Big company with no concern for the employees they hire. Recently hired thousands of conductors they did not need. Company knew these people were displacing their lives completely for no job after graduation. So this company knowingly allowed families to quite there jobs, sell there houses, relocation expenses, displacing children, new schools, just to graduate conductor training and not have a job. AND, THEY DID THIS TO SEVERAL THOUSAND. The union reps are not concerned with the upcoming work force, only benefitting the older employees on their way out. They recently tried to push through a contract with the company that would have eliminated conductors altogether and made the country unsafe by leaving a lone engineer to ensure safety for a tiring 12 hour shift. The safety attitude is to make every possible thing that can go wrong a rule violation or simply advise you not to step into an unseen accident, so its not their fault because they told you not to. They use every unseen accident and death no matter how peculiar or odd as the next example of how they are not responsible for you, because you were warned. The workforce has an elitest mentality and are about 50% unfriendly to new employees offering little advice. Work schedule is abhorrent as you'll never have time for family or events again. Lay offs and furloughs are frequent and often last years. Equipment is maintained just good enough to operate, barely. Locomotives are literally ran until they explode. I've seen th
I've been here several years. Work in a shop and it is seniority driven which means you will have a bad schedule and will be at the bottom of the seniority list which is understandable you must put in your time.
Company- Good solid company to work for.
Work life balance - Out the door for a while
Hours - Not so good/Bad until you build senority
Pay- Good (62k+ yr) average 73K (Mechanical Dept)
Benefits- Good
Union- Yes
Working Conditions- Its loud, dirty, hands on, will work in all weather conditions. Company provides a lot of the gear needed to work in different inclement weather they "try" could do a little better but can't have it all. Working in a shop you can work indoors/outdoors.
Pension/Retirement- Yes once you retire your spouse also receives pension from the rail road since they take out of your check tier1 and tier2 (ex: you retire and take in 3k a month, then your spouse will get an additional 1.5k) on top of your 3k.
Shop environment- Enjoyable in regards to some bad apples and some pet foremans that's everywhere though. Overal its pretty chill. Safety 1st.
Foreman support- Slim to none works to our advantage. You will find yourself looking for some tools to get the job done but its ok we all get paid the same if we finish or not no need to rush perfection.
Downtime-Plenty you'll find yourself waiting on a craft to finish up there work so you can start yours sometimes, so take a seat and relax a bit.
Room to grow- Possible even bett
The best way I can describe being a Conductor is like having a new girlfriend. First you are all happy and giddy. But then after awhile the real person shows up and it's not all roses and candy. 5 years in and it's something else. Some days I get over and some days I get the screwing of a lifetime. I had a student working with me and he was in that "new girlfriend" phase and I told him don't think it's going to be like this all the time. Wait until they start screwing with your claims. Claims that you know are good or somehow messing up your pay or overtime. One thing I was told when I hired out was that you WILL fight for your money. I almost expect stupidity and incompetence when out on the road. The dispatchers will not communicate with train crews so you cannot plan where to stop your train. Somehow a signal is supposed to magically tell me what's going on. The same stretch of territory will be different every trip. Some rules are not clear-cut as you can ask 10 different people and you might get 12 different answers. I do like the fact that people don't rush into a situation and get themselves in trouble. You will spend alot of time to and fro in vans. Some drivers are good and some you wonder how in the world are they smart enough to breathe let alone drive. If you dont think long-term it will not work. God willing this will be the last place I will work before I retire for good. Even with all the b.s., I cant see working anywhere else for the pay.(when it's right) Las
ProsThe pay (for what you do), each day is different, met some good people, no-rush safe environment.
ConsManagement, lack of communication when on the road
Great pay and benefits in exchange for being on call 24/7.
