Page 6 - TN811 issue 2

Damage Prevention MVP Danny Hooper
By Jason Fryer,
Damage Prevention Liaison Tennessee8F11
our decades or forty years is a long time to work in one industry. What’s more impressive is to work for
the same company doing the same type of work. Our next Damage Prevention MVP, Danny Hooper, will be celebrating his 40th anniversary in June with Humphreys County Utility District (HCUD). Danny told me
what he previously did before getting on with the gas company. “I worked at a lumber yard stacking lumber. Anything would have been better than doing that. My dad worked at the gas company years and years ago. I came in and put in an application and they called me for an interview, and I got the job.” In our industry, it’s impressive how many folks that have family work for the same company or in the same industry. I met Danny early in my tenure with Tennessee 811 and we have talked several times over the years at HCUD’s Customer Appreciation Day or their Annual Excavator Meeting. We have talked about damage prevention and the importance of calling before you
dig. Danny is a nice, soft-spoken gentleman that wears his overalls every single day and plays a vital role in protecting HCUD’s assets. Danny’s job title is Locator, but he has done
a little bit of everything in the field, except for welding. That includes service work, installation, running gas lines, reading meters, leak surveys, and of course locating. Over the next few paragraphs, I will tell you what makes Danny Hooper this quarter’s Damage Prevention MVP.
Danny walked me through what a
day looks like for him, in the life
of a locator. Danny comes in every morning and checks to see if there are any new locate requests for him. He’ll pull them and route his locate tickets. He has a computer in his truck and will respond in real-time with Positive
4 • Tennessee811
2023, Issue 2
Danny Hooper, Humphreys County Utility District Locator