When it’s time to restore power, you might notice several Coweta-Fayette EMC trucks coming and going. To learn more about their roles, and understand what these vehicles do during power restoration, check out the information below.
Pickup Trucks
These trucks are often the first vehicles on the scene after a storm and locate and point out areas to be repaired. Once they survey the affected areas and assess damages like broken poles, downed lines, vegetation debris, accessibility to the area and more, the information is relayed to our dispatchers so crews can be sent out with the most updated stats. Some pickup trucks do have the necessary tools to begin working immediately if the pathways are clear, and these trucks will typically have ladders or other tools present.
Bucket trucks, both small and big, arrive on the scene for a variety of reasons. If there are downed lines in the area, these vehicles can help get them hooked back up to the poles, or they can be used to perform routine maintenance on the lines. Sometimes they are part of a bigger construction crew that includes the digger derrick and pole trailer.
When poles are broken during a storm, you may see the digger derrick and pole trailer arrive with brand new poles to install. You’ll know it’s a digger derrick because it will look very similar to a bucket truck but on the back will be a large auger that’s used to drill holes for setting the poles.
“Power Ranger” or “One Man” maintenance trucks are specialized vehicles for us to complete smaller scale repairs such as individual transformers. Power Ranger trucks are also used when 911 is called to the scene of an outage.
Underground construction trucks are specialized vehicles designed for servicing and repairing our underground utility lines.
Line Trimming Crew
These crews are often contract crews assisting when there’s significant tree damage or several downed trees that hinder us from accessing an area. These trucks can be similar to bucket trucks, pickups and more and clear out as much debris as possible to ensure our other vehicles can pass through without issue. While they lend an important hand in getting crews to the affected areas faster, the line trimming crews do not have the necessary tools to begin restoring power themselves.