Track Laborer Job Just For Summer?

[photogeek88]

I've been thinking for a while about possibly trying to get a job with the UP over the summer after I graduate high school here in early June, and have seen that the local Engineering Department has anticipated openings for Track Laborers. My question is, how do most railroads view hiring before the summer for track work? Should this be implied to be just extra help during the summer construction season, or is most track laborer hiring done with the intention of staying on with the company past the summer? I probably won't apply if they're expecting me to stick around after August, but at $16.21 an hour starting pay and 40 hour work week, it would be a pretty good cash fix for college. Thanks.

[PigFarmer1]

It's a fulltime position.  They won't hire you for the summer.  The days of summer hires are long gone.  As for the 40 hour work week--That's pretty much a myth.  If you are hired to work systems you can expect to work sunup to sundown all year.  If you work section and have the wrong boss you can expect to work six days a week with plenty of overtime Mon-Fri.  It's a job that ruins a lot of marriages.  You're away from home a lot.  Get in with the wrong crowd (Easy to do for a lot of guys out on the road) and it can ruin you.  I like my job, but I could do without all the travel.  I could also do without the high school locker room attitude that is so common.  If you don't drink, gamble, go to strip joints, or chase after women you don't really fit in.