r/Lineman

Storm company I’m with says they’ll match if I can find anything from the hall someone has about the recent calls from the local, if not I will call the hall tomorrow and see

Red seal lineman in new brunswick Canada. 19 years. 6 with contractors 13 with utility. Last 5 years lead on hotline truck. Looking for a change to the states . Looking for blue sky work but able to run storms... Have references from guys working for me up to senior managers...

Interested in moving to nyc when my apprenticeship is done… anyone have any experiencing working overhead or splicing cable in new york or surrounding new jersey?

I’m currently an electrician in the Air Force. My job is a mix of interior and exterior work. I really enjoy the exterior side of the job, especially working on transformers and doing basic cable pulls. The downside is that I don’t get many opportunities to become an SME on more complex situations because most of the bases I’ve been stationed at use underground distribution.
I’m planning to separate in a year and pursue linework. Before I join a union apprenticeship, I’d like to build a stronger foundation so I’m not coming in with the same level of knowledge I have now.
Does anyone have recommendations for books, YouTube channels, online courses, or other resources that helped you learn the trade? I’m open to anything and would appreciate any advice.

Really struggling with this decision. Married, 32 years old with 2 very young children. Brand new to the construction world, coming from 10 years in the corporate/white-collar space.

Option A:

LADWP ECH (groundman). The path to utility lineman apprenticeship (EDMT) within the dept is not guaranteed and extremely competitive. Legendary job security, great benefits, decent work/life balance compared to contractor line work. If I top out, I'll basically have a job for life and can provide for my family with not much stress. I'm worried about the long hours and sacrifice I'll have to make away from the family.

Option B:

This is where I currently am. I'm a few weeks into a commercial plumbing apprenticeship at a very small mom & pop shop. Pay is barely above minimum wage with no clearly defined wage increase structure. Owner said I need to prove my self over the next few years. I really enjoy the job so far, but the uncertainty of pay, no healthcare and retirement benefits, and job security due to macro conditions scare me a bit.

Silver lining for option B is tons of opportunity to learn the trade and grow my technical skills. Great access to mentorship

The plan / goal with option B would be to transition to residential service in a few years and start my own service business. I do realize that this route is will also require a huge time sacrifice away from family.

Does anyone else have experience making a decision like this? Would I be crazy to give up one for the other?

My heart is leaning towards the lineman route, but the uncertainty of whether or not I'll even get into the apprenticeship is concerning. The safety is another factor, but I'm less concerned about it.

Thanks in advance for reading / helping.

I’m a seasonal grunt for a three JL man crew, so I end up doing a lot of stuff which I think is better since I get great experience and I think i’m doing pretty decent on retention and learning I’ve only been here two months and know what to do most of the time without asking my journeymen but I really want to prove myself and go above and beyond for prep work and what makes their jobs easier so if you guys have any tips or things that as journeymen or even machine operator you like to see or makes the job easier for you. Or organization tricks or stuff that you’ve picked up as groundman.

I guess like an example is one JL taught me a prep work trick for taping stuff is always back tape so it doesn’t stick to whatever it’s around when it comes time to take it off.

I do already clean, organize, stock trucks and the shop constantly and take notes on my notepad all the time I make sure I’m always busy and early. I get climb/bucket/line truck time sometimes on slow days at the yard so I’m still learning new skills that could help in the future.

Posted bits of this here before (some of you have seen the conductor tables), but short posts miss the full picture, so here's the whole thing end to end. It's called Enerzas. I built it solo, nights and days off, because our trade deals with everything through Facebook groups, word of mouth, and scattered PDFs — and I figured we deserved better.

Everything below is live. Links in the first comment so this doesn't trip the spam filter.

**The marketplace** — buy and sell powerline gear directly. No commission, no middleman fee, list free with photos and location. Buy-now or offers, rentals supported. Messaging is built in, and names stay private until the seller actually replies — nobody's info gets handed to strangers.

**The job board** — one hard rule: every job lists pay. The number is on the posting or it doesn't go up. No "competitive salary." Per diem, union local, travel, duration are all standard fields. Free for workers, permanently.

**Pay rates** — the part that took the longest. Verified wage breakdowns for 50+ IBEW locals pulled from published wage sheets — every number has a source link and verification date. Base rate, benefits, pension, the classification ladder, and how outside construction vs utility vs public work actually differ. If your local's missing you can submit it.

**Free reference tools** — conductor data (ACSR ampacity at 75/100/125/150°C, diameters, RBS, resistance), cable and underground with burial depths, pole classes and embedment, hardware ratings. No login. Built these because I was sick of hunting the same numbers across a dozen PDFs.

**Community boards** — transmission, distribution, substation, safety, apprentice corner, storm work. Technical talk that doesn't vanish into a feed.

The honest part: it's early and I'm one guy. Some sections are still filling up. But it all works, most of it is free, and the reference data doesn't even need an account.

What I actually want from this sub: sign up try it out its all free, tell me what you think. Pass it along to co workers ect. When It grows it makes everyones life alittle bit easier.

Starting my apprenticeship this Monday any tips for a newbie

With less than 18 hours to negotiate, what’s the general consensus?

Currently working out here, just curious how the pay differentiates during Holidays, it pays all double, but wasn’t sure if triple time was a thing out here? Appreciate it in advance 🤙🏼

Working for mge in the central coast area on most of our yard is gonna be off next week!+not really including this week cause everyone took this week off

Groundman here, but Seriously, what is up with the seemingly outrageous number of guys in the trade that have to work 5 10’s, with no rain outs, plus the optional Saturday, or they’re going to be broke by the next check?

It’s honestly kinda embarrassing to hear about some of the guys who get themselves into a position where they simply cannot miss work, and I’m starting to wonder if literally the entire trade is filled to the brim with broke mother fuckers. Or maybe the ones that are doing alright just drag way more?

Like are we really all just that dense and stupid with money? Or is it just that the 4 kids, the 3 ex wives, the 2 dui lawyers, and the truck payment finally end up adding up?

Idk but I’m enjoying a week of 8’s right now, and kinda feel bad for the guys that aren’t 😎