Northwest Line Construction Industry JATC · Battle Ground, WA
NW Line lineman apprenticeship
Checked against official pages October 24, 2026. Non-official sources are labeled.
- Test
- NJATC (ETA) aptitude test, 3rd Monday of each month
- CDL
- Class A with no E restriction (so not restricted to automatic transmission).
- Window
- Rolling: testing every month, interviews about every other month.
- Fee
- $35 application fee. Contractors withhold $25 a week.
Cards before you’re interviewed
- Current First Aid/CPR, renewed every year. Online courses don’t count.
- A flagging card from Oregon, Washington, Idaho or Montana. Online doesn’t count here either.
- Class A CDL with no E restriction, meaning you tested on a manual.
- High school transcript or GED, age 18+, and the $35 application fee.
The test: NJATC, score 3, every month
NW Line names the NJATC aptitude test and publishes the bar: score a 3 or higher to move on to the interview round. It tests on the third Monday of every month, accepts a passing ETA score you already have, and lets you retest every three months. Interviews run about every other month, and the ranked list lasts two years or until you’re indentured. What the test covers.
VOLTA line school
NW Line’s site lists VOLTA, a vocational line school: 400 hours over 10 weeks, $8,500 including a $150 enrollment fee, 32 students per session at each of three locations (Warrenton OR, Rathdrum ID, Lakewood WA). Whether VOLTA graduates get credit or direct entry isn’t published.
What the job pays
Union journeyman lineman rates in NW Line’s states come from federal prevailing-wage determinations, which adopt the local union’s negotiated rate. Apprentices start at 60% of the journeyman rate and reach 90% by the last step (60 / 63 / 67 / 72 / 78 / 86 / 90%).
Oregon · Washington · Idaho · California
Where these facts come from · all checked October 24, 2026