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View Full Version : The Noob: The story of a wanna be



Doggboi
01-17-2007, 12:48 PM
Hello everyone,

My name is Dave and I am a student at the Southeast Lineman Training Center in Trenton, Ga. I thought I would share with you a few small and continuing snipets of my experiences here at SLTC and after I graduate ( pretty confident for the 3rd week huh? )

A little information about me before I started at SLTC... I am currently 35 years old , and grew up in a small town in Florida called Vero Beach, graduated 619th out of 657, and went on from high school to work a number of jobs before spending 5 years in the resturant industry a few years in Lawn Maintenance and Landscaping and the last 7 years working for Comcast Cable ( initially TCI , then AT&T and finally Comcast over the 7 years ).

My time at Comcast
I often said that after I started they would have to burn me out of my job there... and in a matter of speaking they did. I had a 5 year goal of becoming a maintenance technician ( Tech that maintain the plant on the poles ), but managed to leap frog over that and ended up as a supervisor. Imagine my dismay when we were hit by Francis and Jeanne one month after my promotion and I learned that as a supervisor I recieved no overtime for working 14-18 hrs a day. After being in my desk for 6 months I realized I made a serious error and that while I might have been a decent supervisor I was a much better technician and prefered my time outdoors to time behind a desk. So I started making preperations to get back outside. In the process of this I soon discovered that while the Maint Techs make better money , they were grossly over worked wiht only 8 of them on 'on-call rotation' being called out all hours of the day and night to repair any outage or serious reception problem that may occur. The monies those techs were making didnt really seem worth the effort. Granted it was better than I was currently making , but the trade off of quality of life didnt seem worth it. I might add here that I often traded with other installer techs to work as back ups to the maint techs, but it didnt happen nearly as often as the regular maint techs.

It was during my transition time behind the desk that I discovered the forums here at powerlineman. I also started talking to a few FPL guys that had had contact with and so I started looking into how to become a lineman. Rather than start at the end of a shovel or a meter, I wanted something to give me an extra edge, so that I could jump into an apprentice position. I have worked for too many companies previously that would promise promotions in X amount of time but never came through, so the idea of working for a company for a few years before getting to apprentice at my age didnt seem viable. It was then that I came across NLTC and SLTC websites and recieved course catalogs for both. I started making preperations, putting my house in Vero Beach on the market, and 'lightening my load' so to speak. So in September of 2006 when I closed on the sale of my house. I decided that perhaps Georgia might be a better location to be in January, which is the first sessions of class I would be available for.

.....to be continued....

Doggboi
01-17-2007, 12:49 PM
Since I was packing everything I owned in a 8x10 trailer from Home Depot, I didnt have much in the way of belongings, but I do have a 4 yo Yellow Lab , and the only places that the school had lined up for students was dbl occupancy 2 bedroom apartments. No Pets allowed. So I looked around and Trenton is a pretty small place, and not much going on , so I looked to Chattanooga which I suppose would be considered a decent sized city and was only 20 minutes away. I managed to find a single room apartment near the interstate for 425 a month ( better than my mortgage in Florida )

I moved up a few days before Thanksgiving even though classes didnt start until the second of January. Too get a feel for the area, and maybe get a job. Nailed down a job in downtown 'Nooga at the TGI fridays , which works out because they were able to cut my schedule down to 2-3 days on the weekends so it wouldnt interfere with my schooling.

January 2nd came and I showed up @ 7:30 am , to get an early start on things. Everyone was assembled in one of the 2 classrooms. 66 guys and we were missing a few from the Grand Bahama's that were having either travel issues , or union issues, we never did find out because they never showed up. We have 4 primary instructors, 1 director of training, 1 director of business and one AA on site at all times, and we got to meet them as they introduced themselves. After a brief introduction and just a little bit about the school , we were split up into two groups, those that havd been on site and been fitted for gear , and those that had not. I wa sin the former group and headed outside to pick up my equipment. This included brand new boots, Hard Hats, Safety Glasses and of course brand new Bashlin Gaffs and Pads, belts, safety straps and a bunch of small tools. After assembling our belts with tool pouch and nut bag ( yes I laughed too ), trying on our boots and making sure we had everything we headed back in side. Lunch was provided and many of us started meeting the guys we would become pole buddies, and friends with. After lunch it was time for those of us that had been issued tools to finish up our paperwork. 5 at a time we went down , saw the AA, and then the Dir of Business to pick up our books and so they were assured we had living accomodations and payment was either taken care of or enroute.

