Success7

I'm confused, correct me if I'm wrong but HopefulTO, your list # it's 260X and 3rd Rail your 267X, that's more than 40#s. Are there more than 40 ppl being called for July 28th?.3rd Rail,keep us informed if you're given the July class or if you're given an Aug date. Much appreciated.

They go through way more than 40#s just to get 40 people per class. People get disqualified or don't meet the requirements or get put on medical holds so they have to call about 100 people just to get 40. Plus not everyone accepts the position and they don't exactly go in order. For example, I was in the first class of open competitive TOs and the class had some promotionasl, but the open compatitive list numbers ranged from the top 10 to the 80s or 90s just to get about 25 of us.

Don't let em scare you Brownhornet! lol Yeah the 62's can be a little rough on you especially the ones on the 3 line(my favorite line at the moment); those make you work. I tend to switch between sitting and standing on them to alleviate some of the aches you get from operating them. Nothing like coming into a station busting 35mph standing up, taking a brake without having to adjust it and watch that mofo stop right at the marker. Then open your window and look out like a boss. Hey you have to fun with it or your day will drag and you will be miserable.

  

Once you get an idea how the R62's handle, they actually have the best brakes of any of the A Division equipment.

 

The R62A's are much easier to handle and more forgiving, but they don't have the same stopping power the R62's have. They are still excellent trains, and their brake is very predictable...meaning you'll get what you pull when you pull it...no delay.

  

@Niemus I ain't never scared!!! I welcome the challenge! I'm loving this experience. I heard about those ECAMS on the 62's as opposed to the 62A's. I heard those 62's stop where you want them to. Once you keep holding what you got. Well I still can't wait to operate them. Right now it's yards, and S/S for us.

Yessir!!!!! The 3 Line is the best line in the A Division in my opinion. Not too long, not too short. Good express run. And don't forget the equipment. Those 62s on the 3 line are the best damn trains we have in the A div. Especially the modified ones that are smoother now. Anybody who says otherwise just can't handle them. If you want that beast to stop, it will stop. Come into a station doing 40 at the plat and that baby will stop on a dime. Those new techs will have you overrunning stations. It will be a long time coming before I pick away from the 3 line. Only downside is getting stuck behind a 2 constantly. It's like they operate slow on purpose over there lol.

Can someone answer following Qs, I know all of it will be covered during job orientation, but it nice to know ahead of the game:

Q1: Work week 35 or 40 hrs?

Q2: Lunch (if any) 30 min or one full hour? Paid or unpaid?

Q3: On average, how many hours of overtime is possible to make a week or month?

Q3: Shifts: 7-3, 3-11, 11-7?

Thanks

1. You will be paid and work no less than 40 hours per week, but believe me. Being extra extra, you will work way more than the 40 hour minimum whether you want to or not.

2. Lunch depends on the job your working that day. Your not guaranteed a lunch but they will pay you an extra 30mins if your lunch is cut short.

3. Overtime will be plentiful while your extra. And you guys must understand that overtime is MANDATORY. It's not an option or choice. There are jobs down here that are 10 hours. Plus the road might blow up and you'll get a late clear on top of that. Who doesn't love money though.

4. There really are no shifts. The closest you'll get to a "shift" is AM, PM or Midnight shift. For example on AM shift your job can start at 4am and end at 12pm or later or it can start at 1130am and end at 730pm or later. It's a very big time range for each "shift", we call the "tour" though. AM Tour for example.

 

Your time will be eaten up by this job while your extra extra but enjoy that money because when it comes time to pick, unless your lucky, you'll see less of those 90+ hour paychecks.

Enjoy it and have fun while being safe at the same time.

Thanks for the response guys. I'll just stick it out. They say it's always a bad move to not go with your first choice/gut instinct anyway. I picked what I picked for a reason. Might as well stop double checking the board and doubting my choices.

Quick question for someone who's been on the job for a while. Now I know the pick is done, but if there is a job that's still open on a certain day and I wanna switch my job I picked for that day to the one that is open and wasn't picked by anyone, can I call the pick office and have them change it before the pick starts Sunday?

