CompGeo Railroad Conductors and Yardmasters Salary Survey Benchmark Job Description and Competencies - Transportation Occupation Group

CompGeo Occupation Group: Transportation

Job Family: Railroad

Benchmark Title: Railroad Conductors and Yardmasters

Summary Job Description

Tasks

Coordinate activities of switch-engine crew within railroad yard, industrial plant, or similar location. Conductors coordinate activities of train crew on passenger or freight trains. Yardmasters review train schedules and switching orders and coordinate activities of workers engaged in railroad traffic operations, such as the makeup or breakup of trains and yard switching.

Signal engineers to begin train runs, stop trains, or change speed, using telecommunications equipment or hand signals.

Receive information regarding train or rail problems from dispatchers or from electronic monitoring devices.

Direct and instruct workers engaged in yard activities, such as switching tracks, coupling and uncoupling cars, and routing inbound and outbound traffic.

Keep records of the contents and destination of each train car, and make sure that cars are added or removed at proper points on routes.

Operate controls to activate track switches and traffic signals.

Instruct workers to set warning signals in front and at rear of trains during emergency stops.

Direct engineers to move cars to fit planned train configurations, combining or separating cars to make up or break up trains.

Receive instructions from dispatchers regarding trains' routes, timetables, and cargoes.

Review schedules, switching orders, way bills, and shipping records to obtain cargo loading and unloading information and to plan work.

Confer with engineers regarding train routes, timetables, and cargoes, and to discuss alternative routes when there are rail defects or obstructions.

Arrange for the removal of defective cars from trains at stations or stops.

Inspect each car periodically during runs.

Observe yard traffic to determine tracks available to accommodate inbound and outbound traffic.

Document and prepare reports of accidents, unscheduled stops, or delays.

Confirm routes and destination information for freight cars.

Supervise and coordinate crew activities to transport freight and passengers and to provide boarding, porter, maid, and meal services to passengers.

Supervise workers in the inspection and maintenance of mechanical equipment to ensure efficient and safe train operation.

Record departure and arrival times, messages, tickets and revenue collected, and passenger accommodations and destinations.

Inspect freight cars for compliance with sealing procedures and record car numbers and seal numbers.

Collect tickets, fares, or passes from passengers.

Verify accuracy of timekeeping instruments with engineers to ensure trains depart on time.

Instruct workers to regulate air conditioning, lighting, and heating in passenger cars to ensure passengers' comfort.

CompGeo Occupation Group: Transportation

Job Family: Railroad

Benchmark Title: Railroad Conductors and Yardmasters

Important Knowledge Competencies

Competency Description

Transportation

Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.

Public Safety and Security

Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

Customer and Personal Service

Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

English Language

Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

Administration and Management

Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

Mechanical

Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.

CompGeo Occupation Group: Transportation

Job Family: Railroad

Benchmark Title: Railroad Conductors and Yardmasters

Important Skill Competencies

Competency Description

Speaking

Talking to others to convey information effectively.

Critical Thinking

Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.

Active Listening

Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.

Monitoring

Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Complex Problem Solving

Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.

Judgment and Decision Making

Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.

Coordination

Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.

Operation Monitoring

Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.

Time Management

Managing one's own time and the time of others.

Management of Personnel Resources

Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.

Reading Comprehension

Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

Operation and Control

Controlling operations of equipment or systems.

Quality Control Analysis

Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.

Active Learning

Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.

Social Perceptiveness

Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.

Writing

Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

Instructing

Teaching others how to do something.

Systems Analysis

Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.

Systems Evaluation

Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.

Learning Strategies

Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.

Service Orientation

Actively looking for ways to help people.

CompGeo Occupation Group: Transportation

Job Family: Railroad

Benchmark Title: Railroad Conductors and Yardmasters

Important Ability Competencies

Competency Description

Oral Expression

The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.

Oral Comprehension

The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

Far Vision

The ability to see details at a distance.

Problem Sensitivity

The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.

Near Vision

The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).

Speech Clarity

The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

Speech Recognition

The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.

Deductive Reasoning

The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

Information Ordering

The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).

Depth Perception

The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.

Visualization

The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.

