Do you have groundsman and are they worth a shoot?

[bobbo]

I had a great groundman at one company. You go to another area and another company and it's bad. They are suppose to clean and stock the trucks, run the handline, drive, build material, Take care of the lineman.

job description is pretty simple.

If you are pretty low on knowledge, be high on integrity. If you have no knowledge, no integrity. Can't do a simple job description you must go. And I have the same rule for apprentices.

The groundman in my yard watch me work all day. Destroy all the organization in my truck. Don't have a clue what to build. Total impediment for me to get things done and be productive for the day in this yard. I guess there off the street and want to make easy money.

i have been with some fine outstanding groundman. This new breed sucks!!! And I have been patient but I am done, had enough. I tried and I give up. If you don't want to do work, find something else.

[Electriceel]

Seems to be an entire company thing, from the top to the bottom.
Amen, retirement will not come soon enough.

[rob8210]

When I started in the trade I was a groundman, for a year and a half. Started on the pole setting crew and ended up on a construction crew. Great experience. very few companies around here have groundman any more, they would rather make them an apprentice and get a head start on making a journeyman. Now the company I work for will start a guy as a groundman or labourer, then send him to first year school, if he passes he becomes an apprentice

[reppy007]

When I started in the trade I was a groundman, for a year and a half. Started on the pole setting crew and ended up on a construction crew. Great experience. very few companies around here have groundman any more, they would rather make them an apprentice and get a head start on making a journeyman. Now the company I work for will start a guy as a groundman or labourer, then send him to first year school, if he passes he becomes an apprentice

When I started there was around 28 helpers at one center,another new center needed helpers so about 6 or 8 of us went there,that was back when each crew had one truck driver,before lineman had to have a CDL.Back when companies valued a lineman.Years after all sorts of layoffs/severances the Jy became the apprentice ,the helper and the truck driver.Hell he had to because there wasnt any apprentices or helpers or drivers anymore.Only Jys.Then one year the company did hire some helpers,the ones I knew were good guys,they learned fast and were interested in the trade.I couldnt have asked for any better workers,they showed up on time and all.Sound too good to be true?Well it was,cause after around six or seven months they fired those helpers.It was like one minute you needed them and the other minute you didnt.So back to square 1 for the Jys.......they got their old jobs back ,they were helpers too ,once again :nightmare:...Im sure others have seen the crew with only Jys where they work too .The bad thing about it all,was the way they treated the Jys .The company treated them worse even though they expected them to do more.Later I worked for a contractor and the company treated me a hundred times better than they did when I worked for them,even their lineman seen that I was treated better.It was like I put out good numbers so I was treated like a king,but if one of them did it ,they wouldnt have blinked an eye.

[rob8210]

Its the same here , journeymen are expected to do everything. Heck its usually easier especially with the quality of help they hire these days. Generally takes longer to get a job done, not enough hands. New management don't believe in, many hands make light work. It ain't right, but, its the new reality!

[bobbo]

My truck is a snowball of wreck out with guy wire ends and triplex ends sticking out of it. I have been cleaning my truck daily. I organized the material. Yesterday I worked all day in the air. And the bins look a hurricane hit them. I organized the wire, my belly is scattered with coils. They don't get that they more they mess with the material, the more they learn it. They don't understand when there is idle time that's there time to really work, organize and put stuff away. That's there job. They don't know that. If they saw some professional groundman, they would find out they suck. There are groundman that seen enough lineman they know what they are going to do next. When the lineman are idle, they need to organize and stock the truck. In that idle time they work so hard to shoot the shot and suck up.
I am a nice guy. I build about an hours worth of work, but they just watch, the foreman's job is to watch. The foreman is to watch him and me. Safety watch me and make sure the groundman is building correctly. Instead of doing their jobs, they want to be friends with everyone. They don't ask questions, they just watch me like my foreman. I just want them to do their job, they are making nearly 30 an hour, wouldn't you do everything to keep it? They want to coast and earn good wages. When I started this trade I was all over the trucks. I took care of my lineman and foreman. I didn't want to be friends with them. I had a pad writing down all the things we were low on in truck stock. And every day I asked the foreman what we were doing for the day,!loading what we need. Because that was my job. I greased booms every Friday. All my material was always lined up. Saw gassed. Grips and rigging lined up. Today, I am luck the groundman starts the trucks. If they so start the trucks they never unlock the bins. Ridiculous.

I was no ones nephew or son who got a chance to do this. I really had to bust my ass to get in this trade. And I am grateful for this trade to take care of my family so I give everything I can every day. And there always the guys that want to coast to earn this wage. Usually the apprentices can be weeded out before they become lineman. And when you get that lineman who wants to coast, and he walks in the door, your praying he won't get assigned with you.

[ETLineman]

I just got hired on at my utility. The way they used to do it was hire apprentices mostly from within the company. They would send us to line school for 5 weeks of climbing school and then send pus back to our divisions as "dead" step apes. 6 months later they would send the deads steps back for hot secondary and stick us on a service truck. The way they do it now is put us through hot secondary right after climbing school. We were all taught from the get go how to make our linemans job easier though. Every morning we clean the trucks in our gangs off, restock and organize the bins and load up any material we will need for the day. I pay attention to everything my lineman and chief tell me. I try and make it that they will only have to tell me how to do something once. I watch other guys and see what they do and ask questions on why theyre doing it if Its not obvious. For the most part I got hired with a good group of guys and as apprentices we try to make sure all of us are doing the right thing. It took me a few years to finally get here and I want to have a reputation for being a good hard worker who listens.