LOL I can promise you if I were them it wouldn't make me sad at all, but when you're talking about your time that you're willing to let them have. It adds up in the end. 5 + 3 in this business is a lot of money. Personally I solve that walk issue by having the slip already repaired. Most of the slip is typical information anyway. Then at the opposite terminal especially after developing but so much experience you know if it's going to be possible for you to make it to the terminal on time or not and based on that all you had to do is add in the time you're supposed to clear and the job information. Once you dump at the terminal you now know whether it's 5 or 6 minutes but you still have to get the official word from the TD. So you walk in and ask and they give you the number. You add it on. Final out the totals, hand in the paper and sign out. In the A if it's the 1 line, you likely had to walk that way anyway if you drove. The 2 line is T/O's choice. The 3 line you have to walk that way if you drove anyway. The 4 the office is right there regardless. The 5 is T/O's choice. The 6 the office is right there anyway. The 7, eh.....to each his own on that one.

Yes it does add up but I don't drive. As soon as I dump I'm on the next thing outta the terminal. If I have time til the next interval leaves I'll go fill one out. By all means everyone should claim all time worked. This way they can adjust these work programs so were not always getting late clears. I ALWAYS fill out one for the 1 line no matter how many minutes. You earned it on that line.

Thanks!

 

One more thing - sign out rules:

 

-If you incur a late clear and are putting in an overtime slip for it, you have to sign out.

-If you have more than 5 minutes boost time, or WAA at the end of the job, you have to sign out. All nonroad jobs require sign out (yard, station switching, platform, etc.) as even though some have scheduled activities, they are essentially 8 hours of WAA. Posting also requires you to sign out, whether it's for the road or the yard, doesn't matter the job.

 

-If your job ends with a trip (no WAA) and is a penalty job (pays more than 8 hours), you do NOT have to sign out, unless you are filling out an overtime slip for a late clear.

-If your job ends with a trip (no WAA) and works 7:55 or more, you do NOT have to sign out. The only exception to this is a job working less than 7:55 that ends somewhere different than it starts, as long as the built in deadhead time puts you over 7:55.

 

Why 7:55? Radio time. You've probably heard of this. It dates back to the days before crews had radios - the trains had radios that had to be signed out of and back into the terminals by the crews. Obviously those days are long gone, but the union grieved (and won) that requiring someone arriving from a trip to sign out essentially forces them to do so on their own time since they are technically off the clock the second their train dumps and the doors open in the terminal. So the 5 minute allowance was kept built into any penalty job. If you look at the work program you can see this - the difference of 5 minutes between what the job works and pays for these types of jobs. This is also why jobs that have a trip ending in the 7:55 to 8:00 range after reporting time never have 1-5 minutes of WAA at the end, as radio time covers the boost. So if you want to go home when you dump that train in the terminal, you are allowed to, but only if your job ends with that trip, and it's 7:55 or more after your report time FOR THAT JOB (IE being on the board beforehand doesn't count).

 

Sometimes signing out is your decision. If it's going to take you 5 minutes to walk back to the office to fill out a slip for 6+3, turn it in and sign out...and the train that will take you home leaves in 3 minutes on a 20 minute headway, you may decide to forego your late clear and just go home. Up to you.

I've had partners that give me the sad face because I don't want to go claim 5 +3 with them. Smh I personally will not waste 10 extra minutes of my time to get paid for 5mins. Not worth it to me, especially if the office is a walk away. Anything less than 10 minutes late clear is for the good of the service to me . 10 mins or better, I'll go fill one out. Sometimes 15 mins or better is my minimum.

That is true but I look at things only positively. If I were him I'm not thinking about failing or not making probation. Just wouldn't be a thought in my head just like it wasn't a thought in my head when I came off the street to be a T/O. Of course he should do what he thinks is best for him at all costs but my mind frame is not one of doubt. Opportunity knocks, I go for it ASAP because tomorrow isn't promised. Just understand the consequences of your actions to the fullest extent and you wil be determined to not fail or sway.

its for June 2nd. Thanks for the info, I'm just glad i dont have to fill out everything again. Still makes no sense to me that i had to fill out employment history again in the first place. Being that i already done it when i was hired as a B/O. but it's TA so im use to the head scratchers  lol

It's because you took the open competitive test. Since it's open competitive, you will be processed like your coming in for the first time like everyone else. If you would have taken the promotional exam, the process would have been different.

