Norfolk Southern Railway Reviews

Pros

Good place to work and there is lots to learn

Cons

too big and company has a different way doing things.

Advice to Senior Management

Good work . and keep it up

Pros

Pay is average for work performed. Slightly above average for area. Other employees (non management) are great to work with.

Cons

Too many managers, not enough employees. Bad contracts offered to labor. Poorly maintained equipment. Often dirty hot in summer cold in winter working conditions.

Advice to Senior Management

Get in touch with workforce, and I don't mean talking to the same "yes men" selected. Sneak around and watch "your" supervisors in action. Get out and ride a heavy mixed freight train unannounced. Where no one knows that you are there except the actual crew you are with. You would be amazed at what you can learn. Everything is said to be done for the stockholders. Well, I'm a stockholder and I don't like what you are doing to my "MY company"!

Pros

The people that you work with is the best part of the job....but the company sucks ass!!!!!!

Cons

the management has no leadership skills, they automatically feel your in the wrong no matter what it is. The hide in the weeds to watch you, and catch you doing something wrong.

Advice to Senior Management

If your thinking about hiring with them, give it a second thought, they suck!!!!!!

Pros

The benefits are among the best in the market. Provided you retire with the company, railroad retirement and pension benefits are really tops.

Cons

This is an old company. Everything is old - even the way that management thinks about things.

Pros

They have good benefits
They encourage advancment of work and education
Good people to work with
Pay is competitive
Stress free enviroment

Cons

There is no variety in your daily task
Sometimesit gets really boring
Experince largely depends on what group you are put in.

Advice to Senior Management

Mid level management is OK. As mentioned before depends on your luck of who you get under. Should make it easier to change teams for employees. Executive management needs to work on acknowledging non-management employees.

Pros

The crew in Baltimore is great!

Cons

Lowest paid in the industry.
Management is always out to get you.
Training program sucks.
Baltimore Terminal sucks.

Advice to Senior Management

Grow up. Youre dealing wit adults, not kids.

Pros

pay and benefits for family

Cons

hire people right out of college into management that dont know the first thing about railroading

Advice to Senior Management

teach before discipling

Pros

Growth potential
Compensation
Health and retirement benefits

Cons

Hours (nights, weekends, 80+ hours per week)
Ability to control your relocation

Advice to Senior Management

Discuss relocation/promotions with employees

Pros

Railroad retirement.

High wages if you work non stop.

Cons

Upper level managements insistence on placing discipline higher than training and corrective instruction.

Advice to Senior Management

Your insistence on "everything being handled" has thoroughly killed the last bit of pride in our jobs, and allowed a mindset of who cares about running the snot out of the UPS train, just do not violate any rules. With so little leeway, most employees operate in "survival mode". The attitude of finding someone to blame and not addressing the actual cause for major issues is a disservice to all investors and employees. This attitude runs rampant, when your lower level employees take the brunt for problems they did not cause this is a recipe for long term stagnation or worse. Ideally, senior leadership would realize that fixing core issues is the top priority. Trains departing 6-8 hours after being called, re crewed on the line of road, maybe multiple times. This is currently, not the record traffic times of yore. Would it not make sense to put another job or two on at the yards? Your burning an extra crew either way, and frankly be a much more efficient use of time as the crew could build more than one train. I guess there is too much to list as "areas of improvement", but riding your lower level supervision and T/E people into the ground with incessant rules check/discipline cycles is not moving us forward. Quite the contrary. We all understand the need to be safe, follow the rules. So really all we are doing is burying our collective heads in the sand and ignoring long term inefficiencies/bad operating practices.

 You cannot keep everyone in an organization happy, but when you have nearly everyone unhappy that will not reap you rewards on the bottom line.

Pros

Pretty good benefits and retirement. Ability to move up. Ability to move if you are interested in relocation. Stable company

Cons

Crazy hours. No work/life balance. Low pay for the hours required. Military style management. No creative thinking. Not really focused on improving the service.

Advice to Senior Management

If you truly want to change the culture in the organization make a significant change at the top operating spots.