Depending on terminal location, BNSF Railway had good local management, and excellent coworkers. Barring any damage to people, equipment, and/or property while on duty, you were more or less allowed to perform the required work as you chose. It takes a certain mindset to adjust to being on call 24/7. As an employee in train service (TYE), the 24/7 demands of being on call become more of a lifestyle than a job. If you are motivated, and willing to work, $100K/year can be achieved quite easily working "the road". All in all, local management treated me fairly. If you are competent, willing to show up for work, and conduct yourself like an adult, local management leaves you alone. Understand that BNSF is a Fortune 50 company, and profits come first. If you can understand this, and be ok with this, then railroad life is quite simple. I saw many former coworkers literally destroy themselves not being able to grasp the reality of BNSF's financial pursuits. It is NOT BNSF'S duty to right all the wrongs in one's life. That being said, I don't regret my eight years i spent at BNSF. I improved my financial situation drastically during those eight years. I also made lifetime friendships with many of my coworkers. Your coworkers become family, inasmuch as your spend more time with them than your own family. As with many industries in this world, the railroad industry is changing rapidly with the advent of PTC (positive train control), aka satellite control of locomotives/trains. And with
As a child I dreamed about working on the railroad, after finally pursing it, boy what a eye opener. Ive been with this company for nearly 4 years and wow the changes I’ve seen in such short time. The largest draw back is the 4 inch thick rule book that you are expected to live by but are scolded if you hold back production for the sake of being safe. Your also tested on these rules continuously to the point it’s annoying. Management hides and watches you work, also have to deal with several random audit teams. The company preaches safety but its INVALID when stuff hits the fan. The management is spineless, they will talk out of their rears when you ask questions or when they are speaking to a group of employees. Most of the mangers wont even answer their phones or return your phone call when you honestly need something leaving you to blindly guess. The company brags about chances for advancement and opportunities for craft transfer, INCORRECT! You will be stuck in whatever you hired out for. UNLESS you’re willing to sideline your family and travel the entire USA without coming home on weekends. JOB CUTS keep coming and all you hear about is budget this budget that yet the company brags about billions in profits PER QUARTER. STAY AWAY! Weak unions offer little to none employee protection. Lastly the buddy system runs thick with this employer. Craft Seniority means nothing, people dance around this all the time. Junior employees working by the house over senior employees. All
The good things are the piers and the travel. I've had the great pleasure of being able to work alongside some of the greatest guys I've met since getting out of the military. The people at the railroad have a great Brotherhood. It's an environment where guys can give each other a little bit of grief in a playful manner but still get the job done and help each other do it. Lot of days are spent working hard but lifting each other's Spirits with some good laughs. Travel was an awesome experience. I got to travel all over the Midwest and stay at some very nice hotels so when our work day was done we were given a good environment to really truly relax and recover for the next day's work. I'd say one of the areas that could use quite a bit of improving is the administration's attention on communication style of leadership to the laborers and machine operators. I witnessed on a couple occasions that one or more roadmasters, which are a higher up supervisor, instigate an argument or fight with labourers or machine operators by being disrespectful and rude. It was clear that the specific Roadmaster that was working at St Cloud at the time had a very difficult time checking his ego and being professional when things were not going the way he wanted them to. Outside of him specifically I had pretty good experiences with most of the leadership. I was always able to approach them and express my thoughts or feelings on matters and felt that they were taken with consideration.
ProsCamaraderie, and great hotels while traveling.
ConsHow long some of the days would stretch when there were derailments, and certain members of leadership having poor attitudes and disrespectful mouths.
Pay is great benefits are unbelievably great. No social life
If you work over the road you get paid per trip. Usually $900+ per trip which takes about 36 hours. When it’s busy you can make 12k+ a month pretty easily. Making 100k a year is almost guaranteed with some guys pushing 150k a year. The downfall is that you are always on call. After you get off work you have 10 hours guaranteed off then after that you are on call 24/7 until they call you. If it’s busy they will call you right at the 10 hour mark. When it’s slower it can take up to 3 days to get called. If you work the yard you’ll make around 60-70k a year and you have a set schedule. You get lots of vacation days and paid leave days maxing out at 42 vacation days and 13 paid leave days every year. You can also call off work up to 7 unpaid days off a month (2 weekend days and 5 week days). You do have to live by your phone and always make sure your phone is charged and your bags are packed and ready to go. Once you get called to go to work then you only have an hour and 30 minutes to be at work ready to go. This can obviously make doing things outside of work hard because you never know when you’ll get called. Sleep can also be an issue because since the railroad runs 24/7 you can and will be called at all hours of the day or night. Trying to get enough sleep before work can be pretty tough at times especially if you have a family and are trying to work in family time or events while off work. The health benefits and retirement can not be beat by any company anywhere. $200 a mo
Made 31$ an hour at full pay after 2 years. Cleaned locomotive cabs and the shop. You will be scrubbing toilets as a laborer. I worked in a shop that we drove the locomotives too but that's not common. It's union based so be prepared to be just a number to the company. The union is great for "fairness" and "equality" but everyone gets paid the same after the two year mark and you will not get any sort of promotion or recognition for doing your job well. All they care about is a warm body covering a shift or job, doesn't matter if you are better at it or have more experience than the next person, they could have you by 2 weeks seniority and they will be able to take your job and/or shift. The pay is great, the benefits are great. There's 3 shifts a day, work 7 days a week. I worked 1130pm-730am with Tuesdays/Wednesdays off for 15 months and with no end in sight so don't expect to have day shift or weekends off possibly ever. I know someone who has 25 years in and can hold day shift but Sunday Monday off and she will retire before she is able to hold Friday Saturday off. Insurance is great. Retirement is great is you make it to 30 years of service. Oh, you also don't get paid vacation until you've worked 100 days in a calendar year. So I started in September 2018 and couldn't work 100 days before December 31 2018 so I didn't qualify for vacation until 2020. No sick days, and no personal days allowed per the company, but you can call in up to 5 times in one year for no pay. It'
ProsPay, benefits, 40 hour work week
ConsNo paid days off til you've worked 100 days in a calendar year, just a number to them, cliquey people, hard to transfer
4.0
Claims Representative | United States | Feb 13, 2013
Great company, but very different from department to department
If you choose to join a railroad, including BNSF, then realize that all departments may not reflect the overall culture that corporate portrays and hopes for. IMO there is less consistency then at other firms I have worked with. Many reasons for this including: changing generational differences in management, simply different management culture (i.e. more skewed to military types), and a disconnect between corporate and field (where the majority of the people work). Frankly it can be a tough lifestyle and it takes tough people, no matter how cuddly HR wants them to be. :)
I left because I was completely underpaid for my function and location (claims), and could not convince anyone otherwise. SO not ALL jobs at the railroads are great paying jobs. I had been a Trainmaster and was paid significantly better. IMO - no difference in work/life, demands, environment, etc... If you want to move up then stick to the actual field operations side of the company. Period.
