What to expect? Conductor training on BNSF

[conrail_engineer]

When on the extraboard, I typically got more than 80 hours per week.

I don't know how to read his pay stub either...but there's no question the hours are long and the pay better than most jobs.

[conrail_engineer]

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.

http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopi ... &start=150

Read that thread, my exchange with another lady in similar situation.

I don't mean to discourage you, your man, or anyone here - but you need to go into this with your eyes open.

The railroad can provide a GREAT income right out the gate. Enough that many railroad wives are able to not work and care for kids at home.

Balance that...with the fact that your hubby-to-be will be unable to plan or predict ANYTHING. He will essentially be using his own home as a crash pad, coming and going at flaky hours.

Resign yourself to that. Your days of being able to have Friday dinner out, or planning weekend cookouts, are numbered. Those will be limited to vacation days or how much he dares mark off sick.

He will be distant at times - because he's beat into dust. It's not a reflection on you, but on his own exhaustion.

[jz441]

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

Yes it is possible. I have worked 80-90hr weeks on the extra boards. You get used to it, and after a while you don't even feel the fatigue.
Lately I have been working the yard and here it's more like a "normal" job (40 hrs/week).
The trade off is, that there is no money in the yard. I make about 1/2 of what I make on the road.
The good thing is that we can go back and forth.
Lafayette has a small yard, and I hear that work is pretty good there.
Good luck!

[Xponder]

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

This "Job Rating Sheet" is an estimate of what can be expected to earn per
month. The job may earn more or less than the amounts shown.

Those jobs that have a high average number of hours represent jobs that particularly run close to the twelve hours on duty and turn a lot more during the month. You make more money with overtime but they can be a bit more gruelling because you are working longer over the monthly time period. One gets used to the fatigue after awhile though. These are road jobs and the yard jobs are a little closer to working a 40hr week but not as much money per half compared to the road jobs.

[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.

http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopi ... &start=150

Read that thread, my exchange with another lady in similar situation.

I don't mean to discourage you, your man, or anyone here - but you need to go into this with your eyes open.

The railroad can provide a GREAT income right out the gate. Enough that many railroad wives are able to not work and care for kids at home.

Balance that...with the fact that your hubby-to-be will be unable to plan or predict ANYTHING. He will essentially be using his own home as a crash pad, coming and going at flaky hours.

Resign yourself to that. Your days of being able to have Friday dinner out, or planning weekend cookouts, are numbered. Those will be limited to vacation days or how much he dares mark off sick.

He will be distant at times - because he's beat into dust. It's not a reflection on you, but on his own exhaustion.

I can tell the difference already, and he's just in training. However, this is the career he wants to pursue, so I am behind him all the way. I know I will get grouchy at times because of the lack of time we will be able to spend together, and vice versa. It could be a lot worse, and that being him shipped overseas again!!! I will make sure I read the other thread as well. Thanks!

[jz441]

I had a chance talk to the guy that transferred form Lafayette. He said be prepared to be furloughed first few years during the slow season.
Good luck!

[bnsf_girl]

I had a chance talk to the guy that transferred form Lafayette. He said be prepared to be furloughed first few years during the slow season.
Good luck!

Thanks for heads up!

[Xponder]

Does Lafeyette have a 5 year recall agreement? If so, then at Lafeyette, as at other yards, foreshadowing a furlough all the yard personel should get a release which frees them to bid on any job in the BNSF system that their senority will allow. However, that doesn't mean that they are relieved from their recall obligation. This means that though the yard needs people to staff for the availible jobs during busy times the company doesn't need them during lean times. And, though they bid and win a job elsewhere, the company can recall them back to the original hire location at any time. When that happens you have five days to report for duty.

There is a new agreement from BNSF through the UTU which allowed for the establishment of a Worker Retention List board which is better than the OIFR board, the forced reduction board. This new Retention board will pay $1000 per half so that even though he is not working he will still receive a small income for the duration of the furlough. One has to bid to get on the Retention board and be obligated to stay on it for at least 30 days unless recalled sooner. Here, the furlough lasted about one month but the retention board wasn't established until near the end. Later, after the Retention board was established, some people bid to it. Some were on it for only a few days then recalled back to work. Today, there are still a couple of people on the Retention board.

