How To Become A Carman: What It Is and Career Path

What is a carman and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

A carman is a freight car mechanic working in the rail transportation industry. A freight carman's primary duty is to ensure the safe operation of railcars per federal regulations and industry standards.

Currently, troubleshooting and repair work in the transportation industry is becoming increasingly computerized. Thus, any person working in this industry must have complex or sophisticated skills and hands-on training.

Your competitive wage in this role primarily is determined by your job's difficulty and the level of responsibility you need to handle in order to protect passengers and maintain freight's safety. Consequently, a carman in the railroad transportation industry typically earns an average annual salary of $61,290, or $29.47 per hour.

ScoreCarmanUS Average

Salary

3.7

Avg. Salary $47,875

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

5.4

Growth Rate 8%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

7.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.77%

Asian 1.78%

Black or African American 5.89%

Hispanic or Latino 13.56%

Unknown 3.85%

White 74.15%

Gender

female 4.04%

male 95.96%

Age - 44

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 - 44

Stress Level

5.4

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

6.0

Complexity Level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

5.0

Work Life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a carman

Explore carman education requirements

Most common carman degrees

High School Diploma

42.8 %

Associate

19.1 %

Bachelor's

13.2 %

Start to develop specific carman skills

Skills	Percentages
Hand Tools	12.12%
Cranes	11.92%
Locomotives	8.02%
Ladders	7.62%
Federal Regulations	6.65%

Complete relevant carman training and internships

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

Research carman duties and responsibilities

Operate light/heavy cranes, fork lifts, and all railroad car moving shop equipment.
Perform air brake tests, schedule maintenance, and necessary inspections on locomotives and trains in accordance with federal regulations.
Perform maintenance on Amtrak trains.
Fill out AAR billing forms.

Prepare your carman resume

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

Choose From 10+ Customizable Carman Resume templates

Build a professional Carman 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 Carman resume.

Apply for carman jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a carman job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do carmen rate their job?

5/5

Based On 1 Ratings

5 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

2 Stars

1 Star

Carman reviews

5.0

A zippia user wrote a review on May 2019

Pros

Working on my own when necessary, working with fellow Carmen when necessary! As a Carman I worked as a welder, a truck driver, a wrecker driver, a train inspector and many other jobs. RailRoad work can be tough, but it is also very rewarding, good pay, good benefits and a good retirement pension.

Cons

As a RailRoad Carmen, you may have to work all kinds of shifts, my first 4 years I worked from 11PM to 7AM with Tuesday and Wednesday off. You may also be required to work overtime. Although as you acquire seniority, you are able to get better assignments.