# Employment with Amtrak - Coach Cleaner



## Carbon12 (Feb 12, 2012)

Hi Everyone!

I am new here and I am glad I found a site exclusive to Amtrak! I have yet to browse through all of the "name that station" thread, certainly alot of beautiful stations!

Anyway, I am looking to join Amtrak and currently see an opening for coach cleaner. I think I am pretty qualified for this job and would like to get my foot in the door with an excellent company. My question is, are there advancement opportunities with Amtrak once you get into such a postition? Would I be in this position forever? I am sure I would have to put my time in but would eventually like to post for a technical or administrative post in either a car shop or a station / office. I understand it is unionized so I am assuming many positions are awarded to those with the most seniority? Thanks everyone, maybe one day I will end up in the background of a name that station photo...or behind the camera!


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## guest employee (Feb 12, 2012)

It's not exactly advancement in the traditional sense, but yes, people frequently do transfer from one department to another. If that's your goal, try to do it within a year. Don't get stuck in the job you don't want to do long.term.


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## Acela150 (Feb 12, 2012)

Getting into Amtrak seems to be hard. I've been trying for a while. Try reservation sales agents or c&s helpers as those are the entry level jobs.


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## Carbon12 (Feb 12, 2012)

Aren't reservation sales the hard jobs to get into, I thought those are the ones requiring a lot of seniority, that only the internal hires get?


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## guest (Feb 12, 2012)

Reservations is the EASY department to get into, since most of them are just part time with no benefits!!


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## Acela150 (Feb 13, 2012)

Carbon12 said:


> Aren't reservation sales the hard jobs to get into, I thought those are the ones requiring a lot of seniority, that only the internal hires get?


Agents are Entry Level jobs at Amtrak. I would hope they offer some benefit package(s) for those employees. But Amtrak is hard to get into. It's easier if you have family in Amtrak, or if your applying for a Engineer or Conductor job to have previous job history with a Commuter Line. Which is what I'm trying. I'm trying to get into Septa. My Conductor App has been open since October and with Septa they give you two years at Conductor. Then it's stay at that position of conductor or train to be an engineer. I would guess the process is harder now as FRA mandates Conductors to be Certified by the FRA. You must also qualify on NORAC, Signals, Equipment, and Lines i.e. Manayunk/Norristown, Airport, and most important Trenton, Paoli/Thorndale, and Wilmington/Newark which are Amtrak owned tracks.


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## Exiled in Express (Feb 13, 2012)

Do keep us updated on response times. I submitted a moderatelty serious application for a back office position last month. Position is a great fit, timing of relocation is the potential deal breaker.


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## Acela150 (Feb 13, 2012)

Exiled in Express said:


> Do keep us updated on response times. I submitted a moderatelty serious application for a back office position last month. Position is a great fit, timing of relocation is the potential deal breaker.


Some of the apps take months to go over and select one or however many persons for the task. My first one was in July got an email this month with the subject line of : Amtrak- Thank You- Interview

There was no interview it was saying I wasn't the proper person for the job. But the title was VERY misleading. So don't get your hopes up right away. I did but I had broken glasses and it's very hard for me to see anything without them. My mom told me and I was confused. But the title will get your hopes up.


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## Laurie (Jul 26, 2012)

Does any one know how many hours per week coach cleaners work?


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## Shortline (Jul 26, 2012)

Laurie said:


> Does any one know how many hours per week coach cleaners work?



I would think it would all depend on where you work. Chicago, New York, LA, etc would probably be shifts of full time workers around the clock. Outlying points with regional service, probably just a few hours a day I would guess. I see them board the Heartland Flyer when it comes in at night, would bet they are done in about 3 hours or so. Since that's the only train, I'm guessing these would be part time or, more likely, non-RR contract employees.


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## nightrider (Jul 27, 2012)

At one time, an easy way to get hired by Amtrak was if you had accounting experience, as they were always looking for Internal Auditor's. Don't know if that's still true.


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## Acela150 (Jul 27, 2012)

Laurie said:


> Does any one know how many hours per week coach cleaners work?


If you would be working on trains out of Washington, Boston, or New York, or even Harrisburg. Don't take your time. They move quick. Turn around time is about An Hour and Half for Acela's depending on Terminus. 2 hours for Keystones at Harrisburg. And various times for NE Regionals.


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## AutoTrDvr (Jul 27, 2012)

Carbon12 said:


> Hi Everyone!
> 
> I am new here and I am glad I found a site exclusive to Amtrak! I have yet to browse through all of the "name that station" thread, certainly alot of beautiful stations!
> 
> Anyway, I am looking to join Amtrak and currently see an opening for coach cleaner. I think I am pretty qualified for this job and would like to get my foot in the door with an excellent company. My question is, are there advancement opportunities with Amtrak once you get into such a postition? Would I be in this position forever? I am sure I would have to put my time in but would eventually like to post for a technical or administrative post in either a car shop or a station / office. I understand it is unionized so I am assuming many positions are awarded to those with the most seniority? Thanks everyone, maybe one day I will end up in the background of a name that station photo...or behind the camera!


