What Does A Journeyman Lineman Do?

WHAT DOES A JOURNEYMAN LINEMAN DO?

Published: Nov 17, 2025 - The Journeyman Lineman operates a variety of heavy equipment and specialized tools, including bucket trucks, diggers, and live-line tools, to install, maintain, and repair overhead and underground electrical distribution systems. This position is responsible for preparing and securing work sites, locating underground cable faults, and ensuring compliance with all safety procedures while working near energized lines. The lineman also collaborates closely with team members and the public, responds to emergency calls, and provides input on site-based operational adjustments.

A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Journeyman Lineman

1. Journeyman Lineman Duties

Truck Operation: Drive the truck to the jobsite and maintain truck stock.
Electrical Services: Provide the needed services for the construction, operation, and maintenance of the customer’s electrical distribution system.
Switching Procedures: Understand and be able to perform switching procedures to isolate and insulate, splice, and terminate underground power lines following proper safety procedures.
Transformer Handling: Set up and work on underground transformers and other devices.
Equipment Tagging: Properly phase and mark/tag underground equipment.
Device Management: Provide connecting and disconnecting, installing and removing, and moving and transferring of various electrical devices on customers' facilities, i.e., transformers, transformer banks, regulators, switches, switching devices, capacitor banks, etc.
Record Maintenance: Keep abreast of all changes affecting any records, reports, and related information affecting this position.
Complaint Resolution: Investigate consumer complaints and make repairs to energized electrical distribution lines.
Responsibility Management: Be responsible for all personal actions and any personnel, vehicles, or equipment in their care, custody, or control.
Accident Reporting: Report all personal and vehicle accidents/incidents immediately to supervisors, cooperate, and assist in the investigations of the same.
Safety Leadership: Set a good example for less experienced employees by always following and teaching safe practices.
Work Quality: Be responsible for completed work, perform routine line work without close supervision, and complete work with quality and timeliness.
Safety Compliance: Compliance with proper safety standards, procedures, and work practices according to the customer.
Blueprint Interpretation: Read and interpret blueprints, plans, and specifications.
Equipment Operation: Operate efficiently a bucket truck, digger truck, wire pullers, backyard machine, air compressor, and tools necessary to build/maintain power lines.

2. Journeyman Lineman Job Summary

Line Construction: Frequently constructs underground and overhead transmission and distribution lines, which include digging pole and anchor holes, framing poles, setting poles and anchors, stringing, sagging, and connecting conductors, installing pad mount gear and underground conductors, and related tasks of new construction on energized and de-energized lines.
Customer Service: Performs various duties related to customer service, including making service changes, troubleshooting service outages, disconnecting and connecting services, voltage testing, and locating underground lines.
System Maintenance: Maintains both underground and overhead electrical systems by replacing damaged transformers, breakers, regulators, conductors, insulators, meter loops, poles, switching gear, and related equipment on energized and de-energized lines.
Material Management: Line construction that includes accounting for materials used, stocking trucks, loading and unloading materials, and inspecting distribution and transmission lines for necessary maintenance.
Process Improvement: Recommends measures to improve construction and maintenance methods, equipment performance, and quality of products used.
On-Call Operations: Perform the functions of an on-call person for weekend outage restoration standby.
Equipment Operation: Operate and maintain line trucks, pickups, and underground cable locators, underground fault locators, all-terrain vehicles, snow-machines, chainsaws, Bucket/Digger Derrick Trucks, and other motorized equipment.
Cable Tracing: Trace underground cable and operate fault locating equipment.

3. Journeyman Lineman Details and Accountabilities

Line Maintenance: Performs all types of electric line construction, retirement, and maintenance with or without supervision, under hazardous and non-hazardous conditions.
Electrical Construction: Performs all types of electric line construction, retirement, and maintenance on energized and de-energized lines, with or without supervision, in conformance with.
Job Planning: Plans, lays out, and explains jobs assigned and assumes responsibility for completing them in a safe, economical, and efficient manner.
Outage Maintenance: Checks on consumer complaints, finds and performs maintenance on lines, including underground distribution, during outages.
Outage Correction: Locates and corrects individual outages.
Material Supervision: Supervises adequate stocking of line material on vehicles and checks in and out material for jobs to be done.
Work Reporting: Informs proper individuals of work done, including changes from specifications on staking sheets.
Hazard Detection: Constantly looks out for hazardous conditions on the distribution system.
Personnel Supervision: Be responsible for the provision of a full range of supervisory activities, including the selection, training, and evaluation of section personnel, planning, and the completion of special projects.
Safety Compliance: Adhere to encourage United safety policies and procedures and offer recommendations to the supervisor to enhance the cooperative's safety culture.

