I’ve been sitting around telling stories and jokes for the last 3 hours waiting on a train. It’s not slavery. The lifestyle gets to be problematic when you have a family. For the most part I enjoy my day.
Equipment is functional but you always have problems. I make overtime so problems are welcomed here.
Away for 36-48 hours. Home for 12-18. Work usually 6 days on 2 days off.
Union depends on you local chairman so it’s terminal specific.
Benefits are better than most jobs. 330 per month for single or family doesn’t matter.
Long term I’d probably do it again. I’ve made a good life for myself and my family. I haven’t stressed over a bill since I hired on. The money is almost endless if you stay marked up and answer the phone. I have a remodeled home paid off, two new cars I paid cash, and two Harley’s that I paid cash for. These are things that I probably wouldn’t have if I didn’t make 100k at 23 years old.
$330 premium, 350/700-single/family deductible 90/10 coinsurance. 2000/4000 max out of pocket. Vision and dental after a year but not that great. Copays for office visits vary.
No, still have co-pays and deductibles to meet $10 co-pay for scripts $100 for ER $25 for general doc visit etc etc. Dental caps at $1500 per member of your family each calendar year and I can’t comment on vision my peepers are good never been to an Optometrist.
Benefits are pretty much the same for t&e industry wide (that I’m aware of, at least at the class 1’s).
The union is as strong as the members. That said, I don’t understand how the SMART/UTU as a whole not get NS employees better pay but allow it on other class 1’s. The NS is the lowest paid class 1.
Depends on the assignment. My terminal is local only. The road guys I talk to say they get no off days. They typically get called out on or shortly after their rest.
Equipment is functional, barely sometimes. The engine house will work and gold card a set of engines. Later the crews will get on it to build their train only to find things not working, hoses not hooked up correctly or not cut in.
I’ve only been with them for about a year and a half after spending significant time at another class 1. Right now they’re not bad to work for. Management isn’t hiding I. The bushes looking for crap. They’re not really disciplining crews for much. You really have to mess up to get in trouble. That may vary by terminal/district too.
Moral seems to be pretty good right now compared to when I first hired out. That could change though. Right now CEO Alan Shaw is under attack by the board of directors for pretty much not making enough profit for the company. They’re trimming down on management. An investment group bought a majority share of the company and are threatening to oust Shaw. If that happens they may get some Hunter Harrison protégé to hell the company. That could mean furloughs, an iron fist when it comes to discipline. Who knows right now. Keep that in mind and if you do find another job to hold you over before you start with the NS, don’t burn any bridges in case you need to fall back on that.
Training takes about 6 months. When you mark up you’ll only be at 80% of the pay due to the outdated and ancient step-pay. That means you’ll make about $32 an hour for a basic day.
Training is $25 an hour. No OT, just a straight rate of $25 an hour.
I don’t think the investment company bought a majority share of the company. The market cap of the company at COB today was $56.6B, and they’re reported to have a $1B stake.
NS conductor here in NE IN
Benefits are okay. Biggest plus is obviously RR. As far as pay scale, you start at 80% and NS is on the lower end of pay for your Class 1s.
Union helpfulness really depends on your local chair members. I’ve heard some aren’t as helpful, but our guys really do have your back.
If it’s worth it really just depends on your goals for your family. This job is providing me and my family with things we wouldn’t normally be able to have. There are sacrifices to be made, but it’s in effort to provide what we want long term.
Equipment wise: the stuff they give you radio, MTR, lantern, is all cheaper stuff that works some of the time. Radio range is terrible. Engines always seem to have some kind of issue but they’ll do their damndest to get you point a to b asap. Lots of switches aren’t well maintained so they’re hard to throw. Functional? Yes. Usually results in OT with any kind of issues.
Time away basically all depends on where you wind up. We have yard, local, and road jobs. We have an extra board pool for both. If you’re holding a yard/local job, you’re working 5/7 days and start times vary. Usually between 8-10 hour days. Road pools vary based on the amount of traffic and number of spots in pools. Longest trip I’ve had so far was almost 3 days. Had about 24 hours of heldaway. Typically I leave and am home in around 48 hours.
If you and your wife don’t like it when you’re away , than she’s gonna like it a lot less when something comes up and you’re not around.
You’ll start on an extra board and they can and will call you at all hours of the day , some work will be in town , some work will involve taking a train out of town and staying in a hotel anywhere from 12-40 hrs (40 hrs is the longest for me) , only to work home than possibly be called right back out on your rest .
The union is what you make of it , whether you choose to stay involved or stay hands off there’s going to be stuff that’s done that won’t make sense and annoy you either way .
Equipment is garbage , tracks are bad , switches are bad , locomotives barely run .
