conductor

software engineer

manager

senior software engineer

dispatcher

I'd like to start this review by saying that I am grateful to have had this job over the last six years. It helped us buy our first home and save some money for retirement.  Now that thats out of the way this is hands down the worst job I have ever had in my entire life. When I hired I was so excited for this opportunity to be a railroad employee.  The training in Georgia was great and I really felt like I was doing something with my life. That sense of purpose and excitement died the minute my boots touched down in Indianapolis.  On call 24/7 10 hours home 50 hours away and repeat. The only way to get out of work is to be a con man and get unlimited FMLA or mark off sick. The attendance policy is absurd.  The railroad unions are the weakest labor unions probably anywhere on the face of the planet. Local managers literally wipe their backsides with our contract and then wipe it across our faces. Trainmasters abuse their power on a daily basis and every single one of them are cowards. If you try and stand up for yourself they automatically threaten to fire you for insubordination.  They are unqualified to be leaders at best which is sad because most of them are ex military.  CSX doesn't hire managers to be capable leaders they hire managers who are capable only of being talked to like dogs and are lacking in the brains department.  The union constantly encourages you to submit claims for contract violations that seldom get paid. This is the worst every man for himself environment i have ever been a part of. The rule book is no joke 2 inches + thick. You are expected to follow all of these rules to the t. Managers hide in their offices and watch you with binoculars and try to catch you breaking rules. Sometimes when things are slow for the railroad a large group of managers from across the division will show up at your home terminal. They call themselves a "hit squad" their job is to charge and terminate as many people as they can to cut costs. I cant even make these things up. I'm surprised the way this company operates is even legal. As long as you're doing managers a favor they will let you violate rules. But as soon as you make them mad they will fire you for the same rule. Don't let anyone tell you this is a good job because it is not. Maybe it was when your grandpa worked here 40 years ago but not today. This is probably the biggest dead-end carreer out there with little to no opportunity for advancement.  I would only recommend this job if you're in a serious pinch. Use it as a stepping stone until you can find a real career . If you stay until you're old enough to retire you'll likely be dead a few years in to your retirement from years of stress and a ridiculous sleep schedule.  Do yourself a favor and avoid this company at all costs.  
 

A typical day in the Telecommunications department including planning and installation of telecommunications equipment.  Planning included a safe working environment and execution of that plan with updates as needed.  I was usually the management on site sometimes with several other subordinates as well as working by myself.  Co-workers also were trained and usually their input in planning was highly advised creating a team like environment.  The hardest jobs usually was building telephone communications lines which required setting utility poles in extreme weather conditions i.e. heat, cold, rain and inclement weather.  Most enjoyable part of the job was the work environment itself with usually a friendly and sometimes fun situations.
A typical day in the Transportation Department, included a job briefing covering train orders that covered safe train operations.  Job briefings included safe operation over track segments where an extreme attention to detail was a must.  I learned how to operate various types of trains with consideration of length of train, weight of train, various ways to start train, increase speed, slow train and stop trains.  Had to know various signal indications from a centralized dispatching office that required highly skilled operations. Management was poor at best as was indicated by various studies made by the media and stock exchange studies.  Co-workers were usually train conductors who's main responsibility was ground work, train documentation and knowing the various rules required by the Federal Railroad Administration.  Hardest part of the job was the adjusting to working anytime 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.  Enjoyable parts of the job included working with various people that was mostly enjoyable, however there were people that were hard to work with requiring making adjustments according to different personalities.  Usually a delightful environment considering that we worked together as much as 18 hours at a time.

I am not kidding when I say that late on Friday afternoons, after a week of working hard, in the Coal Department, we all used to stand around and marvel at how we could actually get paid for something we loved to do so much.  The typical day starts out at 0700 to be on the call with the Operating staff, because they're much closer to what's going on on the ground than you are, and you'd better know if something's gone wrong, or if things are operating the way they should.  You have to learn everything - not only how the railroad operates, the time tables, where it runs, your competition's prices (and most of the time, it's not another railroad), what the utility pays for both fuel and transportation, broken out for each element, and you have to learn how the utilities or industries in your district operate, what coal they use, how is it unloaded, and a vast amount of other facts.  And it's endless, because you're always trying to get that next customer.  CSX Management is fabulous!  Their philosophy is to push decision-making down to the lowest logical level, where the most facts are known.  The hardest part of the job, is just learning the above for the first time - after that, it's not bad.  The most enjoyable part of the job is that you are truly a "family", so everyone helps out everyone else when they need it, and everyone knows the basics of everyone else's personal lives, so that when a tragedy happens, you mourn with your work family as well as your blood family.  I would not have traded a minute of my time at CSX because I got to do so many fun things all the time.  A wonderful place for a young person to start what is probably a lifetime career.

