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Freight engineer vs rail car operator

The differences between freight engineers and rail car operators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a freight engineer and a rail car operator. Additionally, a freight engineer has an average salary of $55,585, which is higher than the $45,571 average annual salary of a rail car operator.

Freight engineer vs rail car operator overview

Freight EngineerRail Car Operator
Yearly salary$55,585$45,571
Hourly rate$26.72$21.91
Growth rate4%4%
Number of jobs8,88931,823
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 50%High School Diploma, 76%
Average age4747
Years of experience22

Freight engineer vs rail car operator salary

Freight engineers and rail car operators have different pay scales, as shown below.

Freight EngineerRail Car Operator
Average salary$55,585$45,571
Salary rangeBetween $40,000 And $76,000Between $26,000 And $77,000
Highest paying City--
Highest paying state--
Best paying company--
Best paying industry--

Differences between freight engineer and rail car operator education

There are a few differences between a freight engineer and a rail car operator in terms of educational background:

Freight EngineerRail Car Operator
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 50%High School Diploma, 76%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common college--

Freight engineer vs rail car operator demographics

Here are the differences between freight engineers' and rail car operators' demographics:

Freight EngineerRail Car Operator
Average age4747
Gender ratioMale, 88.0% Female, 12.0%Male, 96.1% Female, 3.9%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 11.4% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 11.0% Asian, 1.9% White, 70.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%Black or African American, 14.1% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 10.0% Asian, 1.9% White, 68.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage12%12%

Differences between freight engineer and rail car operator duties and responsibilities

Freight engineer example responsibilities.

  • Develop and manage technical procedures for quality control to comply with ISO laboratory accreditation.
  • Pull and push track switches to reroute cars.
  • Perform duties to get freight and locomotives to final destination safely and on time.
  • Interpret train orders, signals, and railroad rules and regulations that govern the operation of locomotives.
  • Conduct geotechnical and environmental subsurface investigations.
  • Design electrical layouts in commercial & residential buildings using AutoCAD.

Rail car operator example responsibilities.

  • Support the efforts of uniform patrol deputies.
  • Operate wheel loaders to move coal from stockpile to power plant.
  • Utilize AS400 system to locate appropriate rail car to be load from.
  • Move empty rail cars to the loadout area, and build full rail car trains for CSX to pick-up and transport.
  • Operate and perform basic maintenance on locomotives.
  • Establish a good relationship with customer to help meet their needs for railroad switching at tate and lyle.

Freight engineer vs rail car operator skills

Common freight engineer skills
  • Safety Rules, 42%
  • Locomotives, 20%
  • FRA, 17%
  • DOT, 10%
  • Air Pressure, 10%
Common rail car operator skills

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