Scott,
Take some time for serious thought about this. You would signing on for a
lifestyle not just a new job. You'll need to pass the pre-employment tests. I
am
not familiar with the BNSF tests but suspect they are similar to the UP's.
There will probably be some sort of reading comprehension test, a simple
strength and fitness test and perhaps more. Passing these you'll have an
interview
and perhaps more. I do not know the BNSF's requirements but on the UP there
is 3 weeks of in class "brakeman's" training, followed by nine weeks of field
training in which you'll work with setup conductors and foremen learning
what it takes to get a train over the road, read and use a switch list and
generally how to handle yourself in the railroad environment. This will be
followed by 2 weeks of conductor class training. After successfully completing
this
you'll be marked up on a conductors extra board somewhere in your seniority
district.
Now the fun starts. You'll be expected to be available for duty 24 hours a
day 365 days a year except your legally required rest time after duty. Forget
holidays, birthdays, graduations and any other significant events. That is
until you've learned how to "work the system." The training you will receive
is
insufficient and likely you won't have a clue as to what is going on. Get
your rest. Your rest time starts as soon as you tie up at work and ends 8
hours
later or 10 hours if you expire due to the hours of service law. Remember
they can and will call you about an hour to an hour and half to be back on
duty,
so subtract that time from your rest time. Now I'm speaking of the extra
board. The situation can improve somewhat as you gain seniority and can move
into a conductors pool slot or hold days off in the yard.
The carrier (s) are top heavy in local managers and they will spend a lot of
time field testing you, trying to find you are screwing up. Actually setting
you up to fail. They give you a job and spend the rest of your career trying
to take it away from you. You'll find crew management and train management
totally inept at crew utilization, to say nothing of dispatching and moving
trains over the road. They will get you up at 3:00 am to go and sit in the
yard
office for a few hours waiting for your train to arrive or they will leave
you sit on your train because they forgot to call an outbound crew for your
train. They will call you to deadhead to the other end of the road and there
you
sit sixteen hours later wondering why they deadheaded you out if they didn't
need you; you sure couldn't use the time at home. And so it goes.
They say railroading gets in your blood. It does. It's a disease. You'll
like the money and benefits. You'll hate the company. Railroading is best done
from track side or the aisle of a layout room. There is nothing romantic about
the view from the cab.
What's my authority in this? I've railroaded since 1978. Why am I still at
it if it's so horrible? See the last paragraph. If you're making a living where
you are think long and hard about changing. The grass is dead on this side
of the fence too.
RMH
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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