rail technician

certified welder

repair technician

welder

conductor

Cathcart Rail

A typical day at work was disorganized and reactive, with little planning or clear direction from leadership. Expectations were often communicated last minute, and priorities changed frequently, which made it difficult to be successful or feel supported. There were also multiple executive leadership changes that, at times, seemed to happen weekly. That constant turnover created instability and made it nearly impossible to follow any consistent direction or long-term plan.
What I learned most was how critical steady leadership, communication, and structure are to a company’s success—because those areas were clearly lacking. Management did not provide consistent guidance, accountability, or vision. Concerns raised by employees were often ignored or brushed aside.
The workplace culture felt negative and morale was generally low. There was favoritism, limited transparency, and very little recognition for hard work. Pay did not reflect the workload or responsibilities expected, and there was no clear path for advancement or professional growth.
The hardest part of the job was navigating the constant leadership changes and lack of structure. The most enjoyable part was working alongside some hardworking coworkers who did their best despite the environment.
Overall, the company struggles with stability, leadership, communication, and sound business practices. Significant changes in management approach and employee development would be needed to make it a positive place to work.

No matter how much you put out for this company they always expect more. One day you could put out 17 hours of billable work and they won’t say anything to you, no good job no pat on the back, nothing, you don’t even hear from them. But on days when it’s snowing or raining so bad you can’t see 5 feet in front of you and you only put out maybe 4 hours billable, all you hear from them is how terrible of a worker you are and how they are gonna hire new people to replace you. One good thing about this place is the vacation they give you but even then I can’t say it’s good because when you try to take it it will either get denied or you’ll get told that “you can’t take back to back days” if you try to request the first week of hunting season you might as well just call off because most likely it will get denied. Then comes the pay, at first I thought I made a decent wage for what I do, then you travel to other shops and talk to the employees there and they tell you their making almost double what you make, you try to bring it up and it gets turned into a “side bar conversation” with upper management then you never hear from them again. Many people have quit, all throughout the company, take my advice and work somewhere else this place isn’t worth the headache.

Without any shred of doubt, the worst company I have ever worked for in my life. A very outdated dinosaur of a company in a behind the times industry, with severely out of touch management to match. 

Entire hiring and on-boarding process was deceptive. Was offered one position but given an entirely different set of responsibilities and working conditions once in place. Despite best efforts and performance at improving operations of the company, was denied the opportunity off advancing into a more suitable position, even with the hiring manager approval and support.

Good ol’ boys club from the top down. Most of management is heavily disconnected from the outside world and close-minded due to being in the industry long-term. 

Company was recently purchased by an investment firm, whose primary objective is to make a good return on the sale of the company. Thus, the push to make hurried improvement turns into each manager attempting to fabricate the best story and numbers.

Please be warned. Some times any port looks good in a storm, but if your job search can hold out for any other second option, do it. Deliver pizza, work as an Uber driver, or deliver newspapers, but don’t support companies like this.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Not too great was promosed alot and got very little and was almost ran over by a trai and the person that almost ran me over still had his job and was not punished and did a broke one of the major rule of railroad and dropped a blue flag on me when rule and law states whoever puts blue flag up drops the blue flag was taught that in beginning of safty rules when starting job and he was never punished for it but i almost lost my life because of him and also not very many raises either that where promised when getting certifications....bad place too work and also break FRA rules left and right...

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Safty and notvmany pay raises and the expect you too work in all weather conditions ...snow ice hot cold rain thunderstorms an all 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Dangerous and unsafe and managment promises lots and dont follow through

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Stressful and safty at risk and managment is a joke ...place is just thrown together and change rules to their descrition

The description in this listing is so deceptive, I can’t even begin to detail the subterfuge. 
This facility is failing for no other reason than poor management. There is no scintilla of strategy for success. The efficiency structure is impossible to achieve. Half of the tasks employees are asked to perform cannot be recorded as billable time. No consideration is given to set up or movement between tasks. That time is lost. Since Cathcart does not accept “indirect time” ie. time not spent working on actual cars, any task involved with shop upkeep, cleaning, basic maintenance, training new hires, etc. much be billed to a car which injures efficiency. Which means the whip will be cracked, your job will be threatened. You will NOT be given tools. YOU are responsible for acquiring the expensive tools rugged enough to perform the tasks. You will not be reimbursed for this tools. There are never enough supplies or parts to perform the jobs efficiently. This facility is in constant war with itself. It will fail and they will probably sell all the real estate to land developers soon. DO NOT APPLY HERE. 