I got the letter to come back down for the medical (same letter to fill out as last time for the drug test so maybe this means my DT expired and just needs to be renewed). So my appointment is Jun 2, however, being that my list # is 244x, they might be up to my number? How do I go about asking to be postponed on the list so I can request to be reinstated later after my probation is finished as a C/R?

I suggest you take the T/O position now, that's if you really want it, because you never know when they will slow down hiring. If you finish probation as a CR, and go to T/O, you will have to do probation all over again anyway. If you want to be a T/O, I suggest you go for it now because tomorrow is not always promised. Hiring could cease or slow down at any moment. Plus your letting dozens of people in front of you seniority wise. A couple of bodies can make a huge difference pick wise let alone dozens possibly hundreds depending on how long you wait.

Na I'm not going in on my RDO to check the sheets lol. I just check IVR or call the crew office because sometimes I'll call the ivr and they won't have a job on there for me so I have no choice but to call the crew office. I say always check the sheets because they have been clutch for me since I hit the road over a year ago. I've called the crew office before and they told me the wrong job so I try to stick to the sheets. Always get the name of the dispatcher you speak to when you call the crew office for your job. I'm glad I finally got to pick. Don't have to deal with the crew office that much anymore. Your rdos may get shuffled around for a bit but by the time the next pick starts you will move waaaaaaaay up on the xtra xtra list so things should change for you. So many guys got to pick its ridiculous. A lot of people will move up on the xx list.

Question about my RDOs and the crew office.

 

I called yesterday and was told my RDOs for next week. I called today to find out my next job and a different person said my RDOs are on a different day from what I was told yesterday. I am not complaining at all but want to know if this is common and if I should call more than once on different days from now on to confirm my RDOs ?

 

Last thing I want is I go AWOL thinking my RDO is on a certain day but its not because it changed from the day I called to find out my RDOs, that's all.

Serious question here. I'm in school car now 1 week so far. How difficult are the exams? Especially signal exam? Because they have all of us paranoid right now with threats of being dismissed. I know passing is 100%. How often do people fail?

Tommy John, the best thing I learned down here is to always try to have things in black & white on paper. Always follow the sheets!!!!! Whether the sheets are right or wrong, you won't get in trouble because it was on paper. Instead of getting the run around trying to explain so and so told you whatever at the crew office because they will try to pass the buck. So when it comes to jobs, ALWAYS FOLLOW WHAT THE SHEETS SAY AND ALWAYS CHECK THEM. RDOs can change last minute but it's rare. Always call to double check your RDOs on your Friday night, whatever day your Friday happens to be for the week, after 7pm. By then they should be locked in.

 

Mard, the exams aren't hard at all if you pay attention and apply yourself. Not hard at all. You will go over signals everyday. No reason you should fail. If you fail that means you weren't applying yourself and really didn't want the job or take the training seriously. Yes people have failed and been dismissed. 2 from my class alone were sent back to conductor for exam failures. A couple more from my class fired after school car while on probation for too many incidents. So yes they have no sympathy with letting you go. So pass those tests. And when you hit the road, don't hit signals, overrun stations and don't book off/call out a lot. Simple as that. It's not rocket science. Pretty simple once you put the notes and words into hands on action. Study those signals as often as possible. It was easy for me but may not be for others. The learning curve is huge between people. You will be fine. Your here in the forum so that says a lot. Shows you want the job.

Yup pick was great. Xtra xtra for a year and a few months but seemed like forever. I truly sympathize with those that were xtra xtra for 5 years. That's crazy. I actually feel bad for the people they finish up the hiring blitz with because once they get their numbers together, those last few hires will be xtra xtra for years also as movement slows down. We came in at the right time I guess. They say it's rare you get RDO relief on the AMs with good jobs on your first pick. I could have gotten 5 straight days on the line I picked but decided I'll pick 1 day somewhere else to break up the routine a bit. There's been times where I've been scheduled less that 10 hours between jobs. A couple times I had late clears and wound up with less that 8 hours between jobs smh. Sometimes I called them to change my next day job, sometimes I just stuck it out. Depends on how I felt. Work with the crew office and they will work with you.

