What is a Locomotive Operator?
The average locomotive operator salary is $51,047. The most common degree is a high school diploma degree with an business major. It usually takes 3-6 months of experience to become a locomotive operator. Locomotive operators with a OSHA Safety Certificate certification earn more money. Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -2% and produce -1,500 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Locomotive Operator Do
There are certain skills that many locomotive operators have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed communication skills, customer-service skills and leadership skills.
How To Become a Locomotive Operator
If you're interested in becoming a locomotive operator, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 26.7% of locomotive operators have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 2.9% of locomotive operators have master's degrees. Even though some locomotive operators have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Locomotive Operator Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of conductor you might progress to a role such as foreman eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title general contractor.
Average Salary for a Locomotive Operator
What Am I Worth?
Roles and Types of Locomotive Operator
There are several types of locomotive operator, including:
Operator
Role:
As an operator, it's your job to know how specific equipment or machines work. You should know how to install and repair certain machinery as well as knowing how to use tools to help with the manufacturing process.
Operators often spend their time checking in on equipment and making sure it's properly working. Every problem that is detected, you'll often call upon an operators to come and save the day. They're essentially the superhero in an office setting.
In most cases, operators work full-time, normal hours. But when a client needs help, you'll need to be available. which means that sometimes duty calls at night or on the weekends.
- Average Salary: $37,928
- Degree: High School Diploma
Train Engineer
Role:
As a child, were you fascinated with toy cars? How about toy trains? Some people never outgrew their love and fascination with trains. Some people choose to build a career in it! Are you curious about careers that will let you work closely with locomotives? Well, one such profession is a train engineer! Train engineers operate trains, ensuring that they arrive safely to their destination.
There are various paths to becoming a trained engineer, but they all start with getting a high school diploma and completing the required training program. Then, they often start as brake operators, train conductors, or switch operators. Based on their skill and competence, they get promoted.
Train engineers are also responsible for checking the train and ensuring that all parts are working well. They are also alert at all times for any possible emergency. If you want to be a train engineer, you need to show responsibility. You should know how to monitor different diagnostics on a train. You should also be quick on your feet and make decisions on the go.
- Average Salary: $82,531
- Degree: Bachelor's Degree
States With The Most Locomotive Operator Jobs
Number Of Locomotive Operator Jobs By State
| Rank | State | Number of Jobs | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Massachusetts | 1,213 | $52,281 |
| 2 | New Jersey | 882 | $55,645 |
| 3 | Rhode Island | 153 | $59,544 |
| 4 | Hawaii | 102 | $46,353 |
| 5 | Alaska | 95 | $68,175 |
| 6 | Texas | 15 | $48,526 |
| 7 | Ohio | 12 | $42,706 |
| 8 | Louisiana | 11 | $48,535 |
| 9 | Georgia | 8 | $43,079 |
| 10 | California | 7 | $56,754 |
| 11 | Wyoming | 6 | $57,773 |
| 12 | Oregon | 6 | $56,554 |
| 13 | Alabama | 5 | $52,583 |
| 14 | Kansas | 5 | $51,676 |
| 15 | Illinois | 5 | $53,433 |
| 16 | Maryland | 5 | $50,788 |
| 17 | Montana | 5 | $44,219 |
| 18 | Utah | 4 | $59,134 |
| 19 | Pennsylvania | 3 | $57,794 |
| 20 | Iowa | 3 | $53,223 |
| 21 | Wisconsin | 3 | $39,563 |
| 22 | Maine | 2 | $61,238 |
| 23 | South Dakota | 2 | $42,806 |
| 24 | Virginia | 2 | $50,286 |
| 25 | Oklahoma | 2 | $43,086 |
| 26 | Idaho | 2 | $41,705 |
| 27 | North Carolina | 2 | $45,331 |
| 28 | Arizona | 2 | $42,631 |
| 29 | Kentucky | 2 | $40,001 |
| 30 | Indiana | 2 | $38,762 |
| 31 | Mississippi | 1 | $56,119 |
| 32 | Minnesota | 1 | $57,997 |
| 33 | West Virginia | 1 | $53,153 |
| 34 | Florida | 1 | $53,283 |
| 35 | Colorado | 1 | $52,701 |
| 36 | Tennessee | 1 | $48,764 |
| 37 | South Carolina | 1 | $40,743 |
| 38 | New Mexico | 1 | $38,024 |
| 39 | Arkansas | 1 | $36,954 |
| 40 | Washington | 0 | $66,689 |
| 41 | Nevada | 0 | $58,960 |
| 42 | Connecticut | 0 | $59,717 |
| 43 | New Hampshire | 0 | $57,711 |
| 44 | Delaware | 0 | $58,645 |
| 45 | Nebraska | 0 | $56,886 |
| 46 | North Dakota | 0 | $54,946 |
| 47 | New York | 0 | $57,030 |
| 48 | Michigan | 0 | $53,898 |
| 49 | Missouri | 0 | $50,418 |
| 50 | Vermont | 0 | $50,050 |
Top Skills For a Locomotive Operator
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 17.8% of locomotive operators listed locomotives on their resume, but soft skills such as communication skills and customer-service skills are important as well.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Locomotive Operator Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Locomotive Operator templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Locomotive Operator resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Locomotive Operator diversity
Locomotive Operator Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among locomotive operators, 10.4% of them are women, while 89.6% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among locomotive operators is White, which makes up 69.0% of all locomotive operators.
- The most common foreign language among locomotive operators is Spanish at 50.0%.
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How Do Locomotive Operators Rate Their Jobs?
Top Locomotive Operator Employers
Most Common Employers For Locomotive Operator
| Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BNSF Railway | $66,773 | $32.10 | 3 |
| 2 | Watco | $65,904 | $31.68 | 3 |
| 3 | GATX | $64,797 | $31.15 | 5 |
| 4 | Kansas City Southern | $63,491 | $30.52 | 2 |
| 5 | R. J. Corman Railroad Group | $61,699 | $29.66 | 2 |
| 6 | Union Pacific | $58,798 | $28.27 | 15 |
| 7 | Koppers | $58,641 | $28.19 | 3 |
| 8 | CSX | $57,530 | $27.66 | 9 |
| 9 | Norfolk Southern | $56,469 | $27.15 | 4 |
| 10 | Railserve | $55,567 | $26.71 | 34 |