How much do conductors make & training pay | Railroad Life
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- Опубликовано: 7 янв 2022
- How much money do we actually make? This is by far the most asked question ever. The answer varies because the jobs vary. The pay during training is far different than when you mark up and join the rest of the crews. I cover this topic and a bit more. To answer one big one: yes, you can make six figures with some companies as a railroad conductor.
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This channel for entertainment purposes only. We simply share our thoughts, opinions, and experiences about the railroad and railroad industry and full time rv life. We encourage everyone to do their own research and make your own decisions. Any paid endorsements will be clearly stated. I am an employee of BNSF Railway Company. The thoughts and opinions expressed are mine and do not necessarily represent the views of BNSF. I am not an official representative for the company nor do I speak on their behalf.
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Thanks for sharing your knowledge for me to use as I am very determined in becoming a train engineer plus one subscriber
Awesome and New subscriber
Great information. I’ve always wanted to work on a train. Now may be the right time. No wife, kids are grown and I live in my RV.
Go for it!
That's a perfect situation❗
If you work at the RR, it’s better not to own a house. Great job but you gotta be ready to move at any time.
Excellent video, thanks for sharing, how is the interview questions look like, thank you.
Great info!
Glad it was helpful!
loving these videos. I see you becoming huge on RUclips soon. Thanks for replying to the comments! I have another question, I'm nervous about the training pay. Do you get paid bi weekly? I don't want to miss a mortgage payment lol.
get paid twice a month like clock work. oh and the check has never bounced =)
I’m an electrician in the US Navy. Today is my last day serving for 9 years. I applied for Conductor Trainee at BNSF in Enid, Oklahoma. I’m praying to God that they hire me for the position. Good video brother, very well presented. 👍🏿
Congrats brother on your time in the Navy and moving on. Enid is a good place to cut your teeth at for a new hire. Some good folks up there. I was on the JFK as an AO. Welcome back to civilian life =)
Get your medical records straight and VA percentage started . You’ll be sitting pretty. Take some time for your transition. I tried school right out the army and felt overwhelmed lol (wtf are theses civilians talking about? I felt out of place) but congrats on everything. 🇺🇸
Apply to the oilfield, way more money
@@titoh.9461 what's your job in oilfield? I ran sandbox In 2018. You in west or south
@@taywilcox1374 frac operator all over texas
I just passed the test battery for UP hopefully I’ll get an interview 😊
Do you have some tips on how to prepare the resume.
Conductor guarantee for North Southern is 2358 every half before taxes
If you do a road train and it pays by trip rate what happens if you “die” on hours short of completing trip. Will you be paid full trip rate?
They get paid big bucks!!!
Can you point me toward that 5100 extraboard, im on a 3000 board a half currently lol
I work a yard extra board, we cover yard jobs that take day off... my guarantee income is 160k... yes, it pays well... but the employee holding the jobs we cover make around 84 to 90 k per year
I left BNSF a couple months back I hope it works out for you man I left the Phoenix location in June
So the pay is pretty good but the shifts are not "regular". If you are ok with being in a flexible schedule then this could be a great job for you? And it sounds like you can make a very good living if you stick with it and are ok with being away from home for stretches at a time. Makes the RV life make a lot of sense!
pay varies with each railroad. definately not a regular type job
How are you feeling with the new attendance policy? Northwest is hurting and rightfully so.
Excellent video! Could you go over the conductor training for BNSF and your experience with it? I know you talked about it on previous video a bit. Looks like knowing what all the signals are 100% is a big one. Thanks for the content!
Sure can I’ll make some videos and go over that more. Signals is the one test you have to pass with 💯 and rightly so. If you don’t know you’re signals you’re going to get yourself and probably others fired or worse killed.
@@RailsTailsandTrailsfor sure! Safety is the number one priority! Appreciate it.
@@trainstrucksguns8294 gotta love it! A convo between Rails Trails and Tails with Trains Trucks and Guns. Lol 😆
Are you able to get a steady yard job?
