4.0
Nov 6, 2016
Former employee
Chicago, IL
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook
Pros
The pay is good. For the most part the work is steady if you are in a high volume rail hub like I was. The benefits are some of the best in any industry. The retirement plan is solid. Co-workers were generally easy to work with. I loved my job and wish now that I had never left.
Cons
Feast or famine. If you are on an extra board that is saturated you will work very little. If there is not enough manpower to cover the board, you will live at the yard(s) your board covers. You are at the mercy of management for your job status, but if your union rep is worth anything you can sometimes get around that. Mandatory promotion to locomotive engineer and if you fail any part of the training twice you no longer have a job.