My husband is attending a hiring session tomorrow, and we're both a little leary about the "24/7" on call thing. So here's to all the UP employees out there....in reality, how much are you away from home? More often than not? Or is it comparable to other jobs, just at scattered times? Any info is very helpful!
I hate to be the bearer of bad news but having done this, I can tell you that you will be AWAY from home more then you are at home. Here was my average life style. Get called at 1am, have to be on the train by 3am, run 12hrs, after run go to motel, stay in motel 20-40hrs, get called for train at 5pm, run 12hrs back, get done at 5am, go home, 8hrs later phone rings, have to be on train at 3pm, run 12hrs, get to motel, stay there 20-40hrs, called for train, run back 12hrs, go home 8hrs later phone rings, back on train in 10hrs, etc, etc, etc. You cannot make ANY plans. If you are home, you must get your rest. Heres something to think about. If you work 12hrs, you MUST get 10hrs rest.....however, you can be called in 8hrs to get the train. If you work under 12hrs, you MUST get 8hrs rest....however you can be called in 6hrs. This WILL change your lifestyle 100%. It will not get better, you will not have weekends or holidays off. You will work all hours of the day and night. So, basically, figure you will be home 8-10hrs, and gone 3-4days. Your home time may be during the day, it may be during the night, it will variey depending on when you are called. You will spend more time in the motel then at home. I know several engineers and conductors with 30+ years of service, and still cannot hold a regular job and are on call. Ralroads have operated 24/7 for over a century, and it is not going to change. If this is what you really want, you have to be commited 110%, or you will get divorced. (Like I ended up doing.) It is a very demanding lifestyle, and the divorce rate is extremely high. You need to think about this very seriously, because it will never be a 8-5 type of job. If you get it, I wish you the best of luck, but be prepared to make ALOT of sacrifices.
I would also like to add this...... When you start with the UP, you will make MINIMUM WAGE for your training period. This could be up to 3months. You then go to 75% of standard wage. On average, a new hire on UP will make about $20-25,000 a year. After 5-10yrs, you could be at 100%, which will put you around the $70,000 range.
I work in the rail industry, but stayed out of operations (first run in the cab was a grade crossing accident with kids - nobody killed, but that was enough for me). What JD says is right on - and the number one reason why shortlines and regionals find little difficulty recruiting operating personnel at much lower pay rates in return for a more-regular work pattern and local employment. This very recent posting on the UP working conditions says it better than I can: http://www.ble.org/pr/news/headline.asp?id=10627
i dont know about the 20-25,000 a yr thing, i just got out of training and i was told 60,000 was the amount to expect the first yr.also a buddy of mine was hired on to U.P. and he is making 2800 every 2 weeks before taxes.also he has a set schedule 4-1 mon thru fri ....i guess its how good u work the boards!!
I'm being called in to a testing session the 17th too in Tucson. I wonder if they will look at candidates with other skills other than train operator oriented positions. I.E...CDL skills or clerical etc....??? I'm also wonder just how many will show Thursday?
thx for the welcome .....gonna go through training in sac on the 28th we will see how it goes but i am looking forward to it!!!
The $10 an hour depends on local agreement. Our local agreement here at the Ft.Worth service unit is almost 40 years old, we're under the T&P agreement for new hire pay scales....$120.15 a day while in class and in the field. While new hires in Houston only make $5.15 an hour. How many times called out depends on how the board turns. Ive heard horror stories of people marking up and getting bumpped and only working mabe 2 days a half.
