The State of the Rail Workforce

EventID=109644

[roadrailn]

I’ve had a 15, 000 foot freight train and every second of that trip I could think nothing except “this is to much train for only 2 crew members, it is not right, it is not safe.”

[TheJohnnychingas]

Just had a 15, 000 foot train today. Told the dispatcher if we moved forward, past a certain signal, we would be blocking crossings. He said, "keep rolling" I guess public safety doesn't matter. We had that xing blocked for a good 1/2 hour.

[st]

Support two person train crews
This effects every town and state across America. Safety should be number 1 prior!!! Thank you this is in reference to Ron Batory with the FRA Removing the two person train crew rule and precise scheduled railroading known as (PSR)! They have been tripling up trains making them 3-5 miles long the blocking road crossings for hours on in blocking first responders now wanting one man or women to run the whole operation is absurd not to mention many of these people are veterans who have served this great nation who are now gonna be out of a job. This effects every town and state across America. We need to get the word out thanks for all the help. It is greatly needed. They are calling man vs machine. They even have an article to that shows from the FRAs own reports it’s unsafe research was done by Tennessee state university

Support two person train crews keep America safe.
You have all got this wrong when it come to 2 man crew verses one man
crew. The airlines have had autopilot for years but still have two and 3 people in the cockpit. If Boeing has taught us anything technology fails. It’s all the workers do is worry about losing jobs.  Its common sense thousands of railroad workers will lose their jobs if all the railroads are allowed to go to 1 man crews. That's an issue you need to take up with Politicians !  They claims they are creating jobs then let him do something
about people keeping the ones they have!
This is about safety. This is about saving lives. Not just crew lives but the American people as well. Don’t forget about the rule-making process that was invoked by then-FRA Administrator Joseph C. Szabo after an unattended 74-car freight train carrying crude oil ran downhill and crashed in the Canadian town of Lac-Mégantic, killing 49 people in 2013 that had just one man on the train! Hunter Harrison said on the record those extra set of eyes in the cab are valuable. PTC will not detect track issues or mechanical issues like bad order cars or prevent crossing accidents. Our rules change daily so if an engineer or conductor takes a day off or vacation who will job brief with each other on any newly updated rules that change. How about filling out an EC-1 as the train moves along the tracks or stop and flag a railroad crossing when they have an activation failure with the public crossing gates. We are suppose to job brief to make smart decisions taking the safer course. So if engineers are busy pushing buttons on a screen and reading train orders his eyes are in the cab. If they remove the conductor, it would be counterintuitive. So in my opinion one safety system cancels out the other. Now with ptc and full crew in the cab increases the safety of of train movement. Just plain old common sense.
Railroads preach safety every single day.
Its in their rule books and in their advertising. Its 24 hour a day
safety...safety....safety. Well let them put their money where their mouths are. Pay for safety. Keep 2 men in the cab.
Just like GM shutting down 5 plants putting 15, 000 people out of work and pay there CEO 22 million. CSX on the other hand lost 41% of the business once Hunter Harrison took over cutting out almost half the work force from 27, 893 people down to 15, 362 people system wide and they paid him 385 million only to pass away 8 months later!
With everything going automated from self check out lanes to manufacturing does anyone profit except share holders and CEOs!!!! The public has no idea what we deal with. Tell your neighbors about how many cars we hit and people are killed every year when they are hit by
trains. Explain to them how the engineer is in the cab calling the dispatcher and getting 911 called. He is taking care of anything that may be wrong with the locomotive. He stays with the train. Tell them how the conductor gets down and rushes to the vehicle to see if he can
possibly save a life. Maybe a baby is in the car and needs to be helped
