August 25, 2025 • 30 mins
If you're planning to dig in Tennessee—whether it's for a fence, garden, or construction—Tennessee 811 is your go-to call before you break ground. It’s a free service that connects you with utility companies so they can mark underground lines and help you avoid hitting anything dangerous. State law requires anyone planning excavation or demolition to contact Tennessee 811 at least three working days in advance to help prevent damage to underground infrastructure and ensure public safety. Recently John Clark spoke with Tennesse 811's Damage Prevention Liason Jason Fryer for this episode of TENNESSEE MATTERS.
Website: https://www.tenn811.com/
Website: https://www.tenn811.com/
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's Tennessee Matters on the Tennessee Radio Network. Welcome to
Tennessee Matters. I'm John Clark on the Tennessee Radio Network.
Tennessee eight one one is a free service that helps
prevent damage Intennity in which can result in millions of
dollars in property damage, the interruption of utility services, personal injuries,
(00:22):
and even a loss of life. Here to talk about
eight one to one today is Jason Fryar. He's a
damaged prevention liaison for Tennessee eight one to one. Well,
we're talking today with Jason Fryar about Tennessee eight one
to one. And uh, first of all, what is Tennessee
eight one one.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
So Tennessee eight one one is the statewide call before
you dig service, and we've been around for a little
bit over forty years. Eight one one itself has been
around since the mid two thousands. But anytime you're going
to dig in the ground, you're required by law to
call eight one one.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
When you don't call eight one one, what could happen?
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Well, first, you could hit a utility line. More importantly,
not just hitting the utility line, if you hit the
wrong utility lines such as like a gas line it
could be really dangerous, or an electric line get electrocuted.
But want to protect the underground facilities. You don't want
to cut people's service, power, water, telecommunications. We need internet,
(01:21):
right right?
Speaker 1 (01:23):
Yeah? True, Well what happened back before the head that's
just had to be terrible back then.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
So we've actually had legislation really since about nineteen seventy eight.
We became a one call in nineteen eighty three, but
before then it was Bell South. Before they became AT
and T, they had where you would call the Registra
of Deeds and the Restra of Deeds would give you
(01:51):
a list of utilities that you had to contact individually.
So that was a very drawn out process. But pre
nineteen seventy eight, there really wasn't a process.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
Oh man.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
So those just you dig wherever you want to pretty much,
and you got probably hit stuff and then power went
out or stuff like that. Yes, sir, oh man, that
had to be scary. I'm glad you're around eight one
to one. So first of all, let's talk about individuals
who have to call eight one one. What should they
do and why should they call eight one one?
Speaker 2 (02:24):
So it's required by all, but it's free. It doesn't
cost you anything. The member utilities fund the service, so
it's you know, it is required by all, but you
know you don't want to hit again. If you're a
homeowner and you're digging, you installing a mailbox, you don't
want to hit a gas line because then a gas
company may have to shut off the gas line for
(02:45):
the whole neighborhood. You don't want to hit a water line.
They have to shut off the water for the whole neighborhood,
so they could be taking a shower or water in
the yard during the summertime. But it is free, it
doesn't cost anything, and the member utilities pay for that,
and you.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
Just call them to really just just just let them
come out and do it. Let them come out and
scan for the lines. That's at a while, just wait
a little while.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
Yes, so kind of how the process works. You call
us at eight one one, and you can call us
on Central time six am to six pm and then
Easter Time at seven am to seven pm. But you
can actually enter a locate request online twenty four seven
three sixty five. But we notify the member utilities. The
member utilities or their locators come out and mark their
(03:31):
underground facilities. That's how it works.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
So how somebody I'm planning to dig a mailbox, Let's
see when should I should? I know a few days before,
I should call you a few days before.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
So a normal ticket is three working days seventy two
hours excluding weekends or holidays. And you can actually call
up to ten days before the project starts, because a
ticket is valid for fifteen calendar days. But yeah, you
need to give us at least three working days notice. Uh.
That way we can give the utilities an opportunity to
(04:07):
get out there and mark because we have taken over
a million locate requests the last several years. So it's
it's a lot.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
Really a million. That's that's amazing. That is incredible. Now
who who does that for you? Who comes out and
marks everything for you?
Speaker 2 (04:22):
So it's just the utility So like, uh, you know,
let's just use Nashville for an example. Here, Piedmont Natural Gas,
they have a contract locator locates it, uh, Metro Water,
same thing, but it's the utilities. Uh, they're locators or
their contract locators locate the underground facilities. So we at
(04:42):
Tennessee eight one one don't own or mark any lines.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
Right.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
You just have somebody, just somebody to make the get
the call or the or bite email or whatever, and
you go out and I've seen those guys before that mark.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
Called jam market down on the ground and they mark
them U.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
It gives you clear marking as to where the lines are.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
It's correct.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
And even if you don't, even if you just want
to dig a foot, you need to call anyway.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
That's correct. Yeah, because lines could be really shallow. Uh
you think about like not to get too technical, but
like erosion of soil over time, something that was buried
three feet deep now maybe two feet deep, So lines
could be buried shallow. Tell communication lines like cable lines
could be buried with somebody's foot like no joke, right,
(05:30):
So it could be shallow no matter the depth. You
got to call it one to one and.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
You never know, you never know who who who buried them,
And it might have just it's gonna dig a little,
a little bit of little.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
Not the full link that should dig.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
They may have just done just to cover up so
that you know, you know, you don't know. So called
eight one one every time.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Every yes, sir, it's better.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
To call it eight one one.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
What about with construction companies and them the big cases
like we look at now Nashville, look at you.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
You're digging everywhere. Now, what do you do with this?
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Yes, so they're required. Uh, and each company has to
have their own locate ticket. So uh, let's just say
you got John's Backo service here right at your company,
You or anybody that works for John's Backo uh can
work under that locate ticket. But if there's somebody else
that works for another company, they got to call their
(06:30):
locate ticket in. But it is required by contractors as
well professional excavators.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
Okay, And so I've noticed that in my neighborhood where
I live, they're building a new place that's been eat, work, live, play,
everything right there. And it's so much they're doing right
now underground. They're digging underground, they're they're I mean, they're
shoveling out everything everything underground. They haven't started digging yet.