Long story short? I was hired to be a secretary for a unique facility for this railroad contractor. They gave me three days of training with the outgoing woman. After three weeks of trial and error, I finally got the gist of it. My boss was rarely in the office and had the management skills of a german shepherd. The offsite personnel Appalachian Railcar Corporate and other sites) were a godsend, and I honestly liked working there because of them. The train "crew members" were gruff, offensive, and blatantly rude (and this is the opinion of someone with a career in law enforcement!).

Due to the treatment by my supervisor and coworkers, my employment with ARS was brief. In the end, corporate begged me to stay (which would only be 2 more months to fulfill their contract) and I refused. I have nothing but praises for the individuals I worked with remotely at ARS. As for facility to facility, move forward with caution, especially young women.

From day one, employees are bombarded by empty promises. Pay is incredibly low, for the work the employees are asked to perform.  Safety is almost non-existent, and when issues are brought up to management, nothing gets done. Morale is incredibly low, almost none to be found, and the shop is run like a concentration camp. Even with recent management changes, the problems seem to have gotten worse, with no chance of things looking up. Tools specific to the shop are either outdated, broken, or are unavailable all together. The penny pinching that goes into the tools and safety equipment is sickening, while the claim is made that “safety comes first.” Another point to add, is that there is no motivation or incentive to become something more than you went in as. There are no raises available, and when several people tried to advance and move up in life, they were cut loose like rabid dogs. No professionalism, and an overall disgusting place to work. Please, for the sake of your own sanity, don’t waste your time here. 

You will be promised the world, to only be let down. The main guy who runs the kingsport operation is a sham. He lies and promises things he cannot commit to in the end. He promises money then after you are there and working hard looks for any way to not give you what you talked about. Do not let them fool you. The safety is a joke and only care about there pockets. Sketchy stuff is going on around there and all employees on the floor are aware of this and are getting tired of the way the "good ole boys" up in the office are being. Many hours are spent working on the projects they set up while quality assurance and office workers sit in office playing on there phones and look up youtube videos all while telling floor employees they are not working hard enough. I got bad news for you good employees quiet bad management not bad jobs. They give no reason to even want to work hard because they lie so much. I wonder if they even hear themselves talk.

I've been here for over a year. I've only gotten 1 raise that whole time, and not from management team. I was promised 4 pay increases in the 1st year as I finished my different training modules. None of those came through.
1 year and no reviews of contact with any member of management above mentioned direct supervisor. There's a reason 90% of cathcart has worked here a year or less.
Plus their vacation is specifically set up to screw you. You earn vacation throughout the year, but you loose it if you wait till you've earned it all. Yet if you're negative hours, management can deny at will.

My manager here was willing to go to any length to support the lives and careers of his employees. Upper management would make hollow promises to him and the employees and would let down our facility as a whole. They would come to our location and pretend to be interested in our needs and suggestions just to leave and everything we mentioned was swept under the rug. The individuals I worked with were some of the most honest and hard working men you will ever meet and are treated as if they don’t matter. Management puts way to much on their plates and doesn’t provide them with the needed support and benefits to complete the job. Management has a do it no matter what it takes attitude just so the employees can receive nothing in return.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Rail technician 86 salaries reported	$26.18 per hour
Certified welder 17 salaries reported	$22.62 per hour
Repair technician 5 salaries reported	$23.50 per hour
Welder 7 salaries reported	$25.93 per hour
Conductor 1 salary reported	$22.50 per hour

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