CPKC Employee Reviews for Conductor

The job itself can be fun and interesting, but it gets very difficult to balance work life and personal life. You’ll have virtually no personal life if you work enough. Plus you’re away from home often. But it comes with great money and benefits.

Pros

Great benefits

Cons

Little to no personal life

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Great place to work / Hours take getting used to

Conductor (Former Employee) - Saint Paul, MN - August 2, 2023

CPKC was an amazing place to work. The one and only down side is that you are on call 24/7 so the work life balance isn’t really there. Other than that, pay is amazing and people you work with are also amazing for the most part.

Pros

Pay

Cons

Work Life Balance

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CPKC insights

Based on 249 survey responses

What people like

Ability to learn new things
Ability to meet personal goals
Fair pay for job

Areas for improvement

Time and location flexibility
Trust in colleagues
Sense of belonging

Worst Company i've worked for

Conductor (Former Employee) - Minnesota - April 14, 2023

It doesn't get much worse than Canadian Pacific when it comes to management, work and life balance, and schedule. Pay is pretty good but they don't train you enough.

Pros

pay

Cons

everything

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Worst Management on the planet

Conductor (Former Employee) - Minnesota - March 14, 2023

Good benefits, terrible schedule, terrible management. Poor training, no set schedule for your first few years of work. You can get laid off at anytime. Managers always trying to fire people.

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1 star

Conductor (Former Employee) - Davenport, IA - December 18, 2022

What is the best part of working at the company?Getting to see different parts of the country while working were great What is the most stressful part about working at the company?No proper training once leaving initial 2 weeks in St. Paul What is the work environment and culture like at the company?The work environment is always threatening your job if you do something wrong. Managers or train masters could care less about your development What is a typical day like for you at the company?10-12 hour days which isn’t the problem. There is no leadership it’s always this person talking about this person

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Conductor (Current Employee) - Kansas City, MO - November 5, 2022

Work every day. Micro managed. Long hours long days. In a 12 hour shift you get 1, 20 minute lunch. They are always watching you. They look for ways to discipline you. The pay is good. Make anywhere from 400 to 500+ in a shift.

Pros

Pay

Cons

Everything else

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Uuu

Conductor (Current Employee) - Bensenville, IL - October 13, 2022

Great job on this project I really like it you did a great work with it and I really appreciate the feedback you put in your project I hope to be a good one

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Great wage and benefits

Conductor/Switchman (Former Employee) - St. Paul, MN - August 16, 2022

The job can be demanding being on call. Management does everything to get you fired. They will even lie to attempt to get you fired. Job security? What's that?

Pros

Wage and benefits

Cons

Management

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Great

Conductor (Former Employee) - Texas - August 10, 2022

This was a great place to work enjoyed every minute. I made many great friends and colleagues. The hard part is being away from your family. Great benefits

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Toxic culture. A rule by fear company policy

Conductor/Engineer (Former Employee) - Shreveport, LA - June 27, 2022

Company wants you to be robots, which is apparent since they are trying to replace the workers with them. Everything bad about the company comes from greed of the executives.

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Jobs at CPKC

Conductor positions

Crew Dispatcher Trainee

Minneapolis, MN

30+ days ago

Train Dispatcher Trainee

Minneapolis, MN

30+ days ago

One of the most saught after jobs around

Conductor (Former Employee) - Shreveport, LA - June 9, 2022

You get Bragging rights about working on the rail road. It’s a very good paying job with little schooling needed to carry out the jobs necessities just expect to work work work

Pros

Pay/benefits

Cons

No time off

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5 stars

Freight Conductor (Current Employee) - Mason City, IA - May 16, 2022

What is the best part of working at the company?Pay, management is the most competent compared to other Class 1s, benefits, my coworkers, pay.What is the most stressful part about working at the company?This job pays extremely well, for your inconvenience. If you have children or a family that you like seeing, forget about that for the first couple of years. You will be on call living by the phone for the majority of your career and it works great for a single young individual.No your marriage will not fall apart solely because of this job, but you need to have a thorough discussion with your partner about what this job will entail i.e. being unreachable by phone for 12+ hours at a time and away for 2 to 3 days every weekWhat is the work environment and culture like at the company?Everyone tries to get their work done, some faster than others but you won’t be criticized for doing things safelyWhat is a typical day like for you at the company?Phone call at 3 AM on a Sunday during a snowstorm with two hours to report to work. A lot of paperwork and safety sensitive tasks, and physical, outdoor labor.