(06:58):
Right then, somebody had to call eight one one for that,
didn't he That's right?
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Yeah, yeah. And they use different colors of a spray
paint or flags they indicate the different types of utilities.
So we try to tell like homeowners and neighborhoods or
just homeowners in general or anyone. Hey, if you see
those flags like blue, you know indicates water, yellow for gas,
red for electric, orange tele communications. If you see those flags,
(07:25):
don't remove them because that indicates where they've marked the
underground utilities, and.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Don't dig there until they remove them.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Right, Well, just yeah, if they you know, if somebody's
called it a locate ticket and they're ready to the
excavator is ready to dig, they've got what they call
a taller Zoner safety zone. They've got a you know
with the facility plus two feet on either side. So
they got to make sure they stay away from those markings. Okay,
because again with locating, uh, there's no exact science. They're
(07:56):
locating a signal.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
Right, okay, And so you have to call. If you
don't call and you dig something, and I mean it's
one thing that the cable goes out something like that,
but it could be really you could really get your
stuff in some trouble.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
Right, That's correct. Yeah, you know The big thing is
safety is paramount right for each and every one of us. Right,
we want to protect human life, not only the underground facilities,
but we want to protect people from getting hurt and
you don't want to dig into a gas line. That
could be you know, I hate to say it, but
an explosion.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
Right.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Uh, if you know a gas line is struck and
the the source is ignited, it could you know, hurt
somebody or kill somebody. That's actually happened before. So and
then electric you know, if you hit an electric line,
be electricuted. So we want to protect people.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
Yeah. Uh.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
You have a guy who does your spokesman for some
of your you're talking stuff now, Uh, Cliff Michel.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
He was one of the guys that did.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
He did it years ago in La Right, he got
hurt almost killed by that.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
Yeah, I've heard the stories of him.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Yeah, Cliff is a great spokesperson uh for eight one
one and actually through an organization called Common Ground Lines.
And he uh was an Olympian kayaker and uh he
struck an electric line and electrocuted him and he had
to learn how to walk again and everything. So powerful story.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
There, it's a powerful story.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
And I've heard him tell it many times, you know,
to telling telling about it. And I always always think
a Cliff when when I have to dig or something.
It's called eight one one, You think a Cliff, And
he's he's he's living proof.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
Well he got better, but he's proof that you should
call it. You should go he almost died.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
That's correct. Yeah, And it takes you know how it works.
It really takes everybody educating everyone else. Word of mouth
is the best advertisement. Yeah, and just telling somebody, like
telling your neighbor if you see them out there digging,
you don't see markings on the ground, and say, hey, hey,
John's you call eight one one and you know that
way they know to call eight one one and tell them, hey,
(10:12):
it's free. It doesn't cost you.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
Anything, you think, just just hold off for a minute
and call eight one one.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
That's now.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
That's even out in rural areas, you still need to
call them because out there digging that.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
You don't know where they are. You do rural areas
as well.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
Yeah, correct. So like we even tell farmers, you know,
if they're installing drain tile or they're you know, kind
of tilling the land for crops and whatnot, call eight
one one. There could be a big like cross country
pipeline run through there, and if they strike one of those,
(10:47):
it's probably game over. Just to be honest with you, Yeah,
so's it's important for everybody to call eight one one,
use the service. Let us notify the member utilities. That
way they can mark them to keep everybody safe.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
You know you're right about that? Yeah, cross shunty gas line.
That that's a real that could be a real thing.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
What is that?
Speaker 2 (11:06):
Is it? So? Growing up here in Middle Tennessee, my
parents have some land and they have two ride of
ways in there on their property and it's a thirty
six inch gas transmission line. And so yeah, those pipelines
they run from station to station carrying uh you know
the gas list products natural gas uh and actually deliver
(11:30):
that natural gas to a gate station or city gate
where like the local distribution company could send that out
to its customers to provide gas for homes and whatnot.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Oh man, and you hit one of those things, you
got a problem, that's.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Correct, a big problem. That's a big line and lots
of pressure.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
Do they ever has anybody ever come close to doing it?
Speaker 2 (11:50):
That's correct? Yes, they have. Unfortunately, there are some stories
out there where you know, a farmer didn't call and
it's cost human life and it's very sad.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
Let's let's tell some of those stories, because those those
bring it home to people What are some of the
stories that with any family, they one one, if it's
if it's small, small or large, what do you have
This happened in the past.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
So up in uh Kentucky, Uh, just a few years ago,
there was a father and a son. They were farmers
and they were out doing some farming and h didn't
didn't call it one one and they struck a big
transmission line in it. And there's actually a video you
(12:37):
could find, I believe it's called eight Seconds Later and
you could you could look it up. It's it's a
really sad story because, uh, you know, a woman lost
her husband, another woman, uh lost her son, and so
just a really sad story. And that's what we want
to protect people. Not I want to protect the underground facilities,
(12:59):
but at the end of to day, safety is so important.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
Oh yeah, yeah, you don't want that to happen to anybody.
You don't want to be responsible for that happening to somebody,
first of all, but you don't want to happen period.
You know, call eight one one, that's.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
What you do.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
So but if you if you the corporations that dig
these buildings we're overlooking now, they're pretty pretty good about it.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
I guess, aren't.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
They Yeah, for the most part, I mean, and we
actually there is enforcement of the dig law here in Tennessee,
so it has some teeth to its law, and they're
required companies. Anybody that's digging is required to call eight
one one, and if they don't, uh, some of these
(13:41):
utility companies will turn them in and will file complaint.
So there is enforcement. There could be fines and penalties,
and uh, we don't want people to get in trouble.
But at the end of the day, we're trying to
help our member utilities, protect our underground facilities, and most
importantly safety safety.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
They're really are are some that do that?
Speaker 3 (14:00):
Huh?
Speaker 1 (14:01):
They just go ahead and dig anyway.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
Yeah, it's and my background when I was in college,
I worked for a construction company, so I was the
one that kind of called in locate tickets. And I
learned real quick back in the early two thousands that
there was a number you called because the company I
was working for wasn't using the service and struck an
electrical line. Luckily nobody was hurt, but we did, you know,
(14:26):
several line and they said, hey, there's a number you
call before you dig, and it's free, so please call
that number one.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
What do you do with eight one to one? Typically?
