BNSF Railway Reviews

Pros

Good Benefits and Pay for work

Cons

No negatives. Great company to work for

Pros

Money, and insurance nothing else.

Cons

Basically, just live at work sometimes work twice a day you travel and are gone for 1-3 days, you work 24/7 company is vindictive, spies on you steals from you etc. Long story short don't work here you will either quit, get furloughed or fired before you know it don't bother working here.

Pros

Can make 100,000+ a year but your typically traveling all over U.S or atleast out of town Sunday through Friday. unless your one of the “good ol boys” it’s hard to get good overtime. a lot of stress if your a young foreman like I was. the older guys just sit around and never do anything unless you yell at them constantly.

Cons

No regards to safety. local Division manager only preach safety to guys they don’t like and everyone else gets away with stuff right under there noses. All the “Good ol Boys”, go home early and pat time till everyday. and if anyone else does there written up or fired.

Pros

Retirement for now/ medical insurance is better than average for now. But every contract we keep loosing more.

Cons

Horribly run compan. No one in management cares about its employees. Hours are horrible for what we get paid. Everyone's health is in jeopardy the longer you stay working for BNSF. Everyone is a diabetic/ has sleep apnea. Horrible sleep patterns. CEO is out of touch has no idea about how to RR.

Pros

Great opportunities for those that work hard Allows employees to work with empowerment Good pay / benefits

Cons

Industry can be stressful EB’s and flows of work driven by rise and fall of economy Doing more with less across the organization

Pros

Great front line management experience. Loads of opportunities to use management and leadership experience. Actually doing your job and being a leader is not easy. People tend to sit back and go with the flow, which is not what the company pays you to do. As a whole, the union folks generally do a good job. A bunch of great workers. However, you do have some bad apples. So really a great opportunity for management to get the most of the people who struggle and value those that take care of business.

Cons

A small percentage of employees are just totally toxic towards management and are essentially impossible to work with and/or manage. I found this aspect particularly difficult. Also, working nights half the year is not enjoyable. And finally, rail yards are not in the best part of town. Nonetheless, a really unique and interesting job (if you actually do it and strive to add value to the operation). Another con is job security. When they go through layoffs - everyone (including management) gets cut. Finally, the job pays well BECAUSE the lifestyle can be uncomfortable. So expect it. Know what you're getting yourself into.

Pros

Good company good level of pay

Cons

Poor training to start with

Pros

The more seniority you get the more job options you have. Good health insurance. Job security in the welding department compared to other jobs. Able to move around if you want inside your district according to seniority. Railroads transport everything so it's a line of work thats steady even during an economic down turn. If your in a craft; you belong to a union and you do have some protection and help if you get into trouble or get hurt. How much help is debatable.

Cons

The rate of pay is not equal to the amount of responsibility you will have in certain positions. There's no reward system for the amount of work you accomplish other than the buddy system. It takes a alot of union force and alot of time to get any kind of raises and meaningful compensation out of the company usually several years. They demoralize their own work force by saying one thing and doing another with the actions they take without realizing it alot of times.

Pros

Great benefits all around! From starting pay (once you're out of training) to health coverage (especially for families), all the way to retirement (it's the biggest perk). Challenging job every day if it's what drives you. Union protection can be a pro, depending on your perspective (it has saved many peoples careers)

Cons

Starting out on the "extra board" can be extremely rough. Understand exactly what it means to be "on-call" (without extra pay) for nearly 2-3 years. Also, understand what being a part of union means and how things like quality of life can get really get tied up or dismissed by agreements. The Union is also only as strong as it's members.

Pros

Pay is great if you travel.

Cons

Have to travel to make any money. Work-family life is terrible.