After lunch we were grouped into our teams. 4 teams, 16-18 guys per team. I drew Thomas Kinard as my instructor, we met outside and he gave us a quick run down of what he would expect of us. THomas, looked a little back woods, and had a pretty deep Alabama accent that some of the guys had trouble with. But he spoke loud enough ( and he does it often ) so that you are at least to hear him even if you cant understand him. So as the day neared its end , we stowed our gear in our group ( or circle ) shed with the promise of pole time on the very next day.

Doggboi
01-18-2007, 12:41 PM
On the third day of the first week we got a visit from the local Sheriff and Police Chief. They wanted to let all of our new pups know that thier first time away from home wasnt to be considered a spring break , and they shouldnt do anything they wouldnt normally do at home. They also wanted to remind everyone that while the legal age of consent in Georgia is 16, this are has historically been inhabited by moonshiners and hunters.. so even if the law wasnt to be feared, thier daddy's might want to be considered in the equation. However.. some of the females in town know our school schedule better than the instructors, and thats all I am going to say about that for the remainder of this ... thing. The instructors also went on to tell us more about the industry , and the school and each other. Then 3 o'clock came around, and it was time to head outside to the pole circles.

First of all we had to suit up , gaffs, belts, straps, helmet, kevlar forarms, gloves and safety glasses. The instructors hadnt had time to get to know us too much to this point, so we were called, bubba, skeet, dickhead, dumbass to name a few things, but we were assured that we would all be given nicknames before the end of class ( as of this writing , I have been through 3 plus my real name which there is one other Dave in my circle ) We spend the remainder of this time learning to step onto the pole, and step off.. and then ... the day is over..

The last day of the first week ( classes run mon - thur, but because of the new years it was a shortened week.. and how I would learn to hate those shortened weeks ) we spent the entire day in the circles. We climbed, set, strapped off, and learned how to reset unstrap and step down. By the end of the day each of us had a black stripe at approx 5ft. while it was only around eye level to me , I didnt realize at this time how difficult it would be to get my feet to work when they were at this mark as we started our second week of school , but the first true week of Pole Climbing.

TBC

Doggboi
01-24-2007, 09:44 PM
So as the 2nd week ( first week of climbing ) started , it started with up downs.. up to our mark , and back down , all together, and then each one at a time. This gave our instructor pleanty of time to critque our methods, insert comments, and generally get loud. I seemed to have a common issue , I wasnt locking my legs fully as I went up. Luckily for me I didnt combine this problem with another common problem of keeping ones waist too close to the pole.
A few guys were slow to adapt to the height of 5ft at the feet. Having been on 28ft ladders as a 15ft daredevil, I was already used to the belt and strap. As the week progressed , we learned to trust our gear.. some of us needed a little encouragement which was in endless supply, if you didnt feel comfortable , the instructor would climb the pole and give you a hug and let you know it was all okay and you would be fine... He would even place his strap over yoursm and let his weight hang on your strap alone.. again to ensure you knew it would hold not only you , but him , as long as your legs were locked.
We learned that you could actually move that strap around the pole without touching the strap or the pole. Actually, we learned very quickly and with some pain that touching the pole at any time other than strap on and strap off.. was NOT a good idea and rather bad form.
Leaning back in our belts we tossed a basketball from pole to pole.. unless the guy to the left or right of you was missing.. then you had to toss the ball around THAT pole to the guy on the other side of it.
Also this week started our classroom activities.. Applied Mathmatics and Electrical Systems. Applied Mathmatics started out with whole numbers, and progressed through roots and powers. A calculator was supplied to each student , and the books showed you how to work each problem out in detail. On top of that the instructor made himself available after class or during lunches for those that didnt/couldnt grasp it right away. Mon Tues we covered new material , weds we went over the test and reviewed the subjects, and thursday we tested. Basically the same went for Electrical Systems... although this of course was more memorization of reading material and understanding some basic ideas.. Transmission,Sub Transmission, Distribution and Service. The idea of phase to phase and phase to neutral was introduced and a few relevant tales of the job were included.
Seeing how i was living in Chattanooga, I soon found out i was one of very few that lived there, actually there was one other in class that lived there, a ling time resident Tyrus. This guy was the largest and darkest member of the class, soft spoken but rather intimidating. We exchanged numbers in case of vehicle failure, and also agreed to get together to study on Weds nights. I would soon find out this really was a good idea, as it helped us both out tremendously.

