POWERGRAMS

20 The group serves customers in every corner of the companies, including Distribution, Transmission, Fossil and Hydro Generation, and Fleet Services. "We travel 90 percent of the time," said Andre Moore, crane specialist at the GSC. "I was recently on a job in Hueytown, got called to Gadsden Crew Headquarters at 2 p.m., drove to Eufaula the next day and that Sunday, I was in Savannah. I get paid to travel every day, and I love it. You never get used to doing the same thing because your day always changes." Fleet Operations Maintenance Manager Shannon Nivens said he especially commends his employees for their exceptional safety record. "In my view, the amount of driving these guys do is one of their biggest challenges," Nivens said. "I'm proud of them because they always drive safely and continue to maintain an accident-free record." Ongoing training is a big part of the job for crane inspection and repair employees, said Nivens. All seven employees are certified inspectors, having received training at the Crane Institute of America in Orlando, Florida. To stay abreast of current standards and technologies, they return to the institute every two years for recertification training. The team members conduct on-site training classes, teaching other Alabama Power and Southern Company employees to operate mobile and overhead cranes, and aerial lifts. Some may think that working on equipment 200 feet above the earth is the hardest part of the job. "The most challenging part to me is making sure that we're staying on top of our inspections, our cranes are meeting all the current standards, and we're not missing anything," said Lee, who has been working on cranes since his uncle hired him at his company after high school graduation. Crane Services recently received high marks across the board on a third-party customer satisfaction survey at the end of 2018. Of the Alabama Power and Southern Company customers surveyed, 99 percent said the group met or exceeded expectations. Additionally, the team received a 97 percent score on response time to requests for repairs or maintenance, 97 percent on how well they understand customers' business needs and 91 percent on attention to safety. "I think this shows that we provide a value to our customers, and they notice that value, whether it's through the services we provide or the relationships we've built," Nivens said. "I think our customers feel comfortable calling us with their concerns and issues, and they know we're here to help them through those challenges." Meeting customer's needs is important to everyone on the team, Nivens said. "We take pride in caring for our customers because they are our own people; they're part of us," Lee said. "We're here to maintain our equipment and keep our employees safe."

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