Just an observation from someone who's been out here for a while, don't ever count on the "guarantee" pay. Everything on the railroad goes in cycles and right now we are in the part of the cycle that if you stay marked up you can make as much money as you want. The only way you are going to be in the pay range that guarantee would be applicable is if you marked off multiple times during the half, which in turn would make you ineligible to draw guarantee. I talked to a conductor the other day who just got his first year behind him and he's making $4500 a half because he doesn't mark off and answers the phone when the caller calls. Think he's worried about "guarantee"? When trains are waiting on crews, you can write your own check. A time will come when it's the other way around and your paycheck will reflect it. The extra boards won't turn as quickly because guys on regular jobs won't be marking off and fewer extra's and guarantee might come into play. When NS starts paying guarantee regularly, I can give you another guarantee, they're about to furlough some conductors. That's also part of the 5 year cycle the RR's go through. My biggest piece of advice for new conductors, especially now when they can make as much money as they want, is make that money and save half of what you make until you have enough saved to live off of for a year because it's not IF but When you get furloughed. Don't go out and tie yourself down with a big car note and house note that you can't afford if the boards slow down, wait until you've got some years under your belt and you can weather a slow period. Typically you should be pretty safe after about 5-7 years, but every territory is different. Just an observation, but there's a lot of us out here that have been through these cycles multiple times that have a side hustle, some flip houses or have rentals, some build fences or do pressure washing, but there are plenty of things you can do to help make your income more stable and yourself more resilient to the ebbs and flows of the railroad.
really good comment... i hired on with the chicago and northwestern back in 93, the oldheads i worked with hired on in the mid 50s, 60s and 70s and they also went through being laid off/furloughed... they also had side jobs when they got furloughed... one old guy told me he was off back in the early 70s for about a year or so, he got a job as a truck driver... then all of a sudden from out of the blue the crew caller called asked him if he wanted to mark back up... he did but some guys didn't... they were frustrated about the seesaw working/not working merry go 'round so they bailed... i imagine a LOT of guys have bailed lately over the past few years as well... the younger millennials of today have really decent money making endeavors well beyond railroading... i see guys with youtube channels making 90K/year on just making goofy vids or even train vids (the irony there LOL) so it's easy for those younger guys to quit and start a social media account and make decent cash... only problem there is that there's no retirement program off of making YT vids so that is something they will have to address at some point
I work at CN and our guarantee is like 2300 a week I think for conductors - and that’s right off the street as soon as you are marked up - no step Program
Here is the problem I have with how you describe wages for the conductor. True there is a guarantee if you stay marked up. But also true is that all yards and territories are not created equal. So you can have a busy yard with lots and lots of turns and be very active and make lots of money. Then you could have a yard with not so many turns then you can expect to make guarantee or less if you have to mark off for anything if you want to factor in things like job insurance being a cost of doing business. I have a relative who if everything holds is on track to make $180,000 for the year. At my location I will probably only make 60. Just one line of of their terminal has more traffic then all traffic coming through mine.
I believe we spoke on TIKTOK or FB a little while ago. Thanks for the input and I did a designated video to provide some additional clarity! Wishing you the best on you new career wherever life takes you. Sorry that the RR didn't work out but I am happy that you gave yourself the opportunity to try it and determine if it was right for you and your family. Unfortunately it wasn't and it isn't for everyone. There is a reason they pay a spousal pension to your partner if you've been married for at least ten years. This job doesn't work without their support and every class 1 knows that. Have a good one! - Kurtis
I just interviewed with bnsf and heard back 2 days later they didnt choose me, im pretty sure the staff is just interviewing to get a paycheck at this point, i probably would of been immediately furloughed so its all good.
Hi, so I am here at training right now. An everyone seams to be all over the place as to what to study. Is it the Elearning or is question mark that is the test we have to dril into remember? There are other RR people in here to an people are confused to which area we really need to focus. We understand we need to know it all. Any help or friendly advice would be really great. Thanks keep up the good work on your channels.