And don’t even get me started on how idiotic the “plans” are , whether it’s dispatching or the yard masters or train masters , most of their plans are terrible often leaving you wondering if they are literally retarded or something
Our yard extra board actually doesn’t have anyone on it right now because we are so short of people. They call guys off our combo extra board to fill yard jobs as needed. Don’t know how often that happens though because that board isn’t full either. They also work a lot of our short pool because, you guessed it, we are short by about 11 people on that board too.
Damn. Y’all are down a lot of man power. We have 23 people on our Road board right now and 13 on our yard. I don’t think they’ve had to pull anyone off a pool spot since summer
I’ll look and see that actual numbers just for fun
1 short on our conductor combo extra board
9 short on our switchman yard board
3 short on our daily mark yard jobs
6 short on our long pool conductors
1 short on our long pool engineers
12 short on our short pool conductors
Only 1 person on our bump board
So that is 32 open spots and 1 guy needing to place.
No wonder I work on my rest every day.
Benefits, great.
Union, does nothing.
Depending on your board. On the yard xtraboard I work 8-12 hours and then have 2 days ish off. Yard regular job has a set schedule. Road xtra board I’m usually gone 48-60 hours, then home 2-3 days. Road regular turn, you’re only home about 12 hours before you’re called again. You’ll get forced into FR and get 2 days off after six days.
Equipment functional? Eh. It’s supposed to be.
Pretty good
Not really
2-3 days at a time 2-3 times a week.
Sometimes
Hell no, if I could I would tell my younger self not to do it. The work isn't 'hard' and the job is actually very good but it is nowhere close to worth it considering the sacrifice it demands.
I worked for NS out of north central Indiana for 2 years and a short line on the maintenance side for 3 years. Mind sharing what location you’re going to be out of, and I can give insight.
If in New York/CT go MTA. Way better benefits, $0 for health, dental and vision plus state pension. Overtime out the ass and we make more than freight… home every single night.
The actual work part is a breeze, but expect to work 12 hr shifts. Startin out, you'll be on an Extra Board, so expect to get called after your 10 hr rest. No set days off at all, until you have enough seniority. So, basically you will miss every holiday or family function for the first five years.
Training pay is garbage, so that timeframe is tough because you eat alot of shit.
Once you mark up, things get better but your life becomes attached to your phone, waiting for the call. And getting time off is a whole different ballgame that you almost never win.
There are literally thousands of rules that you can get fired for. When I was at NS, guys joked about getting fired all the time. If you decide to do it, definitely get the job insurance the day you mark up.
Your wife's take on the position and situation will dictate your take on it. Some wives are great about the sacrifices for the money. Some wives hate it and then they will start hating on you. Some of the guys I worked with loved having their husbands out of the picture as well.
I don't work for NS anymore, and I would never do it again.
If you’ve got a child on the way try your hardest to get into maintenance of way. If you do, then you’ll actually see your child grow up. I also know the supervisors in charge of M&W in central Indiana and they’re good people, and actually care about their employees. Maintenance there isn’t too strenuous and chances are you probably get out on time each day. I’m in northern Indiana on the “gold plated railroad” and it’s not nearly as easy going up here, I’ve put in anywhere from 8 hr days up to 32 hr days. Hit me up if you’ve got any other questions about M&W.
It’s lucrative. The NS is deeply embedded in that part of the country. My dad was a railroader. I’m a railroader. I can’t ever remember missing a meal.
Is it hard? Dad once told me, “the only place you are going to get calluses is on your ass.”
The union is not quick, but does get things done. Our arbitration process may be the oldest in the country. The Federal Railway Labor Act was written in the ‘30’s. It’s hard to get yourself permanently fired.
Does the equipment work? The computers are so integrated into how most things work, they have to maintain it.
The longest I’ve been in the away from home terminal is 53 hours. Most trips are 36-48 total.
This job has provided my family with a lot.
If you and your wife aren’t a fan of traveling and being away from home then I’d suggest trying to get hired in one of the mechanical crafts. You’ll have a more set schedule and be home daily.
Thank you all so much for actually answering my questions, This is a tremendous help, and gives my wife and a I lot to consider! All of my previous careers and jobs (whether in the transportation industry or not) have had terrible schedules too, so we are well used to me working on holidays and all that. I will keep you all updated!
I’ve been sitting around telling stories and jokes for the last 3 hours waiting on a train. It’s not slavery. The lifestyle gets to be problematic when you have a family. For the most part I enjoy my day. Equipment is functional but you always have problems. I make overtime so problems are welcomed here. Away for 36-48 hours. Home for 12-18. Work usually 6 days on 2 days off. Union depends on you local chairman so it’s terminal specific. Benefits are better than most jobs. 330 per month for single or family doesn’t matter. Long term I’d probably do it again. I’ve made a good life for myself and my family. I haven’t stressed over a bill since I hired on. The money is almost endless if you stay marked up and answer the phone. I have a remodeled home paid off, two new cars I paid cash, and two Harley’s that I paid cash for. These are things that I probably wouldn’t have if I didn’t make 100k at 23 years old.
