Carman job questions?

I have testing with a class 1 RR this week for Carman position. Being the new guy is it something where I'd be stuck working 2nd and 3rd shift for years, like 5 years? Also same question with working weekends? What is the job like in general, and is there overtime to get? Can you work your day off for OT or anything like that? Are new Carman on-call or do they get a schedule? Thanks for any info.

I'm not a carman but I can speak from a Yardmasters view working with them at our terminal. Our inbound/outbound/and carshop guys work 3 shifts, 7-3/3-11/11-7 with a schedule, for a while it seemed like the end of every shift they were asking guys to stay for 2 or 3 jobs the next shift BUT only the guys at your specific terminal could tell you that since OT depends on staffing. I'm sure if you wanted OT on your off day and they had a vacancy they would happy to let you work. Unless they are pretty short staffed 5 years until you can hold 1st and have weekends off is a pretty small chance at the railroad lol. I know one of our yardmasters came from the car dept and has almost 15 years and he said he can hold 1st pretty easy but like I said, that will completely depend on your terminal. If they have a bunch of oldheads retiring it might not be unrealistic.

As far as they job goes, there are a ton of jobs that classify as carmen. You may be in the carshop but at my terminal every shift has a team who inspects and bleeds inbound trains, a team who inspects/class 1 tests outbound trains, a block truck crew, a quick fix guy called a high railer, a truck guy who arms teles and watches rollbys, plus all the guys actually working in the car shop.

Hope this helps and maybe a carman will chime in.

matawanaberdeen wrote:I have testing with a class 1 RR this week for Carman position. Being the new guy is it something where I'd be stuck working 2nd and 3rd shift for years, like 5 years? Also same question with working weekends? What is the job like in general, and is there overtime to get? Can you work your day off for OT or anything like that? Are new Carman on-call or do they get a schedule? Thanks for any info.

No one can tell you that: it goes by seniority. Depends on your own terminal. Each one is different and there so many factors involved: number of employees, number of job positions, how big/busy the terminal, retirements and so on. If you are looking for a 7-3:30 gig, don't expect to get it all that soon. It could be YEARS; it could be months.
A bunch of guy could retire at once, allowing you to bid up. Assuming the worst, and assuming the 1st trick is the most popular one at your terminal, you would start on the 3rd trick and work up thru 2nd trick, THEN, after years of "paying yer dues", acquiring "whiskers" (seniority), you would stand for 1st trick. You could be on a "bad" shift for 15 or 20 years. You could bid in a better job, only to have it abolished, get bumped or rolled back to 3rd or 2nd. It can be a roller coaster. Railroads are notorious for abolishing jobs. People are constantly bidding on positions, "rolling" others off their existing positions, etc.
Such is life on the railroad. Expect the worst and appreciate it when things move along to where you want to be. Again no one can say how it will work out for YOU. If you can't hack the "bad" shifts, then I wouldn't take the job. if you are willing to "pay your dues", then it will work out all right for you. And I wish the best for you!


Gadfly

Gadfly wrote:

matawanaberdeen wrote:I have testing with a class 1 RR this week for Carman position. Being the new guy is it something where I'd be stuck working 2nd and 3rd shift for years, like 5 years? Also same question with working weekends? What is the job like in general, and is there overtime to get? Can you work your day off for OT or anything like that? Are new Carman on-call or do they get a schedule? Thanks for any info.

No one can tell you that: it goes by seniority. Depends on your own terminal. Each one is different and there so many factors involved: number of employees, number of job positions, how big/busy the terminal, retirements and so on. If you are looking for a 7-3:30 gig, don't expect to get it all that soon. It could be YEARS; it could be months.
A bunch of guy could retire at once, allowing you to bid up. Assuming the worst, and assuming the 1st trick is the most popular one at your terminal, you would start on the 3rd trick and work up thru 2nd trick, THEN, after years of "paying yer dues", acquiring "whiskers" (seniority), you would stand for 1st trick. You could be on a "bad" shift for 15 or 20 years. You could bid in a better job, only to have it abolished, get bumped or rolled back to 3rd or 2nd. It can be a roller coaster. Railroads are notorious for abolishing jobs. People are constantly bidding on positions, "rolling" others off their existing positions, etc.
Such is life on the railroad. Expect the worst and appreciate it when things move along to where you want to be. Again no one can say how it will work out for YOU. If you can't hack the "bad" shifts, then I wouldn't take the job. if you are willing to "pay your dues", then it will work out all right for you. And I wish the best for you!


Gadfly

Thanks for the replies, appreciate it Now I have another question, I would rather work 3rd shift than 2nd, can I do that or are you forced at some point to work 2nd shift? Thanks again for the replies.

well, once again that can only be answered by your terminal but generally, yes to both. If you can hold 3rd shift, it's yours to bid on, if oldheads like 1st and 3rd and the only thing you can hold is 2nd, that's the job you'll get. You can be forced to a shift or job by seniority starting at the bottom even if you can hold 3rd. Depends on how things are running at the terminal.