To get through the tests, pounding the practice tests 1,2 &3 will get your through the comprehensive test. The questions and answers on the practice test for comprehensive are EXACTLY the same on the final. Word for word. I’d take a round of practice tests at least once a day and more often as you head into week three. Eventually you’ll answer the question with out reading the whole question. There are less than 300 total questions in the test bank for comprehensive. If you take the practice tests often enough you eventually see all of them. To really nail down the signals, do the E-Learning so that you can fully understand signal progression and WHY the light is lit and not just THAT it’s lit. When taking the practice signals exam only take the “names” test in QUESTIONMARK for the first week and a half. Then take the indications test until you start scoring over 90%. Then take nothing but the mix test until week three. Once you understand names and signal progression it gets really easy. If you can name the light most times context clues will give you the answer. The final will also show you multiple versions of the same light. For example they will show you photos of the “High Mast Clear”, “The Position Signal Clear” and the “Dwarf Clear” and then ask what is the name of this signal(multiple choice) or it will ask what is the indication for a clear signal(multiple choice) Proceed at Authorized Speed. Hazmat is going to be open book and you only need a 76% to pass. If you nail down the switching chart and the position in train chart you are golden👍🏻There is a video earlier in my channel about HM1. I’m holding the book up in the thumbnail. Their will also be a practice test for hazmat. Best of luck and make sure you let me know if you are getting stuck on something and I’ll try to do a video on it.
Hi, another new CT here . We are getting ready to do our hands on evals with it being week three. If have the time can you describe what we will need to do exactly. Thanks love the content
They need a larger demographic to pull candidates from and folks without a HD or GED likely have significant work experience because they started working at young age to support themselves or their family. The RR offers a lot of benefits that are appealing to that type of candidate like pension, health care, ground up training, and a higher than usual starting salary for someone without a formal education. They are also finding that folks with excessive education accolades come with a sense of entitlement and tend to quit far more often than someone who needs to be there. right or wrong that's what the data shows.
![ILLSLICK - WINTER IS COMING [Official Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/dwTMeM1zIhQ/mqdefault.jpg)
Just an observation from someone who's been out here for a while, don't ever count on the "guarantee" pay. Everything on the railroad goes in cycles and right now we are in the part of the cycle that if you stay marked up you can make as much money as you want. The only way you are going to be in the pay range that guarantee would be applicable is if you marked off multiple times during the half, which in turn would make you ineligible to draw guarantee. I talked to a conductor the other day who just got his first year behind him and he's making $4500 a half because he doesn't mark off and answers the phone when the caller calls. Think he's worried about "guarantee"? When trains are waiting on crews, you can write your own check. A time will come when it's the other way around and your paycheck will reflect it. The extra boards won't turn as quickly because guys on regular jobs won't be marking off and fewer extra's and guarantee might come into play. When NS starts paying guarantee regularly, I can give you another guarantee, they're about to furlough some conductors. That's also part of the 5 year cycle the RR's go through. My biggest piece of advice for new conductors, especially now when they can make as much money as they want, is make that money and save half of what you make until you have enough saved to live off of for a year because it's not IF but When you get furloughed. Don't go out and tie yourself down with a big car note and house note that you can't afford if the boards slow down, wait until you've got some years under your belt and you can weather a slow period. Typically you should be pretty safe after about 5-7 years, but every territory is different. Just an observation, but there's a lot of us out here that have been through these cycles multiple times that have a side hustle, some flip houses or have rentals, some build fences or do pressure washing, but there are plenty of things you can do to help make your income more stable and yourself more resilient to the ebbs and flows of the railroad.
Yes Sir....if you are collecting the guarantee you should expect to collect unemployment shortly after that
really good comment... i hired on with the chicago and northwestern back in 93, the oldheads i worked with hired on in the mid 50s, 60s and 70s and they also went through being laid off/furloughed... they also had side jobs when they got furloughed... one old guy told me he was off back in the early 70s for about a year or so, he got a job as a truck driver... then all of a sudden from out of the blue the crew caller called asked him if he wanted to mark back up... he did but some guys didn't... they were frustrated about the seesaw working/not working merry go 'round so they bailed... i imagine a LOT of guys have bailed lately over the past few years as well... the younger millennials of today have really decent money making endeavors well beyond railroading... i see guys with youtube channels making 90K/year on just making goofy vids or even train vids (the irony there LOL) so it's easy for those younger guys to quit and start a social media account and make decent cash... only problem there is that there's no retirement program off of making YT vids so that is something they will have to address at some point
What do you mean by $4,500 a half?