As the end of this week came to an end, we actually placed our feet at the 15ft mark , and when we qualified, it was required that we go up , and rotate around the pole and come back down. There might have been more, but because of my current slacking posting here, I may have forgot it.. but last weeks qualification is still well engraved in my head.. and you will see that in the next post. After going up to the 15 ft mark ( and yes it was a tough climb ) the qualification seemed like a breeze. As a side note.. I aced both of my tests and T missed 1 on each.

creepingcharlie
01-24-2007, 10:58 PM
Don't mean to interrupt but this dose help us, the ones that are looking to go to a lineman college. Keep it coming as I plan on attending NLC here in CA. I am sure they do things a little diff but it is all the same thing they are teaching. Good luck and thanks.

Doggboi
01-25-2007, 09:28 AM
The 2 schools are very closely related, our manuals have the NLC logo on them, although I wouldnt be able to vouch for the teachers there, if the directors there put forth the same intrest in putting out quality lineman then it should be very similar.

One thing to note, that it was mentioned breifly by some instructors, that while 'sliding through' may be acceptible in colleges and public schools, because this is a private institution , they dont 'HAVE' to pass you , and sliding through isnt permitted as sliders would not give the school or the students that work hard a good reputation.

Also a side bar to the last post I made.. We lost one student that week to a pre-existing back injury. And also one that slid the pole on thursday did not return on monday siting his girlfriend was having a hysterectomy. He never did return. I could be critical and comical here saying she had the wrong pussy operated on or it was an ironic choice of excuses... but I will leave that to the reader to alter/edit as they see fit.

Doggboi
01-25-2007, 12:46 PM
Towards the end of last weeks activities and into the 2nd week of climbing, it was made clear to us , that along with the severe no-no of holding the pole after straping on, looking at your feet while climbing would no longer be permitted. Focus on hand foot movements were also looked at closer to ensure there was always a 3 point contact and also that you were moving properly up the pole. This was to be a shortened week because of Martin Luther King day.

Things moved very quickly this week , as we started our Rigging Class and continued in our Electrical systems class as well. As the instructors attempted to fill our heads with 2 days worth of information in 1 day so that we could properly review on weds and test on thursday, it became evident to me very quickly that this was going to be a tough week in the class room.

