entry level operator

rail switching technician

assistant operator

truck driver

benefits administrator

Railserve, Inc.

Haven't worked here long and probably won't be for much longer, The year I've worked here has been eye opening to say the least. I've never seen so much deception and or work place politics in my life this coming from someone who's worked retail sales. The atmosphere is very treacherous and undermining, everything appears normal and then out of nowhere your hit with feuds over who's not doing what around the place, the crew leaders seem to take the brunt of the politics and backstabbing which is encouraged by the senior management. If you are smart you'll just pass through this job and never look back. It's a learning experience not a career, it was meant for struggling young adults or ex-cons living in a halfway house who are used horrible conditions. As this place is intended to be a sanctuary from their misery. Scheduling is awful even for the senior personnel and sad to be honest that people with that much time on the job roll over just for mediocre pay. You will not gain any transferable skill for advancement or future employment elsewhere. Advancement requires transfer to other states so if you have a predisposition don't bother as you will not be compensated. All in all, this is just a job "Don't take anything personnel", If you are let go consider it a blessing in disguise, not sure why crew leaders cling to their positions when they'd probably fair better on unemployment. Only thing I can say I respect is they really try to be positive about safety, although it's a it's only meant to aquire work other than that they could care less. Lastly micromanagement is a daily constant and somehow your coworkers will make things harder than they need to be, As you will be undoubtedly punished for their ignorance with a new rule or extra steps added to simple tasks like simply breathing.

I briefly worked for Railserve last year for a few months at their newer site in Bedford Park, IL. I was completely taken by surprise when I first started working at the site b/c I assumed that the transition (union company to nonunion) would be fairly smooth since there were veteran railroaders in charge. I was assured that everything would be fine despite obvious concerns over a period of weeks about the site being WAY understaffed by nearly half. I ended up working 90+ hours a week for over a month w/ 2 full days off. With no end in site (b/c of their apparent stubbornness to hire an additional person or 2 for the night shift) I simply quit. This isn't including the 2 crews that were done away with the save money which made everyone's job that much more worse.
This company is all about saving themselves and their client a buck, even if it means working their employees to the bone, what matters to them is the $$$ and nothing more. I'm disgusted by the way the upper management handled this specific site and overall coordination of scheduling. For the amount of hours I worked the pay was HORRIBLE.
Lastly, training was second rate and was VERY rushed. Beware this is a dangerous job so bad training could lead to unfavorable outcomes. Maybe its different now but a man can only take so much bull, being that I'm a vet that bull bar is very very high and unfortunately for me this company went over the top...

This company will run you down and abuse all salary payed employees. Put in plenty of shifts exceeding hours that shouldnt have been a possibility. Worked 24 hours straight, put in 40/48 hours during weekend and full 40 during the week with no compensations for hours worked. Customers expectations can be unreasonable at times, when short staffed still expected to make the work completed as if it was still a full crew. Customer has very poor communication and will not say anything about a unit train till the night before or day of normally. This requires people to switch shifts with very little notice or heads up. Higher ups will agree with customer to add more work load to an already stretched crew of employees. Higher management wants people wrote up if call in sick( company gives 3 payed days sick time) vacation time is hard to use due to work load constantly needing everyone there. Training for any site lead position is poor. Pay is not the best for work hourly or salary. Management will micromanage and not help guide to help benefit people. Have put in 7 years with this company and mistreated many times and am not the first one at this site. Was part of the crew that kept this site as safe as possible through almost 2900 days incident free. This company will walk all over its employees. HR folks are very good people to work with and are very helpful when needed. Sad to put in so many years when there are plenty of other companies that will treat an employee way better. 

The job was a good learning experience and could be used as a stepping stone to bigger, better opportunities such as Amtrak or CSX. Most employees learned a good amount of information regarding trains, rail cars, locomotives, barge/vessels and operating pumps. The benefits were decent and employees did receive discounts and access to stocks. The company would match up to 50% of anything the employee would place into 401K.

The management was beyond terrible. The site leader did not care about the employees, especially if you weren't a "Yes man". If management didn't like you then you always were assigned to the jobs nobody wanted to do and you were constantly "walking on eggshells" and constantly looking over your shoulder. Certain employees would receive write ups and suspensions for lateness, first or second offense while the bosses favorites would/could do whatever they wanted with no repercussions. One site leader was very understanding with family emergencies while the other could care less and would make it known he doesn't care. If you voiced your opinion you can kiss any chance of advancement goodbye. The starting salary was alright for a new facility, however 2 years without a raise while similar companies in the area were almost $3+ per hour.