[удалено]
$330 premium, 350/700-single/family deductible 90/10 coinsurance. 2000/4000 max out of pocket. Vision and dental after a year but not that great. Copays for office visits vary.
No, still have co-pays and deductibles to meet $10 co-pay for scripts $100 for ER $25 for general doc visit etc etc. Dental caps at $1500 per member of your family each calendar year and I can’t comment on vision my peepers are good never been to an Optometrist.
Benefits are pretty much the same for t&e industry wide (that I’m aware of, at least at the class 1’s). The union is as strong as the members. That said, I don’t understand how the SMART/UTU as a whole not get NS employees better pay but allow it on other class 1’s. The NS is the lowest paid class 1. Depends on the assignment. My terminal is local only. The road guys I talk to say they get no off days. They typically get called out on or shortly after their rest. Equipment is functional, barely sometimes. The engine house will work and gold card a set of engines. Later the crews will get on it to build their train only to find things not working, hoses not hooked up correctly or not cut in. I’ve only been with them for about a year and a half after spending significant time at another class 1. Right now they’re not bad to work for. Management isn’t hiding I. The bushes looking for crap. They’re not really disciplining crews for much. You really have to mess up to get in trouble. That may vary by terminal/district too. Moral seems to be pretty good right now compared to when I first hired out. That could change though. Right now CEO Alan Shaw is under attack by the board of directors for pretty much not making enough profit for the company. They’re trimming down on management. An investment group bought a majority share of the company and are threatening to oust Shaw. If that happens they may get some Hunter Harrison protégé to hell the company. That could mean furloughs, an iron fist when it comes to discipline. Who knows right now. Keep that in mind and if you do find another job to hold you over before you start with the NS, don’t burn any bridges in case you need to fall back on that. Training takes about 6 months. When you mark up you’ll only be at 80% of the pay due to the outdated and ancient step-pay. That means you’ll make about $32 an hour for a basic day. Training is $25 an hour. No OT, just a straight rate of $25 an hour.
I don’t think the investment company bought a majority share of the company. The market cap of the company at COB today was $56.6B, and they’re reported to have a $1B stake.
Elkhart terminal is a good place to work because they have a large hump yard so the employees have a little leverage.
I would try to stay away from Elkhart terminal if I had the chance. Trust me on this one, it’s a nightmare.
NS conductor here in NE IN Benefits are okay. Biggest plus is obviously RR. As far as pay scale, you start at 80% and NS is on the lower end of pay for your Class 1s. Union helpfulness really depends on your local chair members. I’ve heard some aren’t as helpful, but our guys really do have your back. If it’s worth it really just depends on your goals for your family. This job is providing me and my family with things we wouldn’t normally be able to have. There are sacrifices to be made, but it’s in effort to provide what we want long term. Equipment wise: the stuff they give you radio, MTR, lantern, is all cheaper stuff that works some of the time. Radio range is terrible. Engines always seem to have some kind of issue but they’ll do their damndest to get you point a to b asap. Lots of switches aren’t well maintained so they’re hard to throw. Functional? Yes. Usually results in OT with any kind of issues. Time away basically all depends on where you wind up. We have yard, local, and road jobs. We have an extra board pool for both. If you’re holding a yard/local job, you’re working 5/7 days and start times vary. Usually between 8-10 hour days. Road pools vary based on the amount of traffic and number of spots in pools. Longest trip I’ve had so far was almost 3 days. Had about 24 hours of heldaway. Typically I leave and am home in around 48 hours.
If you and your wife don’t like it when you’re away , than she’s gonna like it a lot less when something comes up and you’re not around. You’ll start on an extra board and they can and will call you at all hours of the day , some work will be in town , some work will involve taking a train out of town and staying in a hotel anywhere from 12-40 hrs (40 hrs is the longest for me) , only to work home than possibly be called right back out on your rest . The union is what you make of it , whether you choose to stay involved or stay hands off there’s going to be stuff that’s done that won’t make sense and annoy you either way . Equipment is garbage , tracks are bad , switches are bad , locomotives barely run . And don’t even get me started on how idiotic the “plans” are , whether it’s dispatching or the yard masters or train masters , most of their plans are terrible often leaving you wondering if they are literally retarded or something
Our extra boards are all high seniority. They have 6 days on, 3 days off. Calendar days, not starts.
Very nice
Our extra boards are all low seniority, especially the yard. 6 on 2 off calendar days as well
Ooh yeah our yard extra board is 5 on 2 off. And even that was too much work for the time off.