Little did I know how much tougher it was going to be outside. Having spent the previous long weekend back in Florida I had enjoyed 3 days of Shorts, Tshirts and Flip Flops, I was greeted on tuesday morning with frost in Trenton, luckily for me a new set of Carhartt insulated bib overalls kept me good and toasty. Being new to the cold I was slow in purchasing them , but now I believe it was truely a good investment.
Up the Pole we went, a few times on tuesday, then a rope came out, it was tied around the pole circle and tightened so it was guitar string tight. We then raised it to the five foot level and we learned how to manuver UNDER, step up to and cross, and also to climb straight up the pole and step above the line. This worked out well and having previously been to the 15 ft height the week before, manuvering at the 5ft height seemed like a cake walk. This didnt last though. Because of the shortened week, things were accelerated and after only a few tries down low to get our technique down , we raised the line to the 15ft level so we could start working at that height on weds.
Weds morning came, and we learned the square knot to add to our previous weeks knot the bowline. We were tested on these knots in front of and behind our backs. Some of the guys are just plain lightening quick, I however fall in the middle of the pack. Then.. you guessed it.. back up the pole. We are taught how to 'candy cane' the poles as we have started to wear one side of our untreated poles out. We get to spend limited time practicing around the line as the instructor works harder with those struggling with the basics of climbing. On this day one of our guys takes a 10ft slide. His shirt is unripped, and from where I was it looked like he had red belly, but after class we got to see the damage as it looked like a cat had taken to him. No splinters though. Tyrus and I again studied and I felt confident on my knowledge of our material.
Thursday came and it was Test and Qualification day... I missed one question on each test, which although is respectable, wasnt where my goal was.. then it was outside.. I didnt feel comfortable at all working at our new height , and having to qualify around the line wasnt going to be easy for me. But in an effort to get it done, I scambled up the pole...Did my under line swings... got in working position and tied my bowline around the line.. pivoted around the other way , tied the square knot around the line, climbed up, and steped over the line, pivotoing around, and again stepping over the pole , repeating this in the opposite direction. resetting, I climbed above the line, and then to the ground. I did it so fast I was winded and actually had to rest for a moment before unstrapping to come down. I passed , but I had failed to lock my knees completely on my climb up and my climb down.
Thursday ended with the entire circle making thier way to the top. Not only were we asked to get to a point where we could touch the top, we took our hard hats off and banged them against the pole to announce our victory. Our instructor has shown a theme which we now find inspiring.. we will not be the last pole cirlce to do anything. and thats all he needs to say.. 'You dont want to be last boys'. We are all sore, and are promised the next week will bring a better time, anyone that is struggling is advised to lock it up, and hang tight, if they can make it past the next week , it will not only become easier.. it will become fun....

I looked forward to 3 days of resting my tired muscles, I wasnt sure if they were tired more from the climbing, or the fear that caused them to clench.

the youngster
01-25-2007, 06:24 PM
hey dave my name is matt and i have been reading your posts and i am writing to you with hopes that you might possibly be able to give me some information about the school. i am markwho's son and i will be attending SLTC school next september. i was wondering if there where any younger guys down there like right out of highchool because i will be only eighteen for a couple of weeks when i leave i was jsut curious to know how many my age mgiht be there. also i was wondering about the boot height because i did not order mine yet and i was curious as to wether i should get the 14inch or the 16inch. please write back. thank you
matt

Doggboi
01-29-2007, 12:17 PM
hey dave my name is matt and i have been reading your posts and i am writing to you with hopes that you might possibly be able to give me some information about the school. i am markwho's son and i will be attending SLTC school next september. i was wondering if there where any younger guys down there like right out of highchool because i will be only eighteen for a couple of weeks when i leave i was jsut curious to know how many my age mgiht be there. also i was wondering about the boot height because i did not order mine yet and i was curious as to wether i should get the 14inch or the 16inch. please write back. thank you
matt

Hey Matt, We do have a number of guys straight out of high school around your age, and a larger number that are 19-20. Maybe 1/3 of the class makes up the range between 18-20. I woiuldnt worry about the boots selection yet until you talk to the school. I got my boots directly through them and was fitted when I did my initial tour and paid my deposit.

the youngster
01-30-2007, 03:38 PM
thank you for the information if you have anymore that you think would be interesting i would be glad to hear about it.
matt

BigClive
01-30-2007, 05:11 PM
What age do you reckon the oldest student is?

Doggboi
01-30-2007, 05:13 PM
Well I have last week to write about still, and this week, I will most likely sit down and do those on friday. But if you have any questions feel free to ask. I will do my best to answer them for you. As a side bar I noticed they were clearing a section of property , which I incorrectly assumed was to possibly add new plant or more training area ( perhaps a 3rd party cdl testing site ) but I was mistaken, They are going to be building a 60 room dorm for future students, not sure when it will be ready , but its on the way.