One point of concern in re: "station staff" kind of crews is that many are often "contracted out." They're not actually Amtrak employees. For example, the crews that move autos in/out of the auto-racks for the AT are no longer Amtrak employees but are employed by a contractor. Perhaps, they are still the same people, but just now work for the contractor. I'm not sure about the coach cleaning crew, but I would think that's a possibility. You might have to seek employment with the contractor, not necessarily with Amtrak.


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## VentureForth (Jul 27, 2012)

I've seen that trick before, and it's quite sad. You can have a great job with a good company, and then they outsource your job. Do you stay doing what you do and go to a new company losing seniority and all your company benefits, or do you try to get on another position within the same company but a very different job (and maybe a different location). Very difficult challenges. That being said, are you more interested in cleaning coaches, or joining Amtrak? Just keep your hopes up, keep your resume fresh, and apply, apply, apply.


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## AlanB (Jul 27, 2012)

I'm not sure that the people loading the cars were ever Amtrak employees. Amtrak changed contractors a few years back, but for many years now it has been a contracted job.


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## AutoTrDvr (Jul 27, 2012)

AlanB said:


> I'm not sure that the people loading the cars were ever Amtrak employees. Amtrak changed contractors a few years back, but for many years now it has been a contracted job.


When I started taking the AT, their (car loader crews) uniforms did not display their contractor's brand (either they had Amtrak insignia or they were (more likely) "neutral looking"), to give one the impression that they were Amtrak employees... something I could see Amtrak doing to instill confidence with their customers. If there was ever the slightest bit of concern in re: security of belongings in the cars, it would kill the AT. Having watched them over my travels, I am very much at ease giving them my car, and leaving things in it.

Within the last two years, however, it seems they are now wearing the logo of their contractor. Which is what prompted me to ask them once about it, and they confirmed that they are contracted.


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## AlanB (Jul 27, 2012)

Again, I can't swear that they've always been contractors, but this is the second set of contractors that I'm aware of. The first didn't display their company logo as you note.

As for security, please do head the warnings you are given at the booth where the number is applied to your car. Things do disappear if they're small, especially coins and things like that. I'm even aware of a recent theft of several CD's from a passenger's car.

So please exercise caution with what you leave in your car, especially if it's small enough to fit in a pocket.


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## AutoTrDvr (Jul 27, 2012)

AlanB said:


> Again, I can't swear that they've always been contractors, but this is the second set of contractors that I'm aware of. The first didn't display their company logo as you note.
> 
> As for security, please do head the warnings you are given at the booth where the number is applied to your car. Things do disappear if they're small, especially coins and things like that. I'm even aware of a recent theft of several CD's from a passenger's car.
> 
> So please exercise caution with what you leave in your car, especially if it's small enough to fit in a pocket.


Absolutely. Anything of true value that's easy/small enough to carry on, I do (i.e. critical dive gear, my laptop, GPS, etc.). But I have left "test coinage" in the ashtray and that has never been touched, so far. Other things I hide (out of sight, out of mind). Since I have a bedroom to myself, I can carry on a bit more than most. It was only this past trip that the amount of my carry on was challenged by the car checker, but I quickly reminded them that I was in a bedroom by myself, and I did not need any assistance in bringing it aboard.


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## OBS (Jul 28, 2012)

AlanB said:


> Again, I can't swear that they've always been contractors, but this is the second set of contractors that I'm aware of. The first didn't display their company logo as you note.
> 
> As for security, please do head the warnings you are given at the booth where the number is applied to your car. Things do disappear if they're small, especially coins and things like that. I'm even aware of a recent theft of several CD's from a passenger's car.
> 
> So please exercise caution with what you leave in your car, especially if it's small enough to fit in a pocket.


FWIW, when I worked the A/T, 87-88, they were contract employees.


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## AlanB (Jul 28, 2012)

OBS said:


> AlanB said:
> 
> 
> > Again, I can't swear that they've always been contractors, but this is the second set of contractors that I'm aware of. The first didn't display their company logo as you note.
> ...


Um, contract as in contractor? Or do you mean that the employees had contracts with Amtrak directly? :unsure:


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## OBS (Jul 28, 2012)

AlanB said:


> OBS said:
> 
> 
> > AlanB said:
> ...


Sorry, as in the work was done by a private company.


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## AlanB (Jul 28, 2012)

OBS said:


> AlanB said:
> 
> 
> > OBS said:
> ...


