Norfolk Southern Hiring Process

No, haven't gotten a call or anything yet. I guess I am just somehow worried that something "went wrong" somewhere am they didn't bother to tell me they weren't going to hire me. However I passed all the tests and requirements. I figured with them hiring 11 conductors they would be faster with an answer. I really want to quit my job where I am at now because I am not really happy with it. I have a large sum of money coming in from something so I may just quit and wait for the railroad to get back to me. I guess what I am looking for is an answer will they "eventually" call me in or do they make people jump through the hoops and then not hire them?

If you plan on working out here then get used to being in limbo as you be in that state the rest of your career. These things take time, and dont mention anything to your current boss until your class date is set in stone.

I was in the Army so the "hurry up and wait" deal is familiar to me. And that's cool- as long as I know I will be *eventually* called in. I just checked my account on NS job site and my status has changed to "To be Hired", so I guess that means I'm good to go except for waiting on class date. Yay!

bretylium wrote:I really want to quit my job where I am at now because I am not really happy with it. I have a large sum of money coming in from something so I may just quit and wait for the railroad to get back to me. I guess what I am looking for is an answer will they "eventually" call me in or do they make people jump through the hoops and then not hire them?

Yes, the railroads has made people jump through the loops then not get hired. You've already done the physical, drug screen ect...the waiting process doesn't have a time limit if it exceeds 90 days one has to go through the physical ect....again. Seeing you got this far sounds like you'll eventually get called it's just a waiting game. The quote "patience is a virtue" should be tattooed on every railroader like Georgia Railroader stated get use to being in limbo you'll be there for the rest of a railroad carreer.

and dont expect a ton of notice when you get your class date..... when i got my class date it was like a week before the class that i had to be there that Sunday for class to start on a Monday.

the thing is they arent going to give you a class date till they have everybody from your location they plan to hired.... hired and then they know that they have enough people to make up a class in McDonough, so however long that takes is how long it takes, like everyone has said..... hurry up and wait, get used to it

So let me ask you this, how is the travel handled? I know they pay $0.51/mile to get there, do they pay you up front for the calculated mileage round trip before your class so you can pay for gas,ect? What if I want to fly, will they still pay me the driving mileage? I know it's 20 miles or so outside of Atlanta so I could see flying and then taking a cab/shuttle. After you finish the school how long do you have until you are supposed to report to your home station for work? I was hoping maybe to have a week or so free after the school?

LOL, a week of free time after you get done with McDonough..... i got a good laugh at the read. Uhhh no, you might get the weekend off if you are lucky. I know some guys drove home on Friday and had to report to their home terminal on Saturday, me personally, we didnt have to be back til Monday.

As far as your pay for driving, you get paid the money for driving there basically when you get back from McDonough, and the money from driving back from McDonough pretty much 2 weeks after you get back. The pay is not based on how many miles you actually drive, its based on "how the crow flies" so pull out a map and draw a straight line from where you live, to McDonough, thats how many miles you get paid, so even if you drive 550 actual miles, but straight line is only 500, you only get paid 500, it works out pretty close +/- to your actual mileage but you might lose some miles based on straight line.

If you choose to fly, you dont get paid at all, if you live close and want to drive home every weekend, you dont get paid to drive back and forth, thats on your dime

i kept a log of how my 3 weeks down in McDonough went, here is the link for you to read up on it if you want. (half way down the page) Every Monday you get new meal cards..... this was my experience down there, things may have changed or be different for you as its been 13 months since i was in McDonough

http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopi ... =2&t=85123

So could I fly but tell them I drove? Do they check receipts or something? I really hate car driving long distances is all.

bretylium wrote:So could I fly but tell them I drove? Do they check receipts or something? I really hate car driving long distances is all.

How do you expect to get around when you're in McDonough? One hotel is "within walking distance," but the other is one exit up the highway. You'll want a car to get around for food and errands, too. If you can't hack a long drive two times in 3 weeks, don't expect to last very long when you're spending all night travelling down a long secondary at 10mph. Or trying to stay awake when sitting at a stop signal for hours on end.

Also, mileage is paid based on the distance from the terminal you were hired at, not your home address.

You need to understand that the railroad is a major commitment and a huge lifestyle change. Judging by your previous posts, wanting to leave your job before you've been hired because you "don't like it" is not the kind of attitude you need to have to make it on the NS.

bretylium wrote:So let me ask you this, how is the travel handled? I know they pay $0.51/mile to get there, do they pay you up front for the calculated mileage round trip before your class so you can pay for gas,ect? What if I want to fly, will they still pay me the driving mileage? I know it's 20 miles or so outside of Atlanta so I could see flying and then taking a cab/shuttle. After you finish the school how long do you have until you are supposed to report to your home station for work? I was hoping maybe to have a week or so free after the school?

No, you'll leave McDonough on a Friday, and report to work either Sunday or Monday. Don't count on having any free time for the entire training process beyond your one rest day a week. This isn't a 9-5 job with weekends off.
The mileage rate is 55 cents a mile, and they don't ask for proof that you drove down. However, I wouldn't recommend starting out your career on a lie. Besides, as I said in my previous post, you'll need a car when you're down there.

i suppose you could do that, dont get caught though..... they will fire you for it, they didnt check for receipts when i was there..... i used their last meal card to put gas in my car the whole way back to Chicago!

i cant recall if you had to put in any sort of car information into the computer to claim the mileage or not, so its really up to you, but risking your job over a few hundred bucks cause you dont like to drive doesnt seem worth it to me

Doesn't NS give you an option fly or drive? To put in for milage if one didn't drive is grounds for termination that's padding the payroll. I wouldn't go that route. If one hates driving long distances getting a job on the railroad doesn't make sense. You'll be stuck onboard trains for hours. I'd contact HR once a start date is given find out the options.

I don't hate long distance travel, I hate being stuck in a small space for hours on end with no room to stretch or move. A train cab isn't exactly the same as the driver seat in a car.

bretylium wrote:I don't hate long distance travel, I hate being stuck in a small space for hours on end with no room to stretch or move. A train cab isn't exactly the same as the driver seat in a car.

Cab of locomotives aren't that big about the size of a walk in closet. A least in a car one can stop get out and take a break. I've been stuck on locomotives for up to 20 hours before getting relieved.

NS doesnt care what means of transportation you use to get down to McDonough, they pay you to drive though, so why you wouldnt drive is beyond me?

and like COEN77 said, the cab of a locomotive isnt that big, walk in closet is about right, maybe a little smaller, sure you can stand up and move around a bit, but thats about it. Also like he said if sitting around in one place for long periods of time isnt your gig, you better not take this job..... i have sat at stop signals before for 10+ hours, never even turned a wheel, just sitting there, looking at all red with no place to go

i mean you do whatever you want in terms of trying to get paid if you fly, just dont let them find out cause 100% without a doubt they will fire you, especially since you are a new guy, guys at my terminal have been fired for a lot less (stealing a tank of gas..... $40) and they were protected by the union and still lost their job, you are protected by nothing so firing you would be as simple as, "hey your fired, see ya" they wouldnt even need to talk with a union rep or have an investigation