Bottom line, during the slow period, which is generally begins after the New Year until March, be prepared to move around wherever he can hold a job or take the Retention board, if it exists.

Senority means everything!

[git a holt to it]

[bnsf_girl]

Does Lafeyette have a 5 year recall agreement? If so, then at Lafeyette, as at other yards, foreshadowing a furlough all the yard personel should get a release which frees them to bid on any job in the BNSF system that their senority will allow. However, that doesn't mean that they are relieved from their recall obligation. This means that though the yard needs people to staff for the availible jobs during busy times the company doesn't need them during lean times. And, though they bid and win a job elsewhere, the company can recall them back to the original hire location at any time. When that happens you have five days to report for duty.

There is a new agreement from BNSF through the UTU which allowed for the establishment of a Worker Retention List board which is better than the OIFR board, the forced reduction board. This new Retention board will pay $1000 per half so that even though he is not working he will still receive a small income for the duration of the furlough. One has to bid to get on the Retention board and be obligated to stay on it for at least 30 days unless recalled sooner. Here, the furlough lasted about one month but the retention board wasn't established until near the end. Later, after the Retention board was established, some people bid to it. Some were on it for only a few days then recalled back to work. Today, there are still a couple of people on the Retention board.

Bottom line, during the slow period, which is generally begins after the New Year until March, be prepared to move around wherever he can hold a job or take the Retention board, if it exists.

Senority means everything!

To answer you question, yes, in his paper work it said something about the position being a recall position, and that he would have to stay there for at least 5 years, or until someone with less seniority was hired.

[Xponder]

Something that will help drive your husband to self-destruct is the way in which everything on the BNSF seems to be run and is perhaps true of other railroads. You come out of the conductor training with a mind full of rules/regulations along with what little you learned during your very short OJT period and are expected to put it all together as if you had been out there working the past twenty years.

Now, not all crews are going to be hard to work with. Some are very mindful of what little you do know and will go out of their way to show you the right and wrong way to do things. But, others won't say a word! They'll just let you mosy along and screw things up as long as they don't feel personally jepordized in their own security then laugh about you behind your back. They'll expect that, as an example, you should have been over there lining this switch or that switch instead of trying to read your switch list and figure out the order of cars because they knew from experience and you don't know a thing! Then, later on, another crew, the same situation, they'll do things completely different, never say a thing to you and because you are new they'll badger you about why did you lined this or that switch. Then all of them will blame you for slowing things down and ruining their quit!

Everyone is tested and retested at anytime, anywhere. Everybody is always believing, rightfully so, that there is someone looking at them or listening and will fail them on an "ops" test. There are not only the ATM's and other company officials that are required to perform a certain amount of operational testing every week but, there are FRA officials that also will conduct their own test evaluations. So, that means that from day one your husband will have to be aware that he could be watched from the bushes at anytime/anywhere while on the BNSF, failed and fired.

The company runs on a pure paranoidal process supposedly in the name of safety. I tend to believe it is more about micro-management and power plays. Everyone is paranoid! There has been a real push lately for more "ops" testing. I've been tested the last three nights in a row, never even knew they were there! The only indication was a little window that pops up when logging on to the system computer that will let you review your operational test results.

One, can be fired for something as insignificant as failing to put on your safety glasses as you stepped out of the operations building on your way to the taxi that was going to take you to your train. Or, could be a serious violation such as getting on/off moving equipment. Any number of things can get you fired.

But, firings are more like a suspension than a real firing. They'll put you on the cutoff board with out pay for a few days, weeks, or even months! Though, most things are handled by a verbal warning the first few times depending on the seriousness of the violation. But, an "ops" test failure could come back to haunt you later on. Then again, there are true firings!

