Balancing the railroad's time and family time

Greetings,
I am a new user. Our son is considering going through the Conductor training course at Johnson County Community, OP, KS. We don't have much family tradition with the RR but we do have a few cousins currently employed by the UP and BNSF. We obviously have been reading and hearing about the career opportunities in the RR industry. And, for a lack of better employment opportunities, have chosen to pursue this avenue. I have been reading some of the employment posts on this site and have heard everything from, "don't do it" to "I love it".
I guess I am searching for some input about experiences people have had as a RR employee. I understand there is virtually no time for family, no time for yourself, hours and working conditions can suck and furloughs and relocatons are a given. But, I have also heard that the pay is outstanding, training is great and the benefits are good.
I would appreciate any feedback, positive or negative. Thanks.
Skoos2000

In short, your first few years on the railroad may be difficult, but as you gain seniority, your schedule becomes more manageable.

Try posting this question in our employment forum. Here's a good article about railroads and holidays: http://railroad.net/articles/columns/ho ... 050102.php

-otto-

Thanks Otto. Very interesting article. I'll repost under employment.

skoos2000,

Welcome aboard. I’m not sure what the private school is offering you, however, I would rather the railroad pay for my training, vs. you having to pay out of pocket. Some would believe that most jobs require training at your expense, why should the railroad be any different? However, if you live in an area where UP is hiring, then why pay for the classes when the UP is going to provide the training for you? However, if the other alternative is the CSX, then you would have to attend training at your expense.

Family time? Depending on the carrier, you may or may not get “planned” time off. Someone on the board here who works for BNSF states they receive 7 days off a month. Work for the UP, and unless you work a local job, forget about having set days off. If you work the extra board (provide relief for those who are sick, on other assignment, vacation) you have no days off, and could expect to be called out in as little as 8-12 hours after getting home, depending on the system load. If you hold a turn (meaning a job which travels from your home terminal to an outlying terminal and back to your home terminal) then depending upon how many men/women are on that turn, you may be home for a longer period of time. The happy saying to your family and friends is “plan your vacation, parties, outings, etc. on your schedule, not mine” as you will not know when you are going to be called.

As for pay, well what do you consider to be good? This last trip I made $620. Not bad you say, right? Well, consider that I got called for this trip on Saturday afternoon at 1510, and did not arrive into Elko until 0135 Sunday morning. 10.5 hours over, and I was called out last night at 1645, and did not arrive back into Salt Lake until 0550. 13 hours. Breaks down to about $26.00 an hour. Now take the time you where away from your family, take the tier 1 and tier 2 retirement withholding (your future retirement, the railroad does not pay into social security) federal taxes, state taxes, health and union dues, and it comes down to about $422 for service from Saturday afternoon until 0700 this morning. What is that, $17 dollars an hour or thereabouts? So I tie up, and I am 11 times out on the extra board, meaning, there are 10 guys ahead of me who are going to get called, and that could be anywhere from 8 hours to 24 hours. You never know. You can look at the train line-ups, and take an educated guess, see who has laid-off sick, who is on vacation, any deadheading, etc. But for the amount of time you are away from the family, you may be better suited to look at another career which pays either a little less, or equal too the railroad if quality of life is an importance to you.

I could grumble on, and moan about things, but at this point, I’d rather try to get some sleep. Take a look around the board. There are a few posting here and there about life on the steel. Search for postings I have written under Search for Author:. I have written quite a few posts which outline the very basics about life on the railroad.

All the best to you in your endeavors to find a job/career.

skoos2000 wrote:Greetings,
I am a new user. Our son is considering going through the Conductor training course at Johnson County Community, OP, KS. We don't have much family tradition with the RR but we do have a few cousins currently employed by the UP and BNSF. We obviously have been reading and hearing about the career opportunities in the RR industry. And, for a lack of better employment opportunities, have chosen to pursue this avenue. I have been reading some of the employment posts on this site and have heard everything from, "don't do it" to "I love it".
I guess I am searching for some input about experiences people have had as a RR employee. I understand there is virtually no time for family, no time for yourself, hours and working conditions can suck and furloughs and relocatons are a given. But, I have also heard that the pay is outstanding, training is great and the benefits are good.
I would appreciate any feedback, positive or negative. Thanks.
Skoos2000