At this moment Clive our oldest student is 44, its my understanding the oldest student to graduate was 53


D

BigClive
02-01-2007, 01:39 PM
At this moment Clive our oldest student is 44, its my understanding the oldest student to graduate was 53
D

Oh good. There's still hope then. :)

Doggboi
03-08-2007, 07:21 AM
Sorry I havent given you guys an update lately.. I have been busy with School , and the gf.


So much has happened in school thta I am going to give brief hi points to get caught up.

Form my last leave off point we were just getting to the top wobbly legs, sore arms ( from pulling instead of stepping up for those with bad form ), but we were at the top. Up downs now took a little bit longer so you woked harder at doing the right things an making sure the instructor was happy so we wouldnt have to go up more than we really had to. Although in one day we would move out of our comfort zone, and the poles that we had been on since day one, and knew every knot and crook in , would be left as we climb each pole. 18 poles in the circle, back to back , sometimes belting off, and circling.

From there we worked into the single cross arm. It was required that each student at the end of the week be able to have an arm sent up , hung, and sent back down in under 8 minutes. although our instructor told us anything over 5 and we would be climbing. It was immediately clear who was listening in our classes and paying attention to our knots. It was also made clear how important a good groundman can be. We were split in to 3/4 man groups, I went up top first and waited... and waited as my team tried to figure out how to tie a clove hitch , and then sent the arm up upside down.... and then got pissy with me as I voiced my displeasure with the time they were taking and NOT asking for help. I couldnt help but think if these guys ever got paired with an old school lineman that it might have been raining nuts and washers. ieventually got my arm done and came down and proceeded to gorund for them , things went a lot smoother. I also got a chance to ground for a couple other guys in the circle, and even got our Circle VP a low time in practice. On test day, I knocked out a 4:46.. no extra climbs for me. Our Cirlce VP had the low time of the entire class, and no one really thought about the height , just getting the job done...

safe_tman
03-09-2007, 02:08 PM
Hey Doggboi, too bad you could of not stayed in Vero a little longer we have just started our first Lineman's Apprenticeship Program for the City of Vero Beach, we are very excited we started with 20 applicants and narrowed the field down to 4 with a series of written and hands-on skills test. The program will last
4 1/2 years. Good luck with your training and be safe. :cool:

Doggboi
03-09-2007, 02:22 PM
I heard about that. But knowing Vero like I do , its not always what you know but who you know. Unfortunately I dont know enough guys in that dept that are high enough to make a difference. Add to that the recent items in the news of abandoning the T&D dept of the city and the plant there on 17th st , I wasnt sure it was the safest move. Aside form that you know the area as well as I do , and having been there for 34 years ( same used drama whores at the same used bars night after night ) , I was ready to get out for a while.

Doggboi
04-15-2007, 10:50 AM
well...

After our single arm proficiency , we went on to dbl arm.. I was able to eek out a 7:40 on this one with 8 minutes being the cut off for climbs and 15 minutes being the absolute max time. We had one guy in our circle have a little bit of problems with this because he faild to complete a clove hitch ( a definate problem for many students ) properly and his cross arm came down solo without the handline. On his second attempt , one of the bent da bolts had him hanging way out when he cut out. Luckily for him and us , he had a good grip on the arm , and didnt take the express to the ground.

The following week we started a rotating class.. Each of the 4 pole circles went to an Underground class.. armor/tying...Sagging and framing. A couple days in each class , and of course obligitory climbs at the end of the day .. to keep it fresh. There was also a turn on the digger truck as we started to pull and replace poles we used in our climbing circles. There was a slot class coming and we had to prepare.

After that it was a flagging class, and we got our assignments as to what aras of the school property we would be building plant on. This involvedd a 'foreman' Lineman and groundman.. as we 1st set Single phase plant on bare poles.. and then later to be transformed to 3 phase. After that we would set transformers , cut outs .. the works.