I personally miss the environment of the railroad, and wish things would have worked out differently. In retrospect I should have gone back to operations instead of leaving.
IF you decide you would like the lifestyle and flexibility required for a railroad career, then, BNSF is the best company to work for. I have worked for another Class I railroad and now interact with multiple Class Is and Short Lines.
Stay away from the CLAIMS department...
Prosfast paced, interesting work, lots of responsibility, outdoors, secure jobs
Consinconsistent management, some departments viewed (compensated) as less valuable
Managed all investments, oversaw daily cash activities and reconciled bank statements to SAP
Maintained relationships with banks and financial partners, reviewed and monitored counter-party credit rating and market interest rates
Created, reviewed and updated investment policies and long-term investment outlook
Maintained general ledger accounts in SAP, created monthly/quarterly closing reports; researched and resolved month end and quarter end variances
Valued and approved international money transfers and foreign exchange pricing
Worked on new debt issuance
Performed due-diligence for debt issuance, communicated with multiple departments withing BNSF to bridge gaps between internal forecasts and Wall Street expectations
Assisted in the selection of and communicated with underwriters and worked with both internal and external auditors to ensure SEC filing deadlines were met
Intimately worked on ad-hock exchange of long-term debt
Analyzed the exchange of current outstanding 10 and 30-year debt to lower market interest rates
Assessed debt holders desire to exchange shorter duration, above par debt for a greater amount of longer duration debt at par
Assessed the cost of paying for premium over par using cash on balance sheet vs. rolling over the premium into new debt
Reviewed SOX procedures, narratives and controls for all cash activities and departments dealing with cash; identified weaknesses before they became a threat, created and implemented solutions to mitigate firm-wide
Questions And Answers about BNSF Railway
If you were in charge, what would you do to make BNSF Railway a better place to work?
Asked Jun 28, 2017
Start treating the employees like people again and not just another number
Answered Nov 30, 2020
Better home time and making it worth more for those away from families
Answered Nov 24, 2020
How do I better my chances of hire during the interview process
Asked Apr 19, 2017
Brown nose like you’ve never done in your life! “YES! I WANT TO WORK WEEKENDS, nights and holidays! No! I don’t want to have sufficient time for family or watching my kids grow up! YES! I want to travel constantly and relocate whenever / wherever the gods in Ft. worth desire!
Answered May 1, 2020
Talk about safety, safety, safety the idiots love that word, be honest because background check extensive, also drug test take hair sample. I was asked "have you had on the job injuries" say no even If you have. "What percent of accidents preventable?" 100% if you say less than 100% probly wont hire you, they believe all accidents are preventable, so say that too.
Answered Jan 30, 2020
If you were to leave BNSF Railway, what would be the reason?
Asked Mar 26, 2017
Low pay, relative to responsibilities or the constant mind f*** games played by management and their general lack of appreciation for what we do for them.
Answered May 1, 2020
Im a TY&E employee on call 24/7, 365. Also the cut throat Idiotic joke of what Is called "management". They care less If you live or die money and power all that matters. Hire to fire mentality. Favoritism awful here, stressful, sleep deprived, never home, etc.
Answered Jan 30, 2020
What is the best part of working at BNSF Railway?
Asked Dec 15, 2019
The benefits and retirement package.
Answered Nov 30, 2020
Pension plan
Answered Nov 24, 2020
What tips or advice would you give to someone interviewing at BNSF Railway?
