Transit Officer spreading wings

flawlessdream · Beginner Joined: May 22, 2008 Last Visited: Nov 3, 2008

hello out there,
this is my first message posted here and i've done much searching on the internet to help me answer this question...hence which explains why i am here hoping someone somewhere on this wonderful website may be able to answer for me.
My partner is a Transit Officer and has been so for six years, he is at the stage where he feels the need to spread his wings and venture into the world of freight driving...(i hope that is the correct job classification, correct me if im wrong)
Whilst chatting to a cityrail driver about his desire to crack into the world of freight driving, he was told that a railway company by the name of 'Lachlan Valley Railways' run a three to six month course, in training up drivers...the information wasn't to clear.
We have done much searching but have had no luck.
Hoping there is someone familiar with this course or has any information in relation to this..He understands it is very competitive and a highly sort after position but like many of us if you don't start somewhere, you will never get anywhere
Thanks, your help is much appreciated... Very Happy

KRviator · Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 3:04 pm

G'day and welcome to the boards,

There are quite a few ways to get a start as a freight train driver. Just have a look and you'll find a wealth of information.

Lachlan Valley Rail Freight, who you would be referring to, now call themselves Independent Rail Australia. They are generally viewed as the bottom rung of the ladder but are also known for giving a lot of people a start in the industry who otherwise wouldn't have been able to crack into it.

Depending on if you want to remain in Sydney or not, there are likely to be a few jobs coming up in Newcastle with Pacific National for Terminal Driver's at Port Waratah. After doing a stint in the Terminal he can transfer to Mainline duties after a few months to a year. I transferred up here into the Terminal 3months back and am out on the Mainline now. Very Happy

Monitor their website HERE. Pacific National has crews based at Chullora, Lithgow and Enfield as well as Port Kembla and us at Newcastle, so if you don't mind moving, this might be your best option.

QRNational also take Trainee Driver's and are based at Clyde, as well as a few other depots in NSW. I can't recall last time they took people but there are a couple of people on the boards here who drive for them, so perhaps you could PM them and ask the situation at their respective depot's.

The final option is Silverton. Or South Spur or Southern & Silverton, whatever they call themselves this week. They operate a number of container trains to/from Port Botany but I've no idea where they are based in Sydney. They frequently work on equipment that should have been scrapped 30 years ago, but are also leasing a number of rebuilt "C Class" loco's from Allco Rail that are very nice to work on I believe. Certainly they are very nice cab's when I looked at one.

If you've got a bit of time on your hands, you might want to look at a couple of threads I've previously written about what I went through to get a job as a Trainee Driver.
Of PN, SCRT and the ADF - Tips on finding employment
So you want to be a Train Driver? My first year experiences

Failing that, I'm led to believe via the brother-in-law who's a CityRail Diver that they are likely to be recruiting again in the not-too-distant future to both cover vacancies by retiring Driver's and to crew these you-beaut new trains they've got on backorder. If you can't leave Sydney then this might be a viable alternative to let him get his Safeworking qualifications and some experience as a Driver and he can transfer to the freighter's at a later date.

With CityRail, there is the obvious benefit of konwing your roster many months in advance, though they do not get paid as much as freight driver's. Depending on what you value more will influence what you apply for.

As an example of the working conditions for freight driver's, you can expect to earn around $50-60,000 as a "Trainee Driver" or "Second Person" with that rising to around $80,000 once you make it as a qualified Driver. Many Driver's in the Hunter regularly earn $100-120,000 as A) they get a $10K allowance from the old Freightcorp days and B) they chase the overtime. Next financial year, I'm expecting to break 6-figures for the first time. Very Happy

Depending on what depot you are attached to will depend on your roster. Terminal Driver's here know their roster months/years in advance, where us on the mainline only know where our RDO's are and which 4-hour "zone" we'll start in and don't know when we'll get home. Intermodal can have fixed roster's as they generally run to a set timetable, but as I've never worked in their depot's I can't really offer more than that.

You can be "lifted up" or "Laid back" in your start times anywhere from 2 hours forward or 4 hours back for our EA, and that can cause complication's if you have plans already made. So you just turn your phone off and say you were in the movies. Twisted Evil

But again, it can impact on your family life.

Shift length's are 9 hours fised for Terminal Driver's and upto 11 hours on the mainline, but you can work for 11 hours and be driven home for an additional 5 hours to make a 16-hour shift, though this is very rare, I believe.

Leave is in 7-calendar day blocks with 5x7.6 hour days coming out of your leave book, which you start with 5 weeks per year. You also get 10 days for Publich Holidays and payment for those is at 150% Overtime is paid at 170% of your base rate.

If, after knowing all that, he still want's to drive freighter's, monitor the various operator's websites below and sooner or later he'll get in. It took me nearly two years to get a job as a trainee driver. But now I'm here, I wouldn't do anything else.

Operators Websites
Pacific National
QRNational
ARG
V/Line
LVRF/IRA
SSR
TransPerth

Trainee Driver, Pacific National

Comments made are strictly the opinion of the author and do not reflect the opinions of the ADF, Pacific National, Freight Australia or the Boy Scouts of Antartica.

My fotopic gallery: http://KRviator.fotopic.net

flawlessdream · Beginner Joined: May 22, 2008 Last Visited: Nov 3, 2008

WOW! Thankyou for your informative response, your a world of useful knowledge on freight driving.

I appreciate your time and effort.

We shall keep you posted Very Happy