[Hawko]

Xponder is right. Your husband could easily get fired for a number of reasons. During training, his local chairman will talk about job insurance. This is a policy which will pay money when if someone is fired. There are several groups offering policies. Have your husband ask around about it.

[Xponder]

If you'll remember, I previously said you don't want to miss a call for duty off the Xtra board. Today, I missed my first call in nearly a year. Missed my call by just ten minutes. BNSF crew schedulers do try several times to get ahold of you. However, should you forget to take your cell phone when you left the house and no one is at home or at any of the secondary numbers you programmed, you are marked, condemmed, branded, tatooed, flogged, and sent to the corner with a layoff code EMC.

So, that means you are destined to stay in EMC layoff status for a day or so until a supervisory ATM decides to mark you back up at which point you are placed on the bottom of the Xtra board. I am sure, as paranoia reins, that this goes on your record and won't be erased for several months and also reflects negatively on your availibility standard established by BNSF.

Oh, by the way, you do get a voice mail message to call the crew scheduler. You talk to them and they say you have been placed in a missed call status. What to do next? They don't know, out of their hands. They suggest calling the ATM that they had informed. Calling the ATM they deny any such call from crew scheduling took place but they may investigate. To wit, one is stuck in limbo as no one seems to know anything and you are left at the mercy of the "system".

So, get ready for a crazy system. The Xtra board should be renamed the chaos board because, though you may check multiple times to see when you may go to work there is no guarantee. They can call you at anytime, anywhere for a job that just came up or others layed off in front of you or you have misread the board and assumed a different time later than that published for the next job vacancy. Don't forget you cell phone. Keep it on you at all times and provide good numbers where someone can get ahold of you should you not be conveniently availble and allow a trustworth family member accept the duty call for you.

The other thing is that if you are lucky enough to bid and win a regular job the senority bumps that take place only serve to allow you to keep that job until another employee with greater senority decides they want or need that job, you get bumped off and end up on the bump board. You have 48hrs to bump to another open job, or Xtra board, or anywhere you can hold a job perhaps at another terminal.

At the low end of senority standing this is the normal way of life as senority means everything. The longest I have held a regular job, so far, has been no longer that one week. Usually, a regular job will last just a couple of days with my senority standing. Only four others are lower in senority at my terminal. Such is life on the railroad on the bottom of the senority ocean, lower than whale s***!

Tell your husband_to_be to be careful, be maticulous, careful, and organized.

Good luck!

.

[cifn2]

I had a chance talk to the guy that transferred form Lafayette. He said be prepared to be furloughed first few years during the slow season.
Good luck!

Thanks for heads up!

I used to know a BNSF'er from Meridian MS or that area, I will try and locate him and get him to sign up here and chime in lol

[route_rock]

Little note about getting bumped, those 48 hours if you wait the full time goes against your availability. Not a big deal if you dont get bumped a lot but when your new it can matter if you lay off sick one day and then wham your on the carpet for going above the layoff availability policy.
On your EMC its a day and a half lost pay and thats the amount of time your off the board same as a LOC but EMC is the worst of the two.If your more than 6 out and they call and you dont answer there is not much in the way of disipline as the TM will say" Well no one said the were qualified for the job so we called you at 6 out" Tough stuff you say and call your local chairman. Happens a lot here in my neck of the woods as no one on the road boards likes coming in to the yard.
Know your local rules on who gets called for what job.If you have a yard job lets say and your hubby is on the extra board make sure he is getting called in the right order ( I know its hard for newbies so you have to just ask around) Here for jobs in the yard it goes to the move up board,the rest day board,switchmans xbrd with less than 5 starts, brakie board,conductor road boards,then last but not least the Hostler xbrd first out with no openings for hostler jobs.If hes called out of order, he can timeslip. If he is called and not supposed to be he can claim mishandled call,dont be afraid to put in legit claims. its in the rules so ask your local chair.Alos get the local chairs number. And dont be afraid to call him this is his job as a fellow union brother.
Good luck!