Southwestern Line Constructors Apprenticeship and Training · Bosque Farms, NM
SWLCAT lineman apprenticeship
Checked against official pages October 24, 2026. Non-official sources are labeled.
- Test
- ETA aptitude test before the interview
- CDL
- Class A required to interview, no permit. A manual-transmission restriction must be removed within 120 days of indenture.
- Window
- Dates not published. Applications are processed in 7–10 business days.
- Fee
- $30 per area you apply to
Pay per area
SWLCAT’s application fee is $30 per area, so applying to more areas costs more. Applications are processed in seven to ten business days. Dates aren’t published.
Test, then an oral interview
You must “Pass ETA aptitude test prior to interviewing.” The cutoff isn’t published, and SWLCAT’s study-guide page points to ETA’s guide. The interview is “oral, with no demonstration.” Whether line school or prior experience earns credit is decided by each subcommittee. What the ETA test covers.
CDL and orientation
You need a valid Class A CDL to be interviewed as a lineman, not a permit. A manual-transmission restriction has to be removed within 120 days of indenture. After selection there’s an eight-day orientation in Bosque Farms, New Mexico that you must pass.
In Texas? There’s also a state license
Texas licenses journeyman linemen through TDLR: 7,000 hours in a DOL-approved apprenticeship, or three and a half years as a journeyman lineman, a $30 application fee and an exam. It’s a limited license, not a journeyman electrician license. See journeyman lineman tests.
What the job pays
Union journeyman lineman rates in SWLCAT’s states come from federal prevailing-wage determinations, which adopt the local union’s negotiated rate. We couldn’t find an apprentice pay ladder SWLCAT publishes in readable form.
Where these facts come from · all checked October 24, 2026