Speaker 2 (14:36):
So, so I'm just out educating the public. That's the
best best thing, you know, whether it's out visiting excavators
or out visiting our member utilities, uh, going to conferences,
speaking at schools like we try to get in like
elementary schools with some of the gas companies and even
(14:58):
the water utility, and just try to provide that public
awareness because we know if we tell kids at school,
especially elementary kids, third or fourth graders, they are a
sounding board for eight one one, and they're going to
tell their parents and their grandparents and maybe next time
they see their dad dig and they say, hey, dad,
did you call eight one one? This man came to
(15:19):
my school and talked about it. So, you know, just
try to educate the pope.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
So they yeah, that makes sense, Dad, bit a call,
that's right. So if what about the In terms of
I know, there's a you can you can report violators.
If you see some vialate, you can go online and
report them.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
Yes, sir, what do you do?
Speaker 1 (15:44):
If you can you do it anonymously?
Speaker 2 (15:46):
I believe you have to put in your information because
they would want to reach out to you to get
you know, get some additional information about the complaint. But
you could actually go through our website and if you
just google TN eight one one or Tennessee eight one one,
you can click on the link and then on the
(16:07):
homepage it's got a report a complaint on the homepage.
But we don't enforce the DIG law we at Tennessee
eight one one. There's actually an organization called te PUCK
Tennessee Public Utility Commission, and when the points filed, the
information submitted and then they do investigation of it and
(16:28):
then it goes before an executive committee of an enforcement board.
So that's a lot of information I told you, But
there is a whole process and those complaints are reviewed
every single month.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
Do you get many of them?
Speaker 2 (16:41):
Yeah, we actually do. We really The first offense is
they come to us when we do the violator training class.
So it's kind of like if you get a speeding
ticket and you want to keep that speeding ticket off
your record, you go to traffic school, right, and so
the same thing for us that you know, first offense,
more than likely they're going to go to violator training,
(17:03):
So that have to come to our office in Nashville,
or we do it virtually where we do a class
where we educate them about the digalaw. We tell them,
we say, we want you to learn about the dig law.
We don't want to see you back in this class, right.
But if it gets beyond that, John, what you get
is fines and penalties. And we've had a couple of
different companies that have been assessed the maximum penalty, which
(17:26):
is fifteen thousand dollars. So sometimes, unfortunately, to get in people,
you know, get people's attention, you got to get in
their pockets. And at the end of the day, we
just want to keep utility safe. We want to keep
people safe.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
That also can can translate into lack of business for
them because people see them, they don't want to do
business with.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Them, that's correct, you know. And a lot of these
contractors they've got what they call utility contracts. So a
contractor is installing fiber for like a telecommunications company, and
when something like that's damaged, maybe their contracts terminated, right right,
So you.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
Know, more, more and more stuff.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
I see more and more stuff going underground now too,
more going underground. I see some stuff up above ground still,
but it's all going underground now. That's so it's even
more imperative to call anyone.
Speaker 3 (18:17):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Yeah, that's correct. Yeah, all water and gas and sewer
have to go underground. And there's a lot of electric
that's going underground. But what you say, a lot of
times in the air on the telephone poles, you got
telephone lines, you got electric and some tele communication attachments
to those telephone poles. But a good majority of the
(18:41):
utilities is under the ground.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
Now.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
You're controlled by a boarded directors, right, correct, And they
they submit, they do all the stuff for eight one
to one, they do they do the rules rate one
one now or does that rules of the rules?
Speaker 3 (18:56):
That's for me.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
So you know, we have an executive director, his name
is Bill Turner, and then he has a board board
of directors, the made up of different utility members and
excavators and so it's well representative represented from the different
utilities across the state. And you know they make we
(19:18):
have certain rules and stuff in our call center, like
have certain goals and metrics like when we take calls
for people calling in for eight one one, the speed
of answer whatnot. But the actual dig law is through
the different stakeholders, the different association utility associations, and how
(19:39):
we kind of formulate our dig law. And like I say,
we've had legislation in place really since the late seventies,
but we know, you know, there's always something better, and
so we kind of look at our dig law every
year and since there's anything needs to be adjusted. And
we as an organization we are even though we're a nonprofit,
(20:02):
we're funded by the member utility, so we're not not
state or government. We still are audited by the federal government,
and so we have to be deemed adequate and we
want to make sure that we're kind of following the
guidelines of FEMSA. The pipeline has Material Safety Administration, So
(20:23):
that's getting down in the weeds.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
That's what I wanted to I wanted to find out
because eight one to one, it's part of the eight
one ones all over the country, just in Tennessee, that's right, yeah,
but each one has to do with the state law too,
that's correct.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
Yeah, And we're all different, you know, so you know,
there's different laws for each different state. So like I said,
in Tennessale and a normal ticket, it's three working days
whereas in Mississippi it's two days, forty eight hours. So
we we all try to kind of follow what we
call Cgate best practices, that's common ground alliance and best
(21:03):
practices and rules. But we kind of take ideas on
one another what's working in your state and try to
maybe apply it for our state law.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
Oh okay, and so you you.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
You're constantly are you having to work with the legislature
here to do in addition to federal legislature two?
Speaker 2 (21:22):
That's correct. We have a lobbyist and we also deal
with the different utility associations that have lobbyists, and you know,
we're all the time again looking at our big law
and what could be improved on it. What is the
federal government looking for? That way we could be deemed adequate.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
Right right.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
So so you may have a like, you something in Tennessee
that you don't have in Georgia, and you may have
to tweak a little bit in Tennessee or something like that.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
And it's actually funny you bring up Georgia because we've
kind of modeled our enforcement piece off of Georgia eight
one one. So you know, we again we share, you know,
we talk with other organizations eight one one organizations, and
we kind of come together and collaborate at conferences like
CGA of what's working in our state. And you know,
(22:15):
if you look at like our dig law again, we're
trying to improve it each and every year.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
Yeah, yeah, what do you do at CGA conferences?
