The Line Life Podcast

Hurricane Helene: Voices from the Field

Hurricane Helene hit the southeastern United States just two weeks before Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida. For this special episode of the Line Life Podcast, listen to lineworkers and field managers for Duke Energy talk about the storm response in the Carolinas from working with helicopters to bringing in a mobile substation and providing power to a VA hospital. 

For more information about the storm response to both hurricanes, stay tuned to T&D World's website, which features a photo gallery from the Hurricane Helene restoration and storm updates.

Lineworkers, if you want to be part of a future Line Life Podcast episode about the hurricane response, email us at linelifepodcast@gmail.com. You can also fill out this form to enter to win a new Storm Jaw from Huskie Tools, the sponsor of the Line Life Podcast. Pick up your Huskie Heroes T-shirt in Booth #617 at the International Lineman's Expo and make sure you stop by the T&D World Booth #73. We look forward to seeing you in Kansas City for the International Lineman's Rodeo Week. Stay safe out there!

 

Special Episode: Celebrating 25 Years of Trees & Utilities in Texas

Tree crews often work alongside lineworkers, especially during storm response, when arborists clear the roads ahead of line crews. For a special episode of the T&D World Line Life Podcast, we are highlighting guest Dennis Fallon, executive director of the Utility Arborist Association (UAA). The UAA partners with T&D World on the annual Vegetation Management supplement. 

Field Editor Amy Fischbach interviewed Dennis during the Trees & Utilities conference in the heart of downtown Fort Worth, Texas, for the 25th anniversary of the event. The conference, which is presented by the UAA and the Arbor Day Foundation, brings together utility vegetation management (UVM) professionals from across the country for three days of networking and education. 

For more information, check out the photo gallery from the event or visit the website. 

Preserving the History of the Line Trade: Featuring Andy Price of the International Lineman's Museum

The International Lineman's Museum started in 1996 in Shelby, North Carolina, in a display case at American Safety Corporation. Over the years, as the collection of historic photos, tools and signs grew, the exhibits moved upstairs into a 2,000-sq-ft space. In mid-2025, the museum, Lineman's Hall of Fame and FLO's memorial statue will have a new home in Leesburg, Florida. To hear Andy Price, the museum's founder, share his story about the collection and what to expect at the new location, listen to this episode and visit the website. 

ICYMI: Cheers to 40 Years: Celebrating the International Lineman's Rodeo

With the 40th anniversary of the International Lineman's Rodeo only a few weeks away, we are airing the audio version of the story, "Cheers to 40 Years," from the September 2024 T&D World Lineworker Supplement. This story explores the history of the event and how volunteers come together each year to provide a week of fun, competition and camaraderie for the line trade. Pick up your copy of the supplement at the Expo, read the story online and stop by the T&D World Booth #73 to participate in a podcast recording. We look forward to seeing you there!

Supporting the Families of Fallen Lineworkers: Featuring Chad Dubea

For Part 2 of our series featuring Chad Dubea, we are highlighting the Fallen Linemen Organization (FLO), which helps families of wounded or fallen lineworkers in their time of need. After working in the line trade, Chad was looking for a way to give back to the industry he loved, and he founded the FLO to help families of lineworkers. 

During the episode, we also explore his role as the executive director of the 2016 movie, "Life on the Line," starring John Travolta and Sharon Stone, as well as his work to promote the line trade through the Drivin' for Linemen 200 NASCAR truck race.

In addition, he describes the plans for moving the bronze lineworker memorial statue to Florida, the new home of the International Lineman's Museum. To learn more, stay tuned for a future Line Life Podcast episode featuring Andy Price, the founder of the International Lineman's Museum. 

Also, check out the 2024 T&D World Lineworker Supplement, which features Chad in two stories: Lineworkers to Leaders and Lineworkers Light the Way in the Line Trade. You can read the digital edition here. 

Finally, don't miss Part 1, in which Chad shares his tips for lineworkers to start a business in the line trade. 

ICYMI: A More Bird-Friendly Sky

The August 2024 cover story of T&D World is now an audio story in our ICYMI series for the Line Life Podcast. The article, authored by Lewis Bates of SSEN, shares how a combination of drones, robots and specially designed visual signals can divert birds from Scottish power lines. 

To protect its power grid from birds, SSEN Transmission installed a visual warning to allow birds to alter their flight path. The Scottish utility worked with FulcrumAir to install the Power Line Sentry Hawk Eye BFD diverters by robot and drone. 

To read the full story, go to T&D World's website. 

Launching a Business in the Line Trade: Featuring Chad Dubea

For our Line Life Podcast, we will soon resume with more episodes in our "Faces of the Future" series highlighting apprentice lineworkers. In the meantime, we are featuring the first part of a two-part series featuring Chad Dubea, a journeyman lineworker, the former CEO of T&D Solutions, founder of the Fallen Lineman Organization (FLO) and executive director of "Life on the Line," a movie about the line trade starring John Travolta. 

The first part will focus on his experiences growing up in the utility industry and his early years as a lineworker. After starting his own contracting company, he is now helping lineworkers, both union and non-union, to launch their own businesses. He shares tips and strategies for lineworkers to launch successful companies to serve the utility industry.

Learn more by picking up a copy of the September 2024 T&D World Lineworker Supplement, which features the article, "Lineworkers to Leaders," at T&D World's booth #73  at the 2024 International Lineman's Rodeo this October. We look forward to seeing you there, and having you as a guest on the Line Life Podcast. 

ICYMI: Crowdsourcing Underground Monitoring

Duquesne Light Company (DLC), a utility in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, aimed to improve underground cable monitoring. The company opted to conduct an open innovation challenge, and it shared its story in the July 2024 issue of T&D World magazine.

The article, which was authored by Kartik Ganjoo, Josh Gould, Dave Montz and Richard Sapporito of DLC, is now part of our In Case You Missed It (ICYMI) series for the Line Life podcast. Learn more about the project by reading the full article on the website.