repair technician

terminal operator

painter

environmental health and safety manager

welder/fitter

Trinity Industries

Trinity Heads is a decent place to work. The pay is on par with the surrounding area, there are a lot of learning opportunities, and the products are industry-leading. There are a number of different jobs to choose from, with opportunities for cross-training. The benefits package is underwhelming, but there is (usually) a quarterly bonus program, as well as a Christmas bonus, and pay raises. 

The physical environment is pretty terrible. The facility is a massive dust-bowl, and walking and driving surfaces are full of pot-holes and uneven surfaces which lead to damaged equipment and increased safety hazards. The machinery is tragically outdated, which contributes to machine breakdowns and loss of production. The Maintenance Department was completely eliminated and replaced with a contract maintenance service, which has proven to be less than adequate. However, there are plans in place to help improve some of these issues.

Concerning personnel, the shop employees are the lifeblood of this place. Without the knowledge and experience of the veteran operators, the facility would grind to a halt. These employees take immense pride in their work, and are typically enthusiastic about explaining the job to new and less-experienced employees. 

Concerning the leadership team, the Production Foremen are easily the most valuable and hardest-working members. They are terribly understaffed and overworked, but they perform their job with integrity and work tirelessly every shift to drive production and meet deadlines. The HR Department is very professional and handles everything "by the book," which is a good thing. The HR Manager ensures that everything is well documented, and that every complaint or issue is taken seriously.
Trinity Industries has built a very strong safety policy that is continuously improving. Trinity Heads has a very good safety record, due in part to the initiatives of the previous Safety Manager. The current Safety Manager, though inexperienced, is very knowledgeable and works hard to drive safety initiatives and has helped to improve the facility.

The head of the facility (Director of Operations) is very enthusiastic and is actively involved in the plant. Unfortunately, this often feels like the plant is being micro-managed. Often times the Director will give members of staff tasks or projects unrelated to their typical job function, with minimal instruction, and expect them to perform at a professional level. However, the Director of Operations recognizes the areas of the company that are in need of improvement, and is continuously working to find solutions to the most common issues.

The pay was decent but I did not care for the workplace culture at all. It's all about politics, not the quality of work. Meaning if you're showing up to do a job and not a popularity contest, good luck going anywhere!

There were several people in positions they were not anywhere near qualified for but they "played the game well" so everyone around them had to pick up their slack. Management turns a blind eye to this problem to avoid having to fire/hire. 

The environment was very fear based. If I had a dollar for every time I heard "corporate doesn't see you as a person, just a number" or "corporate doesn't care about you" or "corporate is watching all of the time", I would not have needed to work there! Employees were expected to devote their entire lives to this company (often times working 12 hour shifts 7 days of the week for months on end) while repeatedly being reminded that the very company they were devoted to didn't care about them at all. 

There was a whole lot of inappropriate hiring as well. Couples in the same department with one in a supervising position. Sons/daughters being hired and given special treatment.
Along with the fact that several temps are hired with promises of being brought on full time and benefits within 2 months, then they intentionally draw this process out for more than six and at times flat out lie about whether the process has even been started. 

The computer systems and paperwork processes are a complete mess. Granted, there was always some "reason" given for this, it made everything way harder than necessary and caused a huge amount of stress that trickled into every department. 

And then there is management. The people who will tell you what the rules are and that they are not to broken. Pretty normal. What was not normal, however, was when that same management would later instruct you to break the rules to suite the situation, which happened frequently. But the worst part, was watching co-workers simply do what they were being instructed to do and then watching them lose their jobs over it. Which did happen. More than once.
They give good bonuses when they actually give them. That's a whole other story.

Late is late. One minute or 25, they do not care. It's all the same to them. They do provide free ice cream and sno-cones once a week when it's hot, which was actually really nice and considerate.

Aside from the culture there and the way they operate, I did enjoy the job I was doing. This place has the potential to be an awesome place to work for, they just need to do an overhaul from the inside-out. Moral tends to get pretty low due to these circumstances.

The people i worked with were the only good part of this job, helpful and tried to guide you to things you didn't know so that you wouldn't get hurt on the job

Getting hired on was possibly the worst, most horrible thing i have ever done. HR is obviously far overwhelmed and needs help.

 You have to take a weld test for any welding position, job listing does not say you need your own helmet/gloves and i did not have any since i had to sell my stuff off to make rent a few months before. HR recruiter told me ''that's fine you can borrow our stuff for your test'' the actual man who does the weld test was so upset and almost walked me back out of the complex when he found out i needed to borrow their stuff that i knew he was biased against me even if i did a good job on the test at that point. MIND YOU your on a mig machine with .45 wire, not commonly used stuff. you do a flat, a 3 pass overlap, and then they have you do a vertical uphill. 