Speaker 2 (22:23):
You have? So CGA is the huge conference they have annually.
They're essentially the ones that designed the eight one to
one logo here and uh that actually was formed in
the mid two thousands. We're known as Tennessee eight one one,
(22:44):
but previously we were known as Tennessee one Call System Incorporated,
which is still what we're known as, but Tennessee eight
one one. Before the eight one one number was came out,
there was a one eight hundred number, which you still
can call it this day. We just make it easy
now you know it's eight one one because that's an
easy number to remember. But at the CG eight conference,
to answer your question, you know, they have different sessions
(23:07):
and it goes. This year it's down in Orlando, last
year it was in Colorado Springs. It's it's the conference
where all the stakeholders come together to share ideas, ultimately
talking about damage prevention, right.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
Right, So that's particularly you've got the same old number
you had to use ago.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
That's all right, but you can still call it if
people call crag.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
And you know Tennessee's border by what eight states? Yeah? Yeah,
And if you get close to like a state line.
I tell this to excavators and whoever will listen to me.
If you're close to like a state line, sometimes you're
if you're using a cell phone, it may ping off
a tower in that other state, right, and it may
go to their one call their eight one one system.
(23:51):
So I tell people we can call the one eight
hundred and three five one one one number. It's gonna
come to us.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
Oh okay, So that's now.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
That brings up another point. And in something like.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
Uh, from here to Kentucky, you're right on that border,
where does it go? Does it go to Kentucky? Because
it may go over to Kentucky, So.
Speaker 3 (24:10):
You have to make sure he gets to you.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
What do you do with that case? If that, if
you get a call in the middle, how do you
how do you?
Speaker 2 (24:18):
Yes, so if we do, if we like, let's just
say one of our agents take a call and they're
trying to enter a ticket, Like let's just say in
Bowling Green, Kentucky, we'll give them the Kentucky dumb or
that way they can call them, you know, that way
they can call them directly, because we obviously can only
take information for tennessee eight one one.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
I was I just thought of that. I've never thought
of that before. Some of those are you know, it's
like nine to one one. It's just you know, what
do you do? Who do you so you'll get them
to the right person. That's that's correct, that's right. So
so the most important thing is call eight one to
one before you dig, yes, sir.
Speaker 3 (24:56):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Now for homes and businesses, homes and so lets talk
about that. Some are the same. The same rules apply
to them that apply for the construction.
Speaker 3 (25:06):
Companies or landscaping company.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
Yeah, it's generally the same there. They still have to
call eight one to one.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
We just updated our dig law here two years ago.
Where there's a hand digging exemption homeowners. We tell homeowners
to still call it one one even with their hand digging.
But there is technically for property owners, still is a
hand digging exemption, whereas excavator there's no there's no hand
(25:37):
digging exemption, like by we got to shovel is what
I'm talking about.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
I was saying, with your hand, with hand too for
that matter.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
That's right. Well, that's really the best thing is just
to call eight one one. It's free, don't cost you anything.
We're really quick to get that locate request entered for
you to notify those member utilities. And like I said,
there's even a way where you can enter tickets online
twenty four seven three sixty five. So we try to
make it as easy as possible for folks.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
Well, now is the time of the year where people
are digging for Gardens's.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
Time to call eight one to one. That's right, that's
what you call now.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
But I guess right now as people are starting to
dig for their gardens or whatever.
Speaker 3 (26:17):
Best to call eight one one. That's correct, that's the
best thing.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
That's correct.
Speaker 3 (26:21):
Go ahead.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
No, I was just gonna say. One thing I always
want to point out to people is the utilities that
are gonna be marked. The facilities are gonna be marked
by the utilities is the publicly maintained lines. Any private
lines that got on their property, they're not gonna mark those.
So if they need those private lines located they can
call us. We can give them a number for a
(26:41):
private locator. But let's just say like a water line,
they're gonna mark the main water service line up to
the metering device. Anything past the meter is the private property.
It would be on the homeowner whatever to call in
for a private locate with a private a locating company.
(27:01):
So we want to make that information just crystal clear
for folks.
Speaker 1 (27:06):
So you met, you, you monitored, which which do you
march it in? You must have that cable phone, things
like what do you.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
Marg Yeah, so any any underground utility, uh, you know,
whether it's tell communications, electric, water, gas sewer, all those
are included when you call eight one to one. And uh,
like I say, we've got a lot of member utilities
and we're going to notify those folks, and uh they'll
get out there and work them for you.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
And you don't somebody's got some whatever line that they
put them themselves.
Speaker 3 (27:42):
You want not it will that.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
Yeah, most of the time, let's just say, like it's
a private gas line going to like some gas logs
back like in a patio area or something. The gas
company more likely if it's a private line, they're not
gonna mark those.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
Okay, so that that might be a problem for you,
for the not you, but the owner.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
Do you want to make sure you're marking the.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
The main lines?
Speaker 3 (28:12):
Is what you're doing.
Speaker 2 (28:12):
Yeah, the the utilities are going out there and marking
the publicly maintained lines.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
Okay, so yeah, just call it one one. That's the
best thing to do. Just call you a one to one. Yes, sir,
Are you go online?
Speaker 3 (28:23):
Where do you go online?
Speaker 2 (28:24):
You can go to our website, you know. Again, I
tell people to go to h t N eight one one.
I'll take you directly to our website and they you
could enter a ticket there and it's pretty simple. There's
something that's called an e ticket and then there's something
that's called a portal ticket. But you get entered ticket online.
(28:47):
And I tell you a lot of folks they just
love talking to our agents. Uh. Some people call them
csrs Customer service representatives. We call them locate request agents.
Our agents do is such a fantastic We're very customer
service oriented and they love talking to our agents and
just call eight one one. We'll take care of the
(29:08):
process for you and get the utilities notified.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
All right, Well, you could call them up or you
can go online to t N eight one one. Is
that right, yes, sir, and make sure you do it
no matter what, make sure you call eight one one.
Speaker 3 (29:23):
Thank you so much for me on today. I appreciate
you being here.
Speaker 2 (29:25):
Thank you, John.
Speaker 1 (29:26):
That's Jason Fryar, Demish Provincial Liaison for eight one one.
Remember call eight one one anytime you dig are go
online at Tennessee eight one one dot com. If you
have customers or comments on today's program, you can email me,
John Clark at iHeartMedia dot com. Thanks for listening. I'll
talk to you to day's week right here on your
local radio station on Tennessee Matters
It's Tennessee Matters on the Tennessee Radio Network. Welcome to
Tennessee Matters. I'm John Clark on the Tennessee Radio Network.
Tennessee eight one one is a free service that helps
prevent damage Intennity in which can result in millions of
dollars in property damage, the interruption of utility services, personal injuries,
(00:22):
and even a loss of life. Here to talk about
eight one to one today is Jason Fryar. He's a
damaged prevention liaison for Tennessee eight one to one. Well,
we're talking today with Jason Fryar about Tennessee eight one
to one. And uh, first of all, what is Tennessee
eight one one.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
So Tennessee eight one one is the statewide call before
you dig service, and we've been around for a little
bit over forty years. Eight one one itself has been
around since the mid two thousands. But anytime you're going
to dig in the ground, you're required by law to
call eight one one.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
When you don't call eight one one, what could happen?
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Well, first, you could hit a utility line. More importantly,
not just hitting the utility line, if you hit the
wrong utility lines such as like a gas line it
could be really dangerous, or an electric line get electrocuted.
But want to protect the underground facilities. You don't want
to cut people's service, power, water, telecommunications. We need internet,
(01:21):
right right?
Speaker 1 (01:23):
Yeah? True, Well what happened back before the head that's
just had to be terrible back then.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
So we've actually had legislation really since about nineteen seventy eight.
We became a one call in nineteen eighty three, but
before then it was Bell South. Before they became AT
and T, they had where you would call the Registra
of Deeds and the Restra of Deeds would give you
(01:51):
a list of utilities that you had to contact individually.
So that was a very drawn out process. But pre
nineteen seventy eight, there really wasn't a process.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
Oh man.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
So those just you dig wherever you want to pretty much,
and you got probably hit stuff and then power went
out or stuff like that. Yes, sir, oh man, that
had to be scary. I'm glad you're around eight one
to one. So first of all, let's talk about individuals
who have to call eight one one. What should they
do and why should they call eight one one?
Speaker 2 (02:24):
So it's required by all, but it's free. It doesn't
cost you anything. The member utilities fund the service, so
it's you know, it is required by all, but you
know you don't want to hit again. If you're a
homeowner and you're digging, you installing a mailbox, you don't
want to hit a gas line because then a gas
company may have to shut off the gas line for
(02:45):
the whole neighborhood. You don't want to hit a water line.
They have to shut off the water for the whole neighborhood,
so they could be taking a shower or water in
the yard during the summertime. But it is free, it
doesn't cost anything, and the member utilities pay for that,
and you.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
Just call them to really just just just let them
come out and do it. Let them come out and
scan for the lines. That's at a while, just wait
a little while.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
Yes, so kind of how the process works. You call
us at eight one one, and you can call us
on Central time six am to six pm and then
Easter Time at seven am to seven pm. But you
can actually enter a locate request online twenty four seven
three sixty five. But we notify the member utilities. The
member utilities or their locators come out and mark their
(03:31):
underground facilities. That's how it works.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
So how somebody I'm planning to dig a mailbox, Let's
see when should I should? I know a few days before,
I should call you a few days before.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
So a normal ticket is three working days seventy two
hours excluding weekends or holidays. And you can actually call
up to ten days before the project starts, because a
ticket is valid for fifteen calendar days. But yeah, you
need to give us at least three working days notice. Uh.
That way we can give the utilities an opportunity to
(04:07):
get out there and mark because we have taken over
a million locate requests the last several years. So it's
it's a lot.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
Really a million. That's that's amazing. That is incredible. Now
who who does that for you? Who comes out and
marks everything for you?
Speaker 2 (04:22):
So it's just the utility So like, uh, you know,
let's just use Nashville for an example. Here, Piedmont Natural Gas,
they have a contract locator locates it, uh, Metro Water,
same thing, but it's the utilities. Uh, they're locators or
their contract locators locate the underground facilities. So we at
(04:42):
Tennessee eight one one don't own or mark any lines.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
Right.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
You just have somebody, just somebody to make the get
the call or the or bite email or whatever, and
you go out and I've seen those guys before that mark.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
Called jam market down on the ground and they mark
them U.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
It gives you clear marking as to where the lines are.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
It's correct.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
And even if you don't, even if you just want
to dig a foot, you need to call anyway.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
That's correct. Yeah, because lines could be really shallow. Uh
you think about like not to get too technical, but
like erosion of soil over time, something that was buried
three feet deep now maybe two feet deep, So lines
could be buried shallow. Tell communication lines like cable lines
could be buried with somebody's foot like no joke, right,
(05:30):
So it could be shallow no matter the depth. You
got to call it one to one and.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
You never know, you never know who who who buried them,
And it might have just it's gonna dig a little,
a little bit of little.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
Not the full link that should dig.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
They may have just done just to cover up so
that you know, you know, you don't know. So called
eight one one every time.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Every yes, sir, it's better.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
To call it eight one one.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
What about with construction companies and them the big cases
like we look at now Nashville, look at you.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
You're digging everywhere. Now, what do you do with this?
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Yes, so they're required. Uh, and each company has to
have their own locate ticket. So uh, let's just say
you got John's Backo service here right at your company,
You or anybody that works for John's Backo uh can
work under that locate ticket. But if there's somebody else
that works for another company, they got to call their
(06:30):
locate ticket in. But it is required by contractors as
well professional excavators.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
Okay, And so I've noticed that in my neighborhood where
I live, they're building a new place that's been eat, work, live, play,
everything right there. And it's so much they're doing right
now underground. They're digging underground, they're they're I mean, they're
shoveling out everything everything underground. They haven't started digging yet.
(06:58):
Right then, somebody had to call eight one one for that,
didn't he That's right?
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Yeah, yeah. And they use different colors of a spray
paint or flags they indicate the different types of utilities.