Doggboi
05-29-2007, 08:59 AM
Graduation was in April and Things have changed a bit for me.

I went to work for a contractor in Nebraska.. can you imagine that ? A Florida boy in Nebraska.... Since I have been here there are a few things that stand out to me.

The schooling to me was good experiance and a good time team work and the information the school provided has been useful to this point. I am not a strong climber but I can tell on a daily basis that I am getting better.. I sat on the cross arm to work for the first time last week , and I never would have imagined that in school. It definately gets easier once you get out there, and actually have a purpose for being on a pole rather than dreading the climb and being 'coaxed' up the pole.

You only get out of this what you put into it. This goes all the way around.. from the first day of class to the last... This includes getting a job after its all over. This is going to be a funny point for some people because different companies use different methods to hire. I know I had been submitting applications to companies like Progress and the Southern Companies since late 2005 in anticipation of going to school and wanting a job asap. The school has recruiters that do stop by the school to talk and meet with the students, but the usual answer is apply online and we will contact you. Union Contractors wont talk to you unless you are in the union which requires being accepted into ( SELCAT in this case ) thier apprecnitceship program. So the only people really looking to hire and hire quickly are non union contractors. Many of the guys I went to school with are still not working in the business because of 2 reasons.. they want to work close to home or they are holding out for a big company like Progress or EON. The big guys dont give you credit for the school... you will be expected to start with everyone els off the street, but we are told that you have an advantage in getting hired and your learning curve will obviously be shorter once you get to work. Although with some of these companies you will still start as a groundman @ 12/hr. The local union rep told us we would be given a years credit to our apprenticeship program because of the school.. and various contractors ( non -union ) will also give the same credit.

So ... in the end do I think it was worth it? yes. I got what I wanted out of the schooling.. I learned a lot of useful information and it opened up the door to a new career. I started work as an apprentice in a DOJ apprenticeship program without having to wait out a groundmans position for a year or more before entering an apprenitce program. My first week in my new job I put in 75 hours. I know this isnt going to be every week, but it has taken care of this months bills in one week. Is this for everyone? Not by a long shot.. the industry itself isnt for everyone.. and some people ( many young people ) wont have the work ethics to stick with it.

Oh by the way .. we did have a rodeo the day before graduation , we were split into 3 man teams for 3 events.. Egg Carry, Hurt Man and single arm... With points being first and times taking a secondary... I did the single arm in my group with no deductions... my team mates both had deductions... 1 for too loose of the initial knot around the dummy and the egg broke in the other guys mouth on the way down... It was good fun though

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a244/doggboi/Pics/trees2.jpg

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a244/doggboi/Pics/trees.jpg

Army_Jim
02-04-2009, 01:20 PM
Thank you for writing your experience at SLTC. I plan on attending this may. Would you recommend contacting companies before I attend? I am a 26 yr old Army Vet so I know finding employment for me, wont be hard. Is there any companies you would suggest? As for the school I have started my own physical training. Thanks to your posts I was able to get a better Idea what the school is all about. I know less I have to worry about being in shape, the more mental ability I will be able to invest in the program. How hard are the tests you have to take? Is there any knowledge I should brush up on before attending? Anyway That's All For Now! Let me Know, Thanks!

Doggboi
02-04-2009, 08:30 PM
hey Jim , thanks for the respons on this thread.. its been long dead so you did some digging.

As far as companies to suggest.. that depends on what you want and where you are willing to relocate to. I do suggets getting to work ASAP... for me that meant going to work for one of the 'recruiters that came to the school that said, if you show up , we'll put you to work .. and that later got me a job with an IOU, tha I find a lot better of an arrangement for me. Ironhand.. a guy that does some posting here form time to time.. took a job on a heli crew coming out of SLTC ( I still owe him a beer or 5 ). One thin I will say is if you want to wake up and work in the same town every day, having experiance is the best way to do it.. they all employ contractors. After going to work for a contractor in the mid west, I interviewed for SCE&G , there were 30 applicants present , 25 showed and one guy left in the middle of the skills test because he was afraid to climb a ladder, and only 3 had experiance,they hired 3 guys from this pool 2 of which were local contractor employee and I was the third. This last round of hires, I heard they had over 200 applicants.. I did however make a call to my instructor at SLTC , so I dont know how many of them applied.. but I do know, again, that one of the local contractors was hired.

