San Francisco power company lineman in the group?

[J.d. Popkes]

I wouldn`t have wanted to start at 35. The job can be tough,but the newer equipment helps to ease the pain. Climbing a pole is the same now as it was in the beginning. The more fit you stay the better off you will be for a long career. Jeff

Climbing is not the same. At all

 

[muleystalker]

You cant do that when you cant even make it to lunch on the first day because you cant bring comfort animals

And you can't be afraid of physical labor.

 

[outasite`08]

Climbing is not the same. At all

Really! Tell me what is different. I climbed poles for 40 years and used the same body belt I started with. The only improvement along the way was the anti-fall device. Outside of that the rest stayed the same. Jeff

 

[J.d. Popkes]

Really! Tell me what is different. I climbed poles for 40 years and used the same body belt I started with. The only improvement along the way was the anti-fall device. Outside of that the rest stayed the same. Jeff

The fall arrests are a game changer. In a bad way. Improvement? No sir. Not the same

 

[D Coots]

Maybe the difference is the poles are shorter than they used to be.....

 

[dryhumor]

The fall arrests are a game changer. In a bad way. Improvement? No sir. Not the same

I last climbed in ‘96. They gave us some newfangled fall arrest gear in ‘95 or early’96. Problem was, we couldn’t figure out a way to use it and safely climb a pole. I fell in ‘81 and broke a heel, I’d have used it, if I coulda. No idea about what’s in use today, but it likely requires a sky hook. And those are few and far between.

 

[J.d. Popkes]

I last climbed in ‘96. They gave us some newfangled fall arrest gear in ‘95 or early’96. Problem was, we couldn’t figure out a way to use it and safely climb a pole. I fell in ‘81 and broke a heel, I’d have used it, if I coulda. No idea about what’s in use today, but it likely requires a sky hook. And those are few and far between.

There’s a few systems. They all suck. And you have to bring a secondary belt. Younger guys don’t know any better so they don’t care. Thankfully I don’t use one very often.

 

[outasite`08]

Maybe the difference is the poles are shorter than they used to be.....

Not where I worked. Too much stuff to fit on the shorties. A 40 foot pole was what we set most when I started whwn I left 50-60 as a rule or higher if they had dual circuits. Jeff

 

[outasite`08]

The fall arrests are a game changer. In a bad way. Improvement? No sir. Not the same

yeah, the buck squeeze is what we used. What a pain in the rear. Two belts,primary and secondary. Got caught using just the secondary a time or two doing pole transfers.I tried the right way but all I got done was belting and unbelting. They had a draw back ours wouldn`t fit around a class 1 or 2 pole. So the Co. would bring in buckets and pay the damage to get us up high enough to belt in.That didn`t make us mad, most of those poles were 80- 100 footers. Jeff

 

[RumT]

Hello group,

If you are a lineman for any of the San Francisco area power company's, please PM me. I like to get recommendations about a career as a lineman.

Thanks

PG&E has an in house lineman advancement program that starts from zero, IIRC. He needs to check the job postings daily. PG&E will set a job posting for so many applications and then the software pulls the post. One way to get in the program would be to get into any PG&E job and then lat move into the program. We're big on filling spots from internal first.

- Glow In The Dark Security