Rural Missouri - April 2024 - 16

Left: Charley gets some help from his on-call partner, Adam Smith, as they work to connect power to a warehouse. The two have worked together
for more than a year. Right: Charley uses an iPad to record the location of this meter. This helps locate it later should there be a problem.
There are two things linemen do that scares the general
pulic he first is woring high aoe the ground he
second is woring around high oltage inemen don't ear
either one t's not that you're scared o it, ut you respect
it, harley says he was taught ou are always aware o
where you are at, whether you are in a ucet or on the
pole 'm always looing up and around, eore  use my
cutters or moe my arms at all
raining and classwor helped, ut the real lessons
came rom his mentors at the co-op hey instilled in those
under their wings a culture o saety he idea is eeryone
goes home to their amilies the same way they came to
wor in the morning
ou learn rom these older guys as you come up, and
 try to do eerything saely, he says ecause 'e got
younger guys under me now that are learning ou'e got
to e a good eample ecause they say the first two years
o your career is when you really learn your saety haits
10 a.m., near Lebanon: Back in the truck, Adam drives
while Charley navigates to a warehouse in an industrial
park near the city limits. A Laclede construction crew has
been here earlier, setting a pole and the three-phase transformers.
They set the outriggers on the truck and Charley
climbs into the bucket while Adam sorts out the wires and
marks them so Charley knows where they go. The two,
partners for more than a year, work together like gears in
well-oiled machine. When the bucket carries Charley to the
top, he has everything he needs to complete the job.
Both men wear PPE, or personal protective equipment.
For dam thats fire-resistant clothing, safety glasses and
a " safety yellow " hard hat. Charley adds rubber gloves and
sleeves designed to protect him from the 7,200 volts that
o through the lines hes orking on.
here are two groups o linemen woring at electric coops
ne ocuses on construction or upgrading lines he
16 RURAL MISSOURI | APRIL 2024
rest are serice linemen, trouleshooters who fi prolems
that crop up or perorm maintenance hey wor out o
two-man trucs euipped to do any tas ecept setting
poles or that another crew will e called in with a diggerderric
truc
hen it's their turn to e on call, aclede's sericemen
wor shits starting at  pm on riday and continuing
until the net riday hat means they must e ready to go
any hour o the day or night
n serice you can leae here and ust fi lights all
day, harley says r maye do a serice upgrade lie we
did this morning ome days it's super slow and some days
you don't stop until late at night
hen their phone rings, no matter the hour, the serice
linemen hae  minutes to respond e can get called in
at  am and then wor on until the net morning hat
happens a lot, harley says
e says his wie, essica, worried aout him at first
he's scared to death o storms anyway hen it's storming,
'm not usually home e'e got an app on her phone
so she can wae up and loo and see that  am still moing
nd she can go ac to ed t maes her eel etter
10:40 a.m., near Long Lane: Charley and Adam share
a lot of windshield time covering the huge area Laclede's
Lebanon office cares for. hey drive  minutes to a rural
home that has three meters, a long trail of dust billowing
in their wake. Here they hang a device that communicates
ith the meters, then relays the information to the office.
It's Adam's turn in the bucket. When he's done with the
installation, harley calls the office and reorts the meter
readings and location numbers. As they work, strong winds
pick up as promised by the weather report.
inemen miss a lot irthday parties, graduations and
amily meals all tae a ac seat when the call comes in
rom dispatch and they head out to fi another outage
Rural Missouri - April 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Rural Missouri - April 2024
