mechanic

truck driver

operator trainee

senior maintenance person

test operator

Sperry Rail

If you are a young, smart college student, they will lure you into their presentation that they are a world class ultrasonic rail testing company, which they are. 
You will enjoy your time training, the parent company in the US are good people. However if you come to Canada you will be met with repression, abuse of labor laws, and threatening your livelihood on a weekly basis. You will be typically on a 3 month on, 1 week off schedule. They will always try and cancel your trips home to make you stay and work more for them. You will miss most or all of your holidays for as long as you work there. Many times I was forced to work 24-36 hours straight or be fired. Forced 16 hour days are not uncommon. I was one of the top employees in Canada based on statistics and likability, but I was treated like an animal in a cage by management. I wasn't allowed to go home and see my family even when I was close to my home city. Management was corrupt and performing bordering on illegal activity. I had several life threatening things happen to me during the course of my job and barely made it to the hospital due to management ineptitude. All they care about is money and making their customer happy, one can only hope they are investigated by Canadian authorities sometime in my lifetime for the way they treat there employees.Never have seen anything like it since.

if money is your only interest coupled with ongoing travel this is the place,
if you have a young family or children this is not the place!!!

advancement will never be as quick as they might tell you 
as winter is our busy time any and all drivers are required 

company covers any extras needed health wise many small perks and bonuses other companies do not provide,
yes communication from management is limited at best 
although majority of companies nowadays are this way

Guaranteed No layoffs ever 
 in an economy that is shaky at best with ups and downs in oil field you will Never Ever be out of work with Sperry 

 if you need lots of direction this is not the place for you!
if you are a solo self starter who can function with minimal direction 
this would be a great fit,
emailing and cc to other area managers is the best way to get questions answered and we do have some phenomenal staff

keep in mind if you hire as a driver You will be required to drive in all weather conditions, Pre & Post Tripping your truck  any truck all trucks is one of the most important Top of the list , in my opinion

A typical day with Sperry Rail consisted in greasing and cleaning the work truck, driving to a pre-arranged meeting point where myself and the technician would meet with a railroad employee. This person would act as our "pilot" and ensure our safety as we operated the truck along the tracks. We would test usually for ten hours, at which point I would drive the truck to the closest town, fuel it and clean it and top up all the fluids. The technician (or "chief") and I would check into a hotel and spend the night. 
This job involved lots of moving around, outdoor work in all weather, problem solving and truck up-keep and maintenance. My responsibilities were to drive and maintain the truck.
The best part of the job was the adventure across the country it offered, and the worst part was that while working for Sperry there was no place to call home. I took this job in the first place to use it as a stepping-stone to help me get hired by the railroad.

As a driver you are expected to have no opinion, option or say in anything. You have to do as the “chief operator” says. Most of the chiefs never worked as a driver and have no clue how to fix things. 

You are expected to fix things in parking lots. Most of the trucks break down once a week at least.

The managers are non existent unless you break a rule because then they swarm. 

If you don’t like being away from home… this place forces you to away from home for 3-6 months minimum for a week if you’re lucky 2 weeks. 

The pay is terrible for drivers. You come in with multiple years experience of driving and get told by others that’s not how to drive.

There is per diem but with the cost of food there’s no chance of having more than one meal unless you cook it (most places you stay only have a microwave)




What to expect with Sperry:
a lot of unknowns in the beginning, where , when, how long, what to take...
expect to travel a lot. In 6 weeks with the company ive been to 5 provinces.
You must pass a CN rules course with 90 percent...it is open book!
Prepare to get DIRTY
Prepare to spend countless hours sitting waiting doing nothing as you wait for trains.
Hop from hotel to hotel, town to town.
Eat microwaved food
Long hours typically 60 to 70 per week
Maybe most important....prepare to be gone from home for lengthy amounts of time. they say up to 3 months but its more like 6 or more unless you get lucky and have a truck that goes through your home town. Ive seen my wife and 2 year old 1 day out of the past 6 weeks.

Be prepared to not have a life outside of this place. One their big core values is 100% Accountability, Zero Excuses. That seems to be the problem.....no one takes accountability. Everyone just passes the buck and the sad thing is it starts at the top. Very Poorly managed company
Be prepared to work with worse individuals you ever meet before as your boss or as called as chief operator which is kinda of joke compared with what you been told in the interview that you will work as a team not as a superiority complex or some power hunger individuals 
You looking for money maybe it’s the place looking for career and  balanced life style and dignity for what you do stay away

What is the best part of working at the company?
Freedom of just you and your partner just doing their job. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Being late and driving in bad weather.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Very solid. They let you do your job without any hassle the one major thing is many of their trucks are starting to age very badly. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Meet the the client at the designated time and then the hardest part is getting track time.

The job is simple for the driver. Get up and make sure the truck is ready to operate. Go the the railway and test the track...make sure the truck is operational during the testing. Leave the railway and set up the truck for operation the next day. The hours are longer for a driver than a chief (the rail tester) but there are benefits to working for this company as long as you don't mind staying on the road.

It is really good place to explore all kinds of knowledge.  I learned about safety I was working in an area highly safety ruled, dealing with An stoppable train  and waiting until it pass that means you learn patient all kinds of safety. I like it  

If you love to travel, work long hours in all types of weather and locations, this may be the career for you.
You get to see the country in ways 90% of the population doesn't. Pay is decent,  however, considering you are never home it could be better.
Safety and reliability are super important,  don't be calling in sick and be willing to go the extra mile.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Mechanic 5 salaries reported	$22.00 per hour
Truck driver 12 salaries reported	$22.00 per hour
Operator trainee 9 salaries reported	$22.00 per hour
Senior maintenance person 5 salaries reported	$31.00 per hour
Test operator 3 salaries reported	$23.50 per hour

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