Multilimb Coordination

The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.

Reaction Time

The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.

Auditory Attention

The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.

Written Comprehension

The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

Category Flexibility

The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.

Perceptual Speed

The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.

Selective Attention

The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.

Written Expression

The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.

Inductive Reasoning

The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).

Flexibility of Closure

The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.

Arm-Hand Steadiness

The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.

Control Precision

The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.

Rate Control

The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.

Hearing Sensitivity

The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.

Manual Dexterity

The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.

Response Orientation

The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.

Trunk Strength

The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without 'giving out' or fatiguing.

Stamina

The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.

Extent Flexibility

The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.

Gross Body Coordination

The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.

Visual Color Discrimination

The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.

Originality

The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.

Finger Dexterity

The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.

Gross Body Equilibrium

The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.

CompGeo Occupation Group: Transportation

Job Family: Railroad

Benchmark Title: Railroad Conductors and Yardmasters

Tools/Technology Example

Product Category

Automated equipment identification AEI software

Industrial control software

Bourque Data Systems YardMaster

Materials requirements planning logistics and supply chain software

Freight reservation software

Materials requirements planning logistics and supply chain software

Inventory tracking software

Inventory management software

Microsoft Office software

Office suite software

Positive train control PTC systems

Expert system software

RailComm DocYard

Industrial control software

SAIC Integrated AEI Software

Industrial control software

Softrail AEI Automatic Yard Tracking System

Industrial control software

Softrail AEI Rail & Road Manager

Inventory management software

Adjustable wrenches

Automatic container locks

Lockout devices

Bridge plates

Dock plates

Cable sheath cutters

Wire or cable cutters

Car pullers

Winches

Desktop computers

Intercom systems

Laptop computers

Notebook computers

Locking ratchet wrenches

Ratchets

Mainframe computers

Personal computers

Portable bar code scanners

Bar code reader equipment

Portable satellite communications systems

Location based messaging service platforms

Radio frequency identification RFID devices

Radio frequency identification devices

Starter punches

Punches or nail sets or drifts

Switch adjusting wrenches

Specialty wrenches

Switching system controls

Rail switching systems

Terminal wrenches

Specialty wrenches

Tie-down winches

Tie down anchors

Two way radios

Ultra high frequency UHF radio communication systems

Radio frequency transmitters or receivers

Uncoupling levers

Rail couplers

Weigh-in-motion scales

Truck or rail scales

CompGeo Occupation Group: Transportation

Job Family: Railroad

Benchmark Title: Railroad Conductors and Yardmasters

Prerequisite Qualification Category

Education and Experience Level

Required Level of Education

High School Diploma (or GED or High School Equivalence Certificate)

Related Work Experience

None

On-the-Job Training

Over 3 months, up to and including 6 months

On-Site or In-Plant Training

Up to and including 1 month

CompGeo Occupation Group: Transportation

Job Family: Railroad

Benchmark Title: Railroad Conductors and Yardmasters

Alternate Job Title(s)

Agent

Brakeman

Car Chaser

Car Dispatcher

Car Distributor

Car Spotter

Centralized Traffic Control Operator (CTC Operator)

Conductor

Dispatch Manager

Dispatcher

Engineer

Freight Conductor

Locomotive Engineer

Motor Boss

Operations Manager

Passenger Car Conductor

Passenger Conductor

Pullman Conductor

Railroad Conductor

Railroad Dispatcher

Road Conductor

Road Freight Conductor

Roadmaster

Sleeping Car Conductor

Supervisor, Engines, Road

Switch Operators Supervisor

Switchman Supervisor

Ticket Collector

Traffic Control Operator

Train Conductor

Train Dispatcher

Trainman

Trainmaster

Trains Dispatcher Supervisor

Transportation Supervisor

Yard Conductor

Yard Manager

Yard Pilot

Yard Supervisor

Yardmaster

CompGeo Occupation Group: Transportation

Job Family: Railroad

Benchmark Title: Railroad Conductors and Yardmasters

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CompGeo Salary Survey Benchmark Job Summary and Competencies

Railroad Conductors and Yardmasters

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