 1981 , still learning new things , i enjoy the variety of work and the `electrical detective` side of the job keeps you thinking . In my company i tend to do switching more than linework repairs we call out lineys so they dont tend to dislike us for taking their overtime .

riverhog14
03-06-2006, 09:45 PM
I really cant wait to get started. All the trouble stories in the "pictures n stroies" section of the site really do get ya thinkin. Deffinately want to do trouble when I have enough experience. But who knows, maybe Ill change my mind in 10 years. Anyways parents have convinced me to do 2 years at a community college, then Im gunna apply as somethin with the local utility and then bid on a apprentice opening when it comes open. Does ANYONE allow ride-allongs while shootin trouble? Like your wife or kids, or a kid like me whos just interested?

Koga
03-16-2006, 06:38 AM
I agree with some of what ol lineman said and some of what the others say.
As Ive stated before ,we have about 4 or 5 good T men and the others aint worth the time and effort to bitch about. Everyone knows who the good ones are and knows when ya get the call they can pretty much believe what they hear from them. The bad ones you better check and start from scratch cause all they know is pick up the mic and say " I need a line crew". Lazy ass sob's dont even get out of the truck.I dont mind going to help the good ones , but the others can....KOGA

Koga

OLE' SORE KNEES
03-16-2006, 06:58 PM
I agree with some of what ol lineman said and some of what the others say.
As Ive stated before ,we have about 4 or 5 good T men and the others aint worth the time and effort to bitch about. Everyone knows who the good ones are and knows when ya get the call they can pretty much believe what they hear from them. The bad ones you better check and start from scratch cause all they know is pick up the mic and say " I need a line crew". Lazy ass sob's dont even get out of the truck.I dont mind going to help the good ones , but the others can....KOGA

Koga
What he said but only 2 or 3 good 1's where I'm at

GLOVE IT!
04-13-2006, 10:28 AM
as aT-shooter we're the first on the job no matter what the weather condition or danger involved we are confident that we can evaluate the situation and make it safe for the crews to come in and perform their tasks. I like to think of us as the infrantry we make the calls with noone there to ask any questions we have thee dangerous job on the property so WE HAVE TO KNOW OUR SHIT!! N yes we do train the qualified lineman coming over because it is a whole new world working alone with noone to turn to.

LAWDOG
04-28-2006, 11:30 PM
as a lineman in new mexico my time on the trouble truck has been since i was a 3rd year apprentice , Ive been a j -man 6 years i worked side by side with my j-man and for me it was all on the job training , you work the terrible truck get ready for an eye opener because now you are one ! be safe

Linemo
06-04-2006, 10:15 AM
Here it used to be the most senior guys were the ones that would get the Serviceman {T-Man} jobs but several years back the company deciced that they wanted them to try to do it all and nobody wanted the job so the junior guys started getting them ! Now on the other hand if your a Lineman you will get plenty of experience troubleshooting in time thru storms or when you get a trouble call and get out there and find that the problem you came in for isn't what took the line out or fix the problem and find there is something else!This is just mt opinion but take your time learn the constrution end gain that knowledge then when the opportunity presents itself take it if you like shift work {or fill a shift like I did for 3 months to get a feel for shiftwork} ! Me I love being a Lineman this way I can have it all building wrecking out and trouble not to mention mutual aid restoration !!{usually T-Men do get to go} This is just my take!!