The job you do is simple enough. Look over work reports and see what the track looks like where you are going. Talk to the engineer and get on the train and go. 

Worst part of the job is the on-call. You have zero idea when you will be called. You could work Monday and then not get called until Thursday, but the whole time you are on call and can not really do anything even though you are off. A lot of trip on the road, you are also away from home and stuck in a ratty hotel someplace. The one I was stuck at had black mold in the air conditioner and one of the old engineers died there actually(I believe from old age, but who knows).

As for actual days off, those do not exist. The story goes that if you work 5 days in a row, you will get 24 hours off. Yes, 24 hours, not a whole day, just 24 hours. However, CSXT will screw you and they will make is so you just miss your 5th start in a row and you will be reset and have to work another 5 days in a row. 

The benefits and pay are amazing, do not get me wrong. If you put in your time (about 30 years) and nothing bad happens to you, youll get a very nice retirement. Starting salary is around 50-60k and goes up from there. You will make money on the railroad, but you will give up your soul in the process. 

The most enjoyable part of the job was training in Atlanta, GA. Paid six weeks of training in the heart of Atlanta, weekends off. Best vacation I ever had. The school was easy enough and you learn a lot. But everything changes when you get back home and start actual work. 

If you do not mind being on call 24/7, being unable to enjoy yourself on weekends or any evenings, having mild anxiety when you go to sleep because you get nervous you might miss the call to go to work and being away from home for days on end, then this is the job for you.  

Avoid this place like the plague.

I just started working for CSX back in August every Monday at the CSX REDI Center in ATL they bring in classes of 60 conductors because the overturn rate is over 90% I'm about to quit myself NO SICK TIME ON CALL 6/7 DAYS A WEEK absent attendance policy 80 points Max 7 points per day 10 points for miss call only received 20 points taken off for good attendance after 6 months so u better not get sick or have a family emergency you're only guaranteed 1 day off per week on the extra board none on the pool board they have until 8 p.m. the day before your day off to call you for work SO if they do call cancel all your plans on your day off because you're working now 🤣once u get back home 2 days later they will give you 24 hours off instead of the required 10 hours rest to make up for your day off that u missed but after u get your regular 10 hour rest now u only have just 14 hours of your day off to enjoy 😡and they can call you 2 hours before your day off is over to report exactly at the 24 hour mark they rush us through training because they're so short-handed so majority of new hires are having derails and accidents every day I know a lot of you guys will say you get paid a lot my average annual income for right now if I keep working at CSX will be around 75k but I can work at other jobs and make close to that but with better benefits and less drama &amp; 2 days off per week &amp; paid sick days ONE LAST THING WE DON'T PAID PER HOUR it's BY the JOB/MILES SO THEY WILL KEEP U AT WORK 12 HOURS minimum EVERY DAY ONLY 10 HOURS OFF RIGHT BACK AT WORK TO DO ANOTHER 12 HOURS WE BE SO TIRED &amp; SLEEPY ALL THE TIME AT WORK I'M DONE WITH CSX "labor does not contribute to profits" according to CSX

Warren Buffet said it best a few years ago when he audited CSX for purchase. "If I wanted to buy a company run by clowns I would buy ringling brothers circus" . The management of this company is operating in a fashion that leads one to believe they are running it into the ground, by way of squeezing every dime of profit by cutting jobs and ridding themselves of customers that don't fit into their cost benefit ratio. They have literally 20lbs of rule books that you must have on you and know. That would not be a problem if it weren't for the fact that many of the rules are contradicting or written so vaguely that they are different from one manager to the next. Thus, giving all managers the resources to legitimately fire everyone for doing their job the way another manager told them to do it. They do not want you to get the work done they do not take care of their customers, employees, equipment, rail or buildings. They have a strict divide between the management and labor that isn't or can't be taught in any school of management. The labor in most cases cares more about getting the work done more than the management does. 