It's common knowledge on the railroad that we're (operations) not paid for the work we do, we're paid for the lifestyle we lead. In the operations dept., while in thru-freight service, there's very little physical labor required. Pounding the lead in the yards and station work on locals involves considerably more physical activity. The trade off? Thru-frieght requires being absent from home, 24-48+ hours at times. Yard jobs and the majority of locals allows one to sleep in their own beds on a daily basis.
Yes, the money is great, and the benefits are, for the time being, very good. Is it a career for everyone? NO!!!!!!! It's a matter of priorities; good bread and benefits vs: no social/family life, an irregular work schedule, an uncertain future account of remote controlled operations and the possibility of one-man thru-frieght operations. My oldest grandson is nine years old. I have already noticed that...."fixation" at road crossings whenever we're blocked. I'll do everything I can to discourage him from seeking a career in this industry. Odds are, all for naught. Good luck!

Whew!! So much doom and gloom, and I thought the RR industry would be a good one to get in to. I appreciate the responses from slchub and jg greenwood.

schlub,
There are current job advertisements on the UP web site for Train Service Person and we are considering applying for them. The cost for the 6 week course at JCCC in OP, KS, the training site for BNSF employees, is $4312.00. I consider that worthwhile education. 21 hours towards an Associates Degree. Upon successful completion of the course an offer of employment appears inevitable. I am not sure you could get an employment offer after a successful 4- year college. Yeah, it would be nice to get the training paid for. Thanks for the great advice.

jg greenwood,
Sounds horrible, what's the attraction of working for the RR? Why do you continue? Thanks for the reponse.

I wonder if anyone has anything positive to report?

Skoos2000

skoos2000 wrote:Whew!! So much doom and gloom, and I thought the RR industry would be a good one to get in to. I appreciate the responses from slchub and jg greenwood.

schlub,
There are current job advertisements on the UP web site for Train Service Person and we are considering applying for them. The cost for the 6 week course at JCCC in OP, KS, the training site for BNSF employees, is $4312.00. I consider that worthwhile education. 21 hours towards an Associates Degree. Upon successful completion of the course an offer of employment appears inevitable. I am not sure you could get an employment offer after a successful 4- year college. Yeah, it would be nice to get the training paid for. Thanks for the great advice.

jg greenwood,
Sounds horrible, what's the attraction of working for the RR? Why do you continue? Thanks for the reponse.

I wonder if anyone has anything positive to report?

Skoos2000

I have 24+ years paid into railroad retirement. I would be a fool to "pi$$ away"all those years. At 58 years of age, with only a handful of college credit hours, I would search long and hard to realize the income the railroad provides. To sum it up, I'm trapped like a miserable rat. :^)

Like JG, I have far too few college credits to land a better paying job outside of the railroad. Before the railroad, I worked in the airline industry for 16 years. After 5 different airlines, 3 of which have gone belly up, it was time to look at a career which provided stability and retirement, since I lost most of my retirement in my 401k when the dot.com bust happened in 99.

Can I get a job elsewhere? Sure. $10-11 hour max without a degree. The railroad provides decent pay, medical ( had my gallbladder taken out and it did not cost a dime, only co-pay of $15.00 to the surgeon for the office visit) and retirement is most likely a sure bet. But who knows. United Airlines and USAirways employees are fighting to keep thier retirement intact as well now too. We shall see what pans out.

If the UP is hiring in your area, then by all means, apply, goto the hiring session, and save the money. Just because you pay money to the college does not mean you will get picked up by the railroad. The college only offers an interview, not a guarantee to place you in a job with the railroad. I'd rather save my $5000 and get trained by a carrier which trains on thier dime, than to pay $5000, and not get picked up by someone. However, you most likely will get picked up by someone, just my thoughts only.

From our employee website is the following:


Employee Referrals Benefit Process
Hiring Efforts Continue In Critical-Need Locations

Several railroad positions are vacant around the system, and certain critical-need locations can benefit from increased attention by employees to recruit friends and family members for those positions.

These "hiring hotspots" fluctuate, depending on the number of positions available and the applicant pool. UPOnline will regularly update these locations, and employees are welcome to refer interested applicants to UP's Web site at http://www.uprr.com/employment/

There, applicants can review current job descriptions and openings in all locations, and fill out applications.