Hey bro thanks for your video. Can you elaborate more on how a week goes. Say your based out of a city. Are you gone one or two weeks at a time then get days off? Thanks
Yes I will
I live in Tulsa Oklahoma and I’ve been a engineer for about 2 years now and I work for the BNSF Cherokee yard in Tulsa and it’s a pretty good pay on which class 1 railroad you wanna do but that pays off a lot of time from ur house and if u are a deep sleeper that can’t wake up to anything like me ur kinda screwed in a way but anyway Cherokee yard is the not best rail yard to apply at but also it’s a good rail yard but also for for high paying jobs like bnsf Union Pacific etc etc it’s mainly paying off holidays as in Christmas u might get a call thanks giving u might get a call ur birthday u might get a call but also for me every time I would get a call on my birthday like my last birthday I turned 23 and it’s kinda disappointing but that retirement gets paid off now I’m Indian so I get free and good health care but for retirement it will be good for the railroad if u work for 35 years they want u young like to start off at 18 or 20 cuz they want u for 35 to 40 years on the rail road but my dads dad got cancer from working for the railroad in 2000 from welding and breathing in all kinds of shit as in metal chemicals but safety is top priority if u apply as engineer u won’t have to worry as much if u hit somebody with the train or a car cuz that’s mostly on the conductor since he runs it but still that doesn’t mean shit cuz safety still matters either way if ur a psycho or on drugs as in cocaine meth weed etc etc they don’t want u as long as ur smart young no record ur good to go for 40 years now the bad part if ur 30 tryna apply they will hire u but they really wouldn’t prefer it cuz ur not gonna last a while but also there’s not a comparison of getting paid more by if ur conductor ground guy or etc etc it’s not happening u get paid what u get paid don’t act like. A birch that’s it
Now if we’re talking Cherokee yard in downtown there’s a lot of crack heads going up in there it’s funny af
I just got hired on in Phoenix as a conductor quick question i heard you talk about yard jobs they pay less but you get more of a consistent schedule can you request to primarily be a yard conductor or do you not have a choice ?
You hold what your seniority allows. The longer you’re working for the company the better your seniority gets. Everything revolves around seniority and as a new conductor you get what you get
Thankyou I truly appreciate it one more question when you go through training is everyone sent to Kansas City for training or do you train in your city where you report to work ?
@@zacklopez2647 typically the terminal you hired out. When you get accepted to engine class you’re sent to KC
Depending on how large the terminal is, good luck getting on a yard job unless you got 10-15 yrs
I just got hired on at the Phoenix terminal. How are you liking it?
What’s the process to become a train 🚊 conducter ? Can anybody do it
Hello, I just received a conditional job offer today at BNSF. I’ll be working out of la crosse wi. What do you think about the la crosse wi terminal, is a good place to work?
I personally liked the terminal there and the crews
Thank you for the content. If I have a conditional job offer as a primary recall in my very own City after training and I guarantee to be a conductor in my city because the application reflects this or will they change this up on me?
What company are you with? Primary recall just means that they can recall you from where ever you're at, at any time, with little to no notice for X amount of years. I don't know of any class 1 that guarantee's you work in a particular city. Everything is seniority based. If you don't have the seniority to hold, you don't work.
@@RailsTailsandTrails BNSF. What confuses me was that the application says location El Paso, TX primary recall conductor. I need to stay in El Paso and that's what I'm worried about might change.
@@a.r.h7087 Unless something is special there you will train there and that will be your home terminal. You'll be able to work there as long as there's a spot you can hold with your seniority. If you can't hold you'll either be furloughed or have to chase work.
@@a.r.h7087 so what happened?
@@a.r.h7087any update?
Great videos but I think you should explain what “extra boards” are “half’s” are etc. explain in layman terms vs using train lingo that most of us have no idea what they mean
Also. How long have you been employed now by BNSF
Been on 4 years and more than happy to cover the extra board break down
@@RailsTailsandTrails appreciate it!
Question does a DUI stop you from being a freight conductor if your license is still valid?
Not aure
DUI and Substance abuse violation is auto rejection by the FRA and all Government agencies in " Safety Sensitive" Position.
I wouldn't apply unless that's removed from your MVR.
I’m a new hire conductor graduated end of march im making about 6 to 6.5k a half at bnsf working the pool but that’s not booking rest or laying off just smart resting. Able to do 16 starts a half
Where are you located and what company cause Chicago bnsf is 3400 a half starting
@@joshuanavarro2734 I work out of alliance NE that’s what I’m making straight out of class
Lol, I make that waiting tables part time.
Does the BNSF still have the pay scale where you don't make 100 percent till after 5 years of service with new hire conductors..???
Productivity pay is the only way to go....
That's correct. They still have the step rate for new hires over the first 5 years
Cp is starting at 100k a year
Is the BN still system wide senority?
for the most part except the very northern most territory.
