LIRR locomotive Engineer Trainee job

[Djf22]

3 minutes ago, drenyce311 said:

Medical is good. Dental and vision suck. We have a supplemental plan from the union that covers both dental and vision. 

Who is the coverage medical coverage from like what brand?Copays? Referrals any of that nonsense. Just curious because I have a child with special needs 

[drenyce311]

9 minutes ago, Djf22 said:

Who is the coverage medical coverage from like what brand?Copays? Referrals any of that nonsense. Just curious because I have a child with special needs 

Our medical is NYSHIP. a combination of United healthcare and bluecross blue Shield. Dental is MetLife primary and secondary is delta dental and vision is eye meds. Medical is $25 copay. Any urgent cares is $35. My sons medication is around $5-10 a month. Anything that is an annual visit is no copay. I have flex spending for the copays and medications. Our eye meds vision only pays for the exam and like $15 for frames. That’s why we use our union supplemental plan. Covers lenses and frames up to $150. 

Edited December 18, 2022 by drenyce311

[Djf22]

Thank you. Are you happy with the coverage overall?

[drenyce311]

Just now, Djf22 said:

Thank you. Are you happy with the coverage overall?

Medical yes. My sons hospital visit was almost $90K for 4 days. They paid it. Just paid the hospital copay which was $100 I think 

[Djf22]

29 minutes ago, drenyce311 said:

Medical yes. My sons hospital visit was almost $90K for 4 days. They paid it. Just paid the hospital copay which was $100 I think 

Thanks for all the info

[2ride]

@drenyce311 and @Djf22 I’m still waiting to get interviewed with metro north. Will make the switch to MTA if offered the position that I applied for. 

Edited December 19, 2022 by 2ride

[LinkyOG]

Just curious, did anyone take the SnD this past Saturday 11/17 ? Mine is in 20 days just wanna know and  have a lil more in introspect on what the day is like, the test and what to expect. Anything kind of different with the altered Amtrak and GCentral Madison signals ? Do they group the Zone A signals and Grand Central separately or are they just jumbled up together with everything randomly.
 

Also Dre I know it's been years but how was it when you did it ? Were the Zone A signals all mixed in with the regular LIRR ones or did they separate them on their own? 

[LinkyOG]

Meant 12/17 my bad 

[mnoer48]

How is this S&D test broken down? I've seen a few posts saying there are only 60 signals questions and 30 definitions and 30 indications. on the test.  I thought that we needed to know all 132 signals and get 132/132 to pass. Feeling a little relieved if that's true that there's only 60 on test.

[LinkyOG]

6 hours ago, mnoer48 said:

How is this S&D test broken down? I've seen a few posts saying there are only 60 signals questions and 30 definitions and 30 indications. on the test.  I thought that we needed to know all 132 signals and get 132/132 to pass. Feeling a little relieved if that's true that there's only 60 on test.

It's 132 signals ,132/132  100% correct and 20 Indications and 20 definitions out of 75.the test you're talking about is for conductors. This is a Locomotive Engineer Trainee program forum

[drenyce311]

On 12/19/2022 at 9:04 PM, LinkyOG said:Also Dre I know it's been years but how was it when you did it ? Were the Zone A signals all mixed in with the regular LIRR ones or did they separate them on their own? 

It was mixed in. Your gonna get a packet with all of them in it. 

[smitk]

Any tips for studying by those who managed to ace the S&D exam?? Right now I'm trying to focus on memorizing the definitions before moving onto to the signals and indications, but I know how important the signals are in terms of making the cut or not. So the fact that I only have a little over three weeks left and haven't even glanced at them is making me a little anxious. Did you guys split it up into two- signals/indications and definitions- or study both at the same time?? I know everyones method of studying is different, but just curious. 

 

[Djf22]

Does anyone know how the wage progression works? Is it calendar days or working days?

[danielhg121]

8 hours ago, Djf22 said:

Does anyone know how the wage progression works? Is it calendar days or working days?

Pretty sure calendar days

[LinkyOG]

18 hours ago, Djf22 said:

Does anyone know how the wage progression works? Is it calendar days or working days?

