What does train conductor do

If you need the security of a schedule, this is not the job for you. If more people stay than they expected, they will lay people off with no apologies. You might be called back to work within a few weeks, I have heard of some people coming back a year later.

I would say it is a requirement to have a back-up job in mind with some good connections in the event you get laid off your first year because you have to work at a railroad for a year before you can get any unemployment in the event of a layoff.

Also, as soon as you are out of training you will want to get job insurance in the event you get fired. The very fact that you need job insurance should tell you a little something about the railroad.

Patience is incredibly important in this job, as moving too fast can get people killed, and being impatient will frustrate you enough to be sick.

You may get on a train and get to where you intended to go in perfect time. When you get to work you need to think of the train as your job, not as your vehicle to reach your destination.

I would recommend this job to any single person looking to get ahead quickly financially, and who is willing to directly trade time for money, because there is no other job that takes time from you in the way that working for the railroad will. Forgot your password? Lost your password?

Please enter your email address. You will receive mail with link to set new password. No apps configured. Please contact your administrator. Generic selectors. Exact matches only. Search in title. Search in content. Search in excerpt.

Search in posts. Search in pages. Train Conductor. What Do You Really Do? What's The Average Income? Something Important To Know This job is about money, pure and simple. Sign in New account. Remember me. Log in. Create account. Reset password. Sign in. Please complete this Realistic Job Preview to see if you would be a good fit.

CP provides paid in-class and field training for a solid understanding of our safety practices, rules and operations. Industry leading DB pension plan, flexible and competitive health and dental benefits. Train Conductors are the guardians of our trains. As a member of a train crew, a Conductor travels to various locations with the train, ensuring the safe arrival of cargo to its destination.

Switching cars, making or splitting up trains in yards, or moving cars between yards, sidings or tracks, conductors keep us moving. Most of the data from the U. Source: U. Bureau of Labor Statistics, A railroad conductor's job requires a high school diploma , on-the-job training, and in some circumstances, certification. Being an effective railroad conductor typically requires some of the same soft skills necessary in other customer-service professions, but there are some physical requirements as well.

Job growth for railroad conductors is projected to decline by 2 percent for the decade ending in , according to the U. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is considerably worse than the 7 percent growth projected for all occupations as a whole.

BLS attributes the projected decline to several factors. Demand for coal is down as more power plants are using natural gas, and an increase in pipelines decreases the need for rail transportation for oil and gas. Although a lot of the job is conducted on trains, railroad conductors need to be able to work in all types of weather. It's a very physical job, requiring the ability to lift, push, and pull various weights and be able to readily sit, stand, and climb. It's also important that conductors can distinguish colors in order to read signs.

Schedules for railroad conductors are dictated by rail schedules. Both freight and passenger trains typically run at all hours, so conductors often need to be available to work evenings, weekends, and even holidays. Conductors working on trains with long routes may spend days away from home, though federal regulations dictate the length of shifts.

Trains that operate regionally or locally are more likely to allow conductors to maintain a regular shift. Many freight companies or passenger train companies have their own training programs for conductors or other railroad-related jobs.