conductor

laborer

signaller

truck driver

rail technician

Bnsf-Railway

If youre considering this field, DONT! Turn around and find something else. Your quality of life wont exist. The Life/Work balance is 90 work, 10 Life.  Theres a reason people are leaving in masses and why they are offering Sign On Bonus for new hires. 

Remember, its seniority based and youll be on the bottom for a long....long time. That being said...

The TY&E side (Trains), have no schedule anymore. Youre on call 24/7, 365. The new attendance policy is terrible. Just google it, its been all over the news. Holidays, family events, birthdays...kiss those all good bye.

The signal Department... You wont be working any where close to home. The only way to make decent money is working 6 days a week, with one day off. Which means no home time. Youll be either 4/10s working away from home for those 4 days with NO overtime. Or 8 days on 6 off, away from home for 8 days. Good thing is you get 6 days off, but again No overtime. Or you get stuck on a crew working 6 days on and one day off. Positive is youll be getting lots of Overtime. Youll do 2 years as an assistant (most likely on one crew until you get your journeyman). Once you get that 2 year mark you are now the bottom of the roster. Being bumped around and traveling on your own time and dime. 

Track Department (MOW) - youll be the bottom seniority person. Being bumped and forced all over the system (different states) chasing different positions trying to get qualifications for different equipment. Traveling all on your own time and own money. Most likely as a new person youll be away from home M-F. If you want to go home youll have to travel on your own time, those 2 whole days off.  Mostly if youre on a big production gang. Either way you wont be local for years.

Being close to home, will take years to build that seniority. The pay isnt great if you arent making any overtime. Youll have the obvious Federal/State taxes, but than you have medical, union dues, Tier1 and Tier2 and (if you choose, which you should) 401k. Once all that comes out of a couple checks, the money left over is almost laughable. And in this current economy it is laughable.

Most the equipment/vehicles are absolute worn out garbage. Youll also be GPS tracked and inward/outward facing cameras. 

Management could careless about you. Its all about moving trains and youre just a number. They try and get you with the retirement, dangling that out in front of you. Not worth it, go somewhere else with retirement and also put youre own money away. Youll do just fine and be alot happier.  

Its just not the place it once was. The pay and benefits used to be amazing and people stayed and retired. People dreamed of working for the railroad. Now people are dreaming of new jobs and alot are leaving and not looking back. 

Long story long, its not worth it. Find something else that offers a good Work/Life balance. 

Big company with no concern for the employees they hire. Recently hired thousands of conductors they did not need. Company knew these people were displacing their lives completely for no job after graduation. So this company knowingly allowed families to quite there jobs, sell there houses, relocation expenses, displacing children, new schools, just to graduate conductor training and not have a job. AND, THEY DID THIS TO SEVERAL THOUSAND. The union reps are not concerned with the upcoming work force, only benefitting the older employees on their way out. They recently tried to push through a contract with the company that would have eliminated conductors altogether and made the country unsafe by leaving a lone engineer to ensure safety for a tiring 12 hour shift. The safety attitude is to make every possible thing that can go wrong a rule violation or simply advise you not to step into an unseen accident, so its not their fault because they told you not to. They use every unseen accident and death no matter how peculiar or odd as the next example of how they are not responsible for you, because you were warned. The workforce has an elitest mentality and are about 50% unfriendly to new employees offering little advice. Work schedule is abhorrent as you'll never have time for family or events again. Lay offs and furloughs are frequent and often last years. Equipment is maintained just good enough to operate, barely. Locomotives are literally ran until they explode. I've seen this myself several times in one year. Only plus is pay is rediculously high and benefits are great if you can gut it out for 20+ years, don't have a family life, no bills, and can move back in with mom & dad during the next furlough. Your expected to relocate again and again if your out of work at your local station to somewhere your seniority will hold and bump someone else from their home town. So BNSF ends up with a workforce that moves all over the country displacing other workers just to have them move and displace more somewhere else. This is a vicious cycle of living in a hotel while your family never see's you for months or years. My advice, if your a kid out of highschool or college with no family its a great opportunity. Otherwise don't risk it. And the supervisors are every day trying to catch anyone by any means necessary in violation of a rule as simple as stepping or touching or climbing incorrectly, regardless of working condition, like the rail is submerged in flood water. The sad thing is, it used to be MUCH worse!

