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 environm
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 an
ProsDecent benefits and Pay.
ConsHours required to work were extreme
5.0
Special Projects Manager | Baltimore, MD | Sep 22, 2014
Only the most fun job I ever held, and we actually got paid for it!
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 w
ProsLarge salaries and bonuses for exceeding your sales goals; a collegial atmosphere, great benefits and healthcare.
ConsLong hours when you're doing a big deal, or putting together or analyzing the annual fiscal year's budge.
You get paid for your schedule, not the job you do.
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 c
ProsPay, benefits, retirement
ConsNo days off, long work hours, on-call 24/7. No real schedule.
RUN ON CALL 24/7 NO SICK TIME AWAY FROM 2-3 DAYS ONLY 10 HOURS OFF AT HOME
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 & 2 days off per week & paid sick days ONE LAST THING WE DON'T PAID PER HOUR it's BY the JOB/MILES SO THEY WILL KEEP U AT
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 vario
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!
Prosgreat company, security, good pay and benefits, promotions possible.
Consstill has a lot of good ole boy networking attitudes, promotions are not always based on abillity in some departments.
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 amou
Career job with advancement oppurtunties, great benifits and retirement.
A CSX conductor has a lot of responsibilities, first part of a typical day is to have a safety/Job briefing we I identify what safety precautions we are going to implement for the days work, we then discuss our dispatcher messages which informs us work limits, speed restrictions and potential cautions that could affect our attended route. We then go over our work order that tells what our train is made up of, we have to analyze our work order to make sure there aren't any type of speed, height, weight or hazarders restrictions that make up our train. If we are a "Key" train meaning a train with a combination of 20 or more hazards material by class and code, that we have the appropriate paper work on them along with an a emergency phone number. once we complete our job briefing we either have to get permission to either built or get on our train and go by either or our train master or dispatcher or yardmaster. Your day can vary either you are working in a yard (building trains), working Industries(delivering specific cars to Customers) or working on the road(Taking a train to a different station, yard or terminal). The day may vary day by day but the same beginning process Safety/Job briefing and the end of the day reporting the work being done to a Train Master or Railroad Dispatcher still remains Safety is our biggest concern at CSX all day every day!
Between 10-30 years ago was the golden age of railroads. After precision railroad was adopted from everywhere, it’s not a great place to work anymore. Now it just feels like they hire to fire so they can appease the government and pretend like they’re trying to get people working here. Just to say that they can’t so they can go to one man crews. That will be the end for most people who don’t want to jeopardize their safety working by themselves. The money is ok because a lot of jobs caught up to our salaries over the years. So if you can make just a shade less and be home with your family, why wouldn’t you? It’s not that much money anymore considering the first fact and all the money out your check before you touch it. Union dues, taxes, two railroad retirement dues, plus insurances etc. Overall, if you’re 25-30 with no family, no education, or a lot of time on your hands you’re in luck. Otherwise, if you can’t survive working 12hr shifts 6 days a week on call with only a two hour notice for work until you reach a certain “seniority” years after you start just to get some type of schedule (overnights or bad shifts that no one wants) then this isn’t the job for you. I suggest to look for a job close to this money but with a good schedule & benefits elsewhere so you can take care of your family while being with your family.