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Hard work/ life balance

Locomotive Engineer/Conductor (Current Employee) - Elkhart, IN - May 11, 2022

As at any class 1 railroad, the work/life balance is skewed towards work heavily. The pay isn’t as good as it has been in previous years. ( It hasn’t kept up with the rise in wages in other industries). Front line management is poor, and can create a somewhat hostile work environment. Management has a low opinion of its own workforce.

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Good benefits, poor work/life balance

Conductor (Former Employee) - Portage, W - April 28, 2022

The pay/benefits are very good and the job is interesting and varying. If you are single and have no interests outside of work this would be a great job. Most positions do not have a set schedule/shift and you are confined to a two hour arc from your home terminal. You are on-call and are expected to be ready to work at your home terminal in 2 hours from the time your phone rings. Can easily be away from home for 3 days. Missing a call(not answering your phone) will result in disciplinary action. Time off is a premium.

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All in all a good career for a younger person.

Conductor/Switchman (Former Employee) - Saratoga Springs, NY - April 26, 2022

Good People And good pay.This is a lifestyle more than a job.It is very rewarding career. There are many test and safety exams.It is a very safety conscious. industry

Pros

Good pay

Cons

Its a lifestyle

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Management is terrible

Engineer/Foreman/Conductor (Former Employee) - Kansas City, MO - March 12, 2022

Never worked at a company that supervisors had to write someone up for something! Go out of there way to find something or anything to write you up for, then you lose your job for weeks sometimes for months over the tiniest thing. Sometimes you lose job altogether, no job security at all even on managements side. Just an absolute terrible place to work

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Challenging career…

Conductor (Former Employee) - Enderlin, ND - February 22, 2022

Overall it is a good job. The career lifestyle is a challenge though. If you have a family it will be hard on everyone. Lots of missed family things. And there is the chance of being forced to another location in your seniority district. I believe they would retain more of the new hires if they wouldn’t force them to move right after getting training done.

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Undesirable schedule coupled with a toxic work environment

Conductor (Former Employee) - Kansas City MO, Knoche yard - October 12, 2021

The hours are inconsistent with no set schedule for the first several years. Not conducive to leading a life outside of work. The company requires employees to be on call 24/7 ready to report for duty on 2hrs notice. Pay is solid for the level of education required. Retirement and insurance benefits are excellent. Salary varies wildly based on hours worked. Base pay works out to roughly $25/hr but some years with overtime it's possible to earn nearly $100kWorked there for 3 years and didn't meet anyone who worked there that was satisfied with their career.

Pros

Good pay, fantastic retirement

Cons

Toxic culture perpetuated by management

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most none family friendly place I have ever worked

Conductor (Former Employee) - Elkhart, IN - August 5, 2021

good pay worst job every had they don't follow their own rules. All you do is try to keep your job. There is a running joke there. They spend 30,000 to train and hire you and 1000,000.00 to try to fire you.

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Conductor

Conductor/Switchman (Former Employee) - Saint Paul, MN - July 1, 2021

The job as a conductor can be fun and rewarding for some people but it's not for everyone. If you don't mind working long hours, 6 days a week and making really good money then this is the place for you.

Pros

Pay and benefits.

Cons

On call 24/7, work/life balance.

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Getting Railroaded

Conductor (Current Employee) - Kansas City, MO - June 24, 2021

This will be the best worst job you’ve ever had. Pay and benefits are fantastic but you will be married to the railroad. No schedule at all. Will miss most of the important events in your life with no chance of knowing when you’ll be around. Family life is very tough and constant fear of being laid off due to lack of work.