OK, thanks for clarifying. And that would further confirm what I believe is correct, that the car loaders have always been employed by a private contractor and not Amtrak.


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## railiner (Jul 28, 2012)

The worst thing to me about being a contractor employee, rather than an Amtrak employee, would be no Rail Travel Privilege Card......

As for the 'old' days.....what about when Auto Train corporation ran it? Were they A-T employees, or contractor employees even back then?


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## AutoTrDvr (Jul 29, 2012)

railiner said:


> The worst thing to me about being a contractor employee, rather than an Amtrak employee, would be no Rail Travel Privilege Card......
> 
> As for the 'old' days.....what about when Auto Train corporation ran it? Were they A-T employees, or contractor employees even back then?


Furthermore, is there some history in re: "collective bargaining/organization" that required either Amtrak or the original AT Corp. to contract out?

Since it's loading/unloading cars onto/off auto racks, might the "Teamsters" (or equivalent) have been involved at some point?


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## AlanB (Jul 29, 2012)

AutoTrDvr said:


> Furthermore, is there some history in re: "collective bargaining/organization" that required either Amtrak or the original AT Corp. to contract out?
> 
> Since it's loading/unloading cars onto/off auto racks, might the "Teamsters" (or equivalent) have been involved at some point?


On that I have no idea at all, sorry.

But I will say that the Auto Train for Amtrak is a unique animal as it were, which could be why they contract out that operation. The contracts for Amtrak employees working the AT are very different from the rest of Amtrak. And an employee who wishes to transfer in/out from the AT to the rest of Amtrak loses all seniority and becomes low man on the totem pole when it comes to bidding out for a job.

So it may well be that this is just one more difference if you will, one area that Amtrak decided that they didn't want to actually have to employ people directly. I suppose that it could also have something to do with no having those people being considered as RR workers and therefore part of the RR retirement system.


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## cirdan (Jul 30, 2012)

AutoTrDvr said:


> Absolutely. Anything of true value that's easy/small enough to carry on, I do (i.e. critical dive gear, my laptop, GPS, etc.). But I have left "test coinage" in the ashtray and that has never been touched, so far.


but even if that vanished, would that be evidence of theft, or could it be mistaken for a graiutity?

where would you leave gratuity money?


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## AutoTrDvr (Jul 30, 2012)

cirdan said:


> AutoTrDvr said:
> 
> 
> > Absolutely. Anything of true value that's easy/small enough to carry on, I do (i.e. critical dive gear, my laptop, GPS, etc.). But I have left "test coinage" in the ashtray and that has never been touched, so far.
> ...


No, the ashtray is closed/covered. One would have to open it to get at it. Besides, I would imagine that, to avoid this scenario, the contractor's policy (if not Amtrak's) is _*not to mistake*_ anything for a "gratuity" unless it's clearly marked as such (i.e.	<currency in envelope> <---- GRATUITY!!! THANKS FOR TAKING CARE OF MY CAR!!!!).



cirdan said:


> where would you leave gratuity money?


I wouldn't. Any cash gratuities I give, I hand directly to the recipient to ensure it gets to where it should go.

Regards,

Arnold.


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## Trainlady73 (Jul 31, 2012)

Acela150 said:


> Exiled in Express said:
> 
> 
> > Do keep us updated on response times. I submitted a moderatelty serious application for a back office position last month. Position is a great fit, timing of relocation is the potential deal breaker.
> ...


The same thing happened to me. I received an email like that in January. It was not only misleading, it was very disappointing. I have been trying to get a job at Amtrak for over a year.


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## willis (Nov 28, 2012)

does anyone know when amtrak usually hires for coach cleaners?


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## cherlyn sanders-gibbs (Jan 28, 2013)

i would like to apply for a coach cleaning job, my last job i had was in 2011, i had it for 17 years, i would like for you to take a look at my resume, and take a chance on me i am a good worker, and do the best job that the company would except from a employee. thank you for taking the time to read this cherlyn gibbs


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## zephyr17 (Jan 28, 2013)

cherlyn sanders-gibbs said:


> i would like to apply for a coach cleaning job, my last job i had was in 2011, i had it for 17 years, i would like for you to take a look at my resume, and take a chance on me i am a good worker, and do the best job that the company would except from a employee. thank you for taking the time to read this cherlyn gibbs


This board is not affilated with Amtrak in any way. You need to contact Amtrak directly.


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## Paul Morast (May 21, 2013)

*Hi i'm looking to move forward to a better job. *


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## Acela150 (May 21, 2013)

Paul Morast said:


> *Hi i'm looking to move forward to a better job. *


Well I wish you the best of luck in that search.


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## VentureForth (May 22, 2013)

For everyone looking here for a job with Amtrak, may I please direct you to click HERE.

If you found this thread, you should be able to navigate your way through the Amtrak career portal.

Thank you.


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