Success7

what month do they do the pick? is it in december?

Every 6 months. The next pick for A div starts May 6th

The call sheets for the next A Div pick just came out. It's ridiculous how far down on the list I am lol. But at the same time it's also crazy how many people I'm ahead of on the list already.

 

got B div class of 50 t/o. 30 to b 20 to a

 

bigg upp tss lovell gt massive

Good ratio for the majority of you guys to pick your preferred div.

I went in for final medical procesing on thursday 25th, the lady asked me if I was ready to start on may 20th and I said yes, then she went outside and came back again, and said "theirs a spot for monday april 29th, do you want it", I said no, it was just to close I thought at that moment. What do you guys think? Should I've said yes, am I missing a lot of seniority by not taking it. Thanks

I would have took the offer, but that's just me. I find it crazy that they are having a hard time filling up this class that starts on Monday. Took them all the way til this Friday right before it starts and they were still offering spots?

I went in for medical and final processing on 4/23. I passed everything and was surprised when the interviewer asked if i can start on Monday 4/29. I turned it down for now because I am aware I have a shaky background.I told them that I would prefer for my background check to be completed before I accept the job because I would hate to resign from my job now (which is a good job) without giving adequate notice and burning that bridge to accept the position without knowing if the MTA will accept my background as is. She said i was risking for the list to expire before the background check is complete. I think I would be taking a bigger risk if I take the job now and Good forbid get fired because of my background and quitting my last job and having a burnt bridge with them and staying unemployed. Does these background checks really take that long? Has anyone ever requested their background check completed before appointment?

Man listen, no disrespect but you should have took the job. Even with your shaky background, if you were truthful and disclosed everything, and they still wanna hire you, why turn it down. Trust me if they thought something was shady in your background, the interviewer would have went over it with you and asked you about it. So if they are offering you the job, obviously they don't see anything to worry about. You had to list all arrests and all that stuff so if you were truthful and disclosed everything, then of course they saw it but still decided to offer you a job. Should have took the offer my friend.

Passport is not mandatory. As long as you have a valid nys ID, SS card and birth certificate. I've never had a passport in my life. They didn't ask me for one neither. .

 

The letter stated hearing, vision, and drug test.

No offense my friend, but have you been reading this thread at all. It has been stated numerous times that its only a drug test and some paperwork for pre employment. Forget what the letter says. All you are going to do is hand in the packet they sent to you in the mail with the letter and take a drug test. I know the letter states otherwise but that's all your gonna do. When its time for your full physical they will call you by phone and give you a date to come in. Just a heads up to you.

Worked the early this morning; waited 90 mins for a trainer to take me. Oh well. Not a bad time; it's all about knowing how to handle your train and route familiarization.

 

On the tonight. Time to play "Guess where the stop marker is."

LOL 90 mins, that's child's play over here in the A div. How about banking a 3 - 4 hour late clear because nobody wanted a student. Happened to a few in my class a couple times including me. It was all cool though. I understand where some of them are coming from.

BTW Any of you new T/O's(Out of Schoolcar) are members of the Crew Room?

 

If not you should talk to Harry so your Avatar could get updated..

 

There are somethings in there that you really should be looking at.

This is my 5th week out of schoolcar. How do I go about doing that?

 

Looks like the crew office is keeping me on the as well. It's not a bad line. Just sucks that this evening I start at Utica and clear at New Lots. I have a long treck back home tonight.

Yea they are gonna keep you on the same line you posted on for about a week. So next week they will start moving you guys around. You won't stay on the 4 forever so don't worry. I've been out on my own going on 4 weeks and I have touched every line except for the 1 and GCS.

 

Realized today, 4/1/13 at 3:55am, why we should take down name and pass numbers of people we speak to from the crew office. I was told by the person i spoke to on Friday evening that they double assigned my job and i fell to the board. Was told to report to woodlawn at 0408 to sit on board...fine, no problem. I get to wdl at 0350 and my name is still on sign in sheet for the job they said i was dropped out of. Of course the dispatchers at Mosh yd and Wdl know nothing about this supposed drop out so they call the crew office and they confirm that im still in the job...smh. Worst part about this situation, the job im in has a report time of 0555, so im at work 2 hours early....

I find the IVR to be more accurate than the crew office. Also you have to call the crew office closer to the day you work. If you call on Friday for a job for Monday, it can change between that time. I suggest you call the evening before you report. Also use the assignment sheets instead of the crew office. I find the IVR hotline and the assignment sheets to be the most accurate. I called the crew office one day and they gave me a job that was totally different than what was on the sheets and on the IVR hotline and the latter 2 were correct. The crew office was wrong. Always check those sheets everyday.

