Atrocious Company to work for. Please read my review before accepting job with this company.
Pros
The only pro that I've come across is the insurance, but you have to be with the company for at least an entire year to receive full benefits, which excludes dental until you have been with the company for at least one entire year.
Cons
Where do I begin.. I'm going to try and make this fully detailed, so I do apologize if its lengthy, but I promise you its worth the read. You will come across friends, or possibly even family members that are working for BNSF and they will say that its a great company to work for, but if you are not willing to take the possibility of being furloughed within 5 years then don't make the same mistake I did. I hired on and was given a $15,000 sign on bonus, but with all things this good their are of course stipulations. You will have a primary recall associated with your employee number, which means you will not be allowed to transfer to another terminal within a 5 year period, or you will have to pay the $15,000 back. Now if you are furloughed and they lift your primary recall then yes you are allowed to chase work, but if they are short handed and need work at your primary recall then they have the upper hand and force you back. If you choose not to come back, or quit and you sign the deal with the devil then you will be forced to pay back the amount you received after taxes. Yes, they will take 30% of the $15,000 and you won't receive the full amount all at once. You get the initial $5,000 after four weeks and the remaining $10,000 after an entire year. If you accept the job you will go through a 14 week training period where you will only be taking home around $1,800 for the entire 14 weeks and that doesn't include one big check for about $4,500 including the bonus in week 4, so you have to go through training watching road conductors brag about how much money they are making, while you literally make a dime to their dollar. I'm not complaining by any means about the $1,800 because thats decent money for two week, but its just sickening to think that you will hardly ever see the kind of money everyone brags about making. Flash forward to your 14 weeks, where you now have to basically start all over because during that 14 weeks you are not technically familiarized, so yes you will have to go through another two week stint where you are guaranteed 75% of trip rate, or basic day and you are basically thrown to the wolves and its entirely up to you to keep your job. When employees say BNSF spends more money trying to fire you then they do hiring you thats entirely 100% accurate. Everyday you will go to work where you will be watched under a microscope and this company has very little lenience before being fired. The reason why this company fires so many people is because its literally a revolving door. The reason I say that is because not every joe blow has a college degree and even if you do like me its hard to make the kind of money you dream about making when you hire on with BNSF, BUT YOU HAVE TO BE WITH THE COMPANY FOR AT LEAST 5 YEARS BEFORE YOU CAN SEE THE BENEFITS. I've been with the company for less than a year and I am already furloughed, which means no work for me, until they decide to call me back, which they don't tell you when they will be doing so. I have heard of several guys that were furloughed during the recession in 2015 and it took BNSF nearly 23 months to call some individuals back to work. Another con with this company is the lack of communication. Since I drew second to last in my class of 30 individuals I knew my time at that particular location wouldn't last long before being furloughed, so I opted to pay the company back the $5,000 and transferred to DFW, which has been an absolute nightmare because management could care less about some new guy coming to their territory. It took me nearly two weeks and several voicemails without any correspondence to actually take matters into my own hands and contact the local union chairman to show him the phone records and voicemails that were sent to management for them to actually get back with me. Seriously I could go on and on about the negative reviews towards this company. I have at least one guy from my class call me daily to inform me how bad this sucks and that they wish they never left their old job. To a corporation like this you will be a number and only a number and they could care less about your, or your family. Think long and hard about taking this job because I had to learn the hard way, but THE MONEY IS THEIR NO DOUBT ABOUT IT, BUT ARE YOU WILLING TO GO THROUGH THE BS FOR 5 YEARS? I've got a college education and way more knowledge and class then most management year and it doesn't; look promising for any future with this company, so I wish everyone the best of luck that reads then and God bless you.