Hello all i am trying to find any up to date info on becoming a conductor with norfolk southern. I just applied to a conductor position there and am just wondering how long this process could take and how it works. A little about myself i recentlyy got out of the army i am a iraq war veteran and am home with my wife and kids. I have been trying to get a career for a year now i recently got my cdl class a they said that might help me in this field i am wondering why if anyone knows that answer. Again any and all info would be much appreciated.
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well first off thank you for your service. I am glad you are back in good health with your family. Now on to NS, they are the railroad that actually moves quicker than the others as far as hiring goes. That is a good and bad thing. Its good because its quick, its bad because they are a very rough RR to work for. My suggestion would be if CSX is in your area or another railroad like BNSF then go that route. I had a friend that was in the first Iraq war, a veteran and tough dude and he only made it two months with NS, he now moved to the mid west to work for BNSF. Not trying to scare you at all, just giving you what I know. The process with NS usually works quicker so look for a hiring session to be called soon. Good luck to you in your quest.
When you say tough what do you mean??? I have no idea as to what the job consist of so please help me understand. I have csx in my area and i have applied but i have heard they are not that good to work for either????? Thanks in advance.
Miz860 wrote:When you say tough what do you mean??? I have no idea as to what the job consist of so please help me understand. I have csx in my area and i have applied but i have heard they are not that good to work for either????? Thanks in advance.Log into BNSF & register, search for jobs and you will find a job description for freight Conductor
I worked for CSX and they were decent to people, but I wasn't in T&E. We always heard the Southern didn't 'Dick-Around' as far as discipline was concerned but here again it was toward
T&E, all other crafts seemed to make out all right.
T&E, all other crafts seemed to make out all right.
AJLB wrote:I know what the job is about but the way he put it was that the company itself was tough not the job discription. Thanks for the input though.Miz860 wrote:When you say tough what do you mean??? I have no idea as to what the job consist of so please help me understand. I have csx in my area and i have applied but i have heard they are not that good to work for either????? Thanks in advance.Log into BNSF & register, search for jobs and you will find a job description for freight Conductor
I am sure there are exceptions but the general consensus on this and other Forums, seems to be that BNSF are the best for T&E
Yeah what I mean is the company is overly obsessed with safety rules to the point that its hard to stay in service and not get into some sort of trouble. As I said my buddy was in the first Iraq war and he lasted to months. It was a crazy safety situation that i can't explain on here but the company is tough. Again what Freddy said is most likely right, they are only REALLY tough on T&E guys but that is what your going for. I'm not talking you out of anything, just giving you the info I have. I say do it and maybe you'll find you can handle it. Good luck.
OK sorry but what is T&E. I'm guessing it means conductor since that's what I'm going for??????? Do any of you guys know how the freight is in the Philadelphia area.
T&E is train and engine service. I hope I did not steer you away, you may just be OK with NS. Just giving you the inside what I know. CSX is definitely in your area so I would apply to them as well, can't hurt. That way if both call for a hiring session you can get a feel for both companies, you can feel the vibe that both give off. Good luck in your quest.
matawanaberdeen wrote:T&E is train and engine service. I hope I did not steer you away, you may just be OK with NS. Just giving you the inside what I know. CSX is definitely in your area so I would apply to them as well, can't hurt. That way if both call for a hiring session you can get a feel for both companies, you can feel the vibe that both give off. Good luck in your quest.Thank you you didn't steer me away. I am only 25 and the way I see it is that I have a long time ahead of me but I do want to try to get as much knowledge as I can from ppl who are already involved in this field.CSX are not currently hiring in Philadelphia the closest place was northern NJ I applied but it is almost a hour and a half away from my house. Alot of ppl have been saying that if you are in a slow freight market that your first year or 2 will be bad(money wise) because of the extra board or whatever does anyone have any idea on how Philadelphia is in this topic?????
Freddy wrote:I worked for CSX and they were decent to people, but I wasn't in T&E. We always heard the Southern didn't 'Dick-Around' as far as discipline was concerned but here again it was towardI'm a "veteran" of Southern (retired NS), and I can vouch for that. It was, indeed, rough in T & E pre-merger. However, in the shop and clerical crafts, it was more lax and one was not likely to get into trouble. We never even thought of getting 'taken out of service' because it rarely happened. You really had to do something BAD to get ground time. When I went into Line of Road clerks in '81 it was a bit more strict. It was the first time I had ever heard of "run off" insurance, and no clerk would be caught without it. Still, I managed to not get taken out of service---not ONCE. Then the Norfolk and F-ed up Western got mixed up in it, and things really went to pot. When I went BACK to the shops, things had changed and we had a bunch of them riled up Yankees down here off NW, and one could get run off if he LOOKED like he might "do something". They were jealous of Southern because of its innovative and 'different" (and very successful way of doing things) and they HATED us employees. They tried to tell us that NW "rescued" the Southern by merging into NS, which was a bald-faced lie!!! If THAT were true, then WHY was Southern's stock HIGHER than NW at merger. I know! I was IN the Southern's very successful stock purchase and investment plan at merger; it had SPLIT several times while I was in it. NW brought it DOWN some, so this idea of their being the "superior" railroad was bull****!
T&E, all other crafts seemed to make out all right.
Now, NS is a combo of SR and NW discipline all rolled into one. You're right, Freddy: I LIVED under THAT, too, and served my FIRST run-off under NS after almost 20 years in service without a disciplinary action.
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Yea i saw his post but that was about a yard in NJ also he was let go from NS for a undisclosed reason so who knows the truth. I am going to be working out of the king of prussia yard near Philadelphia, PA. Thx for the link though.
NJT TT9801 wrote:Nothing positive about NS.Good luck. The best part of being involved with NS.......................is being RETIRED from it where you don't have to listen to their mouth anymore!
http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopi ... 4#p1002454
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