Railserve is a terrible place to work for many reasons and it would take hours for me to express them all so I will keep it short. You are expected to work outside in the elements for 12 to 14 hours every day for 10 days straight and get 1 or 2 days off. You work in a chemical plants around raild cars so the extremes of both elements suck. Every day you come in to it either being really hot or really cold, having to finish the work of the previous shift who are friends with he site leader, doing all of your work and setting up everything for the next shift so that when they come in they can sit around for 2 hours and watch you finish working so that they can have a good 7-8 hour day and it all start again tomorrow. Management lies constantly, the moral here is the worse I've ever seen it anywhere I've ever worked. If your not friends with one of management then expect to get screwed day in and day out and retaliated against if you try to file a complaint. And you regardless of experience or whether your a good worker you will not move up in the company at this site again unless you are friends with the site leader. There are so many other things to say about this place but again I'm trying to keep it short. DO NOT APPLY




What is the best part of working at the company?
While Railserve did teach me proper switching of railcars, and the safety rules working with rail, the company does not care about you. And beware of their biggest customer, Cargill. Cargill has no idea how switching railcars works, and they will constantly switch work orders up, and even tell you that you are switching cars wrong (even though they are not in the railcar switching business). And unfortunately, Railserve will not stand up and protect you, the employee, from the lies and B.S. their customers will pull on you.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Never knowing what the customer is gonna say or do to you for the day. The switch schedules changed multiple times a day, due to the incompetence of their customers.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Working at Railserve was good, and all but 1 employee I worked with was pleasant to be around.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Get to work, look at my switch list, have it get changed, readjust, take lunch, sort railcars and do the evening switch. 12 hour days.

Typical day was divided into two moves - AM and PM. From 7-10(ish) you'd be moving and organizing cars for the client, then you'd wait for the PM switch. This is where things could get a little dicey because a lot of this depended on the client site and the larger rail company. If things are going smoothly, you'd have a PM switch list before 1 PM and could be out and finished well before deadline (7PM). If, however, the client or the rail company were dropping the ball, you get the list and the cars later, which could result in you not only "dying out," but affecting the AM switch the next day. 

Still, I enjoyed my time - your work is outdoors and you get a fair amount of walking (7 miles daily, easily) if you're doing ground stuff. The harder part for a lot of people was operator, in which you're in the train cab the entire time.

One star is not good enough. From site leader to shift managers show favoritism towards certain employees. They show a blind eye to safety until someone gets hurt or they cause damage to equipment. All the safety manager cares about is you being safe enough to get safety bonus each quarter. And there manager on nights(guy been there like 30 years) breaks more rules than everyone and all management knows it. No matter what you call in for management will tell everyone your business. They do not care about your life outside of work. Want to try to control by given you small bonuses no matter how hard you work. Will work you 12-14 hours in one shift and have you coming in on a earlier shift the next day. No scheduled lunch break or any type at all at times. Pay scale is nowhere close to daily work you have to do everyday. Do not keep up with daily safety equipment. Safety would be nearly nonexistent without the fear of not getting safety bonus. But if you don't want to be appreciated or paid properly for work then you should work here!

● Work-life balance
Work-life balance at Railserve, Inc. is horrible you have no time for family. Kiss a social life good bye. Very strict with attendance.  The job was very frustrating. You do the job the right way and safe the mangers still complain. They gossip a lot about workers. They have their favorites so be cautious . If you work their try to find something better ASAP .

● Pay & benefits
My pay and benefits at Railserve, Inc. are benefits where Ok. The work place environment is not very friendly .

● Job security and advancement
In terms of job security at Railserve, Inc., I think the company has its favorites.

● Management
In general, managers at Railserve, Inc. do not care about you or your work habits. They complain about everyone . The job seems like high school .

● Culture
Collaboration with my colleagues at Railserve, Inc. is they joke a lot. They trash talk you. Company policy is a joke and always changing.

● Overall
My experience working at Railserve, Inc. I would never work for that company again even if they offered double!

all the guys there were cool and would really help the new guys learn the job and help them stay safe 
they are very focused on safety first and really live it not just talk about it
the only people that didn't like the job there wanted more for doing less
you will work outside no matter how cold/hot or wet it is but they provide stuff to help out 
benefits and insurance are really good and they offer retirement savings(401k)
room to advance rank all the way up to corporate level and move anywhere they have a location in the united states
job security is there, no lay offs like the bigger railroads
the bosses work outside with the guys whenever needed and actually know how to do the job instead of only knowing how to give orders 
and you can get raises and bonuses every couple months really easily
could get overtime when needed extra cash too




Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Entry level operator 4 salaries reported	$20.68 per hour
Rail switching technician 28 salaries reported	$20.17 per hour
Assistant operator 7 salaries reported	$26.96 per hour
Truck driver 2 salaries reported	$23.50 per hour
Benefits administrator 1 salary reported	$27.00 per hour

Working at Railserve, Inc.: Company Overview and Reviews

Railserve, Inc.

Railserve, Inc. Ratings

Popular jobs at Railserve, Inc.

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected