Does anyone on here know much about the terrible conditions within the railroad industry?(specifically in the transportation side) I worked for a class one railroad for the last seven years of my life. It has been a roller coaster ride through hell. The only upside at times was the ability to make $5k gross in two weeks (at times) and have very good health insurance. That may not sound like much and honestly it wasn’t after all the extra BS we paid into. But is was pretty good, or so i thought, for someone with no higher education. Beyond that it has been awful. I basically sold my life to this company, with absolutely no appreciation. On call every day. Long hours often times,12 plus hours on the clock, 10-28 hours in a shitty hotel, 12 plus hours working home then 10 hours off work at home and back at it again. If your lucky your home for 24-36 hours. But lately more like 10-14 hours home since they cut staff so short for profits. Repeat, repeat, repeat. No paid sick time. Very few days allowed to be off work. Management trying to write you up and fire you constantly (think police officers patrolling). No pay raise in years. This was the life i lived, all while the company boasted their record profits every qtr. My longest work shift was around 20 hours. Sleep deprived like you wouldn’t believe. Often times awake for 30-40 hours at a time. Going into dream states instantly while dozing off. It was awful for my health, mentally and im sure physically. Constant anxiety about when that dreaded phone call would come and ive already been awake all day and knowing i would have to work for the next 12 plus hours. One day you may have to be at work at 10pm, the next time 1 am, maybe 4 pm, perhaps 7am, who knew. We didnt. It could be any time of the day. There were no “shifts”. We just waited around for the call. The ability to try and schedule anything in life was almost impossible. After seven years i realized this is no way to live, although i knew earlier, but I finally got out. I am free. I start my new job next week. It’s easy to feel stuck and that your current situation is the best you can do. And it is sad most of these ideas revolve around money. But no money is worth living that way for most of your life. Find your happiness in life, i can assure you it wont come from a mega corporation that doesn’t even know who you are. Not even your immediate supervisors really know you. Thats all i have. Just had to vent and declare my excitement and share just some of the horrors of this industry! Thanks