So we try to tell like homeowners and neighborhoods or
just homeowners in general or anyone. Hey, if you see
those flags like blue, you know indicates water, yellow for gas,
red for electric, orange tele communications. If you see those flags,
(07:25):
don't remove them because that indicates where they've marked the
underground utilities, and.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Don't dig there until they remove them.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Right, Well, just yeah, if they you know, if somebody's
called it a locate ticket and they're ready to the
excavator is ready to dig, they've got what they call
a taller Zoner safety zone. They've got a you know
with the facility plus two feet on either side. So
they got to make sure they stay away from those markings. Okay,
because again with locating, uh, there's no exact science. They're
(07:56):
locating a signal.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
Right, okay, And so you have to call. If you
don't call and you dig something, and I mean it's
one thing that the cable goes out something like that,
but it could be really you could really get your
stuff in some trouble.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
Right, That's correct. Yeah, you know The big thing is
safety is paramount right for each and every one of us. Right,
we want to protect human life, not only the underground facilities,
but we want to protect people from getting hurt and
you don't want to dig into a gas line. That
could be you know, I hate to say it, but
an explosion.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
Right.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Uh, if you know a gas line is struck and
the the source is ignited, it could you know, hurt
somebody or kill somebody. That's actually happened before. So and
then electric you know, if you hit an electric line,
be electricuted. So we want to protect people.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
Yeah. Uh.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
You have a guy who does your spokesman for some
of your you're talking stuff now, Uh, Cliff Michel.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
He was one of the guys that did.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
He did it years ago in La Right, he got
hurt almost killed by that.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
Yeah, I've heard the stories of him.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Yeah, Cliff is a great spokesperson uh for eight one
one and actually through an organization called Common Ground Lines.
And he uh was an Olympian kayaker and uh he
struck an electric line and electrocuted him and he had
to learn how to walk again and everything. So powerful story.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
There, it's a powerful story.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
And I've heard him tell it many times, you know,
to telling telling about it. And I always always think
a Cliff when when I have to dig or something.
It's called eight one one, You think a Cliff, And
he's he's he's living proof.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
Well he got better, but he's proof that you should
call it. You should go he almost died.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
That's correct. Yeah, And it takes you know how it works.
It really takes everybody educating everyone else. Word of mouth
is the best advertisement. Yeah, and just telling somebody, like
telling your neighbor if you see them out there digging,
you don't see markings on the ground, and say, hey, hey,
John's you call eight one one and you know that
way they know to call eight one one and tell them, hey,
(10:12):
it's free. It doesn't cost you.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
Anything, you think, just just hold off for a minute
and call eight one one.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
That's now.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
That's even out in rural areas, you still need to
call them because out there digging that.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
You don't know where they are. You do rural areas
as well.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
Yeah, correct. So like we even tell farmers, you know,
if they're installing drain tile or they're you know, kind
of tilling the land for crops and whatnot, call eight
one one. There could be a big like cross country
pipeline run through there, and if they strike one of those,
(10:47):
it's probably game over. Just to be honest with you, Yeah,
so's it's important for everybody to call eight one one,
use the service. Let us notify the member utilities. That
way they can mark them to keep everybody safe.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
You know you're right about that? Yeah, cross shunty gas line.
That that's a real that could be a real thing.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
What is that?
Speaker 2 (11:06):
Is it? So? Growing up here in Middle Tennessee, my
parents have some land and they have two ride of
ways in there on their property and it's a thirty
six inch gas transmission line. And so yeah, those pipelines
they run from station to station carrying uh you know
the gas list products natural gas uh and actually deliver
(11:30):
that natural gas to a gate station or city gate
where like the local distribution company could send that out
to its customers to provide gas for homes and whatnot.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Oh man, and you hit one of those things, you
got a problem, that's.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Correct, a big problem. That's a big line and lots
of pressure.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
Do they ever has anybody ever come close to doing it?
Speaker 2 (11:50):
That's correct? Yes, they have. Unfortunately, there are some stories
out there where you know, a farmer didn't call and
it's cost human life and it's very sad.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
Let's let's tell some of those stories, because those those
bring it home to people What are some of the
stories that with any family, they one one, if it's
if it's small, small or large, what do you have
This happened in the past.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
So up in uh Kentucky, Uh, just a few years ago,
there was a father and a son. They were farmers
and they were out doing some farming and h didn't
didn't call it one one and they struck a big
transmission line in it. And there's actually a video you
(12:37):
could find, I believe it's called eight Seconds Later and
you could you could look it up. It's it's a
really sad story because, uh, you know, a woman lost
her husband, another woman, uh lost her son, and so
just a really sad story. And that's what we want
to protect people. Not I want to protect the underground facilities,
(12:59):
but at the end of to day, safety is so important.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
Oh yeah, yeah, you don't want that to happen to anybody.
You don't want to be responsible for that happening to somebody,
first of all, but you don't want to happen period.
You know, call eight one one, that's.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
What you do.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
So but if you if you the corporations that dig
these buildings we're overlooking now, they're pretty pretty good about it.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
I guess, aren't.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
They Yeah, for the most part, I mean, and we
actually there is enforcement of the dig law here in Tennessee,
so it has some teeth to its law, and they're
required companies. Anybody that's digging is required to call eight
one one, and if they don't, uh, some of these
(13:41):
utility companies will turn them in and will file complaint.
So there is enforcement. There could be fines and penalties,
and uh, we don't want people to get in trouble.
But at the end of the day, we're trying to
help our member utilities, protect our underground facilities, and most
importantly safety safety.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
They're really are are some that do that?
Speaker 3 (14:00):
Huh?
Speaker 1 (14:01):
They just go ahead and dig anyway.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
Yeah, it's and my background when I was in college,
I worked for a construction company, so I was the
one that kind of called in locate tickets. And I
learned real quick back in the early two thousands that
there was a number you called because the company I
was working for wasn't using the service and struck an
electrical line. Luckily nobody was hurt, but we did, you know,
(14:26):
several line and they said, hey, there's a number you
call before you dig, and it's free, so please call
that number one.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
What do you do with eight one to one? Typically?
