How To Become A Combined Rail Operator: What It Is and Career Path

What is a combined rail operator and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a combined rail operator. For example, did you know that they make an average of $18.1 an hour? That's $37,651 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 4% and produce 3,100 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreCombined Rail OperatorUS Average

Salary

2.9

Avg. Salary $37,651

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.5

Growth rate 4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.90%

Asian 2.03%

Black or African American 8.68%

Hispanic or Latino 11.12%

Unknown 4.82%

White 72.45%

Gender

female 26.87%

male 73.13%

Age - 46

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 46

Stress level

8.5

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

4.5

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

2.7

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a combined rail operator

Explore combined rail operator education requirements

Most common combined rail operator degrees

Bachelor's

37.1 %

High School Diploma

28.6 %

Associate

11.4 %

Start to develop specific combined rail operator skills

Skills	Percentages
Customer Service	26.05%
Train Operations	26.02%
Switches	14.23%
Troubleshoot	12.98%
Mechanical Problems	8.76%

Complete relevant combined rail operator training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New combined rail operators learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a combined rail operator based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real combined rail operator resumes.

Research combined rail operator duties and responsibilities

Operate heavy machinery such as bobcat equipment and also operate and pave asphalt perform demolition work.
Monitor rail station CCTV equipment.

Prepare your combined rail operator resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your combined rail operator resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a combined rail operator resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable combined rail operator resume templates

Build a professional combined rail operator resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your combined rail operator resume.