Work the river route: techs and helpers for Palatka
Cook's runs Putnam County as a scheduled route from its Palm Coast headquarters, and the route needs people. Here is what the work is, who we're hiring and who tends to thrive on it.
The four roles
Cook’s is hiring for the Putnam County route and the rest of the company:
- Service technician. Diagnose and repair cooling and heating equipment of every brand, residential and light commercial.
- Install technician. Set and commission new Lennox systems, from ductless heads in historic houses to package units on manufactured homes.
- Maintenance tech manager. Run the seasonal agreement visits, build the route schedule and keep the quality of the tune-ups consistent.
- Apprenticeship helpers. Paid entry positions for people who want to learn the trade from the truck.
What a day on the Palatka route looks like
A morning might start with a heat pump tune-up at a cottage on Lake Broward in Pomona Park, move to a no-cool call on a 1960s block house in Newtown, and end with a commercial rooftop unit above a storefront on St. Johns Avenue. The drive from the shop is real, about 51 minutes to the Memorial Bridge, so the day is planned by geography: Interlachen and Melrose on one day, the US 17 string from Bostwick to Crescent City on another.
You will see more manufactured homes than almost anywhere else in Florida, more well water, more 1900s frame construction without ductwork, and more equipment that has lived through river flooding. It is a route that teaches fast.
The kind of work you will get good at here
Package units and crawlspace duct repair. Reading scale in a condensate trap and knowing it came from iron and sulfur in the well. Sizing ductless systems for tall-ceilinged historic rooms. Finding the control board a lightning surge quietly cooked. Having the repair-versus-replace conversation with a homeowner on a fixed income, honestly, without pressure. Those are Putnam County skills, and they make a technician valuable anywhere.
Who does well at Cook’s
People who like a family-owned shop where Jerry and Sean are on jobs, not behind a desk. People who give a homeowner in Palatka Heights a straight answer about a 20-year-old system and treat a manufactured home in East Palatka like a lakefront house. For helpers, a clean driving record and willingness to learn matter more than a résumé.
How to apply
Call 866-266-5709 and ask for Jerry, or write to support@cooksair.com with a short note about your experience and where you live. Interviews happen at the Palm Coast shop or, for Putnam County candidates, on the route.
Questions from applicants
Do I have to live near the Palm Coast shop to work the Palatka route?
Trucks dispatch from Fairmont Ln, but a technician who lives in Putnam County is an advantage to us on night calls. How take-home vans and start locations are handled is a question for Jerry at the interview. [[CONFIRM WITH JERRY]]
Is the helper position a real apprenticeship or just carrying tools?
It is an apprenticeship. Helpers start on installs and maintenance alongside Sean’s crew, learn brazing, recovery, electrical and ductwork on the job, and move toward a service truck as they prove out.
Will I be on call overnight?
On a rotation, yes. Cook’s answers the phone around the clock and charges customers nothing extra after hours, and that promise is kept by technicians who take turns covering nights and weekends.
Ready to talk about a spot on the route?
Call {{phone}} and ask for Jerry, or email {{email}}.