Back to Jobs

Job Description

Overview

Norfolk Southern is seeking a Freight Car Repairer Trainee in Atlanta, GA, to prepare individuals for a career in freight car maintenance through structured training. The role emphasizes hands-on experience and compliance with safety and operational standards.

Responsibilities

  • Inspect, repair, and maintain freight cars in compliance with FRA and AAR standards.
  • Ensure compliance with all railroad rules and regulations for safety and operations.
  • Perform welding and cutting operations (SMAW and FCAW processes in 2F, 3F, and 4F positions).
  • Operate forklifts, cranes, and car-moving equipment.
  • Straighten, fabricate, and replace steel parts such as grab irons, ladders, and sill steps.
  • Remove and replace defective components including wheels, couplers, brake equipment, air brake valves, yokes, and draft gears.
  • Rerail cars and locomotives using rerailing equipment.
  • Complete and enter information in computer systems regarding car components, destination, lading, repair records, bad orders, and car releases.
  • Work safely to prevent accidents and injuries and wear required protective equipment.
  • Complete annual safety training and pass safety rules examinations.

Requirements

  • High school diploma or GED.
  • 18 years of age or older.
  • Valid driver’s license.
  • Ability to pass pre-employment drug and alcohol screening and physical standards.
  • Ability to work outdoors in all weather conditions and perform heavy physical labor.
  • Must pass background screening and post-offer medical examinations, including drug tests.
  • One or more years of welding and fabrication experience preferred.
  • Mechanical experience or Carman apprenticeship preferred.

Benefits

  • Health Insurance
  • 401k
  • Dental
  • Vision

Additional Information

  • This is a seniority-based union position.
  • Extensive travel for training may be required.
  • Shift work across all three shifts, including nights, weekends, and holidays.

Benefits

Health Insurance
401k
Dental
Vision
Apply for This Position

How this job compares in Atlanta, GA

Pay in context

At roughly $31/hr, this posting lands within a few percent of the $30/hr median for welding jobs in Atlanta, GA, whose middle half runs $25–$40/hr across 40 postings with published pay. Put another way, it pays more than about 63% of the comparable postings we have wage data for. In other words it is a market-rate offer, so benefits, overtime, and shift schedule are where the real difference between this and the next posting on the list shows up.

The local market in Atlanta, GA

We're tracking 101 other active welding openings in Atlanta, GA right now, from 77 different employers. 47 of them were added in the last week. Across Georgia as a whole we're tracking 358 other active welding openings from 227 employers. A metro this active generally means you have real leverage — employers here are competing for the same welders. Browse every welding job in Atlanta, or widen the search to Georgia.

The most active employers in Georgia at the moment, by number of open welding reqs, are Southern Industrial Constructors, Inc. (9), JCB North America (8), and Classic Collision (8). Volume like that usually means either a genuine expansion or a staffing agency working several client sites — worth knowing which before you apply.

Within Georgia, the best-paying metros we track by median hourly rate are Marietta at $42/hr, Forest Park at $36/hr, and Atlanta at $30/hr. Atlanta is among them.

What you'll be running

This posting calls for Stick and Flux-Core work. Stick (SMAW) burns a flux-coated consumable rod and needs no shielding gas, so it works in wind, rain, and on dirty or rusted steel. That tolerance for bad conditions keeps it the default for field, structural, and repair work. Flux-cored (FCAW) runs a hollow wire filled with flux, combining MIG-like deposition rates with the outdoor tolerance of stick. It is the workhorse on heavy structural steel and shipbuilding, where thick sections and long welds reward speed.

Similar openings near Atlanta, GA

Pay figures are medians computed from live postings in the Welding Pros index, not from survey data, and they move as employers post. Freight Car Repairer - Atlanta, GA 2026 figures were last recalculated when this page was built.