Work hours are Monday thru Saturday  12 hour days normally, so Friday and sat are all overtime hours. you work your first week and get paid the following Friday for the first weeks work so basically like getting your check held. 

You have to do a drug test, not bad, but they also make the clinic do all these workout tests on you that were exhausting,and a physical. the clinics hours on the sheet they give you are incorrect so make sure you call and show up on time. the clinic itself is SO BAD, i spent 2 hours waiting to be seen then a hour doing all the tests from room to room then i was told the last test i had to have closed toed shoes on (its summer in Texas i was wearing flip flops) so then i drove 30 mins back home to get shoes and come back because if you don't do it same day you have to redo it another day. THANKS HR FOR THE HEADS UP ON SHOES! 

overall the days were long, overworked in a outdoor shop sweating your rear off for this company that pays poorly. the only good thing was weekly pay made my life easier but only 1 day off a week you mostly slept all day because your so exhausted. 

if you need a job, i wouldn't take this unless you absolutely have to. don't let them lure you in with promises its ALOT of hours and work.

The whole shop is filthy. All along the walls of the shop is a pile of dirt from being swept into the wall instead of into a dustpan.. None of the equipment works right. Finding the right setting for welding machine was constant struggle every day.  The floor supervisor was never friendly and he always shot you mean looks like he was trying to intimidate you. Every day I went into this place I feared that I might fall and break my neck over some random object. All of the joints in my fingers hurt from constant welding all day nonstop. My trainer hardly spoke any English so if I wanted to learn something I had to watch but I couldn't ask. He didn't understand the questions I was asking so he couldn't give me a legit answer. The office workers treat the shop workers as if they are beneath them. If you need about $19 an hour job at about 50 hours a week regardless of how dirty you get then this is a job for you. The forklift drivers never even honk their horn's at the sight of a pedestrian. There are no doors on the shop so be prepared to deal with the elements. One worker got pneumonia from being exposed to the cold too long. Like I said if you need money badly, then this is the place for you, but if you actually take pride about where you work then don't work here. And if they see you willing to go the extra mile to get the product out in time all they are going to do is expect that from you all the time and work you harder.be prepared to do a lot of grinding. You'll  probably be grinding for a whole hour at a time almost every day. Then they expect you to crawl inside a narrow tube and gouge and weld 48 inches long. I've seen a lot of the people that have been there for a long time and they all have health deffects. I knew if I stayed there long enough I would eventually get arthritis and maybe even lung cancer from the atmosphere. There's no ventilation for the fumes whatsoever except for maybe a couple of dusty fans in the corner. The walls of the shop look like they were shot by a rifle. Sometimes the toilet didn't work and there would be water and feces and urine all over the floor.

typically at Trinity Rail in saginaw your work schedule is 50 hours per week. I worked the 2nd shift I would arrive at 4:30pm and work until 3:00am. We would break for a 50 minute break at 8:30pm, 30 minutes of it was your meal break, the remaining 20 minutes were two allotted 10 minute breaks in one. I was a little shaky when it came to FCAW but they have an onsite school house and after one week and 200lbs of weld metal I became quite proficient at 3G/F and 4G/F. I worked in the production area as a welder II, the work was simple as long as you could follow the instructions. It felt good to get as many cars done from your station.
The bad part though we didn't work many 50 hour weeks, often times we left the plant at 4:30am six days a week. 70 to 75 work weeks were becoming routine and mandatory isn't optional it is required. The production shop I worked in had poorly serviced equipment and underperforming leadership. 

It was difficult to find out what the exact standards were at times regarding the specifications for the rail cars; the QA/QC, the lead men, the shop supervisors would all have their own interpretation of the specifications which made doing your job difficult and very frustrating.  

I quit the job after I was electrocuted twice in two nights from the same welding machine. After the first incident maintenance refused to red tag the machine and after the second incident the shift supervisor remarked if I went to the hospital points would be deducted from my attendance record and I would have to report to HR. Coincidentally two days after I resigned another welder was electrocuted and burned by the same welding machine.

I do not believe the corporation knows the extent of the problems within the plants as these problems are a hindrance to the overall production.

Once asked everyone at my lunch table who had graduated high school and who had never been to jail. Only two people had graduated high school and I was the only one who hadn't been to jail. Most of working there is listening to the constant complaints and putting up with the incredible laziness of everyone who works there in the abundant down time. Every job is very easy, except for coil ends which is hard enough for the rest combined, and Hydro which is extremely dangerous. Yet people who are part of the easy jobs still make it their personal goal each day to resist carrying out the few responsibilities they have as much as possible. Management is more interested in their personal interests and those of their friends than they are with getting work done and they have little appreciation for hard work and less reward. If you're a hard worker you will find that you aren't any better off than the slackers. The whole place is corrupt, both of the night superintendents at Plant 110 while I was there were removed for different sorts of fraud. Its just not good place. However, if you really need a job, it is easy to get on and they will pay to train you, then within a couple months, you can be making 16+ an hour, which isn't too bad for East Texas. They also have benefits. So if you're desperate like I was, it's not that bad; it's just not a long term thing.
Also, guaranteed 40 hours a week and often you can voluntarily stay longer if you play it right and when it's busy there's mandatory overtime, you can end up working up to 7 12s.

