The contractors who win work are the ones who prepared before the storm
Every year, the pattern repeats. A major storm makes landfall. Utility companies activate their restoration vendor lists. Some contractors respond within 30 minutes with confirmed crew counts and complete rosters. Others spend the first six hours figuring out their process.
The contractors in the first group did not just get lucky. They prepared their systems, their contact lists, and their workflows before storm season started. When the National Hurricane Center issues a watch, they are already ready to send a mass text to their crews.
This checklist covers what you need to have in place before the first storm of the season.
1. Update and clean your contact lists
Your crew contact database is the foundation of your mobilization system. If it is outdated, your storm calls go to wrong numbers and inactive workers.
- Remove inactive contacts. Workers who have retired, changed trades, or moved out of your service area should be removed from active lists.
- Verify phone numbers. Send a short test message to identify numbers that bounce or are disconnected.
- Add new contacts. Workers you have hired or onboarded since last season need to be in the system.
- Organize by skill type. Separate your contacts into lists by classification: linemen, tree crew, general restoration, operators. This lets you send targeted storm calls to the right crews.
- Organize by region. If you cover multiple states, regional lists let you mobilize the closest crews first.
2. Verify crew certifications and credentials
Certification expirations are one of the most common reasons workers get flagged during utility onboarding. Check now, not when you are trying to submit a roster.
- CDL expirations. If a journeyman's CDL expires in August and storm season starts in June, flag it now. Give them time to renew.
- OSHA certifications. OSHA 10-hour and 30-hour cards expire. Verify your crew has current certifications.
- Drug test dates. Many utility companies require drug tests within 90 days of deployment. Know which workers need to be retested.
- First aid and CPR. Some utilities require current first aid/CPR certification for all crew members.
3. Set up your signup form templates
Your signup forms need to collect everything the utility company will require. Do not wait until a storm call to discover your form is missing a critical field.
- Review your form fields. Make sure your lineman form collects SSN, DOB, CDL class and number, classification, equipment, and all consent fields.
- Test the form on mobile. The majority of your workers will fill out the form on their phone. Test it yourself on an iPhone and an Android device. Make sure every field works, validation is correct, and submission goes through.
- Verify the confirmation flow. After a worker submits the form, what do they see? Make sure there is a clear confirmation message so they know their signup was received.
4. Test your mass SMS system
You do not want to discover a problem with your text messaging system during an actual storm call.
- Send a test blast to a small group. Pick 5-10 contacts and send a test storm call message. Verify delivery on both iPhone and Android.
- Verify the signup link works. Click the link in the test message. Complete the signup form. Confirm the submission appears on your dashboard.
- Check your sending number. If you are using a new number or your number has not sent messages in a while, carriers may need to warm it up before high-volume sends.
- Review your opt-out process. Workers who have opted out of your text list should not receive storm calls. Make sure your opt-out list is current.
5. Brief your team on the process
Your dispatchers, office managers, and field supervisors need to know the storm call process before a storm hits. Do not assume everyone knows what to do.
- Who creates the storm call? Designate one or two people responsible for setting up the storm call in the system.
- Who sends the mass text? This might be the same person or a different team member. Clarify the responsibility.
- Who monitors signups? Someone needs to watch the dashboard and report crew counts to the utility company or general contractor as signups come in.
- Who handles questions from workers? Workers will call back with questions about the storm details. Designate someone to handle those calls.
- Who exports and submits the roster? When the crew count is confirmed, someone needs to export the data and send it to the client.
6. Pre-build storm call templates
Have draft storm calls saved for common scenarios. When the actual call comes, you update the location and date instead of starting from scratch.
- Hurricane response template — for large-scale coastal deployments
- Ice storm template — for winter weather events
- Tornado response template — for localized damage assessments
- General restoration template — for vegetation management and scheduled work
Having templates ready means you can go from "we just got the call" to "texts are sent" in under five minutes.
Get set up before the first storm
Storm Call Pro takes about 10 minutes to set up. Import your contacts, configure your form templates, and you are ready for storm season. Start free — plans from $49/month.