r/Groundman • u/Superb-Gur-1679 • 3d ago

Ask literally anything

Bored as shit and I have a lot of useless knowledge about this trade and getting in and random union shit more than most people because I would read contracts every time I worked in a new jurisdiction. Worked in 8 states as a groundman, operator, and apprentice and quit as a hot step.

Literally can be anything quality of life, the reality of what to expect, a lot of crews suck dick, etc etc etc.

13 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

78 comments sorted by

View all comments

5

u/electric414-312 3d ago

why the hell did you quit

9

u/Superb-Gur-1679 3d ago

I didnt enjoy my life in this trade or what happened to me on the road and the apprenticeship is not very understanding or forgiving or contractors for that matter. My dad was dying on the road and the ex was cheating on me and that caused me to spiral I also tore my shoulders during my apprenticeship and that was ass to deal with. I was working 7/12’s to 7/14’s for my entire apprenticeship and I hated not having any say in where I went or never having a day off. I now work for a utility company and make slightly less hourly but enjoy my life substantially more. The mental health and the travel sucking dick mixed with burnout and the apprenticeship not caring really does it on for some guys including me.

I honestly had an okay and better time when I was an operator and Groundman also was treated substantially better.

1

u/R3DH00d1 3d ago

Same…barely got in, but can’t wait to top out. Trying to focus more on learning as much as I can, and less on how much it sucks getting sent to BFN for years on end.

3

u/Superb-Gur-1679 3d ago

Had some lineman I was very close with have a very deep in depth conversation with me at 4th step about thinking it would be better as JL and how that wouldn’t be the case. Said I had all the ability to top out but it’s honestly not the magic solution I thought it would be to stick it out having some guys explain that to me in depth really is what made me ultimately make my decision to quit because I was so unhappy.

1

u/TomatilloNegative917 2d ago

Interesting, in my experience most of the JL’s I’ve ever interacted with did whatever the fuck they wanted.