4. Journeyman Lineman Additional Details

Safety Compliance: Ensure compliance with safety rules and policies.
Service Restoration: Investigate and remedy service interruptions and assist in evaluating the cause of the interruption to assure prompt restoration of service to customers and continued service reliability.
Line Construction: Participate in the construction of distribution lines and services to provide new or improved service to the customers.
System Maintenance: Perform maintenance activities on energized or de-energized lines to keep the system in a safe and operable condition.
Line Patrol: Conduct line patrol activities and take corrective actions necessary to assure safe and reliable service to customers.
Transformer Connections: Hook up single-phase and multi-phase transformer connections using the correct configuration to assure the end user of proper voltage levels.
Cable Location: Locate and mark underground cable routes to allow others to safely dig without service interruption or cable damage.
Meter Operations: Make secondary breaker changes and reconnect, disconnect, install, and remove meters at the request of the customer or Billing Department to assure timely compliance with member requests and/or policy.
Tool Inspection: Make frequent checks of tools and protective equipment and submit recommendations for replacing defective materials to ensure that they are safe and operable.
Inventory Management: Maintain material inventories and complete required documentation for assigned vehicles and projects to ensure proper material records are kept.
Safety Meetings: Attend and participate in safety meetings to become aware of safety rules and regulations and to help assure that safe working practices are followed and a safe working environment exists for the individual, fellow employees, and customers.
Emergency Response: Maintain a current knowledge of first aid, CPR, and other life-saving techniques and perform these techniques to ensure that prompt attention is given to co-workers during emergencies.
Organizational Support: Keep informed of and provide support for goals, policies, plans, and programs to assist the organization in providing services that meet the expectations of the customers and to allow the to continue to be a positive influence within its service area.

5. Journeyman Lineman Role Purpose

Equipment Operation: Operate loaders, backhoes, dump trucks, jackhammers, bucket trucks, wood chippers, chain saws, diggers, cutting torches, and welders.
Tool Operation: Operate hand tools near and around electrical distribution lines.
Live-Line Work: Operate live-line tools to connect and disconnect distribution lines and components.
Site Preparation: Prepare work sites, erect warning signs, and secure work areas, as well as maintain knowledge of and implement safety procedures.
Cable Fault Location: Be responsible for locating underground electric cable faults for repair.
System Installation: Install primary and secondary overhead and underground electrical systems.
Emergency Response: Participate in on-call status for emergencies, planning and directing on-site maintenance/repair tasks, and recommending on-site operational changes.
Team Communication: Communicate, establish, and maintain effective working relationships with the public, utilities team members, and other city employees.
Team Collaboration: Take direction, facilitate communication, resolve problems, and work individually as well as part of a team.

6. Journeyman Lineman Key Accountabilities

Transformer Installation: Installing and removing distribution transformers and associated devices, including underground.
Conductor Installation: Installing and removing conductors and equipment on poles and buildings.
Safety Equipment Installation: Installing safety equipment on conductors and equipment.
Wire Handling: Stringing, splicing, sagging, and insulating conductors and wires.
Pole Installation: Installing and removing poles, structures, and associated devices.
Switching Operations: Performing switching and tagging operations under the direction of management.
Line Patrol: Patrolling transmission and distribution.
Safety Compliance: Performing all duties according to their safety standards.
Substation Maintenance: Maintaining and performing various duties within power substations.

7. Journeyman Lineman Roles and Details

Transmission Maintenance: Build, repair, and maintain electrical transmission systems, including constructing and maintaining high voltage power lines, setting poles, changing pole equipment, stringing and sagging wire, etc.
Cable Installation: Pull, lay, and terminate underground cable and install pad-mounted equipment.
Safety Compliance: Prioritize safety in all work and adhere to all safety standards.
Energized Line Work: Work with energized lines (mainly stick work).
Grounding Installation: Install grounding devices on lines and equipment.
Apprentice Training: Assist with the training of apprentices.
Administrative Duties: Conduct safety audits, prepare work tickets, and perform other administrative requirements.
High-Voltage Maintenance: Maintain, troubleshoot, and construct high-voltage power lines.
Switching Procedures: Perform high voltage switching procedures.
Supervisor Communication: Receive instructions from Supervisors related to operating or controlling the assigned.

8. Journeyman Lineman Duties and Roles

Pole Maintenance: Install, inspect, remove, and maintain poles, towers, cross arms, pins, insulators, and dead ends, as well as overhead, underground, and submarine wires and cables, etc.
Tree Trimming: Trim and cut trees around or within substations, primary, and secondary.
Equipment Maintenance: Assist in the installation, repair, and maintenance of regulators, reclosures, oil circuit breakers, transformers, fuses, and switch gear, etc.
Fault Repair: Locate and repair faults and damaged equipment on all types of overhead and underground lines and equipment, as well as assist in the determination and repair of radio frequency interference.
Weather Operations: Work in inclement weather conditions on energized facilities during trouble situations and/or work on facilities other than energized lines in all other situations.
Team Collaboration: Perform work functions individually or with the assistance of other foremen, linemen, head groundmen, groundmen, electrical mechanics, technicians, toolman, apprentices, etc.
Power Line Operations: Operation, maintenance, repair, and installation of overhead and underground transmission/distribution power lines and related equipment.
Standards Compliance: Be responsible for ensuring all jobs assigned are worked in accordance with the company's design standards and work methods.
Project Support: Support projects requiring extended work hours in inclement weather.
Cable Injection: Place and operate cable injection equipment on de-energized and energized cables, switch medium voltage and high voltage electrical circuits.
Line Installation: Performs the installation, maintenance, and removal of overhead and/or underground lines and equipment.
Line Maintenance: Maintenance of lines and services will require pole climbing, hot sticking, and working out of truck-mounted bucket lifts to construct, repair, or maintain line equipment or string, splice, and sag wire on live or dead circuits.
Switch Operations: Operates switches, cutouts, and uses grounding devices to work on de-energized lines and equipment.