I am a transportation employee of nearly 20 years and BNSF has taken a complete 180 in that time. On the transportation side (conductor/engineer) it was a given that we have no set schedule (zero predictability when you'll get called and have to report within an hour and a half, 9am.. 9pm.. who knows, constantly work 12+ hours at all hours of the day/night) but receive modest pay and benefits for it, as long as we abided by a 25% availability policy (can only take off a max 5 weekdays and 2 weekend days a month). That was what somewhat balanced the scale, taking time off when you needed due to unpredictability and long/grueling hours of job.

Within the past few years, the other four Class 1 railroads in the U.S. (largest) have gone all in on what's called Precision Scheduled Railroading (but don't be fooled, there's nothing precise or scheduled.. it's nothing more than smoke and mirrors to boost shareholder value) including harsh attendance policies and other operational and crew management decisions that leave you scratching your head. But BNSF kind of held back (we call it PSR-Lite). However, they have now instituted a draconian attendance policy including harsh punishment which now allows me to take one day off a month as long as I work 28 straight days (no days off including paid time off) to earn those "points" back, and remember, this is an on call job with various hours called, long shifts.. This is not sustainable, and the reason I plan to walk away from this dumpster fire of a company before my coveted 20th year (retirement). It's that bad, it breaks my heart.

The company I have served humbly for, giving away countless weekends, holidays, special events, have missed family time by being stranded out of town more times than I can count, has now made any kind of personal life completely unsustainable. Just when you think things can't get worse, they do.. that's been the mantra for over five years now.

Don't be fooled, although this is one of Warren Buffet's money makers, there's a reason for it, squeezing every ounce of life left from its workforce with zero appreciation for their sacrifice. We are fatigued, we are beat down, and the hits keep coming.

The railroad industry is in complete disarray and has left a great job completely not worth the sacrifices involved.

I've been here several years. Work in a shop and it is seniority driven which means you will have a bad schedule and will be at the bottom of the seniority list which is understandable you must put in your time.

Company- Good solid company to work for.
Work life balance - Out the door for a while 
Hours - Not so good/Bad until you build senority
Pay- Good (62k+ yr) average 73K (Mechanical Dept)
Benefits- Good 
Union- Yes

Working Conditions- Its loud, dirty, hands on, will work in all weather conditions. Company provides a lot of the gear needed to work in different inclement weather they "try" could do a little better but can't have it all. Working in a shop you can work indoors/outdoors. 

Pension/Retirement- Yes once you retire your spouse also receives pension from the rail road since they take out of your check tier1 and tier2 (ex: you retire and take in 3k a month, then your spouse will get an additional 1.5k) on top of your 3k.

Shop environment- Enjoyable in regards to some bad apples and some pet foremans that's everywhere though. Overal its pretty chill. Safety 1st. 

Foreman support- Slim to none works to our advantage. You will find yourself looking for some tools to get the job done but its ok we all get paid the same if we finish or not no need to rush perfection.

Downtime-Plenty you'll find yourself waiting on a craft to finish up there work so you can start yours sometimes, so take a seat and relax a bit. 

Room to grow- Possible even better if you have college degree.

Stressful- Only if you make it. Come in do your assigned work and don't worry about how everyone else works. Basically mind your business. 

Not sure why people complain I enjoy working here. I learned a lot and still learning . I've worked way harder jobs and got paid a lot less and did more. Always learning new things and not to many people can say they drive them and fix them. Pretty rewarding . 

Overall in my opinion its a great company with some not so intelligent foremans that you can just get use to. Pay is good, retirement is good, schedule sux but will recommend for sure its an Ez job for the most part, if you don't know the job assignment don't stress it someone will figure it out. 