or maybe the parents can be removed and need CPR. Maybe he can comfort
someone who is dying or in shock or screaming because they are severely
injured . Tell them about how we hit live stock and large deer. Tell them how people love to put junk on the tracks. Shopping carts, bicycles, steel barrows, wheelchairs and even abandoned cars. A two person crew saved a child’s life wondering around on the tracks in Minnesota near midnight Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020. PTC didn’t help them. Tell them about how many trees we hit a year and do extensive damage to the
locomotive. The engineer stays with the locomotives and assess the damage and does what is necessary to radio dispatchers for help while the conductors gets down and removes debris and check the rest of the train for any damage or signs of derailment. Tell them about the
territory that is in the middle of TIM BUCK TWO!  The places where no one can get to you fast unless you have a helicopter. How will they go bathroom now without two people to keep the train going down the tracks unless they have to stop not blocking crossings or take lunch. Tell them how radios don't always work in remote locations. Telemetry drops out and communication is lost. How many times does a conductor have to go back
and trouble shoot another locomotive after alarms are going off. The engineer
keeps the train rolling the best he can while the conductor checks the
computers and checks to see if it is loading, traction motor faults or any other issue that may arise. Tell them about the blind curves that only one crew member can see around when your approaching
public crossings or trees that block signals so that only one crew member can see them until you get the train right on top of them. Tell them about wash outs from floods, and heat warped rail and fog so thick you cant see a foot in front of you. SO WHAT IF YOU GOT PTC!!  PTC does not tell you if a car in stopped on the tracks or a tree is across it or a person is walking in the tracks or there is 5 inches of water over the rail! Tell them how crew members have been attacked and some have even been killed by gang thugs and trespassers. A single man has no
chance in  these situations. It is better to have someone else with you to keep watch when working in bad areas and ghetto rail yards. The list goes on and on. Tell them how the company took away the right of the crew members to take a power nap. One crew member is supposed to call stopped every 15 minutes while they are waiting on line of road. As long as someone is awake and doing this and paying attention there is no reason on god green earth while a tired crew member cant take a 20
minute power nap. Tell them how crews are run into the ground and some
are called out every 10 hours around the clock. They work all hours of the day and night and most have no weekends off. The company wont even let them have a power nap. What is going to happen when there is only 1 man on the train by himself and he is just plain worn out or is sick and afraid to take a day off because of the companies new attendance policy
which is just absolutely insane. People come to work sick all the time. Vomiting, diarrhea, fevers and the flu doesn't stop them because they are in fear of losing their jobs. How is a sick man who is all by
himself going to be able to make a full run safely and without risking his life or the publics when he doesn't have his other crew member to help keep him alert. The engineer has many roles and duties as well as the conductor. There are times when something happens that it is a must
for an engineer to be on board and ready to take instructions while the conductor handles the rest of the responsibilities.  There are so many things that go into railroading and running trains that the public doesn't know a thing about. 
THIS ONE MAN CREW IDEA IS THE MOST UNSAFE AND IRRESPONSIBLE IDEA that
has ever been brought forward in the history of the railroad industry. 
And for what? To save a dollar. To line someone's pockets. To make someone rich. Who care who gets killed. If you think crossings are blocked now imagine if there was only one man and had to wait on someone to cut a crossing!Who care about the destruction to family lives. I don't know about you but I sure do and so should every person in America!
Also if you haven’t seen it check out these two YouTube videos.

