How To Become A Yard Conductor: What It Is and Career Path

What is a yard conductor 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 yard conductor. For example, did you know that they make an average of $26.13 an hour? That's $54,357 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 4% and produce 3,100 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreYard ConductorUS Average

Salary

4.2

Avg. Salary $54,357

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.5

Growth rate 4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.86%

Asian 1.93%

Black or African American 9.66%

Hispanic or Latino 7.51%

Unknown 4.72%

White 75.32%

Gender

female 8.00%

male 92.00%

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 yard conductor

Explore yard conductor education requirements

Most common yard conductor degrees

High School Diploma

40.0 %

Bachelor's

30.0 %

Associate

30.0 %

Start to develop specific yard conductor skills

Skills	Percentages
Hand Signals	100.00%

Complete relevant yard conductor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New yard conductors 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 yard conductor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real yard conductor resumes.

Research yard conductor duties and responsibilities

Manage all commodities, crew, safety, and efficient delivery of each assign train and while following strict FRA guidelines.
Perform hostler operations of operating locomotives between various shop locations, service tracks and switching areas.
Qualify on all NORAC rules and physical characteristics of the regional territory.

Prepare your yard conductor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your yard conductor 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 yard conductor resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable yard conductor resume templates

Build a professional yard conductor 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 yard conductor resume.