Sammohung

14 hours ago, thegameksk said:

Can you link which backpack you use?

https://www.osprey.com/us/en/product/farpoint-travel-pack-carry-on-40-FARPNT40.html

I was able to buy mine for $89 before tax on woot.com, I think most stores that sell it online no longer carry it.

8 hours ago, Milano said:

Guys with Type 2 Diabetes with a decent a1c like 6.6 - tell me the truth, how bad is it at the medical? Do they medical hold you for mild type 2 under control?

No, I was on Medical Hold for other reasons. But they wanted documentation from my Primary Care Physician stating my A1c is under control, mine hovers around 6.4 - 7.0. So yeah, you might want to have paperwork ready ahead of time showing your last few A1c checks done by a lab.

For anyone going to Schoolcar now, or about to start Schoolcar, I can say I personally do NOT recommend the Kaka backpack. 

With all the stuff you're given during Schoolcar, between the Rule Book (which you have to keep on you at all times during your probation), training manuals, the various paperwork, your radio, the escape mask, flashlight, it can wind up weighing a lot. Especially if you have your own stuff such as a notebook for taking notes, food/drink, and during cooler/colder times of the year, you may want to consider carrying a sweater or some extra clothing for insulation. 

Generally, travel style backpacks or bags are the best solution as they allow you to stow away the shoulder straps and offer a shoulder strap so you can carry it like a duffel bag or messenger bag. But the shoulder straps on the Kaka bags, and the back padding/support are mediocre at best. After the third week of Schoolcar, I ordered another bag because my shoulders and back were hurting every night from carrying that Kaka bag for 2 to 4 hours on average. I'm just speaking from my experience, and I'm a bit on the skinnier side. Everyone has a different experience and keep in mind, you don't need to use that Kaka bag once you're done with Schoolcar.

On 6/4/2022 at 1:38 AM, Kamen Rider said:

Going to tell you now… if you really want this gig, get a REALLY big backpack. One that the over the shoulder straps could be taken off of or covered over in some fashion (required for walking on the tracks). They recommend a brand called Kaka.

That bag will get very full, very fast with a LOT of heavy stuff. 

the training manual they gave out today is a good 2 inches thick. And this is the revised edit that takes the R32 and R42 out. 

 

and we’re still not fully equipped, as we get more stuff on Monday. 
 

Just wanted to let whoever is in charge of information for this post that Conductor pay starts at $23.6731 an hour, not $24.33

On 1/7/2022 at 4:13 AM, exj16 said:

Wait your uniform came in from unipro or did you get some from terminals/last stops around the city? Because I’ve been hired since July and and been out on the road on my own since September didn’t get anything yet from Unipro. The only things I have are the uniform I brought from a uniform store in queens and new uniform they gave me at a few terminals so that I don’t have to wear that annoying safety vest 

My uniform came from Unipro.

I got my Winter Jacket, the Bi-Swing Jacket, 3 long sleeve shirts, 3 short sleeve shirts, 2 turtlenecks, 2 mock turtlenecks, 2 pleated dress pants, and the mesh Conductor's hat.. I managed to get a tie from the Bedford Park Dispatch.

Sorry to hear about your uniform situation. Somehow I was the only one in my class who recivered anything so far.

My training class just finished our Practical Yard Exam today, and we all passed. Found out from others that our whole Induction Class passed as well. We start posting next week, and I got part of my uniform yesterday as well. Still missing some shirts, pants, sweaters, ties, Conductor's hat.

Again, for everyone who's posted here with information, I'm extra grateful for all the advice, tips, etc. Anyone who's still in the process of applying, take the time to go through some of the earlier posts in this thread. 

On 1/4/2022 at 4:22 PM, Roro said:

Hey all,

Can anyone let me know if this pay scale from the TWU 100 website is the top pay, mid-pay, or starting pay for each position.

Thank you! 

http://www.twulocal100.org/sites/twulocal100.org/files/wage_rates_2019-2023.pdf

I'm currently in training as Conductor. Starting pay from training is $23.6731 an hour. This doesn't include night time/weekend differential. Weekend differential is the same rate as night time, but they don't double up. So if you worked 1800 hours to 0500 (6:00 PM to 5:00 AM) hours between Saturday and Sunday, you would only get the differential bonus once, not twice unfortunately.

On 12/13/2021 at 2:30 AM, Gullys said:

What list number 

I think most of the Conductors in my class were around 3300 or so.

6 hours ago, MPDOG said:

Maybe, if they don’t reach enough candidates to solve the manpower shortage; it sounds feasible to me.

After going through Induction this week, sounds like they're going to still be doing a lot of hiring. We had about 24 or 25 Conductors in our class, which was one of the smallest ones this year.

So I have access to the Saf-Gard website now. Any recommendations on which boots to pick? I had my old man's Hytest work boots a few years back, and they weren't good, I had to replace the insoles ASAP to even wear them.

3 hours ago, MarkGuy said:

Nah; they just have poor organization down at Livingston 

A bit too much bureaucracy as well, but I guess that comes with anything city or state run. But from my experience with all the visits I've had to make there this year, is that the majority of the time there we spend there is sitting around and waiting. If they could let us submit paperwork electronically, that would speed up a lot, or maybe cut down on how many people need to physically go in.

