Days off on the railroad, how much vacation does UP offer?

I want to join the railroad working on the trains but would like a little more input on time off. I know you have to work the extr board but if a person wants a day off how do they work it and how much vac do you get. Thanks

Most extra-boards are 24/6..............you have one assigned day off. At CSXT, if you take a road trip the day before your rest day and are working home on your day off, you will get 2 hours off from the time you finish. (so it balances out and you will have at least one day off). You can also choose to stay marked-up on your day off as well in many cases.

As for vacation: 1 week paid after 1 year of service.

Hello Greg,

Welcome to the board. Not to sound snide, but the awnser to your question can be found if you delve deeper into this forum and look at other topics which are similar to yours. Myself and others who work in the industry have spelled it out quite well.

In short, on the UP, if you work a turn, say a pool job where you travel from your home terminal to an outlying crew change point, you are generally gone from home anywhere from 24-38 hours. There are no set days off, unless you can work a local or yard job. The extra board is also 24/7/365, again no days off. If you wish to have a day off, you will have to call cms (crew mgt.) and let them know you are sick.

Brgds

I once layed off for 3 weeks and no one cared. The good thing about a railroad job is you can take a vacation when ever you want.

...and by the same token one of the new hires 2 classes below me just got a phone call and a letter of reprimand for a 6% unavailable. I thought they didn't even start noticing until upwards of 10 percent, guess I was wrong about that.

My lay off % has been as high as 28, not a word was said.

Steel,

Looks like we are in the wrong service hub(s)! Better get out to the Denver Service Hub asap! I presume CMS & the MOP/DRO don't care about laying off!

Before I came down to Vegas to start my class a week ago Monday, I called CMS on Saturday to lay-off in an OS status, and they would not do it. The robocaller called me on Sunday morning at 0345 to goto Elko. I had to refuse the call, and the CMS rep. said, oh, yeah, I see you start class tomorrow in Vegas. Okay. I'll lay you off now. I'm like thanks for waking me up.

If you tell your manager "im taking the wife and kids to disney land next month, we'll be gone for a week or so" your not gonna get in trouble. Laying off every weekend might get you in trouble. If the best vacation you can hold is in january and your trip is planned for the summer GO! Your assigned manager doesnt use your paycheck to pay his bills. Most managers target the lazy, guys that just dont wanna work. Ive never got pulled down on the carpet for laying off to go camping or because i decided to take the kids somewhere, but if i did, i would tell them "I TOOK MY KIDS SOMEWHERE". The ability to lay off when ever i want is one of the reasons i love my job. If you do get a letter from cms or your manager dont sweat it. Getting in trouble is part of railroading.

Yes, I know. I put four cars on the ground three days before I went to engine service class in Vegas. Had to use the "get out of jail card" on that one, else I start engine service with a level 2! Yikes!

Before you finish a railroad career, you will be in at least one investigation and serve some time on the street. That is part of railroading.