Knock on wood. Well ive been lucky enough to have been kept on the same tour since I came out of school car in february. Only thing that has change were my RDOs, once. They changed them when the new pick started in June but it was cool. Idk about you guys but i LOVE AMs. I love the rush hour, the crazy crowds of people, operating a packed to capacity train and moving that sucker swiftly yet safely and getting everyone to work on time. I like when control center starts going crazy when the road blows up. That radio gets entertaining. AMs makes me feel more like a train operator. If i were on midnights id be bored as hell and would probably fall asleep or something crazy cuz its too quiet. Some early AM jobs i get a taste of the all greens and no customers. I dont like it, too boring.

Welp, it felt good today reporting to work and not seeing that dreaded PROBATIONARY underneath my name on the sign in sheet highlighted in yellow. Finally done with probation and "secured" my title. But as they say, your on probation your whole career and ima treat it that way. Good luck to you all, time flies. Congrats TA17 & 16

Dan is in the B Div they have a shortage of TOs in the B Div.

 

Its crazy over here.

Yea I figured it would be like that in the B Div. that's a lot of ground to cover over there. I would do an A to B transfer only if I could pick a job. I can't imagine XX life in the B. It's already bad enough in the A.

Yes this is true, they need people on the roads.

This in not true, the road is pretty much covered in the A division. A lot of XX guys sit on the board and wait to get called for a job now. No big demand for new TOs in the A division. After the pick was over there was over 100 people left that got sent to the XX list. Now I don't know about the B division. They may need people. There is a need for new T/Os constantly but the demand has dwindled a bit since last year. And there are ALOT of new TO in school car right now that hasn't even finished. I feel kinda bad for you guys that start in August and next week. When u come out y'all are gonna be XX for a loooong time. TSS was telling me today he was XX for 3 years before he could pick a job and that's how it gonna be for a lot of the recent hires. But don't let that discourage you. It's a great job. XX is ok if you dont mind instability lol. Congrats to all who are getting in.

My list # is 108x and I didn't get a phone call for my medical, so I thought I would call. Apparantly I was supposed to be there today for my Medical which I never received a phone call for they said they left a message and I asked what # did you leave a message with? They didn't answer they just transfered me to the person who makes the phone calls and she resheduled me for the 17th. Let us know how it goes for you, Good Luck.

Same thing happened to me when I first came on the job last year. If your list# range is being called down for medical and you didn't receive one yet, I highly suggest you call 180 Livingston yourself. They will schedule you when you call if they have reached your list# range. Thank god for this thread because I would have never known they were calling people and I wouldn't be on the job right now.

That was the Feb. class and you are correct 10 write ins and 15 multiple choice.

Meh...... I still would have destroyed it.

Anyone hear receive a duplicate pre-employment letter in the mail recently? I just went last week and know I got the same exact letter as the first time in the mail to report next week.

Go in again. Won't hurt if it was a mistake but you don't wanna miss out on anything.

Question for you guys. Is is better to work for NYCT as a train operator which I am going in for the medical and final processing in a couple of days or the NYPD? I am close to getting into the July 2013 academy class. Not sure which is the best choice.

In my opinion, the perks you get being a PO is great. Plus you get to carry protection legally at all times. As far as pay goes, you may make more in the long run as a PO but it all depends. They are both well paying jobs. You'll start off getting paid more as a Train operator than as a police officer but in the long run I believe Top pay for PO is higher than TO.. They both have promotion opportunities. Both retire at 25/55 under tier 6. Both can be layed off due to budget cuts at anytime. TO is safer of course and less stressful. NYPD is a paramilitary organization so if your not used to getting yelled at or taking crap from people ie: co workers/supervisors and not being able to do anything about I would think twice. If you were in the military then you know the deal already. It's all what you make of it. Remember this is most likely what you will be doing for the rest of your life so its up to you.

First of all, Transit Authority does not issue preference points. Points are added at DCAS as per NY State Department of Civil Service and the State Constitution. (CSL § 85.2)

 

Also, the disability could have been minore ie... you injured your knee, finger, toe, something simple and not job related. However this person never even got a physical. He just filled out the 21 page forms and then recieved the dreaded considered but not selected letter. Again background, education, employment, and health all great. His list # was first passed over by DCAS because they only rated written exams above 88.75 and did not include the final average scores of veteran preference points to be sent to Transit for appointments. DCAS has since corrected this after complaints were made.