Its good you are getting yourself some PT , but to be honest .. the butterflys are what got most people.. you are going to have to find something inside of you that is the real reason you want to graduate. There will be a few temptations, out side of school , and a few things when you are on the pole that wont feel comfortable.. and you just have to do it. The climbing is just as mental as it is physical in the begining.. because thats what you are focusing on. Later on .. its just somehting you do. As far as the tests, they arent hard, there is a review the day before.. and if you get a study partner, and go over the material after class on weds, thurs you will pass. If it wasnt for my friend Tyrus.. 'Big T' I might not have done nearly as well as I did , and I aced over half my tests and graduated with a 96 all in all.

The biggest pice of advice I can give is , dont give in to following the herd, be your own person and keep your nose clean while there. The classes are bigger than when I was there , and they were still losing at least 10% for various reasons.

B.T.W. I still stand by my original assesment that the school was worth it.

Army_Jim
02-04-2009, 09:28 PM
Yeah It took me a while to find your threads. I figure, if I gonna spend the $$ then I need to start learning everything I can right now. As of right now I still plan on going to the school, but a Business Manager from a local union just e-mailed me tonight, giving me his #, and telling me "We'll Talk" I have high hopes that things will go good. I call tomorrow and see what he has to say. I'm not gonna get into the "What If Sh!t" so I'll see how the call goes. As far as the school goes, I am sure their are plenty of ways to get into trouble. I learned my first year of college, that spending $ on a school, and having to much fun, isn't so good for the grades. I know climbing will be a new thing for me, but I do have some experience w/ repelling, so hopefully heights wont get me to bad. As far as the tests I'll find a study partner...Thanks for the advice!

Doggboi
02-04-2009, 09:35 PM
a couple things I remember about the Union apps... you need to have your CDL , birth certificate, and if they call for you to go to work for someone.. you go to work for them. You dont get to choose. That is what I gathered from the questions i have asked previously. ( I am sure there will be trolls here to correct me on anything I mis-state )

We are a union shop here, but they hire outside of and have their own apprenticeship program outside of the union.

Army_Jim
02-05-2009, 08:45 AM
Yeah, I heard that I will need my CDL from my brother in law. That is a another main reason I want to attend SLTC. It really sounds to me that the school really will give me a jump start, even if I have to start as a grunt in a Union Company. That would still pay better than any job that is offered around here. Most jobs start out under at 10hr or less, I did some masonry work for a while 15 hr, but with the housing market so low jobs are hard to find. Things will all play out.

Doggboi
02-05-2009, 09:14 PM
SLTC will not get you a cdl .. NLTC in Boise will , but SLTC just beings a guy in to go over all the cdl stuff.. but tbh , it nearly put me asleep. but all you need is a permit which is just written ( or computerized tests )

returntotheeve
02-05-2009, 09:19 PM
a couple things I remember about the Union apps... you need to have your CDL , birth certificate, and if they call for you to go to work for someone.. you go to work for them. You dont get to choose. That is what I gathered from the questions i have asked previously. ( I am sure there will be trolls here to correct me on anything I mis-state )

We are a union shop here, but they hire outside of and have their own apprenticeship program outside of the union.

TROLLS!!!!! They're all on politics and BS board. So your apprentice training wants you to come to the table with a CDL? A or B? We had either a year or a half to obtain our B. Good reading, Good luck!

rcdallas
02-08-2009, 12:07 AM
SLTC will not get you a cdl .. NLTC in Boise will , but SLTC just beings a guy in to go over all the cdl stuff.. but tbh , it nearly put me asleep. but all you need is a permit which is just written ( or computerized tests )

Naw, they got it now. I be the first to get the CDL from them Fall 07. There was a lot of bugs during the whole thing that they needed to work out, but all in all I got it.

