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BNSF Railway

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BNSF Railway

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BNSF Railway Reviews

Updated Jun 2, 2023

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Found 2,005 of over 2K reviews
2.6
28% Recommend to a Friend
BNSF Railway President and Chief Executive Officer Kathryn Farmer
21% Approve of CEO

Found 2,004 of over 2K reviews

2.6
28%
Recommend to a Friend
21%
Approve of CEO
BNSF Railway President and Chief Executive Officer Kathryn Farmer
Kathryn Farmer
532 Ratings

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Top Review Highlights by Sentiment

Pros
  • "The pay is good for a blue collar job but it hasn't been worth it for quite a while.(in 359 reviews)
  • "Pay is ok; good benefits(in 269 reviews)
  • "Retirement is good if you can last that long(in 72 reviews)
  • "The people here are great and provide good mentoring.(in 68 reviews)
  • "Good money but not near keeping up with inflation or even remotely worth what you sacrifice and lose while working there(in 65 reviews)
Cons
  • "Poor Management Bad union Benefits declining Raises not keeping up with inflation(in 122 reviews)
  • "No work life balance and the company is always finding ways to take even more personal days away from us.(in 105 reviews)
  • "with their families and their is very little thought or willingness to accommodate this kind of time off.(in 82 reviews)
  • "Long hours (heavy reliance on legacy of railroad employees working all the livelong day).(in 47 reviews)
  • "No schedule and trying to fire everyone(in 36 reviews)
Pros & Cons are excerpts from user reviews. They are not authored by Glassdoor.

Ratings by Demographics

This rating reflects the overall rating of BNSF Railway and is not affected by filters.

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  1. 5.0
    Former Employee, more than 5 years
    Featured Review

    Good Company

    Jan 24, 2023 - Railroad Conductor 
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    Pros

    Good Benefits and Pay for work

    Cons

    No negatives. Great company to work for

    1 person found this review helpful
  2. 5.0
    Current Employee

    BNSF

    May 12, 2023 - Director Network Strategy and Innovation  
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    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

    Continue reading
    Be the first to find this review helpful
  3. Join the BNSF Railway team
    See Our Latest Jobs
  4. 3.0
    Current Employee

    Great Pay, Crap Hours

    Jun 1, 2023 - Freight Conductor in Kansas City, MO
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    Pros

    You could basically earn any amount of money that you want. The harder you work the more money you make. But it's basically blood money to be away from your family. if you work as often as they let you and work 12 hours a day, you'll earn 125 to a $130000 a year. Work the bare minimums and you're still gonna make 60000 a year.

    Cons

    Generally you're always on call 24/7. Holidays and every day of the year. They use a point system for attendance. Which is a very unfair point system.

    Be the first to find this review helpful
  5. 2.0
    Current Employee, more than 10 years

    Mixed bag

    Jun 1, 2023 - Railroad Conductor in Dallas-Fort Worth
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    Pros

    Pay and benefits. That's literally it.

    Cons

    No upward movement, horrible relationship with management as well as coworkers, lifestyle is nonexistent.

    Be the first to find this review helpful
  6. 2.0
    Current Employee

    Don't recommend

    Jun 2, 2023 - Locomotive Engineer in Seattle, WA
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    Pros

    Ease of work and pay

    Cons

    Schedule and work life balance

    Be the first to find this review helpful
  7. 1.0
    Former Employee, more than 5 years

    Don't work here their is a reason their is a mass exodus of workers here these days.

    May 18, 2023 - Railroad Conductor in Centralia, IL
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    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.

    Continue reading
    2 people found this review helpful
  8. 1.0
    Current Employee, more than 3 years

    Typical 3 Man crews, Foreman, Laborer, truck driver. Repair track, install crossings, ties. Etc

    Apr 25, 2023 - Anonymous Employee 
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    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.

    Continue reading
    Be the first to find this review helpful
  9. 4.0
    Former Employee, more than 3 years

    Demanding Job - Great Management Experience/Benefits

    Feb 23, 2023 - Terminal Trainmaster in Memphis, TN
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    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.

    Be the first to find this review helpful
  10. 1.0
    Former Employee, more than 1 year

    Apprentice signalmen

    Jun 2, 2023 - Apprentice Signalmen in Fort Worth, TX
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    Pros

    Benefits, pay is ok for what you do

    Cons

    You’ll never be home and away from family

    Continue reading
    Be the first to find this review helpful
  11. 1.0
    Current Employee, more than 10 years

    Horrible

    May 12, 2023 - Locomotive Engineer in Kansas City, KS
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    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.

    Continue reading
    1 person found this review helpful
Viewing 1 - 10 of 2,004 Reviews
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BNSF Railway Reviews FAQs

BNSF Railway has an overall rating of 2.6 out of 5, based on over 2,151 reviews left anonymously by employees. 28% of employees would recommend working at BNSF Railway to a friend and 32% have a positive outlook for the business. This rating has improved by 4% over the last 12 months.

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, BNSF Railway employees rate their compensation and benefits as 3.2 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at BNSF Railway. This rating has been stable over the past 12 months.

28% of BNSF Railway employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews. Employees also rated BNSF Railway 1.8 out of 5 for work life balance, 2.1 for culture and values and 2.5 for career opportunities.

According to reviews on Glassdoor, employees commonly mention the pros of working at BNSF Railway to be coworkers, career development, benefits and the cons to be culture, work life balance, management.

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Our Company BNSF is one of the biggest railroads in North America, serving the western two-thirds of the U.S. We’re also one of the...More

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BNSF Railway

2737 days ago

BNSF proudly hires military veterans. Our military recruiter John Wesley led an online discussion with http://glassdoor.com/slink.htm?key=vIGfC about opportunities for veterans with the railroad. It's packed with information for military members approaching their transition date.
How to Get Hired at BNSF | G.I. Jobs
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Glassdoor has 2,151 BNSF Railway reviews submitted anonymously by BNSF Railway employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if BNSF Railway is right for you.