@@757Silverback 4500 every two weeks
I work at CN and our guarantee is like 2300 a week I think for conductors - and that’s right off the street as soon as you are marked up - no step
Program
Here is the problem I have with how you describe wages for the conductor. True there is a guarantee if you stay marked up. But also true is that all yards and territories are not created equal. So you can have a busy yard with lots and lots of turns and be very active and make lots of money. Then you could have a yard with not so many turns then you can expect to make guarantee or less if you have to mark off for anything if you want to factor in things like job insurance being a cost of doing business. I have a relative who if everything holds is on track to make $180,000 for the year. At my location I will probably only make 60. Just one line of of their terminal has more traffic then all traffic coming through mine.
I believe we spoke on TIKTOK or FB a little while ago. Thanks for the input and I did a designated video to provide some additional clarity! Wishing you the best on you new career wherever life takes you. Sorry that the RR didn't work out but I am happy that you gave yourself the opportunity to try it and determine if it was right for you and your family. Unfortunately it wasn't and it isn't for everyone. There is a reason they pay a spousal pension to your partner if you've been married for at least ten years. This job doesn't work without their support and every class 1 knows that. Have a good one! - Kurtis
Only 50k to 60k hell I’ll take that over a McDonald’s pay anyday lol
Right?! lol
How they treating you my guy stay safe out there
How much more money does a CSX conductor make compared to a Norfolk Southern conductor currently?
I just interviewed with bnsf and heard back 2 days later they didnt choose me, im pretty sure the staff is just interviewing to get a paycheck at this point, i probably would of been immediately furloughed so its all good.
Hi, so I am here at training right now. An everyone seams to be all over the place as to what to study. Is it the Elearning or is question mark that is the test we have to dril into remember? There are other RR people in here to an people are confused to which area we really need to focus. We understand we need to know it all. Any help or friendly advice would be really great. Thanks keep up the good work on your channels.
To get through the tests, pounding the practice tests 1,2 &3 will get your through the comprehensive test. The questions and answers on the practice test for comprehensive are EXACTLY the same on the final. Word for word. I’d take a round of practice tests at least once a day and more often as you head into week three. Eventually you’ll answer the question with out reading the whole question. There are less than 300 total questions in the test bank for comprehensive. If you take the practice tests often enough you eventually see all of them. To really nail down the signals, do the E-Learning so that you can fully understand signal progression and WHY the light is lit and not just THAT it’s lit. When taking the practice signals exam only take the “names” test in QUESTIONMARK for the first week and a half. Then take the indications test until you start scoring over 90%. Then take nothing but the mix test until week three. Once you understand names and signal progression it gets really easy. If you can name the light most times context clues will give you the answer. The final will also show you multiple versions of the same light. For example they will show you photos of the “High Mast Clear”, “The Position Signal Clear” and the “Dwarf Clear” and then ask what is the name of this signal(multiple choice) or it will ask what is the indication for a clear signal(multiple choice) Proceed at Authorized Speed. Hazmat is going to be open book and you only need a 76% to pass. If you nail down the switching chart and the position in train chart you are golden👍🏻There is a video earlier in my channel about HM1. I’m holding the book up in the thumbnail. Their will also be a practice test for hazmat. Best of luck and make sure you let me know if you are getting stuck on something and I’ll try to do a video on it.
@@KurtisCharlton Thank you very much for the info. I'll share the information with the guys in the group thanks again 👍.
Hi, another new CT here . We are getting ready to do our hands on evals with it being week three. If have the time can you describe what we will need to do exactly. Thanks love the content
Is the testing conducted at the school in GA? Is it hard?
@@marjankozovski2763 it's a combination style of learning. What signal system do you have
Why is CSX not Requiring a high school diploma or a GED
They need a larger demographic to pull candidates from and folks without a HD or GED likely have significant work experience because they started working at young age to support themselves or their family. The RR offers a lot of benefits that are appealing to that type of candidate like pension, health care, ground up training, and a higher than usual starting salary for someone without a formal education. They are also finding that folks with excessive education accolades come with a sense of entitlement and tend to quit far more often than someone who needs to be there. right or wrong that's what the data shows.
They can boss them around more because they know their options are limited.