Wanna A Job...?

[peachfuzz]

Forget Macon.

-3 engineers cut off Macon-Savannah

-10 conductors cut off Macon-Valdosta, plus 8 more cut off while at McDonough

Looking grim. 

Updates and corrections welcome!

[Dieselfan]

Noticed on the NS  Corp web sight all conductor positions but one have been removed from the job listings! Looks grim indeed!

[JCagle]

I guess times are getting tough if they are being cut off. It looks like they are thinking the economic downturn/recession could be a pretty long one. Weren't they worried about how to replace all of the employees that are up for retirement over the next 4 or 5 years just a year or so ago?

[jcmark4501]

I guess times are getting tough if they are letting people go. It looks like they are thinking the economic downturn/recession could be a pretty long one. Weren't they worried about how to replace all of the employees that are up for retirement over the next 4 or 5 years just a year or so ago?

When someone is "cutoff" on the railroad it just means there are no open positions available for them but, they are still employed by the railroad. As people retire or become long term injured those that are cutoff will be called back in order of seniority. These employees are not paid by the railroad while cutoff but, most railroaders carry unemployment insurance that should pay while they are off.

These guys that are cutoff can also be called back to work if the boards are empty but, they do not have to accept the call,

[JCagle]

I meant cut off. I was watching the football game and typing- a dangerous combination! What I was getting at was the fact that they seemed to be worried that they would not be able to find enough people and get them to the right positions before the retirees left. Since they are not hiring combined with cutting off  it would seem to me that they feel like the growth will not be big enough to need the influx of new people to start filling in from the bottom up for the foreseeable future. Several years ago some railroads were paying nice bonuses ( 25-30k) to keep retiring conductors and engineers on till replacements could be trained and they assigned management trainees to train service. When things were like this for several years seemingly nationally following the lowering of the retirement age from 62 to 60 it would seem like even cutting off employees for as little as a few months could create a big shortage if the recession was nearing the bottom and the upturn was coming.  It just seems like they feel like growth will be down even after the recession is over. I guess with the automotive industry in disarray, manufacturing leaving, and just the situation in general they feel like growth will not outpace what they can replace when things get better.

[esprrfan]

16 Conductors in Toledo, 10 west, 1 yard, 5 east. Another 15 or so in Detroit

[GAandFLA-RR]

Instead of 2 yard jobs (east and west end) per shift we now have one per shift (west end).  The Savannah crews run the pig trains now (231, 232, 207, 208....207 and 208 basically on "as needed" basis) while the Macon crews run 372 and 373, which probably explains why some engineers on that side were "cut off" seeing as how 370 and 371 were abolished.

Car count here is still low, but holding steady for the past week or so.  The intermodal business, although a leeetle bit slow itself, is helping us out somewhat, although they concentrate more on the junk as far as car counts go.  We also had a once-in-a-blue-moon 74T coal train headed to Springfield that we inspected Friday morning.  Hope they end up running more of that thing......we all need it. 

Ironically, our general foreman just got the ok to bring in a new hire who was held out because of medical issues.  We thought the railroad was going to tell him to just stay at home.  We hired another ahead of him just a few weeks ago.

[nsman18]

I noticed this too with NS.But if you look at BNSF and UP they have literally no openings.They used to have alot, just like NS.I applied for a freight car repairer and a few others for NS and I havent heard anything back for quite a long time