Conductor exam! (Accord: commute, job, worth)

[Fred314X]

Originally Posted by BrooklynRalfy

Enjoy posting. Is your class B division? What class number are you in? I recently finished school car. Ask ur tss to teach u supplements and g.o. Exemption forms. Good luck, enjoy school car, I'll see u in a crew room somewhere.

And as a tower operator, I'll be talking to you on the radio sometime. (At least, I should be; when a tower requests information and the train operator isn't interested to provide it, the conductor should not wait to be given a special invitation!)

[dishe415]

Originally Posted by BrooklynRalfy

Enjoy posting. Is your class B division? What class number are you in? I recently finished school car. Ask ur tss to teach u supplements and g.o. Exemption forms. Good luck, enjoy school car, I'll see u in a crew room somewhere.

Posting has been going very well. We did PM's last week and this week it is on to the AM's. Tomorrow is going to be the first time on a R-160's.

My entire class is going to B division. We heard the class that started after mine is half A and half B.

See you in a crew room!

[Fred314X]

Just remember that the 160s come equipped with a "black box." If you're ever on one and there's an incident--the best possible strategy is to report the truth!

[Artzilla]

Originally Posted by dishe415

Hey Artzilla,

How has it been? We haven't heard from you in a while. Are you getting the tours/RDO's that you want? Are they sending you all over the place. Keep us updated.

Hope all is well!

BTW I start posting tonight!

I hope it is going well for you, posting is a real eyeopener!

Well, here is my big rant: The first couple of months I got exactly what I wanted, PM shifts and weekends off (which I did not expect at all) and they were trying to keep me mostly in Queens, where I live. The RDOs to me are not nearly as important as the shift, because I recently got moved to the AMs and I HATE it. It really destroys my day,. because most of the time I don't get out with any afternoon left, and by the time I get home a big chunk of my night is gone too, with some of the places they are sending me.

Example: I had to report to Far Rock at 4:07 am the other day. I have to catch a bus, and then two different A trains to get there, and I ended up leaving my place at 2 am to get there on time. I cleared at 12:49, and didn't get home till 3 ish. I was so tired that I fell asleep when I got home and woke up at 8.

Or they will start my shift towards the middle of the day, like 10:30 or 11, at another place that is nowhere near where I live, like Bedford Park. So that means I need to leave no later than 9 am, and I can count on getting home between 8 and 9:30 at night. (No car.)

A lot of the time now when I am on board as an AM conductor, I am picking up PM jobs, sometimes in full, where I might as well have stayed on PMs. Learned very quickly that overtime is way overrated.

Seniority cannot come soon enough.

One odd observation..49th street station tends to smell very yummy, like sugary. I am not sure why that is, but on the N (and the R I think) you will smell it.

[Artzilla]

I am so freaking tired of them assigning me to Far Rockaway when there are four other terminals in Queens that are much closer to where I live. Even Lefferts would be better. It's either been Far Rockaway, which is bad, or Bedford Park, which is even worse, for the most part since this new pick started. Glad to have a job, sick of giving up an extra 3-4 hours a day on commuting.

[Fred314X]

Originally Posted by Artzilla

Well, here is my big rant: The first couple of months I got exactly what I wanted, PM shifts and weekends off (which I did not expect at all) and they were trying to keep me mostly in Queens, where I live. The RDOs to me are not nearly as important as the shift, because I recently got moved to the AMs and I HATE it. It really destroys my day,. because most of the time I don't get out with any afternoon left, and by the time I get home a big chunk of my night is gone too, with some of the places they are sending me.

The same thing happened to me. Hang in there; a lot of the personnel in the Crew Office are hardcore game players. They'll wait to see if you complain about the assignments (the correct move is not to do that!) And in a few weeks, you'll start getting assignments you prefer once again.

And any time there's no open job and you're assigned to the board somewhere, call the Crew Office around 10:30 in the morning, tell 'em you don't have an assignment, and ask if there are any open jobs you can pick up. I did that, wound up on their good side, and eventually got jobs with both hours and locations I liked.

[dishe415]

Originally Posted by Fred314X

The same thing happened to me. Hang in there; a lot of the personnel in the Crew Office are hardcore game players. They'll wait to see if you complain about the assignments (the correct move is not to do that!) And in a few weeks, you'll start getting assignments you prefer once again.

And any time there's no open job and you're assigned to the board somewhere, call the Crew Office around 10:30 in the morning, tell 'em you don't have an assignment, and ask if there are any open jobs you can pick up. I did that, wound up on their good side, and eventually got jobs with both hours and locations I liked.

Hi Everyone,

Just an update. The crew office has been sending me all over the city. Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn specifically. I haven't seen stations close to me in a while. I have not complained and I am hanging in there! I prefer to work jobs than to be on the board. I am also not a big fan of platform. I know with time things will get better (I hope).

The job is rewarding in its own way. The room for growth, stability, benefits and opportunities in the authority is what brought me here. For the most part my coworkers have been good as well. Most supervisors that I have ran into or evaluated me have been pretty helpful.

Those of you who are prospective conductors, be ready to travel all over the city at random hours. 6am start time means you may need to leave your home at 3:30am to get there! You could live in the Bronx and be assigned to start out and end in Mott Ave/Far Rockaway. You also may not get the tour (shift)/days off you want. Be aware of this and understand what you are signing up for. The job involves a lot of responsibility. The hardest part for many people is getting to work.

Take care everyone! Artzilla, Fred and everyone else, thanks for the advice and keep it coming. Feel free to PM me if you have any other advice. I appreciate it!

[UrbanAdventurer]

Interesting insight into life as a noob conductor. Always wondered how that worked.

[Artzilla]

I am glad to hear you are keeping a positive attitude, dishe, it will go a long way!

It's a pretty good job, and the day goes much faster when you are working than not.

Today was tough, had eight hours of outside platform work, and it was pretty cold. But tomorrow I have a shortened schedule, which is nice.

[Rodriguez2108]

Took the exam in December of 2008, passed with a 97.333, how can i find out what is the status.....?