Technically, porters were always on the job as long as the trains were rolling, responsible for the good service expected throughout the entire trip. A delayed train meant unexpectedly longer working hours. Porters received short breaks to sleep and for this reason were often called “sleepy car porters” instead of “sleeping car porters” because they were so deprived of sleep — often working more than 18 hours in a day. They had to be on the job and awake even if there were no passengers on a leg of the trip.

Porters could not eat in the presence of passengers. For a long time when porters took their meals in the dining car, they did so behind a black curtain that hid them from the eyes of the passengers. They could not initiate conversations with passengers and could not speak to or answer a female passenger while sitting. For any offence, porters would be penalized or given demerit points based on a system that allowed the railways to decide on the severity of the punishment for each offence. If porters received too many demerit points, they could be suspended from work and even fired. These difficult working conditions would inspire the porters to fight for better working conditions with the support of labour unions. This fight led to improved conditions including better wages as well as longer breaks for meals and sleep.