 

Yeah...Had my feelings hurt today - got thrown in the B. Hopefully we'll get most of the weekends off during Schoolcar. :-/ Still happy I'm hired, but I'll always have it in the back of my mind that I'll live close to quite a few A Div reporting locations. BTW, the TSS who spoke with us today said there's no April class scheduled as of yet, but there's a lot of folks still retiring.

Hey don't be discouraged because your in the B. Just because your in the A with all the Bronx location won't mean you'll be reporting there. I'm in the A Div and It's like the crew office looks at where you live and purposely sends you in the opposite direction. I've been out of school car for 3 weeks and not once and I mean NOT once has the crew office sent my butt to the Bronx. All early reports in Brooklyn.

 

30 of us are going to the B division, 9 to the A!

Wow, same happened to the last class. They must be hurting over there.

Yeah I heard about that one. He was reaching for the route request box and didn't keep enough pressure on the master controller while reaching out the window and it dumped.

 

 

I noticed today when leaving Grand Central 42nd St heading to 59th st on the express track there are quite a few new signals (I counted about 5-7 new signals) installed along the way that are not operational yet. I'm guessing those are going to be new timers to slow us down coming into 59th St northbound on the and .

I'll be keeping an eye out for that bulletin.

SMH, slowing down the railroad.

 

Expect 3 to 5 years of that buddy so get your crying out now. The crew office will BREAK you.

Its not a problem. Was just giving the person I quoted an idea of how it's been so far. They can send me wherever. I'm good. I will not complain one bit. I'm just happy to be here. Even when I pick, it'll be extra or RDO relief because I'm not the type of person that can do the same exact job for 6 months straight. I like to see different lines, signals, stations and people.

 

we are off to the road. They put us on a job with another train operator for one more week. I can tell you one thing that wishlist they gave us is a bunch of crap. The only shift i didn't want, they gave me. The plus side is they gave me the highest paying job in the class with plenty of waa. I guess the breaks even out. Sent from my LG-MS770 using Tapatalk 2

I guess they just can't accommodate you guys yet because almost everyone in my class that came out 3 weeks ago received the tour they requested from the wish list including myself. Yea I got the tour I wanted but they still sending my behind across the city when my classmate lives right in that area and they send him over my way smh.

 

Was sworn in yesterday for the 3/25 class!! List #580-600

Congrats and good luck. It will go by faster than you think. For those of you that are getting ready to finish school car this week or next week, you won't be pushed out onto the road on your own the very next week after your done training. They will put you on a daily job with another train operator and you will post that same job for a week or 2 straight. That's what they did with my class. I've been working the same job with the same T/O since I finished training. It's kinda like road posting but it's not. They say they do this over in the B div all the time so I guess they are bringing it over to the A. Each one of my classmates is on a different line.

 

I'm in the 3/25 class and I sincerely hope that we do not have to work they Yard for 3 months before training for the road. Does that mean that the 3 1/2 months of School Car for A Division will be extended to 6 months ?

I know, it sucks, but yes, your class will qualify as yard train operators first, then work in the yard for 3 months, then be sent back to school car to qualify for the road. It's a gift and a curse. The bright side is that this will eat up your probationary period so you have less of a chance of messing up on the road while on probation.

 

Sorry for asking but whats the difference between them. I must have missed the explanation of them.

To make it simple, A Div is all the number train lines and the Grand Central Shuttle while the B Div is all the Letter train lines. In A Div, you will start work in the Bronx mainly but you can also start your shift in Brooklyn and in Queens. B Div, you can basically start your shift in any Borough. Yes the B Div yards are mainly in Brooklyn but they also have large main yards in the Bronx, Washington Heights manhattan and in different parts of Queens. So B div guys can report practically anywhere within the boros while A div guys or gals will report mainly to the Bronx, Queens for the 7 line and Brooklyn sometimes.

HI Success7 - Congrats on almost completing school car. My main questions are:

 

1. It seems newbies get school/training twice; yards ops then customer svc ops - are these both Pass/Fail situations? Will future newbies be trained for both A & B division equipment?

 

2. Are the 1st - 3 months of yard ops counted towards the probation period; which is 1 year from hiring date? Please correct if misspoken.