Speaker 2 (14:36):
So, so I'm just out educating the public. That's the
best best thing, you know, whether it's out visiting excavators
or out visiting our member utilities, uh, going to conferences,
speaking at schools like we try to get in like
elementary schools with some of the gas companies and even
(14:58):
the water utility, and just try to provide that public
awareness because we know if we tell kids at school,
especially elementary kids, third or fourth graders, they are a
sounding board for eight one one, and they're going to
tell their parents and their grandparents and maybe next time
they see their dad dig and they say, hey, dad,
did you call eight one one? This man came to
(15:19):
my school and talked about it. So, you know, just
try to educate the pope.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
So they yeah, that makes sense, Dad, bit a call,
that's right. So if what about the In terms of
I know, there's a you can you can report violators.
If you see some vialate, you can go online and
report them.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
Yes, sir, what do you do?
Speaker 1 (15:44):
If you can you do it anonymously?
Speaker 2 (15:46):
I believe you have to put in your information because
they would want to reach out to you to get
you know, get some additional information about the complaint. But
you could actually go through our website and if you
just google TN eight one one or Tennessee eight one one,
you can click on the link and then on the
(16:07):
homepage it's got a report a complaint on the homepage.
But we don't enforce the DIG law we at Tennessee
eight one one. There's actually an organization called te PUCK
Tennessee Public Utility Commission, and when the points filed, the
information submitted and then they do investigation of it and
(16:28):
then it goes before an executive committee of an enforcement board.
So that's a lot of information I told you, But
there is a whole process and those complaints are reviewed
every single month.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
Do you get many of them?
Speaker 2 (16:41):
Yeah, we actually do. We really The first offense is
they come to us when we do the violator training class.
So it's kind of like if you get a speeding
ticket and you want to keep that speeding ticket off
your record, you go to traffic school, right, and so
the same thing for us that you know, first offense,
more than likely they're going to go to violator training,
(17:03):
So that have to come to our office in Nashville,
or we do it virtually where we do a class
where we educate them about the digalaw. We tell them,
we say, we want you to learn about the dig law.
We don't want to see you back in this class, right.
But if it gets beyond that, John, what you get
is fines and penalties. And we've had a couple of
different companies that have been assessed the maximum penalty, which
(17:26):
is fifteen thousand dollars. So sometimes, unfortunately, to get in people,
you know, get people's attention, you got to get in
their pockets. And at the end of the day, we
just want to keep utility safe. We want to keep
people safe.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
That also can can translate into lack of business for
them because people see them, they don't want to do
business with.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Them, that's correct, you know. And a lot of these
contractors they've got what they call utility contracts. So a
contractor is installing fiber for like a telecommunications company, and
when something like that's damaged, maybe their contracts terminated, right right,
So you.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
Know, more, more and more stuff.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
I see more and more stuff going underground now too,
more going underground. I see some stuff up above ground still,
but it's all going underground now. That's so it's even
more imperative to call anyone.
Speaker 3 (18:17):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Yeah, that's correct. Yeah, all water and gas and sewer
have to go underground. And there's a lot of electric
that's going underground. But what you say, a lot of
times in the air on the telephone poles, you got
telephone lines, you got electric and some tele communication attachments
to those telephone poles. But a good majority of the
(18:41):
utilities is under the ground.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
Now.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
You're controlled by a boarded directors, right, correct, And they
they submit, they do all the stuff for eight one
to one, they do they do the rules rate one
one now or does that rules of the rules?
Speaker 3 (18:56):
That's for me.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
So you know, we have an executive director, his name
is Bill Turner, and then he has a board board
of directors, the made up of different utility members and
excavators and so it's well representative represented from the different
utilities across the state. And you know they make we
(19:18):
have certain rules and stuff in our call center, like
have certain goals and metrics like when we take calls
for people calling in for eight one one, the speed
of answer whatnot. But the actual dig law is through
the different stakeholders, the different association utility associations, and how
(19:39):
we kind of formulate our dig law. And like I say,
we've had legislation in place really since the late seventies,
but we know, you know, there's always something better, and
so we kind of look at our dig law every
year and since there's anything needs to be adjusted. And
we as an organization we are even though we're a nonprofit,
(20:02):
we're funded by the member utility, so we're not not
state or government. We still are audited by the federal government,
and so we have to be deemed adequate and we
want to make sure that we're kind of following the
guidelines of FEMSA. The pipeline has Material Safety Administration, So
(20:23):
that's getting down in the weeds.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
That's what I wanted to I wanted to find out
because eight one to one, it's part of the eight
one ones all over the country, just in Tennessee, that's right, yeah,
but each one has to do with the state law too,
that's correct.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
Yeah, And we're all different, you know, so you know,
there's different laws for each different state. So like I said,
in Tennessale and a normal ticket, it's three working days
whereas in Mississippi it's two days, forty eight hours. So
we we all try to kind of follow what we
call Cgate best practices, that's common ground alliance and best
(21:03):
practices and rules. But we kind of take ideas on
one another what's working in your state and try to
maybe apply it for our state law.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
Oh okay, and so you you.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
You're constantly are you having to work with the legislature
here to do in addition to federal legislature two?
Speaker 2 (21:22):
That's correct. We have a lobbyist and we also deal
with the different utility associations that have lobbyists, and you know,
we're all the time again looking at our big law
and what could be improved on it. What is the
federal government looking for? That way we could be deemed adequate.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
Right right.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
So so you may have a like, you something in Tennessee
that you don't have in Georgia, and you may have
to tweak a little bit in Tennessee or something like that.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
And it's actually funny you bring up Georgia because we've
kind of modeled our enforcement piece off of Georgia eight
one one. So you know, we again we share, you know,
we talk with other organizations eight one one organizations, and
we kind of come together and collaborate at conferences like
CGA of what's working in our state. And you know,
(22:15):
if you look at like our dig law again, we're
trying to improve it each and every year.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
Yeah, yeah, what do you do at CGA conferences?
Speaker 2 (22:23):
You have? So CGA is the huge conference they have annually.
