Appreciate all the videos. I've been interested on conducting for a couple years now, but I have foot problems I need to resolve first. High arches and various issues stemming from them. Hope to get it resolved next year and hopefully find another CP Rail conductor position near me. Or just move and work for NS because their engine color scheme looks awesome
You explained it spot on,bro!! That on call schedule is no walk in the park for a family and/or spouse that’s not understanding! If you have an understanding spouse it’s really not that bad at all! You make great money,but 70 percent of your mark-offs comes from a nagging spouse that says,”Gosh,you work too much,when are you ever going to be off”. 30 percent of the mark offs comes from actually being sick or just fatigue.
Absolutely. There is a reason the pay a spousal pension to all significant others if you’ve been married for 10 years. This shit doesn’t work without them and the RR knows that👍🏻🚂
I Live in Jersey..applied for a conductor job. Didn’t hear back. Got into a Long Distance relationship and after I fell in Love and wanted to build a life in another state, I got called for the job. Now I’m stuck. I don’t know what to do. I am in My mid 40s and will probably never find a job with this level of security pension in the whole thing ever again but if I take the job, I lose her because she can’t leave her state. She has two little kids.
The railroad will always be here. She might not be. This career doesn’t mean shit if you don’t have stability and something to go home to. Trust me, when you get a call at 3am and you gotta get outta that warm bed with your girl, miss kissing the kids goodbye, and miss their ball practice that morning…you have to have an understanding and supportive family that knows that you missed it for them and that extra cash will be used on a vacation, Christmas or school clothes etc. It’s a though balance. My grandfather missed a lot of ball games but he never missed a mortgage payment and my grandmother hadn’t worked a day in her life and is STILL collecting his railroad pension. He passed a few years ago👍🏻🚂
So random question, if you get stuck on a train and meet the federal guideline and can’t work any longer, who makes the hotel reservations and all that? I’m heading to Georgia in 2 weeks for training and appreciate the content!
The railroad will send a car service at the conclusion of your hours of service, with a replacement crew, to either take you to your away terminal hotel(which is always the same place) or back to your home terminal to go home. This will depend how far your made it into your trip. Dispatch will handle all of the arrangements. That isn’t part of your job. The only information they will need is which mile marker you are closest to and which crew change location is most convenient to your stopping point. If a car service isn’t available and there is no new crew available they will have you tie the train down and hop on board a second unit on a passing train to end up at the closest terminal. Congrats on your start date! Best of luck in conductor school and let me know if you need anything 👍🏻🚂
My wife told me that she doesn't love me anymore, so this job is PERFECT for me. There's no reason for me to stick around the house. I'm looking forward to being away from home
Sorry to hear that man. This job is tough without a supportive spouse unless you have no kids and plan to remain single. Wishing you the best either way brother! Let me know if you need anything during training
Love your videos, very insightful just got hired on with BNSF, question. How many starts do you need to be guaranteed days off? I'm hearing if you work or start 6 times, you'll get 2 days off, is that how it is with NS?
6 starts/shifts in a row warrants a mandatory 48 hours off. That's not to say that you wont have other days off through out the week. It depends on your terminal and how busy they are. Sometime you'll work 3 days that week and sometimes you'll work 6. This is the reason they provide a guaranteed minimum salary. If things slow down for any reason throughout the year you are still guaranteed to make you minimum. If thing are extremely busy you will make a killing as received your mandatory time off after every 6 consecutive days.
What happens if you miss or don't answer a job call immediately? Like if you're driving through an area without reception. Can you call back and confirm that you got the message, or do they discipline you?
You talk about working enough to clear your minimum if you mark off to hit your minimum pay. Does that reset weekly or bi weekly. And what do you mean by work a minimum is it a certain amount of days or hours?
resets every two weeks essentially every pay period. The other benefit of staying marked up is that they will kick you and extra 300 bucks for remaining available and not taking time off in that two week period.
At some terminals I'm sure but its also a selfish motivation. The railroad would bring you in to work every day of your life if it was legal because that moves more freight. Luckily the union makes sure you are treated fairly, receive an acceptable wage and are given ample time to recover and rest. The guidelines and policies aren't always ideal though and sometimes you just need 24-48 hours to yourself. In which case, calling "in sick/out sick" give you the ability to have some control over your schedule and to plan things like dr appts etc without being penalized. When my grand father was a conductor/engineer (1968-2004) you only had to be marked up 1 day in 30 to keep your job according to union rules. Basically, like you said, if you don't abuse it they won't give you any shit for taking the time you need, when you need it, and on the flip side, as long as you don't piss on the leg of the FRA rules you can work as often as you want and make as much money as you want when you need it.