Finally cleared pre-employment and got sworn in and fingerprinted yesterday.

My list number was in the low 2600s. If anyone wants to hear the horror story of what happened, here's a basic summary and timeline.

I got my e-mail for canvassing late June. I went in mid July for initial pre-employment, only to be placed on medical hold due to the fact I was seeing a mental health professional awhile back.

Between mid July and early September, I was placed on medical hold. My primary care physician didn't help with getting me a referral for a mental help professional for the evaluation NYC Transit was requiring. I spent a month trying to find one available in the NYC area who would take my insurance. I eventually had to settle on paying out of pocket for one.

During the process, I got dropped off the list as well. It took two weeks of contacting various NYC government e-mail addresses, and then someone at NYC Transit Employment Operations to be re-instated onto the list, then be contacted again to try to clear my medical hold. I was sent in to be evaluated by a NYC Transit doctor, who recommended I complete a counseling course for at least one month.

One month into the counseling course, I contacted them to get documentation stating I did everything that was asked of me, and I was an active particpant in the course. Of course, with my luck, my case manager wasn't on top of anything, and I had to go to her Manager to get the documentation I needed 2 weeks later. 

I went to 180 Livingston 2 weeks ago, just to be turned away when I was told what I was submitting was a copy of my birth certificate and they wanted an original. The previous times I had my paperwork checked by Employment Operations, none of their staff members said anything about my birth certificate. 

Today,I went in at 8:45am, was given my ticket at the front, and told to go to Station 3. I get to Station 3, sign in, and was told to have a seat and wait to have my name called. I waited until 2:30pm asking a staff member what was going on. Apparently, whoever I saw at Station 3 completely forgot about me. Being too patient was a bad idea. After finishing the paperwork and getting sworn in, I was told to go back to Station 3 to get a ticket to get fingerprinted, and I started filling out my part of the money order where it asks for name and address. The same lady at Station 3 from the morning berated me for filling out the money order. 

I get to fingerprinting eventually, the staff member told me to just fill out the part I had already filled out and got yelled at for. (what the f**k?)

Today was a real test of patience for me. I was probably at that office 4 hours longer than I had to be. But the whole time all I could think was "this is worth it, I need this job badly".

From getting my canavassing letter in late June, to finally being sworn in today and given my training date for December 6th, I can say it was an extremely frustrating process for all the hoops I had to jump through, all the calls I made to their office, and all the ridiculousness I had to deal with since being placed on medical hold.

Only took a bit over 5 months, but I made it. A big thank you for everyone who has posted helpful information on this post. 

46 minutes ago, train1290 said:

What's your list number? When were you initally called originally for medical and final processing?

List number is in the low 2600s, my medical was on July 13th.

So I got placed on medical hold due to 3 issues.

One was an old back injury I had in 2018 when I fell down the stairs, it's healed up and I don't have issues from it.

Another is I'm type 2 diabetic, but my A1c is in check.

Last one was I was seeing a mental health counseling center from 2015-2019. I don't suffer from depression or anxiety anymore.

My Primary Care Physician (PCP) can clear me for the first two, but referred me to a psychiatrist for evaluation. Unfortunately, the psychiatrist wouldn't see any new patients, and I couldn't find any that took my health insurance that was also seeing new patients or willing to do a one time evaluation. My PCP rejected the letter from the director of the counseling center who went over my records and said I was fine and all my issues were in remission as of 2019. (The counseling clinic I went to currently has a two month wait for new patients.)

Finally got the issue with a psychological evaluation cleared up last week. 

The new problem is, it took so long to try to clear the medical hold, I got dropped off the list and need to have my name restored. I e-mailed LMACustomerService@dcas.nyc.gov on August 9th, but still haven't gotten a response. I've tried calling them at (212) 669-1357 multiple times, nobody picks up the phone. I went through the earlier threads on this post and tried e-mailing certificationunit@dcas.nyc.gov, but I still haven't received a response.

Anyone have any ideas?

On 7/16/2021 at 11:36 PM, EgyptianEyez said:

So how was your Medical? 

On Medical Hold, I have a lot more hoops to jump through now. 

Which is really irritating.

Just now, Schecter said:

You'll pass I have faith in you 

I have a big issue with my high school diploma, it got destroyed at my Dad's place almost 20 years ago.

I never graduated college. I was looking up info to contact my old high school seeing if I can get a transcript or some kind of proof I graduated from there, and I found out the school closed down about 10 years ago after it went up in flames. It was a branch of an alternative high school, so I went to the main school, and they couldn't pull up my transcript. 

I went to the school and got the principal to write a letter and sign it indicating they can pull up the info saying I graduated and when, but they're having tech issues and they can't print out the transcript, their entire IT setup is messed up currently.

Gotta love the NYC Board of Education. 

On 7/14/2021 at 8:44 PM, Harlem said:

Any word on which class you might be in? July, August September?

I'll be in the July 26th class if I pass my medical and all my paperwork later this morning.

17 minutes ago, EgyptianEyez said:

High 2600 or lows

Low 2600.

59 minutes ago, Harlem said:

Any word on which class you might be in? July, August September?

No clue, I assume they'll tell me after passing the medical.

I went into 180 Livingston yesterday for my drug test. 

My list number is 26**, and got my canvas letter on July 9th.