 

Thanks for sharing. I feel this could work for the benefit of most newbies to become familiar with the equipment, MTA culture etc... in a less stressful environment than being put straight into customer service operations, where the risks for potential mistakes, write-ups, and consequences are heightened. Well like you said, "it is what is"... Once again best wishes.

Yes all of your training is counted towards your probation. Your probation starts the day that you report to orientation from day 1. I doubt you will be trained for both divisions. You'll either get put in A or B. and the first half of school car is basically yard ops and the basics. Then you go yard posting. After that then you start preparing for operating in customer service then go road posting. So the new thing is they are basically gonna break the training in half and put 3 months of working in the yard before you start road ops/training.

Haven't heard anything yet about that being confirmed; that the idea is being toyed with. There was also an idea floating around that for the first 3 months, you'll have 3 days yard/2 days road.

 

I won't worry/care until something official comes out. May 8th is my last day of Schoolcar.

It's official. Was confirmed to my TSS this week. Your good though, it's the classes STARTING in March and onward.

I was told today by a TSS that all train operator classes starting from March onward, will not go straight to the road and operate in customer service after training. You will be trained in school car for yard operations first. If you qualify and pass everything then you will be a YARD train operator for 3 months. After you work in the yard for 3 months, you will then go back to school car and you will be trained for road operations. If you pass and qualify, then you will go out on the road and operate in customer service. Thats the New standard. Idk why it changed so don't ask. It is what it is. May be good news for some, bad news for others. Just be grateful you will be a transit employee, train operator at that. I only have 1 1/2 weeks left of training then I'm on my own, can't wait!! Been a long, yet fast 5 months.

so...asked this question before and no replies...so here I go again....

 

Can you please tell me :

 

1 . when the benefits ( medical and dental ) kick in....is it during school car? or after ?

2 . when do u get your uniform? and what do u wear B4 u get your uniform?

3 . do you have to pay for uniform upfront or will be taken out of your paycheck? which one and how much?

4 . how about the rest of your gear??

5 . I asume your transportation is free during school car....correct??

6 . somewhere in the beginning of this thread people were posting that the school car schedule is M-F 7am-3:30pm - weekends off ;

but then some other people wrote later that now they have school car in shifts??? which is which please??? still weekends off??

7 . for those who suffer with high blood pressure and are already taking prescription meds for it ( B4 going to physical) - do you have to take with you a doctors note stating that your illness is under control - OR - they will automatically put you on medical hold and you have to go to their doctor and get a note from them???

 

Tks to all who will take the time to answer....

The health benefits kick in about 3 months after the day you start maybe more. All your uniforms are free and will be mailed to you, you will be fitted for them during your first week. There are different shifts in school car, AM or PM. You won't know what shift you are on until you start. You aren't guaranteed every single weekend off during school car but you will get most. Yes transportation is free, you will be given a metrocard which is your job ID, has your picture on it and it is only for your personal use and you need it to acces TA property. Idk about blood pressure issues.

I also heard from my TSS yesterday that there will be another class of 40 T/O's starting the end of February and another class of 40 starting in March. That is all they know about so far for this year. There may be a slow down after that, they will still be hiring just not as frequently. So make sure you have all your ducks in a row if your looking to get into one of these next 2 classes. Anyway my class only has about a month and a week left. Only thing left to do is road posting and final exam. We started with 10 and are down to 7. Good luck to you all.

Half way through. Yard practical done. Midterm exam Friday. Start posting next week. We started with 10 students. Now down to 8. Signal exam in 2 weeks. Hopefully we don't lose anymore.

You keep thinking that if its known you cant work those cables yer gonna get through Schoolcar you are def dreaming.. How should they trust you if you havent done it yourself?

 

I'm not saying the jumper cable procedure isn't important. If you follow the procedure properly and do what ur supposed to do you will be fine with the jumper cable. You study signals in class and practice station stops like ur life depended on it, but you train and qualify with the jumper cable in one training day. So which do you think takes precedence. All of it is important, definetly. And the wrong move with the jumper cable can mean ur LIFE being taken away literally so I'm not trying to belittle it. I'm just saying that there are other things that will take up your time and will be drilled to you. Time flies, already almost half way through school car and have midterms coming up so even though the course may seem like a long course it really isn't. Majority of it is posting on the road and in yards so if you aren't applying yourself at home with ur signals and manual on your own time you won't make it. That's why I emphasize those 2 main categories. Good luck to you all trying to get on. You have to want this job in ur heart, not just for the paycheck in order to pass school car. As my TSS said, its not like the old days, They are not playing anymore.