Work/life balance non-existent, no plans to fix - Transportation Manager CN Employee Review

2.0
Jun 4, 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Benefits, share program, not as many pro's anymore compared to previous years. Bonus is nice when they actually pay it out - it's not guaranteed. A lot of the people are amazing though and because of the odd schedule and working many holidays together, you build quite the work family. Nothing like spending Christmas and New Years with coworkers and drinking sparkling juice out of plastic champagne flutes.

Cons

There is no work/life balance, and as a front line supervisor you are in a position of enforcing policies that you may not agree with. As a manager you are expected to work 12 hour shifts, but there is no rotation to get weekends off. No flexibility to take off if your kids have an event you want to attend for a couple hours, or even medical appointments. The new work/rest rules are making things easier for running trades but it's like the seniors have forgotten about an entire group of employees - only got 3 hours sleep? Can't book off tired, you're coming to work and still expected to do everything, possibly even finishing yarding a train because a running trade crew was too tired to finish their run. The people you directly supervise (yardmasters) make more money and work less hours - HR says with the bonus you make more but I have worked too many years there to know that the bonus isn't guaranteed and shouldn't be used to make up what a person should be paid. It used to be a decent place but it's gone downhill fast and I don't have a great feeling about the future. They have such a monopoly though that they won't go anywhere.

avatar
CN Response
3y
Thank you for sharing your feedback and for your hard work. We pride ourselves on providing our team members with great pay. When we recruit talent to our teams we spend a lot of time going over the realities associated with the railroad operating 24/7/365 days a year, including how being on call can disrupt your family life and important events. We thank you for having helped move our business and the economy forward and hope you shared your thoughts during your exit interview.

Explore other reviews about CN

5.0
Apr 2, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Its what you make of it. Good union job with good benefits

Cons

You're always waiting on trains.

avatar
CN Response
3mo
Thank you for your feedback and for your hard work. We pride ourselves on providing our team members with great benefits. We thank you for moving our business and the economy forward. Please share your thoughts with your manager and on your regular Interaction surveys.
4.0
Apr 13, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Pays decently well for first job out of college. My manager and team are very reasonable with expectations placed on new hires. Working after office hours (past 4:30pm) is extremely rare and only expected in emergencies.

Cons

Very slow and/or limited job growth potential. Promotions into middle management are almost purely based on reputation with middle managers who are largely people with previous field experience. This is very disadvantageous to direct-from-college hires like myself and even my current manager.

avatar
CN Response
2mo
Thank you for your feedback and for your hard work. We pride ourselves on providing our team members with great pay. With a 24/7/365 operation CN could not function without its dedicated employees. We thank you for moving our business and the economy forward. Remember to leverage your development plan to have career discussions with your leader and please share your thoughts on your regular Interaction surveys.
See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All