The roster is not optional
Before a single bucket truck rolls onto a utility company's system, every worker on your crew needs to be on a submitted and approved roster. This is not bureaucratic paperwork for the sake of paperwork. Utility companies require complete crew rosters for safety compliance, liability management, site access control, and regulatory requirements.
If your roster is incomplete — missing Social Security numbers, CDL information that does not match, unsigned consent forms — your crew sits idle while you chase down the missing data. That costs you money per hour for every truck and worker that is staged but not working.
Standard fields every utility roster requires
While specific requirements vary by utility company and region, the following fields appear on virtually every storm restoration crew roster:
- Full legal name — first, middle, and last as it appears on government-issued ID
- Date of birth — required for background checks and identity verification
- Social Security number — required for background checks and utility system access
- Phone number — a working mobile number for deployment communications
- Mailing address — home address for records and payroll
- CDL class and license number — Class A or Class B, with state of issue and expiration date
- Classification — journeyman lineman, apprentice lineman, foreman, operator, groundman
- Equipment — bucket truck, digger derrick, service truck, pole trailer, and other equipment the worker can bring
- Drug test consent — acknowledgment and consent for pre-deployment or random drug screening
- Background check consent — authorization for criminal background check
Additional fields some utilities require
Depending on the utility company, the scope of the storm, and the type of work, you may also need to collect:
- OSHA 10-hour or 30-hour certification cards
- First aid and CPR certification
- Utility-specific safety training completion certificates
- Photo ID copy (driver's license or government-issued ID)
- Travel availability window and estimated time of arrival
- Hotel and lodging preferences (for long-duration deployments)
- Emergency contact information
- Vaccination records (required by some utilities since 2021)
The more of this information you can collect upfront during the signup process, the faster your onboarding goes when you arrive on the utility's system.
The chaos of collecting this from 200 people
Without a system, here is what data collection for a 200-person storm crew actually looks like:
Your office sends out texts and makes calls asking workers for their information. Workers text back their SSN in a plain SMS message. Some include their middle name, some do not. CDL information comes in every format imaginable: "Class A," "CDL-A," "A license," or just a license number with no class specified.
Someone in your office is now typing all of this into a spreadsheet. They are cross-referencing text messages from 200 different phone numbers, trying to match names to data. A few workers have common names and get mixed up. Some data gets entered in the wrong row.
Two hours in, you realize 40 workers never sent their CDL information. Another 25 did not include their SSN. You start a second round of calls and texts to chase down the missing fields. Meanwhile, the utility company is asking when they can expect the roster.
The standardized form template approach
Replace the entire process with a single signup form link that collects every required field in one submission. The form is pre-built with all the fields your utility clients need, including proper validation:
- Required fields are enforced — workers cannot submit without completing them
- SSN and phone number fields have format validation
- CDL class is a dropdown, not free text
- Classification is a dropdown with standard options
- Consent checkboxes are required before submission
Workers fill out the form on their phone in under two minutes. They are entering their own data — no intermediary, no transcription errors. When they submit, you have a complete, validated record.
How Storm Call Pro handles lineman rosters
The lineman form template in Storm Call Pro is pre-configured with every field utility companies commonly require. When you create a storm call, you select the lineman template, and the signup form includes all the PII, CDL, certification, and equipment fields listed above.
Workers receive a text with the signup link, fill out the form, and submit. You see every response on your dashboard. When the roster is ready, you export it to Excel with one click.
Start free — plans from $49/month.