Also called: Rail Wreck Recovery Specialist, Rerailing Crew Member
Rushes to train derailments with giant side-boom bulldozers and cranes to lift cars back onto the track and clear the line.
At 3 a.m. your phone rings: 20 grain cars jumped the track in Iowa. Your crew drives side-boom tractors to the site, rigs cables, and lifts each 130-ton car back onto the rails while the railroad waits to reopen the line.
Estimated; emergency call-outs bring overtime.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
High school diploma, about 1 year after high school. High school plus on-the-job equipment and rigging training.
Ways in: On-the-job training, Certification. Training cost: Get paid while you train.
Majors to look at: Heavy Equipment Operations.
Growing about average. Steady work tied to freight rail traffic.
Low risk for 10 years. Each wreck is different; heavy rigging at scenes stays human.
Age 18+. One way to start: Apply to derailment and emergency response contractors as a laborer First: 40-hour HAZWOPER course; a CDL helps you move up
Classes: Physics, Auto shop, Welding.
Official data: O*NET occupation 53-4099.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.