Do BNSF Conductors get paid monthly, every two weeks, bi-weekly, or weekly? Thank you
Every Two Weeks. 10th and 25th
Thanks. I applied to be a part of the conductor trainee program up here in Spokane. Been watching your videos and am excited to hopefully join the railroad! Thanks for the videos
I saw an announcement today that Conductor Trainees at BNSF start at $194.11/day and can make 60,000 a 80k/year. So are conductors paid a daily rate, an hourly rate or a trip/mileage rate? I know you touched on all of these in the video I’m just confused about trip rates vs daily rates, etc.
you have two rates of pay, yard rate and road rate... yard rate is always the highest rate of pay (hourly)... so within yard service from highest rate of pay to lowest you have transfer jobs, hump foreman, footboard yard master, one man job (foreman only), two man job (foreman/helper)... the helper on a two man "foreman/helper" yard job is the lowest rate of yard pay... you also have RCL pay which i have no idea how much that pays, they didn't have RCL when i resigned... on the road you have from highest pay to lowest pay (pay is mileage based), road switcher, wayfreight, through freight then with in that there is conductor only then there's a 1+1 meaning a conductor and a brakeman with the brakeman on a through freight being the absolute lowest rate of pay between road and yard combined... and even then there can be differences in pay even between two through freights... for example assume there's a daily pool turn through freight(manifest) ordered at the same time every day (btw that is rare to have a pool turn manifest freight ordered at the same time every day but it does happen sometimes) so in this example, it is always the designated "wayfreight" to switch the online customers, the crew that works that train gets a bump in pay to wayfreight rate vs another crew who catches say a coal train... coal trains NEVER do any wayfreight work so they always get a basic days pay (usually)... also in the yard pay is different according to the hours certain yard jobs keep... some yard jobs are just 8 hrs others are 12 hrs every day, others are quit jobs but it really depends on the work load of your yard... lastly there are differences in pay even amongst your fellow co workers... this usually occurs with merger employees who were merged into the company... for example i hired on with the chicago and northwestern in 1993, UP took over in 1995, CNW pay was higher than UP pay so my pay was sometimes $20.00/day higher than and another switchman who hired on after the merger who works the same pay rated job i do... so for you new hires don't be surprised if your fellow co worker is getting a little more cash than you for working the same pay rated job
You make around 1700.00 every two weeks in training. Once you start your job tier 1 tier 2 then federal union dues 250 a month heath insurance 250.
@@philipprogers2225 thank you Phillipp
Conductors at the BNSF getting full rate pay are making $135,000-$150,000 a year.
That's highly dependent on where you work and how much.
@@RailsTailsandTrails There are alot of areas making that on the BN!
@@RailsTailsandTrails BN has combo extra board some jobs were making $1,600 a day
How long are you actually away from home?
Lots of variables in that but on averageabout 2.5 to 3
Great info, if you ever want to get into travel industrial construction , hit us up.
I'll keep that in mind guys! Thanks for coming by =)
Namaste sir can i become locomotive engineer directly
What are the steps needed to become an Engineer?
Become a conductor and then apply for an engine class and get accepted based on your seniority
Also... this video says 60k to 80k annually... I made over 60k my first-year..that was 20 years ago!!.. and, new hires were paid a 50k hire on bonus in 2023...
an updated vid for 2024
Worst decision I've made to date is working for FNBS
uh oh... why do you say that?
@25mfd
take home pay is not very good at all compared to cost of living
The hours are crap
Furloughed for years
Lowest seniority in the division
New attendance policy is the cherry on top
Alot of people are quiting
@@evergreenstateelite9046 yea i hired on as a switchman back in 93 with the chicago and northwestern... hung around for 10 years then resigned right around the time they were starting remote control loco ops... so yea i dealt with two things you listed, crap hours and low seniority ... as a new hire i was getting bounced all over the place got old FAST... didn't struggle with low/no seniority for too long though, a lot of the guys that were ahead of me were super old (about 15 of them hired on in the mid 50s thru the late 60s) so they were retiring or getting sick/ill as i was hiring on so i moved up the roster pretty fast... but overall it was a ROCKY transition for me getting used to rail life... i did like it a lot but was worried about job security when they started taking helpers off the jobs and then the remote locos came and so i got outta there so yea i certainly feel what you're saying
@@evergreenstateelite9046 I just completed my assessment and waiting for the call..can you elaborate some more please
@@marcromero9181 I can elaborate for him. I remember walking into the washroom of our booking in/booking out room in the station of my home terminal that was used exclusively by the train crews. On the wall one of the employees had written: "This isn't a job - it's a jail sentence" That was about '95 or so. And things haven't got any better since! Is that elaboration enough?
I didn’t finished the video, your voice hurts my ears lol
"I didn't finished the video" LOL You fail at trying to be an internet badass.
@@RailsTailsandTrails lmaoooo love it😂
Just turn your volume down bud😁
well this video was done quite a bit ago. Have since upgraded my audio and video equipment.
@@RailsTailsandTrails i didnt have a problem with it lol. The original commentor mustve had headphones in full volume or something lol. Great content though man, keep it up.
This guy sounds like he hasn't had sleep in years. Boring presentation.
Thanks for the feed back. I'm a railroader so sleep deprivation is part of the job description lol
@@RailsTailsandTrails The actual medical term is; Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Enjoy your career! lol