In conclusion I am only informing the forum of this in order to share information and so people can be on guard if this becomes an issue with veterans. Granted this person might have something that I am unaware of which influence Transits decision. I have just presented the facts as I understand them and in the hopes of recieving clarification and understanding. I have nothing to gain.

 

CSL § 85.2

 

The State Constitution requires that examinations for appointment or promotion in State service be competitive, so far as practicable. At the same time, it contains a significant exception to the strict rule of competition by giving additional credits in competitive examinations to war veterans. Disabled veterans receive 10 points additional credit on their examination scores in open-competitive examinations and five points in promotion examinations. Non-disabled veterans are granted five points in open-competitive examinations and two and one-half points in promotion examinations. In every case, however, the veteran must attain a passing mark on an examination before additional credits may be added to his/her score. The additional credits may not be applied to raise a failing grade to a passing one. There Different Levels of Disability?

Yes for Disability Compensation. For Disability Compensation, the range is from 0% to 100%. A veteran with a 0% rating may have a service connected condition, but it doesn’t interfere with normal life functions. A veteran with a 100% rating will have one or more disabilities that significantly interfere with normal life functions. There is a full range between the two, with the majority of Vermont’s disabled veterans rated at 10%, 20%, or 30%.

Hey I'm a veteran and I got in the first OC/promo class so there is no discrimination of vets going on. We had a few vets in both classes actually. But when you say he went through the whole process and handed in the 21 page packet then received the considered but not selected letter. That leads me to believe there was something they saw in his background or something that HR found unfavorable, that's all. The 1 in 3 rule usually takes effect as they get further into the list. They don't use it for the top scorers. So either out of the 3 people being considered at that time, one of the other 2 were more desirable than your friend or your friend just had something in his background he's not telling you or didn't disclose to HR as required.

Lots of road posting going on out there. Any of the TSS' hearing any feedback or crazy stories yet? I know there was a station over run at 14th gap fillers yesterday. Actually, I think he pulled out too fast and hit the stop before the gf cleared. Not sure if it was a student though.

It was neither. He just pulled too for back on the handle and put the train into emergency leaving the station. Said he took a hard brake because he thought the leaving hooligan signal dropped on him but it didn't. That red out the corner in the side window just scared him and he pulled back to far and put the handle in emergency. I heard the RCI say the was no strike mark and snow block was intact so no signal overrun. Gotta defend my classmates lol.

No it is 10 points disabled veteran. Score 97 not veterans 5 points.

OK 10 points I can understand. For all of you guys being passed over, you MUST be persistent. Contact them because paperwork does get shuffled. Here's my example. I went I for my dt/pre employment. Was told I will be contacted soon and went home confident and filled out my 21 page booklet. Waited a couple weeks and watched this forum and saw people getting called in for final processing that were lower on the list than me. I gave the the benefit of the doubt and waited another week and still no call. So I made some phone calls and finally personally spoke to the lady that was scheduling people for final processing. She defended her team and said I was "contacted" by phone and missed my date when I absolutely was not contacted. She then cut me off mid sentence and said just come in on so and so date and BAM I was hired. They make mistakes, you gotta be on top of them. Call them and ask questions. Be persistent. (347) 643-8229

The 1 and 3 rule was done years ago from what I heard. But you are right about them not rating a score below 88.25.

 

Whether its 1 and 3 or considered in not selected. I'm not sure.

 

Anyway they DCAS initially did not include the veterans preference points in their ratings for certification for written scores below 88.25 even though with the preference nice they surpassed that threshold. ie...veterans adding 5 or 10 points to their written score. This was only corrected a few weeks ago. A major screw probably resulting in delayed appointments.

To you new forum members, the starting salary IS $30 an hour. It's been stated as fact many times in this forum and from guys who were hired. Why would you still be questioning that. It either a typo or you misread your letter and its probably for a different position. And to the gentleman complaining about the score issue, yes it is messed up but when you say that he probably would have been appointed by now is highly unlikely. With a score of 92 you will still be waiting to get called. Take a look at the list and see how many people scored 100-95 and take a look at their list numbers.