 Hope it helped. Good luck

The best way I can describe being a Conductor is like having a new girlfriend. First you are all happy and giddy. But then after awhile the real person shows up and it's not all roses and candy. 5 years in and it's something else. Some days I get over and some days I get the screwing of a lifetime.  I had a student working with me and he was in that "new girlfriend" phase and I told him don't think it's going to be like this all the time. Wait until they start screwing with your claims. Claims that you know are good or somehow messing up your pay or overtime. One thing I was told when I hired out was that you WILL fight for your money. I almost expect stupidity and incompetence when out on the road. The dispatchers will not communicate with train crews so you cannot plan where to stop your train. Somehow a signal is supposed to magically tell me what's going on. The same stretch of territory will be different every trip. Some rules are not clear-cut as you can ask 10 different people and you might get 12 different answers. I do like the fact that people don't rush into a situation and get themselves in trouble. You will spend alot of time to and fro in vans. Some drivers are good and some you wonder how in the world are they smart enough to breathe let alone drive. If you dont think long-term it will not work. God willing this will be the last place I will work before I retire for good. Even with all the b.s., I cant see working anywhere else for the pay.(when it's right) Lastly I will talk about management. Where I'm at, we had this one guy that would never leave his office. I never even knew who this guy was for 4 months of him being here. Even then after that he never did much. I never seen him talking to many people or out and about like our last terminal supervisor. Ive also been lied to about a policy dealing with working in lightning.  Anyways I avoid management unless I ABSOLUTELY need something but its not often. My job is usually cut and dry when I come in. All in all it's what you make of it.

BNSF offers a commendable opportunity for individuals fresh out of school. However, the value proposition diminishes for exempt (salaried) employees over time. The training provided is basic, with most learning occurring on-the-job. Employees are afforded ample time to acclimate, provided they demonstrate punctuality and a positive attitude.

A significant concern is the company's shift in focus towards shareholder interests, often at the expense of employees, customers, and infrastructure. Job security is a constant worry, seemingly unrelated to individual performance. While initial compensation is competitive, salary growth tends to plateau, not reflecting the increase in responsibilities.

Regrettably, the reliability of communications from senior leadership is questionable, with outcomes often contradicting assurances. Expectations continue to escalate amidst reductions in staff and resources, hindering the ability to fulfill responsibilities effectively. There is a noticeable effort to streamline middle management and certain hourly positions.

The company's dynamic nature has led to a loss of decision-making autonomy, replaced by micromanagement from higher-level executives who may lack operational insight. Decisions are sometimes made without considering their impact on those affected.

On the positive side, perseverance within the company can lead to a pension(30years), a six-figure salary immediately out of school, and decent benefits. BNSF is a prestigious name for one's resume and provides extensive insight into supply chain, transportation, and distribution logistics. Leadership roles offer the chance to guide dedicated teams willing to excel, provided they are treated equitably.

In summary, while BNSF can be a stepping stone in one's career, I would exercise caution in recommending it for long-term career growth on the exempt side. Nonetheless, individual experiences may vary, and some may find the environment suitable for their career aspirations.

Here is a sample review for BNSF Railway from the perspective of a mechanical supervisor:

As a mechanical supervisor at BNSF Railway, I've had a mixed experience working for one of the largest freight railroad networks in North America. On the positive side, BNSF has incredible resources and a vast infrastructure that allows us to move critical goods across most of the western United States. The company has made large investments in new locomotives, rail cars, and technologies to improve efficiencies.

The compensation and benefits package is competitive, especially for skilled roles like locomotive technicians and electricians. There are opportunities to move up within the mechanical department for those willing to take on more supervisory responsibilities. Safety is also taken very seriously through training programs and enforcement of operating procedures.

However, the work/life balance can be very challenging. The 24/7 nature of rail operations means dealing with frequent call-outs, long hours, weekends, and holidays working to keep freight moving. Staffing levels in the maintenance shops don't always keep up with workforce attrition. This leads to high overtime for the remaining technicians, increasing stress and fatigue.

Communication between management and labor could definitely be improved. There is still a very top-down, centralized approach to decision-making that doesn't empower local supervisors and employees enough. The railroading industry is also resistant to change, with many antiquated processes and an aging workforce.