What is the best part of working at the company?
My current work has allowed me to see all aspects of the IT business: custom development, erp implementation, infrastructure and end users, mergers and acquisitions.  I have been involved in the financial models and business cases for projects and programs along with operational metrics and resources planning.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Working with some of the bureaucracy 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
My supervisors have been great.  The company is concerned with culture change so they are investing in development of resources (McKinsey and Company badges and Emotional intelligence)  there are many opportunities to connect with mentors, company wide events, and departmental gathers.  We have employee resource groups for specific focuses that the employees may desire.  

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
I serve as a SCRUM Master for 2 products and Release train engineer for New and Integration Services.  I have Scrum ceremonies, Scaled Agile Ceremonies, product demos and design sessions,  budget planning and review.  Additionally, I assist with logistics and enablement for the product needs like architecture review and sign-off, keeping of the budget and project time lines, escalations of risks to ensure on time and on budget deliveries

I run a sub-arc welder and make large cans for rail car barrels that can carry various fluids. The steel can range from .450" to 1.5" thick. each can I construct can be broken down into 6 steps; 1. load can in bay 2. postion and weld the inside of the can. 3. roll the can up and gauge a path along the seam on the exterior of the can. 4. roll the can up and run a pass on the outside ensuring that both welds meet. 5. roll the can down again to cut off the runoff tabs. 6. push the can out of the bay. Repeat this process on average 10-14 times a night. While at this job I have also learned the whole procedure of making a rail car though this plant. From several flat peices of steel to a barrel ready for paint and fittings. How to run a Blaster to clean the plate, Plasma to cut it to the right dementions, assisted in the rolling of the cans, I run the longseam currently, run the ABU which runs a sub-arc welder through the interior of the barrel joining the cans, run the Outside Gert which gouges and welds the exterior of the barrel, and I have helped hang the heads which make up the ends of the barrel. As well as assisted in final which is the station which goes over any mistakes that are made. The managment on nights is pretty lax and detatched. My co-workers are a rowdy bunch and take some getting used to. Hardest part of the job is the hours, not so much the amout as it is how late. Most enjoyable part of the job is payday.

While this company offers a 401k, and a multitude of benefits; It's beneficial to use your own.

Pay is lacking in many departments, well below what should be offered. NO BONUSES

Work is strenuous and makes for long hours with little free time. If you're sick and aren't a friend of management you will receive a point. 12 points and you're fired. Which is more than enough, but having only 5 days of vacation makes it difficult to not accrue points when you work 6 days a week. You are scheduled for 4 - 10 hr days, but will normally work 60 - 70. So if you have plans, appointments, or arrangements outside of work you should FORGET them.

You only advance if you're a friend of management, since most management worked at the previous company at this location. It's an absolute joke how badly the buddy system is used here. You can call names, put your hands on people, and get away with almost anything "if" you're a buddy.

Since it is still basically a startup location, the rules and regulations, job requirements, and overall experience here changes on the daily.

After working here a year it's obvious that many need to be weeded out for the future. Complaints fall on deaf ears. Safety is portrayed to be important but is merely an illusion. 

I would NOT recommend this company for anyone unless it's a necessity. Trinity of Jonesboro isnt a career, but merely a job.

This is probably the #1 most unorganized place to work in the U.S, with total disregard for employee safety. All forms of management are highly trained in lying. It's believed that lying is actually a requirement to be  a supervisor at Trinity. The place is so mismanaged that  it has no option but to continue to fail , like their stocks and many lawsuits they have recently lost. Girard Trinity is continuously under investigation by both OSHA and Trinity's own ethics committee for  unsafe work environment/practices  and unethical treatment of employees. Management couldn't organize a two car funeral, and you would be treated better at a Nike sweat shop in China. Most employees are fired because they question managements lack of safety concerns, or managements poor attempts at reasonable decision making skills. After years of complaints the employees restroom continued to be neglected and desperately needed repairs to the point that the employees literately took photos of Girard plant supervisors from the company newsletter and placed them in the urinals. Its sad but true, that is what got there attention and some of the repairs were finally made. This place is a three ring circus with no shortage of clowns. Don't waste your time!!!

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Repair technician 12 salaries reported	$26.91 per hour
Terminal operator 11 salaries reported	$19.22 per hour
Painter 3 salaries reported	$20.67 per hour
Environmental health and safety manager 1 salary reported	$25.50 per hour
Welder/fitter 1 salary reported	$25.00 per hour

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