tankerman

loader

operator

rail switching technician

scheduler

PSC Group

Do not...and I repeat...DO NOT take a job working for the railroad at DOW Chemical. I made that mistake. If you have half a brain you can move up the chain fairly quickly, but you will start at $14 and top out at $21 and once you are there you are stuck...that is of course unless you are good friends with the supervisors and go fishing with them. If you go fishing etc then you can be the most unprofessional employee to ever step in the doors and shoot past people that have been busting their butts for years. DOW has one of the largest switching sites in the United States, yet pay less than every other plant around the area. In the interview they tell you if you want a transfer its no problem etc etc....but talk to anyone at DOW and they will let you know once you are there you are stuck until you quit or get fired. You will be working your butt off for 11 hours a day at a minimum as they will not let you take more than a one hour break even if there is nothing for you to do (they make up busy work for you to do, and then a week later you go and undo all the work you did because now cars are in places they shouldn't be etc). The head guys over there have no clue how the railroad operates so when things go wrong it is like explaining Algebra to a kindergardener, then they don't believe anything you say and just try to make it look like the fault of one of the guys working that shift and fire them. While working there I've seen guys put in 2 weeks notices and get fired because of it, I have seen guys walk off the job because they can't take it anymore, I have seen the most unprofessional supervisors I have ever seen in all my years of working. When shifts need to be filled and you have a child, be prepared for them to tell you to leave the kid with a wife/girlfriend, parent, babysitter, friend, etc....they don't care if you don't have the money for a babysitter, have been divorced or aren't together with the child's mother, have no family in the city etc. They just don't want to hear it, and they threaten to fire you because of this all the time; as well as threatening your job for everything else under the sun. When I left SGS it felt like 1000 lbs had been lifted off my shoulders. I don't know how it is at other plants as I was only at DOW but it was miserable.

Pay is above average for railroad contractors. Full benefits package. Medical insurance is prohibitively expensive. I pay almost $600 a month for myself and 2 kids, just to have a co-pay that I can afford, but vision/dental/life/etc. is very affordable. The company matches your 401K up to a certain percent which is very generous. Uniform shirts are provided, as well as all PPE needed.  There is a boot reimbursement program which covers about half the cost of a good pair of boots. 
Most of the managers I have met are friendly if not impersonal. The Operation Manager at my site absolutely does not speak or interact with the crews when he is onsite. Most have no clue whom I am referring to when I mention him by name. 
Training programs onsite and off site are excellent. I feel proud to work for a growing company, but I have complaints. It is VERY difficult to move on to another site when an opportunity might present itself. The only real option is to apply at which point your manager or supervisor is called and informed. If they don't feel like they can lose you then they are likely to ask HR to not interview you. 
There isn't nearly as much upward opportunities as you told there is as the supervisor and coordinator spots are very limited and in the case of my site every supervisor position that has opened up has been filled by an outside  source. No one who has tenure at the site was given the chance to prove themselves or even apply. So expect a slow progression. It does feel "good ole' boy" at times, even though I think that is starting to fall off of the wayside because of the companies massive growth. 
Equivalent positions across the sites do not make the same wage. It is contractual with each site. I know as fact that my position at a site in the same city made between 6 to 10 dollars more an hour than me, which is very discouraging. I would recommend PSC as a good place to start or as a stepping stone to becoming a full plant employee. Staying here as a career will be a long road to travel. 

At a typical day of work, I will spend a small portion of the day in the office conducting safety meetings, updating employee info into personnel files, and meeting with our many customers.  The remainder of the day will be devoted to field observations, conducting "tailgate" meetings, and handling field issues.  

I was afforded the opportunity to train on a variety of different industry specific jobs.  I have upgraded my Merchant Mariner's Credential to an LG/DL Tankerman endorsement.  I was also given the opportunity to begin training our aspiring trainees.  SGS-PSC was there to train and encourage me through every step in my career path.

The managerial staff are excellent in helping you achieve your career and personal goals.  They have developed, in my opinion, the best training program for tankerman in the industry (A.K.A Tankerman Career Academy).  They have used their vast wealth of experience and leadership to produce industry leading employees, safety records, and results.

I enjoy the competitive and family oriented co-workers that I get to work with every day.  We all push each other professionally to be the best at what we do day in and day out.  We all take great pride in meeting our customers' needs.  We work together well on the job and have a great time together off the job at company functions.

The hardest part of all our jobs is the schedule.  A 24 hour on-call schedule of 6 days on and 3 days off is what we work.  If you can adjust to this schedule, you will be rewarded with a great career that is in high demand affording you great job security.

The most enjoyable part of my job is being a spokesman for my job.  I, like so many, was searching desperately for a good career that I could build a life and family with.  SGS-PSC gave me that opportunity!

The company itself has genuine strengths, and the work is meaningful if you're in the right role. However, my experience in the Shore Tankerman division left me concerned about the direction of leadership and the culture being built around it.
In my time here, I felt that high performers were not rewarded or developed — if anything, ambition and initiative seemed to work against you rather than for you. The management style prioritized comfort over competence, and I did not see meaningful investment in cross-training or career growth for Tankermen looking to advance.
The cultural tone of the division felt driven more by ego than operational vision, and accountability was rarely directed where it belonged when problems arose. The people who had built the division's reputation — experienced, knowledgeable individuals — were leaving, and I don't believe that trend will reverse without a significant change in leadership approach.
If you are a Tankerman hoping to grow your career, I would encourage you to look at other companies that actively invest in developing their people. There are better options in this industry for those with real ambition.