Overall, working at BNSF provides unique professional opportunities in a essential transportation industry. But it requires personal sacrifice and resilience to deal with the demanding workload and scheduling. Improving workplace culture and staffing should be priorities for BNSF to retain quality employees.

I would typically arrive at work and try to line up what I needed to accomplish that day only to get directed off on some other task and then have managers bug me about why I hadn’t finished the original job I was going to do. This taught me it doesn’t pay to show to much initiative unless you’re trying to brown nose your way up the corporate ladder. Management’s whole reason to exist seemed to be to make up new rules and regulations to make accomplishing you task more difficult plus doing whatever they could to help promote their own careers, and if this meant throwing someone under the bus well that’s just too bad. This generally left you in a state of depression and you were constantly wondering what new stupid idea they were going to come up with next. The hardest part of the job was knowing that no matter how hard you worked it really didn’t seem to be enough. The best part of the job was the pay and benefits which weren’t bad but this was really about the only compensation for the job because there wasn’t much actual satisfaction in the job itself. Occasionally you did accomplish something that did give you some job satisfaction but those times were few and far between. I would say that if you’re young it would be a good job to take and learn as much as possible and get all the company provided training you can and then go out and find a real job. I can also say that if you stick with it to the end your best day will be your last as you’ll be filled with the knowledge that you don’t have to come into this place anymore.

Depending on terminal location, BNSF Railway had good local management, and excellent coworkers. Barring any damage to people, equipment, and/or property while on duty, you were more or less allowed to perform the required work as you chose. It takes a certain mindset to adjust to being on call 24/7. As an employee in train service (TYE), the 24/7 demands of being on call become more of a lifestyle than a job. If you are motivated, and willing to work, $100K/year can be achieved quite easily working "the road". All in all, local management treated me fairly. If you are competent, willing to show up for work, and conduct yourself like an adult, local management leaves you alone. Understand that BNSF is a Fortune 50 company, and profits come first. If you can understand this, and be ok with this, then railroad life is quite simple. I saw many former coworkers literally destroy themselves not being able to grasp the reality of BNSF's financial pursuits. It is NOT BNSF'S duty to right all the wrongs in one's life. That being said, I don't regret my eight years i spent at BNSF. I improved my financial situation drastically during those eight years. I also made lifetime friendships with many of my coworkers. Your coworkers become family, inasmuch as your spend more time with them than your own family. As with many industries in this world, the railroad industry is changing rapidly with the advent of PTC (positive train control), aka satellite control of locomotives/trains. And with the advent of these rapidly changing technologies, many of the traditional, high paying blue collar jobs on the railroad will no longer be needed unfortunately. Something to think about depending on age while looking at this industry as a potential career. 

As a child I dreamed about working on the railroad, after finally pursing it, boy what a eye opener. Ive been with this company for nearly 4 years and wow the changes I’ve seen in such short time. The largest draw back is the 4 inch thick rule book that you are expected to live by but are scolded if you hold back production for the sake of being safe. Your also tested on these rules continuously to the point it’s annoying. Management hides and watches you work, also have to deal with several random audit teams. The company preaches safety but its INVALID when stuff hits the fan. The management is spineless, they will talk out of their rears when you ask questions or when they are speaking to a group of employees. Most of the mangers wont even answer their phones or return your phone call when you honestly need something leaving you to blindly guess. The company brags about chances for advancement and opportunities for craft transfer, INCORRECT! You will be stuck in whatever you hired out for. UNLESS you’re willing to sideline your family and travel the entire USA without coming home on weekends. JOB CUTS keep coming and all you hear about is budget this budget that yet the company brags about billions in profits PER QUARTER. STAY AWAY!  Weak unions offer little to none employee protection. Lastly the buddy system runs thick with this employer. Craft Seniority means nothing, people dance around this all the time. Junior employees working by the house over senior employees. All because of the buddy system. I Really regret taking this job, it has become a extreme disappointment, I will be leaving soon.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Conductor 101 salaries reported	$77,248 per year
Laborer 115 salaries reported	$36.05 per hour
Signaller 56 salaries reported	$89,412 per year
Truck driver 31 salaries reported	$37.26 per hour
Rail technician 13 salaries reported	$38.04 per hour

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