Doggboi
02-08-2009, 01:24 AM
Naw, they got it now. I be the first to get the CDL from them Fall 07. There was a lot of bugs during the whole thing that they needed to work out, but all in all I got it.

No shit? they were telling us , the state required them to have a certain sized 'paved' lot to do the tests. Good for them

grumpysplicer
06-04-2013, 07:59 PM
Doggboi,

do you know if SLTC is Doing bucksqueeze or similar now in their pole climbing? I'm
currently a Phoney Lineman:D ( AT&T) and was trained both, but company policy is all those
trained on bucksqueeze must use it when gaffing regardless if you know how to free climb. as a result my freeclimbing is vastly inferior compared to my skill with a bucksqueeze. so going through
a program where the focus is free climbing would be Ideal!

Thought about doing SLTC mainly for the job resources . I have done both Power and Phone.
on the powerside as a ground man for a non union doing storm duty in Texas during Huricaine Ike.
Id like to get back on with a power line crew eventually once again...

Any info is appreciated..

Doggboi
06-04-2013, 09:30 PM
To the best I know they have gone to positive stop devices such as the bucksqueeze. Most current companies that I know of currently train all new climbers as such.
My suggestion would be to identify the contract crews working in the area you are looking to work in and getting on with them while applying for the local utility , Co-Op/REA or IOU. Unless you're looking to tramp, then I'd suggest signing the books at the Union Hall.

Either way you go, good luck!

Doggboi
08-13-2014, 01:35 PM
I just wanted to say to everyone who has read this and replied or contacted me , 'Thank You'. I do realize also I need to go through and edit some of those posts.. some of the spelling mistakes are horrible.

Every so often I still get an email asking about SLTC. Things HAVE changed there quite a bit and they have opened a second campus to my knowledge. Thomas has been promoted and has told me that more than one person has mentioned this article when attending SLTC.

I topped out at SLTC in '11 acquiring my Journeyman Certification that september. in August of '13 I managed to partially tear my MCl and strain my ACL in a non-work related accident. it took me almost Six months to get back to work , and I wasn't quite yet 100% but after having talked to my safety man , and the crew I was confident I wouldn't have any issues.
I was on the job four and a half days when I ended up in the ER with what was later diagnosed with am Miller-Fischer variant of Guillain-Barré (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillain%E2%80%93Barr%C3%A9_syndrome) syndrome, this was followed three days later with Post Infectious Encephalitis. It seems the house I had bought in may of '13 never had an A/C filter since its construction in '61. While I was home bound with my knee issue I suffered a few sinus infections and before i had returned to work I was diagnosed with Bronchitis, which is what lead to the Guillain-Barré.
I am very fortunate my GF at the time ( now my wife ) got me to the ER that Friday as I continued to decline. Crew members were at the hospital the next day as was my District Manager. I couldn't have asked for more from my family, brothers and friends. Having heard the horror stories of the disease I feel very fortunate. It has been four months since my release from the hospital and while I am not 100% I don't use a walker, can or wheelchair. I was granted long term disability through the company and while I am hopeful , I am told I may never get back to linework.
I said all of that to say this, money is good, but make sure your benefits and your will are always ready to go. We work a very dangerous job , but **** happens outside of the work arena as well. I won't get into the union non-union discussion because there are valid points and good people of both sides of that argument. While I worked for a union shop, and the bargained for my benefits, the company was self-insured and also picked out the plans that were made available to us.

I do miss the work , I was Service Truck back up in our crew quarter and every time weather goes south I watch the outage reports online. I miss my brothers and the laughs we had. They are having a record year of O/T hours. I miss the call outs too.

as always if you have any questions regarding , my time at SLTC, or The company I worked with feel free to shoot me an email. As always, y'all be good out there, ya hear?