Is BNSF Railway a good company to work for?

BNSF Railway has an overall rating of 3.1 out of 5, based on over 2,634 reviews left anonymously by employees. This rating has increased by 3% over the last 12 months. 47% of employees would recommend working at BNSF Railway to a friend and 49% have a positive outlook for the business. The best reviews about BNSF Railway have been left by employees working as Technology Services Intern , Transportation Intern and Management Trainee .

Does BNSF Railway pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, BNSF Railway employees rate their compensation and benefits as 3.8 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at BNSF Railway. This rating has improved by 4% over the last 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at BNSF Railway?

47% of BNSF Railway employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated BNSF Railway 2.6 out of 5 for work life balance, 2.9 for culture and values and 3.2 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at BNSF Railway?

Railroad Conductor (277) , Locomotive Engineer (177) , Conductor (97) , Engineer (73) , Manager (46) , Terminal Trainmaster (42) , Trainmaster (41) , Freight Conductor (36) , Machinist (36) , Intern (27) , Carman (26) , Locomotive Engineer/Conductor (26) , Train Dispatcher (26) , Signal Maintainer (25) , Journeyman Carman (24)

What are the pros of working at BNSF Railway according to real employee reviews?

"The pay is is good for the area and railroad benefits for retirement is one of the best for now." ((in 481 reviews)); "WFH and pretty good benefits" ((in 356 reviews)); "Retirement is good if you can last that long" ((in 97 reviews)); "The people here are great and provide good mentoring." ((in 91 reviews)); "Good money but not near keeping up with inflation or even remotely worth what you sacrifice and lose while working there" ((in 86 reviews))

What are the cons of working at BNSF Railway according to real employee reviews?

"No work life balance and the company is always finding ways to take even more personal days away from us." ((in 141 reviews)); "Poor Management Bad union Benefits declining Raises not keeping up with inflation" ((in 139 reviews)); "with their families and their is very little thought or willingness to accommodate this kind of time off." ((in 99 reviews)); "Long hours (heavy reliance on legacy of railroad employees working all the livelong day)." ((in 67 reviews)); "No schedule and trying to fire everyone" ((in 35 reviews))

What are employees saying about BNSF Railway layoffs in 2026?

Explore Glassdoor’s employee reviews to understand what current and former employees are saying about BNSF Railway layoffs and their outlook for job security at BNSF Railway in 2026.

What are the top reviewed BNSF Railway locations?

Fort Worth , Chicago , Kansas City , Lincoln , Kansas City , Seattle , Denver , Barstow , Topeka , Houston , Minneapolis , Galesburg , Los Angeles , Amarillo , Dallas , Vancouver , Spokane , Alliance , San Bernardino , Memphis , Tulsa , Minot , Cicero , Temple , Tacoma , Springfield , Oklahoma City , Belen , Gillette , Bakersfield

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BNSF Railway

Part of Berkshire Hathaway

BNSF Railway reviews

3.1

47% would recommend to a friend

(2,427 total reviews)

Kathryn Farmer

45% approve of CEO

49% positive business outlook

Ratings by category

3.8

Compensation and benefits

3.4

Diversity & inclusion

3.2

Career opportunities

2.9

Culture & values

2.7

Senior management

2.6

Work/Life balance

BNSF Railway has an employee rating of 3.1 out of 5 stars, based on 2,427 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The BNSF Railway employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Transportation & Logistics industry (3.5 stars).

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

Reviews by job title

2K reviews

1.0

Feb 6, 2022

Don't hire out for BNSF railway!

Railroad conductor

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

No pros anymore. The company is making its employees work more With only a few days off a month. People are sleep deprived. Poor train lineups provided by the company. And BNSF technology trip optimizer runs trains 20 to 50 miles per our under maximum authorized speed to save fuel but slows down product delivery times and extends employees on duty time. For example a trip from point A to point B use to take 7-8 hrs now takes 11-12 because of computer. This all should be in the con's actually...No more pros

Cons

No time off. Trip optimizer computer that runs trains 20-50mph under maximum authorized speed for fuel conservation but company blames the TYE employee to the public for attendance and slow downs when it's there computer. The employee can move the freight so much faster and efficiently. It's very sad really...

1.0

Feb 3, 2022

Yikes

Train crew (conductor)/locomotive engineer

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Pay is decent after about 8 years when you can hold the road year round, assuming you don't work anywhere on the west coast, then the pay is just bad.

Cons

24/7/365 on call, no life, no predictability in the schedule at all, you barely even know if you're going to have a job the next week until you've been working here for a few years, and to top it all off everything that's bad about the company constantly gets worse as the new CEO and management group strip the company for parts in an effort to increase the stock price. Avoid at all costs.

3.0

Feb 2, 2022

It Keeps Going Downhill

Train crew

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Decent pay for no college degree. Set your own schedule, work mostly unsupervised. Able to work as you want as long as it falls within company and federal rules. Phenomenal coworkers, very strong brotherhood

Cons

Poorly trained management with little to no experience or reason to be working with trains. New availability policy destroys any chance of a good work/life balance. Slightest mistakes can be severely punished, depending on the manager. Furloughs will never not be a concern

Viewing 124 - 126 of 2,427 Reviews

Jobs at BNSF Railway

Construction Structural Maintenance Bridge and Building (Helper/Driver)- Hannibal, MO or Quincy, IL

Staff Engineering Manager (Remote - US)

Track Maintenance - Laborer - Stockton, CA

Track Maintenance - Laborer - District 800, Lafayette, LA

Construction - Structural Maintenance Bridge and Building (Helper/Driver)- Ottumwa or La Crosse, WI