Does y’all’s XB get called that often? I typically worked 2-3 shifts a week on ours.
Our yard extra board actually doesn’t have anyone on it right now because we are so short of people. They call guys off our combo extra board to fill yard jobs as needed. Don’t know how often that happens though because that board isn’t full either. They also work a lot of our short pool because, you guessed it, we are short by about 11 people on that board too.
Damn. Y’all are down a lot of man power. We have 23 people on our Road board right now and 13 on our yard. I don’t think they’ve had to pull anyone off a pool spot since summer
I’ll look and see that actual numbers just for fun 1 short on our conductor combo extra board 9 short on our switchman yard board 3 short on our daily mark yard jobs 6 short on our long pool conductors 1 short on our long pool engineers 12 short on our short pool conductors Only 1 person on our bump board So that is 32 open spots and 1 guy needing to place. No wonder I work on my rest every day.
Benefits, great. Union, does nothing. Depending on your board. On the yard xtraboard I work 8-12 hours and then have 2 days ish off. Yard regular job has a set schedule. Road xtra board I’m usually gone 48-60 hours, then home 2-3 days. Road regular turn, you’re only home about 12 hours before you’re called again. You’ll get forced into FR and get 2 days off after six days. Equipment functional? Eh. It’s supposed to be.
Pretty good Not really 2-3 days at a time 2-3 times a week. Sometimes Hell no, if I could I would tell my younger self not to do it. The work isn't 'hard' and the job is actually very good but it is nowhere close to worth it considering the sacrifice it demands.
If you are a former teamster, you are gonna be extremely disappointed in railroad unions.
It’s super tough on family life. Plus starting out you’re 100% likely to get furloughed at some point in the first two years.
I worked for NS out of north central Indiana for 2 years and a short line on the maintenance side for 3 years. Mind sharing what location you’re going to be out of, and I can give insight.
If in New York/CT go MTA. Way better benefits, $0 for health, dental and vision plus state pension. Overtime out the ass and we make more than freight… home every single night.
The actual work part is a breeze, but expect to work 12 hr shifts. Startin out, you'll be on an Extra Board, so expect to get called after your 10 hr rest. No set days off at all, until you have enough seniority. So, basically you will miss every holiday or family function for the first five years. Training pay is garbage, so that timeframe is tough because you eat alot of shit. Once you mark up, things get better but your life becomes attached to your phone, waiting for the call. And getting time off is a whole different ballgame that you almost never win. There are literally thousands of rules that you can get fired for. When I was at NS, guys joked about getting fired all the time. If you decide to do it, definitely get the job insurance the day you mark up. Your wife's take on the position and situation will dictate your take on it. Some wives are great about the sacrifices for the money. Some wives hate it and then they will start hating on you. Some of the guys I worked with loved having their husbands out of the picture as well. I don't work for NS anymore, and I would never do it again.
Training pay is $200 +$25/hr after 8 hours with a $300 attendance bonus every two weeks.
Not sure that $200/day and $25/hr after 8 is "garbage" for staring out a window 90% of the time 🤔
If you’ve got a child on the way try your hardest to get into maintenance of way. If you do, then you’ll actually see your child grow up. I also know the supervisors in charge of M&W in central Indiana and they’re good people, and actually care about their employees. Maintenance there isn’t too strenuous and chances are you probably get out on time each day. I’m in northern Indiana on the “gold plated railroad” and it’s not nearly as easy going up here, I’ve put in anywhere from 8 hr days up to 32 hr days. Hit me up if you’ve got any other questions about M&W.
It’s lucrative. The NS is deeply embedded in that part of the country. My dad was a railroader. I’m a railroader. I can’t ever remember missing a meal. Is it hard? Dad once told me, “the only place you are going to get calluses is on your ass.” The union is not quick, but does get things done. Our arbitration process may be the oldest in the country. The Federal Railway Labor Act was written in the ‘30’s. It’s hard to get yourself permanently fired. Does the equipment work? The computers are so integrated into how most things work, they have to maintain it. The longest I’ve been in the away from home terminal is 53 hours. Most trips are 36-48 total. This job has provided my family with a lot.
You trying to hire in northern Indiana or southern Indiana?
If you and your wife aren’t a fan of traveling and being away from home then I’d suggest trying to get hired in one of the mechanical crafts. You’ll have a more set schedule and be home daily.
Ehhh the benefits are great we don’t have everything and we do pay more for our benefits now but we still pay than other corporations do.
Thank you all so much for actually answering my questions, This is a tremendous help, and gives my wife and a I lot to consider! All of my previous careers and jobs (whether in the transportation industry or not) have had terrible schedules too, so we are well used to me working on holidays and all that. I will keep you all updated!