A lineman schedule decides your paycheck, your sleep, and how much time you actually get at home. This guide breaks down 4-10s, 5-8s, double-back, standby, callouts, and storm call so you know what the schedule means before you take the job.
Most power line jobs are full-time, and many run past 40 hours when outages, switching, trouble calls, or storm restoration hit. BLS states that electrical power-line installers and repairers often work more than 40 hours, and after storms they may travel and work long hours for several days straight.
A lineman schedule is not just “Monday through Friday.” You need to know:
OSHA 1910.269 covers electric power generation, transmission, and distribution work, including related equipment accessible only to qualified employees. That matters because fatigue and rushed work around energized systems are not office problems. They show up in tailboards, switching orders, rubber glove work, hot stick work, underground faults, and substation work.
A 4-10s lineman schedule means four 10-hour days. Common setups are Monday through Thursday or Tuesday through Friday. Some utilities use 4-10s in construction, maintenance, vegetation support, underground, or service crews.
| Schedule | Regular Hours | Common Use | Main Tradeoff |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4-10s | 40 hours in 4 days | Construction, maintenance, utility crews | Longer days, 3-day weekend |
| 5-8s | 40 hours in 5 days | Service centers, utility yards, contractors | Shorter days, fewer long weekends |
| Rotating standby | 40 plus callouts | Trouble, service, distribution | Sleep gets broken |
| Storm schedule | 12 to 16 hours common | Restoration work | Big money, hard fatigue |
The upside is obvious. You get a weekday off or a three-day weekend. The downside is also real. A 10-hour day turns into 12 or 14 fast when the crew gets held over for a feeder outage, pole change, wire down, or emergency switching.
For apprentices and groundmen, 4-10s also mean longer days on the hooks, more time dragging material, and less daylight in winter. Bring food, water, dry gloves, extra socks, and enough patience for the last two hours.
A 5-8s lineman schedule is five 8-hour days. It is common for utility maintenance yards, municipal systems, co-ops, and some contractor crews. The day usually starts early, often around 6:30 a.m. or 7:00 a.m., with a tailboard, material check, truck inspection, and job assignment.
5-8s are easier on sleep during normal weeks. They are also less attractive when overtime starts after 40 instead of after 8. That difference matters.
Example:
| Pay Rule | Monday Hours | Paid Result |
|---|---|---|
| Daily OT after 8 | 10 | 8 straight, 2 OT |
| Weekly OT after 40 only | 10 | 10 straight, unless weekly total passes 40 |
Do not assume. Read the agreement, offer letter, or contractor policy. Union outside agreements often spell out straight time, overtime, double time, Sundays, holidays, meal rules, and rest language. Some IBEW agreements also state there is no pyramiding of overtime rates, meaning you do not stack multiple premium rates on the same hour.
Double-back happens when you work, go home, and get called back before you have had the required rest period. In line work, that often means you finish at 10:00 p.m., get called at 2:00 a.m., and still have a normal start time staring at you.
Good double-back language answers these questions:
IBEW Local 1245 contract language, for example, includes rest-period provisions tied to overtime work assignments outside regular hours. Exact terms vary by local, utility, contractor, and agreement.
For a journeyman lineman, double-back is a safety issue first and a pay issue second. Tired hands make bad cuts, miss grounds, misread tags, and rush cover-up. For apprentices, the rule is simple: know your rest language and speak up before fatigue turns into a bad decision.
Storm call is where the money gets made, and where schedules get ugly. A storm call can mean local restoration after a thunderstorm, ice storm, hurricane, wildfire event, tornado outbreak, or transmission failure.
BLS notes that after storms and natural disasters, lineworkers may travel to impacted areas and work long hours for several days in a row.
Typical storm conditions include:
| Item | Common Range |
|---|---|
| Shift length | 12 to 16 hours |
| Work stretch | 3 to 14 days |
| Voltage classes | 120/240V secondary to 500kV transmission |
| Pay | OT or double time, depending on agreement |
| Lodging | Hotel, man camp, sleeper, or staging area |
| Food | Meal tickets, per diem, or provided meals |
Storm call is not all bucket work. You might patrol, frame poles, clear wire, set anchors, change crossarms, pull secondary, replace cutouts, refuse services, work backyard easements, or sit in a staging yard waiting for a switching order.
Before you accept a call, ask schedule questions straight. You are not being difficult. You are figuring out what the job really pays.
Ask:
A $52 per hour job with steady overtime can beat a $60 per hour job with no callouts. A 4-10s schedule can be great until every Friday becomes “optional” overtime that nobody really gets to skip.
4-10s are better when you want longer weekends and steady construction production. 5-8s are better when you want shorter days, cleaner sleep, and more predictable family time.
Yes. Trouble crews, storm crews, transmission crews, and contractors all work weekends when the system needs it. Sundays and holidays often carry premium pay, depending on the agreement.
Double-back means getting called back before your required rest period is complete. The pay and rest rules depend on the contract, utility, or contractor policy.
Storm shifts commonly run 12 to 16 hours. The total storm assignment can run several days or longer, depending on damage, mutual aid, access, and release from the host utility.
Often, yes. Utilities and contractors usually expect available hands to respond. Some jobs have formal rotations, while others depend on classification, seniority, callout lists, or emergency needs.
A lineman schedule changes your paycheck and your life outside the yard. Before you take the next call, compare the hours, overtime, double-back language, and storm rules.
Search open lineman jobs, apprentice jobs, groundman jobs, and storm work at PowerLinemanJobs.com.