What to expect? Conductor training on BNSF

[bnsf_girl]

Hello,

My soon to be husband is in Condutor Trainee with BNSF. What should I expect after training? Will he be gone often? He mentioned something about "turn & burn". Just want to know what life will be like the GOOD & BAD.

Any words of advice I can pass on to him too, will be appreciated as well.

[U-Haul]

I will start in reverse medical order with the good news.
A good paying union job with benefits and growing business.

I am not enthusiastic about telling this to anyone. He will probably have hit and/or killed someone(s) by the time of retirement. There will some hearing loss as well. A conductor can work only 12 hours at once then he or she has to have (I think) 8 hours of rest.

I wish to be a conductor some day.

[Xponder]

Since I began this past summer as a Conductor for BNSF I can say that the "schedule" is chaotic at best. Should your husband_to_be land on the Xtra board one has to predict when the next turn for a job will be. You may find that he is 4th out and, counting the vacancies, should be going to work at 07:00 the next morning. But, the three in front of him decide to lay off between the time you last checked and the next job vacancy. Then he is first out and the crew caller is calling at 22:29 for a 23:59 job when you thought he was going to work at 07:00 the next morning. Can't refuse the job though! Be prepared to have a cell phone permanetly attached to him! Don't want to miss a call for duty.

If the yard is extra busy spending time at home is going to be a luxury. One may get on a job that happens to last the legal 12 hours. The rest period starts at the time one ties up. So, that drive home doesn't count. And, just 8 hours later, he is deemed rested. They're calling again for another tour of duty at the end of the rest period, a double out.

One may be lucky enough to hold a regular job but, at the low end of the seniorty list one only finds lousy jobs that no one else wants such as those that start at 22:30 or 23:59 and generally run more than 8 hours because of the work, lots of overtime.

On the road, the turns seem to be more predictable. But, it is just the same chaos. One may find that their trip lasts the 12 hours then tie up and get to the hotel for the stay away from the home terminal. One gets just 12 hours off away from the home terminal but you get 18 hours at home. But, the turn board, or chain gang, is the same in_order list that has the crew caller bugging you at odd times.

This time of year, it is slow. Haven't worked for ten days because of bumps or job discontinuances. Worked this past two weeks an average of two days because of the regular road conductors and engineers coming back into the yard and bumping all of us low senority people off. A few are on the layoff in force board, can't hold a job nor the Xtra board. The Xtra boards are usually a guarantee board which means, though one is not working you still get a minimum guaranteed wage per half which differs per locality. Business should be picking up by this coming March.

The pay is good but the chaos of when to work or how long to be on the job is generaly unpredictable. It is a life that takes a lot of getting used to!

[git a holt to it]

Hello,

My soon to be husband is in Condutor Trainee with BNSF. What should I expect after training? Will he be gone often? He mentioned something about "turn & burn". Just want to know what life will be like the GOOD & BAD.

Any words of advice I can pass on to him too, will be appreciated as well.

where did he hire out?

[bnsf_girl]

Lafayatte, LA

[git a holt to it]

Lafayatte, LA

ROAD POOLS
LAL-AVO ENGRS POOL 01 $8,065.67 425.84 hrs 18.94 per hour
LAL-AVO CONDRS POOL 03 $7,789.59 442.20 17.62

LOCALS, ROADSWITCHERS & ASSIGNED WORK
LAL 1831 - R-GFC3111 OD 0030 WEST BOUND 01 $9,829.45 480.43 20.46
LAL 8102 - RGFC3131 OD 1500 AVONDALE 01 $6,954.35 307.41 22.62

LAL 1831 - R-GFC3111 OD 0030 WEST BOUND 03 $9,740.96 494.02 19.72
LAL 8102 - RGFC3131 OD 1500 AVONDALE 03 $6,663.09 304.78 21.86

LAL 1831 - R-GFC3111 OD 0030 WEST BOUND 05 $9,320.22 502.70 18.54
LAL 8102 - RGFC3131 OD 1500 AVONDALE 05 $6,295.98 316.11 19.92

EXTRA BOARDS
LAF (E)ENGR XTBD 01 $6,955.10 328.03 21.20

LAF (E)COND. XTB 03 $6,854.20 272.00 25.20

LAF SWMN XBD 14 $4,361.66 176.00 24.78
You can expect more money in the bank and less time with your hubby. Average monthly wages

[bnsf_girl]

Lafayatte, LA

------------------------------------------------ -- --------- --------- ------
** ROAD POOLS **
LAL-AVO ENGRS POOL 01 8,065.67 425.84 18.94

LAL-AVO CONDRS POOL 03 7,789.59 442.20 17.62

** LOCALS, ROADSWITCHERS & ASSIGNED WORK **
LAL 1831 - R-GFC3111 OD 0030 WEST BOUND 01 9,829.45 480.43 20.46
LAL 8102 - RGFC3131 OD 1500 AVONDALE 01 6,954.35 307.41 22.62

LAL 1831 - R-GFC3111 OD 0030 WEST BOUND 03 9,740.96 494.02 19.72
LAL 8102 - RGFC3131 OD 1500 AVONDALE 03 6,663.09 304.78 21.86

LAL 1831 - R-GFC3111 OD 0030 WEST BOUND 05 9,320.22 502.70 18.54
LAL 8102 - RGFC3131 OD 1500 AVONDALE 05 6,295.98 316.11 19.92

** EXTRA BOARDS **
LAF (E)ENGR XTBD 01 6,955.10 328.03 21.20

LAF (E)COND. XTB 03 6,854.20 272.00 25.20

LAF SWMN XBD 14 4,361.66 176.00 24.78
You can expect more money in the bank and less time with your hubby.