From what they told us at the overview its based on calendar days in the phase 2 part of the program but as soon as you finish it and qualify and become an actual Locomotive Engineer with your green badge you get 100% of the pay therefore reaching the max of the wage progression chart.

[drenyce311]

22 minutes ago, LinkyOG said:

From what they told us at the overview its based on calendar days in the phase 2 part of the program but as soon as you finish it and qualify and become an actual Locomotive Engineer with your green badge you get 100% of the pay therefore reaching the max of the wage progression chart.

It’s a four year progression now. It’s 60-1st year. 2nd year 80%. 3rd year 90% 4th year is 100%. Before it was 70% then straight to 100% when you qualify. That got voted out in 2015. 

[Djf22]

1 hour ago, drenyce311 said:

It’s a four year progression now. It’s 60-1st year. 2nd year 80%. 3rd year 90% 4th year is 100%. Before it was 70% then straight to 100% when you qualify. That got voted out in 2015. 

The notice for the job doesn’t say year it says days that’s why I’m wondering if it’s a four year progression or working days because 365 working days is about a year and a half. 

[drenyce311]

8 minutes ago, Djf22 said:

The notice for the job doesn’t say year it says days that’s why I’m wondering if it’s a four year progression or working days because 365 working days is about a year and a half. 

It’s not 365 working days. It’s 365 calendar days. By the year anniversary when you get hired you’ll get the 20% increase and every 365 calendar after that. I was the 3rd class in the new progression 

Edited December 29, 2022 by drenyce311

[Djf22]

26 minutes ago, drenyce311 said:

It’s not 365 working days. It’s 365 calendar days. By the year anniversary when you get hired you’ll get the 20% increase and every 365 calendar after that. I was the 3rd class in the new progression 

Ok that’s a relief 

[GR2801]

Hey everyone,

was wondering if any past test takers had any info on how they format the indication portion of the S&D’s exam. Do they give you the name (ex: stop-signal) or do they show you a signal and then you gotta figure out the signal before thinking of the indication. My exam date is 1/15/23 so I’m just trying prepare for what to expect. Thank you! 

[LinkyOG]

15 hours ago, drenyce311 said:

It’s a four year progression now. It’s 60-1st year. 2nd year 80%. 3rd year 90% 4th year is 100%. Before it was 70% then straight to 100% when you qualify. That got voted out in 2015. 

This actually makes a lot more sense, whatever the case is it's still 1000% better than conventional 2-3% raises you get at other jobs. Do it in 4 years instead of 20 years ! 

[drenyce311]

8 hours ago, GR2801 said:

Hey everyone,

was wondering if any past test takers had any info on how they format the indication portion of the S&D’s exam. Do they give you the name (ex: stop-signal) or do they show you a signal and then you gotta figure out the signal before thinking of the indication. My exam date is 1/15/23 so I’m just trying prepare for what to expect. Thank you! 

Welcome. The signals part of the test is just gonna show you the image of signal and you have write down the name. The signals indication will be part of the definitions test. It will say the name of the signals and you write out the indication. 

[drenyce311]

6 hours ago, LinkyOG said:

This actually makes a lot more sense, whatever the case is it's still 1000% better than conventional 2-3% raises you get at other jobs. Do it in 4 years instead of 20 years ! 

MNRR is a 7 year progression. That’s too long for so much responsibility 

[Mnoer4883]

On 12/29/2022 at 8:59 AM, LinkyOG said:

This actually makes a lot more sense, whatever the case is it's still 1000% better than conventional 2-3% raises you get at other jobs. Do it in 4 years instead of 20 years ! 

what happens after you hit top pay? Do you still get annual increases after. Like at least a dollar/per hour a year.

Edited January 2, 2023 by Mnoer4883

[drenyce311]

17 minutes ago, Mnoer4883 said:

what happens after you hit top pay? Do you still get annual increases after. Like at least a dollar/per hour a year.

No. Everything is based on union contracts. We just ratified ours. We haven’t had a contract in almost 3.5 years. The contract we just signed expires April 2023. It’s usually around 2-2.5% a year when contracts are signed.