Are You Sure You Want a Job in the Railroad Industry?

With people losing jobs everyday of course they are ready to try something new. I am not saying its not possible to have a successful career on the railroad and until I lost my job I was thankful that I had it. Now with that being said the railroad industry is the most pathetic, backstabbing , unorganized, low moral industry I have ever worked in! They have a saying on the railroad “its not if you get fired but when you get fired” which I found out to be very true the hard way. They have books on top of books full of rules which they say is for your protection when really its so in the internal investigation they can say “Mr Arbitrator he blatantly broke rule number such and such.” Of course there needs to be safety rules I am not denying that its a dangerous job and if you get hurt you will be hurt bad thats for sure. Its how they go about it they gloat and get enjoyment out of disciplining an employee like its a game. On my first night of orientation in Atlanta Georgia one of the first things the class was told was “tonight is your first night of being hired and its the first night they will start looking for a reason to fire you as well. The next thing was that we needed to get a cell phone with a camera on it because if we got hurt and the evidence was against CSX somehow it would be lost so we should be sure to take pictures for our own good. Now have you ever heard of such on your first day! An official getting a DUI is no big deal they just let it blow over, but you forget and break the slightest rule and see what they do to you. Okay so you want to hire on, guess what the terminal you hired and trained in at just might be so full they don’t need nobody else so why did they hire you because they do need people at outlying points so after you are trained you are forced where they can’t get nobody else to go. I made more money on the railroad than any job I have ever had and what I thought would be the best thing turned out to be the worst. If you want a job on the railroad I would say find someone you can trust in the field and talk to them. Make your choice very carefully, if you have a good job then you should take into consideration the pros and cons of the switch, do you have something to fall back on for when you get fired sometime down the road. You know some type of alternative income, a skill or trade to make money on your time off cause your old job might not take you back. There is a job protection program you will find out more about it once you get out there. I highly recommend taking out a policy with one of the companies that provide it but be aware that these benefits are a taxable income and you will have to pay taxes on them at the end of the year. The money from the railroad will be good the hours will be long at times and the schedule will be a story of its own. You will have stress the amount depends on you but the more bills you have the more stress you will have. So don’t run out and buy a bassboat and a new truck for a couple of years because if you don’t watch you might get caught short.