Do I like my job? Yes. And no. I enjoy the time I have to myself during the weekdays to run errands and what not when everyone else is working. Can I plan to do something with the girlfriend next weekend? No. I can call in and lay-off sick. But for the most part I have no clue what I'm working next week. That can be difficult in setting appointments for the dentist or doctor. The receptionist at both know that I work for the railroad, and if I need to see the Doc, they usually fit me in when I call. I enjoy walking my train at night on a full moon in the middle of winter with snow on the ground out in Wyoming. I enjoy spotting elk and antelope along the way as well as the occasional eagle or hawk looking for dinner.

As JG stated, you can work in the yard, and pretty much have a schedule. I forget about that as I do not care for the yard, and consider it a dangerous place to be with the unmanned remote controlled locomotives. Then again, it all comes down to senority, and what position is available for you to work. It may the midnight shift with Tues/Wed off.

Depending upon where you work, you may or may not have access to a place to grab a bite to eat when your out on your run. You may or may not be close to the interstate/highway where the railroad carry-all can come and pick you up at some distant siding when you have to put your train into a siding somewhere. On our subdivision, I run from Ogden to Elko, Nevada and Green River, Wyoming. Going to Green River, you have two places, it you are lucky, where you may be able to pick up a bite, if your train just happens to stop in those locations. Going to Elko, the Cowboy in Montello, again if you can stop and grab something, most times you cannot. So you better bring plenty of food. The Green River side has close access to roads, and you may not have to wait very long for someone to come and pick you up. Going to Elko is awful. Once you get west of the Salt Lake, you are nowhere near the highway. You either wait 3 hours for a van to get out to you, or you ride a train into town. The name of the game is hurry up and wait. Not all subdivisions are like this. If you enjoy going to work watching the sun go down, and then watching it rise all on the same shift, with maybe a catnap here and there, then this is the place for you. It's not just a job, but a lifestyle.

Hope this helps a little bit. It can be ovewhelming. It is very blue collar. It is confrontational at times, and downright rude. Othertimes, it is the best job in the world. You'll make great friends, and even come to know some of the guys out here a little better than you know your spouse.

These "hiring hotspots" fluctuate, depending on the number of positions available and the applicant pool. UPOnline will regularly update these locations, and employees are welcome to refer interested applicants to UP's Web site

Slchub,

Thanks for the very informative post.

Did UP's website mention any specific hotspots? And if so where?

Also, do you know if the UP is willing to hire someone from out of state, or do you have to presently live in the hiring location?

Thanks, DBD

UP will hire you if you're from out of state, but be ready to A) Go to the hiring session on a moment's notice and B) Be ready to start training at half a moment's notice. I'm talking about hired Friday night, classes start Monday. They don't want to hear about you needing time to get your affairs together and get moved, that's your business.

I couldn't find the "Hot Spots" link that's usually on the website, but a quick look at the employment opportunities shows almost 450 openings right now, with another 125 anticipated. Seems like a LOT of track laborer positions, with a fair amount of Train Service jobs thrown in. These are scattered all over the system. Go to www.Up.com and click on employment opportunities.

Thanks again for your insight slchub. I think you would have a geat future in the RR recruitment section.
I think we have decided on applying at UP with the hopes of getting an interview and eventually getting hired. But, in the meantime we'll apply for the Conductor training in KC and hopefully get accepted to that.
skoos2000

Another angle that we failed to address is the fact that if you're off, and subject to be called, you are a slave to your phone/cell-phone. Depending upon your commuting distance, and the length of your call, you may be a prisoner in your own home. If you're 45-minutes to an hour from work, and your normal call is 1-1/2 to 2-hours, it's impossible to become involved in any project, activity, etc. that you can't, at a moments notice, immediately drop. Doesn't sound like a big deal, however, it all contributes to the fact; It's not a job, it's a life style.

Another, not so enviable trait of the lifestyle. Thanks.

skoos2000,

Here are the hot spots as from Feb 25, 2005,

Current hiring hotspots are:

North Platte, Neb.

* Trainservice
* Apprentice Freight Car Repairer
* Diesel Mechanic
* Diesel Electrician
* Mechanical Shop
* Track Laborer
* Work Equipment Mechanic
* Sheet Metal Worker

Rawlins, Wyo.

* Trainservice

Boone, Iowa

* Trainservice
* Track Laborer
* B&B Carpenter

Pine Bluff, Ark.

* Diesel Electrician
* Diesel Mechanic
* Train Service

Salem, Ill.

* Track Laborer

Herington, Kan.

* Apprentice Freight Car Repairer

Hutchinson, Kan.