[Citizen_Seen]

Batory: "15 thousand foot trains are the exception."
Also Batory: "But the increase in rail cars is only about 10 cars."
Bullshit on both counts.

[st]

Thank you me DeFazio. You brought up many many great things. You hit the nail on the head

[markdodson]

So the FRA works for shareholders now too, how much are the class 1s paying them?

[DonnieBrasco-dyyd]

15-17k trains are an "exception"? Is that why I see multiple trains of that length daily?

[shoretea]

Hon Batory"Dont worry about PSR"
Thousands of railroad workers fired!?!
Were worried!!
Hes retired company and shareholders have him in their pockets now

[chiefs]

Has anything become of this hearing? Any new laws proposed or regulations?

[jimmylee]

where was the BMWE in all this, we are the ones that maintain the tracks, file the defect reports, and are held accountable for the safe passage of all trains

[ryansaunders]

It's going to take a major catastrophic event in America to change people's thinking. I just hope its not my town or my family that gets wiped out. People look at the Canadian accident and say, it's not here though.

[xDiamondzx]

Finally a video that I have found that relates to the state of the rail workforce.

[st]

Thank you MR LYNCH We need two men it’s common sense

[st]

You have all got this wrong when it come to 2 man crew verses one man
crew. The airlines have had autopilot for years but still have two and 3 people in the cockpit. If Boeing has taught us anything technology fails. It’s all the workers do is worry about losing jobs.  Its common sense thousands of railroad workers will lose their jobs if all the railroads are allowed to go to 1 man crews. That's an issue you need to take up with Politicians They say they created jobs then let him do something
about people keeping the ones they have!
This is about safety. This is about saving lives. Not just crew lives
but the American people as well. Railroads preach safety every single day.
Its in their rule books and in their advertising. Its 24 hour a day
safety...safety....safety. Well let them put their money where their mouths are. Pay for safety. Keep 2 men in the cab.
The public has no idea what we deal with. Tell your neighbors about how
many cars we hit and people are killed every year when they are hit by
trains. Explain to them how the engineer is in the cab calling the dispatcher and getting 911 called. He is taking care of anything that may be wrong with the locomotive. He stays with the train. Tell them how the conductor gets down and rushes to the vehicle to see if he can
possibly save a life. Maybe a baby is in the car and needs to be helped
or maybe the parents can be removed and need CPR. Maybe he can comfort
someone who is dying or in shock or screaming because they are severely
injured . Tell them about how we hit live stock and large deer. Tell them how people love to put junk on the tracks. Shopping carts, bicycles, steel barrows, wheelchairs and even abandoned cars. Tell them about how many trees we hit a year and do extensive damage to the
locomotive. The engineer stays with the locomotives and assess the damage and does what is necessary to radio dispatchers for help while
the conductors gets down and removes debris and check the rest of the
train for any damage or signs of derailment. Tell them about the
territory that is in the middle of TIM BUCK TWO!  The places where no
one can get to you fast unless you have a helicopter. How will they go bathroom now without two people to keep the train going down the tracks unless they have to stop not blocking crossings or take lunch. Tell them how radios don't always work in remote locations. Telemetry drops out and communication is lost. How many times does a conductor have to go back
and trouble shoot another unit after alarms are going off. The engineer
keeps the train rolling the best he can while the conductor checks the
computers and checks to see if it is loading. Tell them about the blind
curves that only one crew member can see around when your approaching
public crossings or trees that block signals so that only one crew
member can see them until you get the train right on top of them. Tell
them about wash outs from floods, and heat warped rail and fog so thick
you cant see a foot in front of you. SO WHAT IF YOU GOT PTC!!  PTC does
not tell you if a car in stopped on the tracks or a tree is across it
or a person is walking in the tracks or there is 5 inches of water over
the rail! Tell them how crew members have been attacked and some have
even been killed by gang thugs and trespassers. A single man has no
chance in hell in  these situations. It is better to have someone else
with you to keep watch when working in bad areas and ghetto rail yards.
The list goes on and on. Tell them how the company took away the right
of the crew members to take a power nap. One crew member is supposed to
call stopped every 15 minutes while they are waiting on line of road. As
long as someone is awake and doing this and paying attention there is no
reason on god green earth while a tired crew member cant take a 20
minute power nap. Tell them how crews are run into the ground and some
are called out every 10 hours around the clock. They work all hours of
the day and night and most have no weekends off. The company wont even
let them have a power nap. What is going to happen when there is only 1
man on the train by himself and he is just plain worn out or is sick and
afraid to take a day off because of the companies new attendance policy
which is just absolutely insane. People come to work sick all the time.
Vomiting, diarrhea, fevers and the flu doesn't stop them because they
are in fear of losing their jobs. How is a sick man who is all by
himself going to be able to make a full run safely and without risking
his life or the publics when he doesn't have his other crew member to
help keep him alert. The engineer has many roles and duties as well as
the conductor. There are times when something happens that it is a must
for an engineer to be on board and ready to take instructions while the
conductor handles the rest of the responsibilities.  There are so many
things that go into railroading and running trains that the public
doesn't know a thing about. 
THIS ONE MAN CREW IDEA IS THE MOST UNSAFE AND IRRESPONSIBLE IDEA that
has ever been brought forward in the history of the railroad industry. 
And for what? To save a damn dollar. To line someone's pockets. To make
someone rich. Who care who gets killed. Who care about the destruction
to family lives. I don't know about you but I sure the hell do and so
should every person in America!
‪Railroadworkersunited.org‬

[st]

Thank you MR MALINOWSKI. people make the difference in trains

[TallifTallonbrook]

I urge all of this committee to read Hunter Harrisons book on PSR.

[Revolutionsmyname]

We are slaves to the shareholders and corporate officers, we sacrifice our lives while they fatten their pockets.

[TallifTallonbrook]

Why is safety listed as number 4 in PSR guiding principals?

[st]

Support your HR 1748 two man crew bill it’s about jobs and public safety.
Smart-union.org/td if your a railroader or a retired railroader or even public. Get the word out take a stand protect your towns. It only takes a few minutes

[imbriannelson]

I would suggest the committee use the next 15 days to request real world totals from the carriers regarding the total number of 15k foot plus trains running across our system every day. I think the numbers would be enlightening.