I have no idea what all that means, but I assume your last statement sums it up, LOL...

[TankerGoinRail]

Care to break those down? just trying to figure out what it all means......Thanks!

[GOLDEN-ARM]

I will start in reverse medical order with the good news.
A good paying union job with benefits and growing business.

I am not enthusiastic about telling this to anyone. He will probably have hit and/or killed someone(s) by the time of retirement. There will some hearing loss as well. A conductor can work only 12 hours at once then he or she has to have (I think) 8 hours of rest.

I wish to be a conductor some day.

Pay no attention to this response, stick to replies from railroaders, who can give you answers based on facts, not wild, mindless guesses. Spend some time reading the posts, in the employment forum, you will get some sound ideas, about the reality of the lifestyle of a railroad career.......

[git a holt to it]

Care to break those down? just trying to figure out what it all means......Thanks!

LAL 1831 is the job number, LAL is short for Laffayette LA. job number 1831.

R-GFC3111 is the train symbol R=Roadswitcher, GFC=Gulf Coast Division, 3111= Train 3111, OD= On Duty, 01= Engineer 03= Conductor, 05= Brakeman

[bnsf_girl]

I will start in reverse medical order with the good news.
A good paying union job with benefits and growing business.

I am not enthusiastic about telling this to anyone. He will probably have hit and/or killed someone(s) by the time of retirement. There will some hearing loss as well. A conductor can work only 12 hours at once then he or she has to have (I think) 8 hours of rest.

I wish to be a conductor some day.

Pay no attention to this response, stick to replies from railroaders, who can give you answers based on facts, not wild, mindless guesses. Spend some time reading the posts, in the employment forum, you will get some sound ideas, about the reality of the lifestyle of a railroad career.......

Oh I didn't. Thanks for the advice.

[CSX-COAL HAULER]

I wish to be a conductor some day.

Please don't listen to clowns like this----read all the information that you can and you can quickly figure out who is giving good advise----then send them a PM to ask detail questions that you want answered. Good luck

[Komachi]

This is why I haven't chimed in here. I've only read/heard what the job is like but have never "walked the walk." I'll respectfully leave the words of wisdom to those who have "been there, done that."

I would encourage others to do the same.

[CSX-COAL HAULER]

I will start in reverse medical order with the good news.
A good paying union job with benefits and growing business.

I am not enthusiastic about telling this to anyone. He will probably have hit and/or killed someone(s) by the time of retirement. There will some hearing loss as well. A conductor can work only 12 hours at once then he or she has to have (I think) 8 hours of rest.

I wish to be a conductor some day.

Let's see-if you drive a u-haul for 150 miles a day for 5 days a week and do that 50 weeks a year------that is about 37,500 miles a year. If you do that for 30 years --you will have driven that U-HAUL over 1,125,000 miles----you think somebody might pull in front of you in all those miles? I am not enthusiastic about telling you this---but comment on things
that you have a little knowledge on.

[enjoythesilence]

Lafayatte, LA

ROAD POOLS
LAL-AVO ENGRS POOL 01 $8,065.67 425.84 hrs 18.94 per hour
LAL-AVO CONDRS POOL 03 $7,789.59 442.20 17.62

LOCALS, ROADSWITCHERS & ASSIGNED WORK
LAL 1831 - R-GFC3111 OD 0030 WEST BOUND 01 $9,829.45 480.43 20.46
LAL 8102 - RGFC3131 OD 1500 AVONDALE 01 $6,954.35 307.41 22.62

LAL 1831 - R-GFC3111 OD 0030 WEST BOUND 03 $9,740.96 494.02 19.72
LAL 8102 - RGFC3131 OD 1500 AVONDALE 03 $6,663.09 304.78 21.86

LAL 1831 - R-GFC3111 OD 0030 WEST BOUND 05 $9,320.22 502.70 18.54
LAL 8102 - RGFC3131 OD 1500 AVONDALE 05 $6,295.98 316.11 19.92

EXTRA BOARDS
LAF (E)ENGR XTBD 01 $6,955.10 328.03 21.20

LAF (E)COND. XTB 03 $6,854.20 272.00 25.20

LAF SWMN XBD 14 $4,361.66 176.00 24.78
You can expect more money in the bank and less time with your hubby. Average monthly wages

Those hours you have are for one months of work? Is that even possible? That one appears to be over 500 hours? Or am I reading this wrong