As far as lifestyle goes, you will no longer have a life. The railroad does not believe you should ever get sick much less be off for holidays birthdays deaths in the family etc. They also have no problem sending you out on a two day trip on a Friday knowing your vacation starts at 0001 hours on Saturday. Hope you didn't buy plane tickets. Thanks to various past presidents the Unions are only there to make sure you get paid well but they have no power to go on strike and they lack the leadership to make a difference.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Railroading is awesome. Pay is good.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Being on call and only having one day off. Because chances are, you are going to get called out of town for three days at 23:55 right before you go into your off days. Then there's the train masters, hiding in the bushes, watching you work and waiting for you to break a rule so they can fire you. They actually have a failure quota they have to get to every month, so you will get fired. And they will laugh at you while they do it. The worst.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Hostile. You will be constantly hassled and harrassed by different managers from different locations. They like to hide in the bushes, watch you on terminal cameras ( inside and outside of the building) and now they are using drones to watch you break any rule they make up, so they can fire you. You will be asked to break the rules when it suits the company. But if ANY thing goes wrong, you broke a rule and you're fired. There is actually "job insurance" you can buy to pay you, when they fire you!!! I  am not joking.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Show up, immediately shuffled onto an engine while you can sit and wait for 2 hours for your turn to do anything. Finally you leave. You work your customers while constantly looking over your shoulder for management. You get back to the yard just to wait to put your train away.  Finally, you have to wait until your 8 hour shift is over to clock out. You can't work under 8. But you can't work over 8 either and will get in trouble for marking off in 8 hours 1 minute.

CSXT is a strong viable company in the community. It has excellent benefits and great opportunity for growth if you are in the right place at the right time and with a management team who values hardwork and looks to help develop key players.

CSXT was known as "the good old boy" network in that the people at the top took care of their own. In the past promotion was not based on ability in all department, but on friendship, family, relationships, etc. I'm not certain this does not still exist, but it also did not prevent growth if you were not in the know; you worked to get yourself visible and in the know.

I beleive this is the case in a lot of business, so this is not a fault; this is a realization that we all must face and find unique ways to overcome. I learned so much from the various department I worked at CSXT. I had excellent managers and some that I would never want to work for. My last job was in a deparment that I felt I would never get out or grow, and it was not a fit. I left CSXT only becasue I did not see myself overcoming the deparment or getting out. It took me all of 15 years to get promoted, and I'm an excellent employee. I did not want to spend another 15 years to reach the level I am now as Director of Sales or even Manager rather than Assistance Manager.

Great company with exceptional benefit. Be prepared to work and not to take anything personal, work the plan and plan your future!

The job: It is very straight forward and easy. Days are long and working in all weather conditions will take a toll on you physically. Work stays at work and is not stressful; however, a lot of time will be spent working by being called in early, staying late, working holidays, and weekends. Average hours worked per week was consistently 52-64 hours. As a new employee the only holiday you will be off is Christmas Day. Management tries their best but they are being squeezed to do the work as efficiently as possible.

The money: The philadephia yard is subject to their city wage tax. On top of the state tax, fed tax, union dues, benefits, railroad retirement and any 401k that is opt into you can expect to clear about 54-59% of your gross pay. Money might be better in a right to work state and at a location that does not have a city wage tax. Not paying union dues or a city tax could give back about 7%. Union dues and health benefits go up every year. The raises received are almost cancelled out with the increase of these costs.

Recommendations: I would recommend this job to a person who wants to gain experience in a safety environment and experience working with heavy machiney. Use this place as a stepping stone to better companies. If you are in debt this job could help by paying off debt sooner. Just know you will be working EVERY holiday, EVERY weekend, EVERY call out and working MOST of your days off.

Overall, I would not recommend working for this company. The amount of time taken from you is far too much for the little reward you receive.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Traveling and working outside and the benefits package for csx is top notch lots of discounts for automobiles and cell phones ect.  

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The threat of being fired at any moment your working . Being under constant surveillance by the train masters they use drones to watch you work night and day.  And the 4400 rules you must follow if you make a mistake you will fired 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Very very hostile environment from the top to the bottom .  Mangers sole job is to collect surveillance evidence on all employees that data from drones and cameras is used to fire people every day.  It's so bad they have insurance that you can buy and I would definitely do so.  When you get fired you still get paid from the insurance.   Current employees are spiteful towards everyone who's not been there long.  Your on call 24 .7 for the first 1 to 5 years depending on where you are. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
You will get a call from the dispatcher giving you the job. You have 2 hours to be there and ready.  Once your there you gather up paperwork and orders from train master.   Then you go to work and then you will likely stay at a hotel for a night then back home.  You work 12 hours off 10 hours then back to work you do not get paid by the hour but buy the contract .

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