You can make those things work but they won't always be in person. You may have to be flexible and schedule zoom calls or video therapy if he happens to be called out. I answered more in depth on your other post.
Does NS have a daily guarantee? Meaning, if you only work 5 or 6hrs, you get paid for 8hrs minimum? Also, does NS calculate "STARTS"? I know they did with Amtrak in the northeast.
Yes they calculate starts and for trainees it’s $25 an hour with a $200.00 minimum. For marked up conductors it’s $211.00 per day for a basic shift. Road trains make more money than locals or yard jobs because your trip rate depends on the distance you are traveling👍🏻🚂
@@KurtisCharlton thanks for the info. I was former Amtrak Conductor in the northeast. I just got hired for NS as a Conductor. Waiting for start date for training. I'll be working in North Carolina. Amtrak had it that whenever you work past your 6 starts, everything was overtime after the 6th start. For example, 1 week I worked 10 starts. So start 7, 8, 9, and 10 was all overtime. Does NS do the same thing? Sorry for all the questions
In light of the upcoming potential strikes, I'm seeking information regarding the overall workings of the railroad particularly regarding on-call scheduling and seniority. Your content is straightforward and helpful, thank you. I'd like to ask some questions regarding newer attendance policies like Hi-Viz and those similar, hopefully answering some questions like these wouldn't cause you any trouble. With regards to taking time off as needed (mentioned @1:41), you make it sound pretty lax so long as you meet your minimums. This is pretty starkly in contrast with the tone taken by media and railroad interviews I've read regarding recently implemented vacation and sick time policies like Hi-Viz. Can you expand on how policies like it affect how simple it is to take time off as needed? Does a system like Hi-Viz not change how taking impromptu time of works all that much? Has NS not adopted such a system and that's why it's not mentioned in this video? Perhaps newer policies like Hi-Viz and the current ease of taking time off when needed as you described it have nothing to do with each other and I'm asking the wrong questions. It's difficult to fully understand all that is happening from outside the railroad sphere, so I'm hoping that the prospective of a reliable and knowledgeable insider like yourself will clarify things a bit. Thanks for the help!
Hey bro im 41 years old in vancouver bc cananda I have a medical with cp rail for a conductor position this Thursday im just wondering is it good time for my age to get in. I talked to a few guys who work with cp rail they said it will take up to 4 plus years to get a decent schedule which is not bad cause the terminal here is big where I live and they are short conductors so one person said I will move up seniority fast. But I want to Start a family in a few years get married have kids. I thought about going back to college for a two year engineering program or apply for the law enforcement. Be great for some advice on the conductor is it worth it for me I know it's a great career I just want some advice thanks bro cheers
Unfortunately the only way to know if it is “worth it” is to do it yourself. I could tell you about the pay, benefits, retirement etc all day but it will honestly come down to how you and your family/future family handle the schedule. As far as your age, that’s no issue at all. There were guys in my class that were nearly 60 and starting a third career. I will say starting a family while building seniority is going to be a rough road. Like those people mentioned it will take 4-5 years to get a decent schedule even at an understaffed big terminal. Are you okay with being on call 24/7 while your new wife takes car of your newborn. Will she be okay with you not changing diapers because you are exhausted and need to sleep because in ten hours they’ll be calling again. On the extra board you will work a 6/2 schedule…six days on 2 days off. Once you mark up as a conductor and join the union you will have a little more pull to get additional time off when you just need a day to yourself but bottom line is it’s rough at first. Especially if your family is used to you being accessible. It’s not that you are never home it’s that everything requires excessive planning and that can be exhausting if you just worked 72 hours over the last 6 days. As far as your other options, railroads get a lot of police officers, military vets, fireman and truck drivers. Basically because they are used to shifts, long hours and are good at following orders. They make the move for the retirement. The work isn’t terribly difficult. It’s different and new but not hard. The railroad doesn’t pay you to work, they pay you for the inconvenience of your time. The more time you’re willing to put in the easier the job and lifestyle becomes and the more you earn. Most of the engineers I know earn more than my friends who are doctors. The schedule is about the same and RR workers don’t have 300k in student loans…👍🏻🚂
@@KurtisCharlton sorry I keep bugging you with the questions, I applied there for conductor and I know they aren't a priority location so I was wondering if that would affect pay and everything else?
@@hunters.5627 Depends on how many guys are currently on their extra board and what their business needs are. There are people at small terminals that make great money. Especially if you are willing to hop on road pools to bigger yards.
You talk about working enough to clear your minimum if you mark off to hit your minimum pay. Does that reset weekly or bi weekly. And what do you mean by work a minimum is it a certain amount of days or hours?