They're essentially the ones that designed the eight one to
one logo here and uh that actually was formed in
the mid two thousands. We're known as Tennessee eight one one,
(22:44):
but previously we were known as Tennessee one Call System Incorporated,
which is still what we're known as, but Tennessee eight
one one. Before the eight one one number was came out,
there was a one eight hundred number, which you still
can call it this day. We just make it easy
now you know it's eight one one because that's an
easy number to remember. But at the CG eight conference,
to answer your question, you know, they have different sessions
(23:07):
and it goes. This year it's down in Orlando, last
year it was in Colorado Springs. It's it's the conference
where all the stakeholders come together to share ideas, ultimately
talking about damage prevention, right.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
Right, So that's particularly you've got the same old number
you had to use ago.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
That's all right, but you can still call it if
people call crag.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
And you know Tennessee's border by what eight states? Yeah? Yeah,
And if you get close to like a state line.
I tell this to excavators and whoever will listen to me.
If you're close to like a state line, sometimes you're
if you're using a cell phone, it may ping off
a tower in that other state, right, and it may
go to their one call their eight one one system.
(23:51):
So I tell people we can call the one eight
hundred and three five one one one number. It's gonna
come to us.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
Oh okay, So that's now.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
That brings up another point. And in something like.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
Uh, from here to Kentucky, you're right on that border,
where does it go? Does it go to Kentucky? Because
it may go over to Kentucky, So.
Speaker 3 (24:10):
You have to make sure he gets to you.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
What do you do with that case? If that, if
you get a call in the middle, how do you
how do you?
Speaker 2 (24:18):
Yes, so if we do, if we like, let's just
say one of our agents take a call and they're
trying to enter a ticket, Like let's just say in
Bowling Green, Kentucky, we'll give them the Kentucky dumb or
that way they can call them, you know, that way
they can call them directly, because we obviously can only
take information for tennessee eight one one.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
I was I just thought of that. I've never thought
of that before. Some of those are you know, it's
like nine to one one. It's just you know, what
do you do? Who do you so you'll get them
to the right person. That's that's correct, that's right. So
so the most important thing is call eight one to
one before you dig, yes, sir.
Speaker 3 (24:56):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Now for homes and businesses, homes and so lets talk
about that. Some are the same. The same rules apply
to them that apply for the construction.
Speaker 3 (25:06):
Companies or landscaping company.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
Yeah, it's generally the same there. They still have to
call eight one to one.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
We just updated our dig law here two years ago.
Where there's a hand digging exemption homeowners. We tell homeowners
to still call it one one even with their hand digging.
But there is technically for property owners, still is a
hand digging exemption, whereas excavator there's no there's no hand
(25:37):
digging exemption, like by we got to shovel is what
I'm talking about.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
I was saying, with your hand, with hand too for
that matter.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
That's right. Well, that's really the best thing is just
to call eight one one. It's free, don't cost you anything.
We're really quick to get that locate request entered for
you to notify those member utilities. And like I said,
there's even a way where you can enter tickets online
twenty four seven three sixty five. So we try to
make it as easy as possible for folks.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
Well, now is the time of the year where people
are digging for Gardens's.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
Time to call eight one to one. That's right, that's
what you call now.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
But I guess right now as people are starting to
dig for their gardens or whatever.
Speaker 3 (26:17):
Best to call eight one one. That's correct, that's the
best thing.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
That's correct.
Speaker 3 (26:21):
Go ahead.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
No, I was just gonna say. One thing I always
want to point out to people is the utilities that
are gonna be marked. The facilities are gonna be marked
by the utilities is the publicly maintained lines. Any private
lines that got on their property, they're not gonna mark those.
So if they need those private lines located they can
call us. We can give them a number for a
(26:41):
private locator. But let's just say like a water line,
they're gonna mark the main water service line up to
the metering device. Anything past the meter is the private property.
It would be on the homeowner whatever to call in
for a private locate with a private a locating company.
(27:01):
So we want to make that information just crystal clear
for folks.
Speaker 1 (27:06):
So you met, you, you monitored, which which do you
march it in? You must have that cable phone, things
like what do you.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
Marg Yeah, so any any underground utility, uh, you know,
whether it's tell communications, electric, water, gas sewer, all those
are included when you call eight one to one. And uh,
like I say, we've got a lot of member utilities
and we're going to notify those folks, and uh they'll
get out there and work them for you.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
And you don't somebody's got some whatever line that they
put them themselves.
Speaker 3 (27:42):
You want not it will that.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
Yeah, most of the time, let's just say, like it's
a private gas line going to like some gas logs
back like in a patio area or something. The gas
company more likely if it's a private line, they're not
gonna mark those.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
Okay, so that that might be a problem for you,
for the not you, but the owner.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
Do you want to make sure you're marking the.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
The main lines?
Speaker 3 (28:12):
Is what you're doing.
Speaker 2 (28:12):
Yeah, the the utilities are going out there and marking
the publicly maintained lines.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
Okay, so yeah, just call it one one. That's the
best thing to do. Just call you a one to one. Yes, sir,
Are you go online?
Speaker 3 (28:23):
Where do you go online?
Speaker 2 (28:24):
You can go to our website, you know. Again, I
tell people to go to h t N eight one one.
I'll take you directly to our website and they you
could enter a ticket there and it's pretty simple. There's
something that's called an e ticket and then there's something
that's called a portal ticket. But you get entered ticket online.
(28:47):
And I tell you a lot of folks they just
love talking to our agents. Uh. Some people call them
csrs Customer service representatives. We call them locate request agents.
Our agents do is such a fantastic We're very customer
service oriented and they love talking to our agents and
just call eight one one. We'll take care of the
(29:08):
process for you and get the utilities notified.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
All right, Well, you could call them up or you
can go online to t N eight one one. Is
that right, yes, sir, and make sure you do it
no matter what, make sure you call eight one one.
Speaker 3 (29:23):
Thank you so much for me on today. I appreciate
you being here.
Speaker 2 (29:25):
Thank you, John.
Speaker 1 (29:26):
That's Jason Fryar, Demish Provincial Liaison for eight one one.
Remember call eight one one anytime you dig are go
online at Tennessee eight one one dot com. If you
have customers or comments on today's program, you can email me,
John Clark at iHeartMedia dot com. Thanks for listening. I'll
talk to you to day's week right here on your
local radio station on Tennessee Matters
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