SGS at ExxonMobil will screw your over any chance they get. They expect you to learn and know everything about loading and unloading rail cars in about three weeks time. They give you test to qualify you on and the rest is things you haven't seen or were shown about. Supervisors leave the plant early then they are supposed too and if something happens it's always your fault and you get written up. Co workers talk behind your back and set you up for failure and will do anything to make themselves look good. The upper management will shake your hand and smile in your face but will stab you in the back in a second. Things brought up in safety meetings aren't acknowledged or taken care of so if something breaks or messes up your at fault automatically. They preach safety and work stop authority if you don't feel safe stop working and don't do it. Your supervisors will make you do it anyway and if something goes wrong you are to blame. All these positive reviews are from supervisors or upper management. If you don't suck up to upper management or supervisors they ride you constantly.

PSC is a company in transition. It is a big company that managed itself like a small business for years and is now trying to grow into its role even as the company continues to expand. 

I worked in the Business Development department with a great team.  However, whoever takes my previous position will not work with anyone I worked with so I can't say what to expect from the department.

The company, however, is mostly great.  Leadership is friendly and accessible, if not always sincere. In the right department, there is plenty of flexibility for some remote work.  

My manager was very good about looking out for my career growth and development, which I have only witnessed in a couple of leaders, mostly the women directors but not exclusively.

I found the company to be reasonably generous with salaries and benefits and I mostly felt that my job was secure. Depending on the role, I would recommend PSC to almost anyone looking for a job or even a career.


TCA
SGS - Baton Rouge, LA
Applied for the TCA training at a ridiculous cost of $12,990. After more than a month of scheduling appointments to comply with there check list ( in which numerous mistakes were made, even giving out the wrong times, addresses, or even a complete void of pertinent information). It was amazing that a company established in1952 is so completely unorganized in a technical training program they operate two times per year. So after completing all of the interviews, physical, checklists, and even surpassing there requests to equip through my own initiative they let me go on a slight technicality that there office controls. Months wasted, go to the maritime school in Texas or Alabama, with 10 transfers and one week of classes you can receive the same license. So unless your a robot or cloned drone good luck with that inept managed company. They talk about their corporate spiel of family and integrity in reality it's quite the opposite there self themed motto should be no communication and scapegoating.

You are told during the hiring process that you will be on a 12 hour rotating day and night shift but the day you start thats not the case. You will be working on call shifts 3-4 days a week, the unit trains that come in are never on time or are not on a schedule so you can expect a train to be there any time during the day and anytime during the night. You get a call saying the trains there at 2:30AM you have to get out of bed and go! Sometimes you have to work 16 hour shifts to catch up on your hours depending on when the trains come to just make 40 hours. You get overtime maybe once a month, very low paying job for what you're doing. You never know what you'll be working because the Crude Oil Unit train schedule gets changed daily, and you can't plan anything because you never know when or what time you'll have to work. You work with a bunch of very disrespectful people that are always negitive. This is an alright job for somebody who is single and doesn't have much family.

Low pay for what we have to deal with. Supervisors talks in riddles, never gives a direct answer. Very, very poor communication. You come to work and 2 hours before your shift ends, you find out the procedure for the task you’ve been doing all along has changed and no one let you know. 

It’s supposed to be shift work, but who knows how the schedule will play out week to week. Coworkers are great, it’s about the only thing that keeps the morale pretty positive during the work day. This job has a lot of “hurry up and wait” situations. 

Favoritism plays a big role in this company as well. Certain workers are granted longer hours and more days while others are not allowed to come in early or stay late to gain a few extra hours. The only way to get taken care of out here (whether you work hard or not) is to brown-nose. If you don’t, well good luck. Hard work is not noticed. There is absolutely no opportunity for advancement. 

Overall this job only provides a stepping stone into a better paying job with people who actually know what they’re doing.

I rated PSC high on the work life balance -  we work hard but also have opportunities to play hard: company picnic, Family Day at Schlitterbahn, Holiday parties, ect. Most employees worked a form of shift work which allows significant amount of time off, and staff schedules were pretty flexible.
Comp and Benefits: neutral rating - they have all the normal bells and whistles. Pay for some positions could be more competitive and it took a long time to become vested.
Job Security/Advancement: Neutral - Stability was high but advancement was not as easily attained. The company is relaible and is in a state of growth and work is plentiful. Advancement is there for the right person at the right time in the right place.
Management: Above average-Generally, the management has it together and are in touch with what the front lines are doing.  
Job Culture: High - At the location where I worked the culture was fantastic! Fun atmosphere, good location, it was an overall enjoyable place spend 40 hours a week.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Tankerman 3 salaries reported	$90,000 per year
Loader 7 salaries reported	$21.43 per hour
Operator 5 salaries reported	$20.07 per hour
Rail switching technician 4 salaries reported	$20.00 per hour
Scheduler 1 salary reported	$20.00 per hour

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