* Track Laborer

Kansas City, Kan.

* Apprentice Freight Car Repairer

Osawatomie, Kan.

* Track Laborer

Roseville, Calif.

* Diesel Mechanic
* Diesel Electrician

West Colton, Calif.

* Diesel Electrician
* Diesel Mechanic

Stockton, Calif.

* Apprentice Freight Car Repairer

Track Laborer (Regional Travel)

* Nampa, Idaho
* Quincy, Calif.

Track Laborer (System Travel)

* Watsonville, Calif.
* Pocatello, Idaho

Skoos2000,

As steelwheels mentioned, with the UP, you have to be ready to report to class on a moments notice.

I was living in Atlanta when I met a conductor who worked for CSX. He told me about the railroad, and said CSX and UP were hiring. I looked into it, and found that CSX required me to pay for my training, and that the school only guaranteed an interview with CSX, not a job. I spoke again with that conductor and he said well, if you are ready to move, then let UP pay for your training. So I hopped on the internet, saw the UP was hiring in 4 cities, Ogden being one of them. I applied online, was given an invitation to a hiring session in Salt Lake City, flew out, went through the testing, physical agility and interview, and waited for the phone call at the end of the week inviting me back to complete the paperwork. The call never came. So I flew back home to Atlanta. Oh well, I gave it a shot.

Two weeks later, UP calls me at 1400 at my place of employment, asking me if I was still interested? Yes! Of course. Okay, training starts on Monday, 0700 at the Marriott. Oh, Holy COW! It's what, Wednesday!?!? Um, Ma'am, you do realise I'm in Atlanta? Yes, I know. Okay, well, I have to drive 1800 miles and pack my stuff, etc. Do you have anything a little later? She looks. Nope. Okay, so I accept. I have a pizza party that night, tell me friends, invite the ex-wife over, tell everyone that what I cannot pack the ex gets, and what she does not want they can have. It was a blast. Left that Friday afternoon, got to the hotel on Sunday at 0300, and showed up for class at 0700 Monday. I was lucky in the fact that since my home was further than 50 miles from the training location, the UP provided me a room and meal allowance for the three weeks I was in training. That was cool, as I had no place to live, and three other guys stayed in the hotel, and every night we got together and had a study group.

I had picked Ogden because I had lived in Denver when I worked for Continental when they still had a flight attendant base there. I figured Salt Lake City would be similar to Denver. And it is. And whereas I was used to working a varied schedule as a flight attendant, all the holidays, overnights, etc, the railroad is a far cry from the airline industry. Except for one thing. 24/7/365! They never stop.

But then again, it can be fun. Just as I did not know if I was going to be called last night to go out on a train, I woke up at 1010 this morining, looked at the computer line-up, and I am still 7 in line to be called out. And I just got into town yesterday morning at 0700. So the way things are going, I will not go out until tomorrow. That gives me time to do a few things. Other times, it can be crazy. You get home, get to sleep, and not even 8 hours later the railroad is calling you. That can go on for days. So today will be a nice day to start packing and getting ready for my next move...engine service. Yuck.

I don't want to go. First, I'm still new to this whole game, with a little over a year at UP, and everyday I learn something new. Two, the engineer boards are getting so saturated with newly promoted engineers, they are having a hard time finding a job which pays any money. Three, my pay gets cut by 1/2 until I qualify. Going from 5900 a month gross to 3200 gross is not bad, but Las Vegas is expensive. And fourth, if I don't go, then guys who have less senority than me will get past me and hold better jobs in the future. There are a few other reasons (union specific, etc) why I also feel I have to do this, but I would rather not at this time. So we shall see. Training starts on the 21 of this month, and a new adventure begins.

I don't think anyone of us (those of us in the forum who works for the railroad) ever wants to disuade someone from working for the railroad. All walks of life work for the railroad. I think one of our guys here..no names mentioned, has his JD. I've worked as a flight attendant trotting around the globe for 16 years in my former profession. We have everyone from accountants to truck drivers. I think we just have had a reality check, and would rather have you know that it is very different out here than looking at the guys going by in the locomotive blowing the horn, pulling that big lumbering train down the rails. Happiness and well being is far better than making money, being away from home, and not having time with your family. Think about it. If you want the railroad, go for it, we'll welcome you on board, but you can also choose another path, and still find time to look at us as we go by you at some crossing, and we are wishing we were in your car going home or to a movie, or...