[Old Line Dog]

I just got hired on at my utility. The way they used to do it was hire apprentices mostly from within the company. They would send us to line school for 5 weeks of climbing school and then send pus back to our divisions as "dead" step apes. 6 months later they would send the deads steps back for hot secondary and stick us on a service truck. The way they do it now is put us through hot secondary right after climbing school. We were all taught from the get go how to make our linemans job easier though. Every morning we clean the trucks in our gangs off, restock and organize the bins and load up any material we will need for the day. I pay attention to everything my lineman and chief tell me. I try and make it that they will only have to tell me how to do something once. I watch other guys and see what they do and ask questions on why theyre doing it if Its not obvious. For the most part I got hired with a good group of guys and as apprentices we try to make sure all of us are doing the right thing. It took me a few years to finally get here and I want to have a reputation for being a good hard worker who listens.

Keep that attitude my friend, it will work out good for you...

[Jeremy Moore]

The way my coop does it is hire us as right of way labor, I had experience operating machinery so I was hired as an operator. I bust my butt and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to be a lineman. I pay attention and keep the truck clean and stocked. I absolutely love this industry and feel very fortunate to be able to work in it, I don't understand people who don't give 100% to their job..... hopefully in a year or so I'll get to be a groundman and I can't wait!!!

[in the bucket]

I'd hope that the ground men have some sort of training to meet OSHA requirements on rescue and recognizing live conductors and what not.

[CDN Lineman]

Where I work is a little different than you guys. At my utility to get hired on you submit a resume. Then go through an interview infront of a Lineman, company Hr and union rep. Also you have a hand dexterity test and written test. Then if you pass that you go onto a 2 day aptitude test. You have 1 1/2 hours to climb free hand to the top of a 45' pole, belt in, hang a hand line on the outside of a 10' cross arm. And come back down. Rest of the day you gotta be able to do other trade things. Dig a trench, drive a truck with a trailer around. Hang 72kV bells on a 12' arm, be able to frame a buck arm and cross arm, crimp a piece of 1 ought onto the line without dropping anything, tie in an outside phase with a supertop. There's more, but I forget. Keep in mind these are guys who never even seen a lineman climb a pole before! If you fail any task you are disqualified. Also in the morning, before lunch, after lunch, and before you leave you have to do 4 up downs. That really thins out the boys. Usually we have 15 guys in a class, and only 3-5 stay until the end. If you pass that you go onto a 5 day boot camp. Got to change the dead end of a a shield wire on a 70' pole, dead end 3phase, do a hurt man rescue, hang a buck arm and cross arm. And if you sent doing a task, you are either doing up downs or tying in 3 phase. If you make the end of a week with a smile on your face and good attitude. You've got yourself a career. After that you spend 3-10 months on a crew doing nothing but building tens of miles of 3 phase. After that you get an apprentice position somewhere in the province where you spend the next 3 years of your apprenticeship. Doing typical area work.
and even after all this we still got some ****ty new guys with no work ethic. I don't know how.

[CDN Lineman]

However the plus side of that is you work with some tough and sharp guys. And you know they are tough and sharp. Always gonna be one in every crowd.

[reppy007]

Where I work is a little different than you guys. At my utility to get hired on you submit a resume. Then go through an interview infront of a Lineman, company Hr and union rep. Also you have a hand dexterity test and written test. Then if you pass that you go onto a 2 day aptitude test. You have 1 1/2 hours to climb free hand to the top of a 45' pole, belt in, hang a hand line on the outside of a 10' cross arm. And come back down. Rest of the day you gotta be able to do other trade things. Dig a trench, drive a truck with a trailer around. Hang 72kV bells on a 12' arm, be able to frame a buck arm and cross arm, crimp a piece of 1 ought onto the line without dropping anything, tie in an outside phase with a supertop. There's more, but I forget. Keep in mind these are guys who never even seen a lineman climb a pole before! If you fail any task you are disqualified. Also in the morning, before lunch, after lunch, and before you leave you have to do 4 up downs. That really thins out the boys. Usually we have 15 guys in a class, and only 3-5 stay until the end. If you pass that you go onto a 5 day boot camp. Got to change the dead end of a a shield wire on a 70' pole, dead end 3phase, do a hurt man rescue, hang a buck arm and cross arm. And if you sent doing a task, you are either doing up downs or tying in 3 phase. If you make the end of a week with a smile on your face and good attitude. You've got yourself a career. After that you spend 3-10 months on a crew doing nothing but building tens of miles of 3 phase. After that you get an apprentice position somewhere in the province where you spend the next 3 years of your apprenticeship. Doing typical area work.
and even after all this we still got some ****ty new guys with no work ethic. I don't know how.

That almost sounds like your applying for work at a concentration camp:D..at least the digging of a trench does .

[CDN Lineman]

Yeah haha, it's tough that's for sure. Really makes a guy proud once you make it through.
On our crews we don't have dedicated groundmen. Infact no one does. Sometimes you will have labourers who run the hand line and do the digging. Apprentices do most of the climbing. Also my crew jmen will grab a shovel or tamper while an apprentice runs the digger. They are great guys that lead, not boss around.