BNSF Railway Reviews
Updated Jun 2, 2023
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Top Review Highlights by Sentiment
- "The pay is good for a blue collar job but it hasn't been worth it for quite a while." (in 359 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)
- "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)
Ratings by Demographics
This rating reflects the overall rating of BNSF Railway and is not affected by filters.
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- Former Employee, more than 5 years★★★★★Featured Review
Pros
Good Benefits and Pay for work
Cons
No negatives. Great company to work for
- Current Employee★★★★★
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 - Current Employee★★★★★
Great Pay, Crap Hours
Jun 1, 2023 - Freight Conductor in Kansas City, MORecommendCEO ApprovalBusiness OutlookPros
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.
- Current Employee, more than 10 years★★★★★
Pros
Pay and benefits. That's literally it.
Cons
No upward movement, horrible relationship with management as well as coworkers, lifestyle is nonexistent.
- Current Employee★★★★★
Don't recommend
Jun 2, 2023 - Locomotive Engineer in Seattle, WARecommendCEO ApprovalBusiness OutlookPros
Ease of work and pay
Cons
Schedule and work life balance
- 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, ILRecommendCEO ApprovalBusiness OutlookPros
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 - Current Employee, more than 3 years★★★★★
Typical 3 Man crews, Foreman, Laborer, truck driver. Repair track, install crossings, ties. Etc
Apr 25, 2023 - Anonymous EmployeeRecommendCEO ApprovalBusiness OutlookPros
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 - Former Employee, more than 3 years★★★★★
Demanding Job - Great Management Experience/Benefits
Feb 23, 2023 - Terminal Trainmaster in Memphis, TNRecommendCEO ApprovalBusiness OutlookPros
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.
- Former Employee, more than 1 year★★★★★
Apprentice signalmen
Jun 2, 2023 - Apprentice Signalmen in Fort Worth, TXRecommendCEO ApprovalBusiness OutlookPros
Benefits, pay is ok for what you do
Cons
You’ll never be home and away from family
Continue reading - Current Employee, more than 10 years★★★★★
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.
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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.
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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