Railroaders' Nostalgia > T&E Timebooks

Tis the season...I got my first 2013 T&E timebook in the mail today from one of the FELA Law groups. The BLE's timebook will probably be shortly behind in the Post.
Which got me thinking. I started out using notebooks, then ledger books and now the BLE freebie, and I don't think I've found one that I think is perfect. What timebook did you settle on and why?
Do/Did you just use the freebie from the Union or Company? I know CP gives out logbooks, do any other railroads give them out? I've also used the Daily time record..but I found that it was hard to write in those little boxes while the engine was bounding down the track.
Based on personal observation of crews, I tend to see guys from one territory or terminal all use one kind of timebook. For example, the NS crews at Muncie that I used to interchange with on the GM turn job I worked ALL seemed to use a brown-covered mead 4"x5" stitch-bound notebook. For the CSX crews that work into Indianapolis from Evansville and Danville, Il, they all seem to prefer light blue thick cardstock bound 6"x3" tall and skinny ledger books with rows and columns.

And finally--What do you do with those old timebooks? I know I've kept all of mine dating back to my hire in day...I figure someone in some historical society would want them as a record...

Just some musings as I transfer all the Chief, DS, crew caller and various railroad people's phone numbers from this years timebook to next years...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/08/12 20:07 by DrLoco.

I got audited by Revenue Canada once in 33 years, and was required to send in my time books.

Transportation employees get a tax deduction for meals and accomodation taken in the course of a tour of duty. The tax guide gives fairly straight forward instructions. During the years Brian Mulroney (Conservative) was Prime Minister of Canada, the amount of the deduction allowed was cut, while civil servants got to keep a more generous deduction. There was a movement by Greyhound bus drivers to challenge the tax department's decision and claim the civil service deduction. Many railroaders started to do the same.
Inevitably, they got audited. I stuck to the proper way of claiming. Revenue Canada had to audit some from outside the protest group, so I was chosen. Some faceless bureaucrat in Surrey BC got a very detailed description of my tours of duty, including my timebooks. I got a dry, unemotional letter saying my claims were correct and unadjusted.

It is seven years plus since I retired. The Statute of Limitations on tax returns has expired regarding my timebooks.(standard BLE and UTU membership timebooks)



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/09/12 05:39 by eminence_grise.

I use a daily planner from Walmart.

Posted from Android

His Eminence brings up an interesting point about the whole reason for timebooks in the first place. In addition to keeping track of what we do for pay purposes, I was told by some lawyers at the last union meeting that if you initial each page of your time book, it is considered a true and faithful record of your expenses for the IRS. As His Eminence mentioned, keeping track of how much money we spend while away "on business" for the railroad adds up to a lot of money by the end of the year.

I use the Daily Time Record. Bouncing around in the engine? Nah...I just fill mine out when stuck at CP 120 or CP 75 ;)

Well, I'm glad you are waiting for *me* at CP120...which is why I'm bouncing around--I've got places to go! :)
Usually, I turn the corner at CP124 and head north on the Tomato Branch.

I have mine from my first trip in 69. I used a note book and then put it in a BLE timebook. Later I had some printed up in a small ring binder that fit in my shirt pocket. It had boxes for what I wanted, and room for train info on the page above your trip page.

A 1964 decision in Federal Tax court stated that our time books were proof enough of where we were, etc, in claiming away from home expenses if you were audited. After 4 audits in the 70s & 80s my CPA took them on and won. They denied work tools (boots, gloves), union dues (that was a legit deduction back then) They wanted to see menu's from places I ate and all kinds of other BS. When the dust settled, they owed me money. You were allowed $25 per meal, per day without a receipt. They tried to tell me THEY only paid $3.00 for lunch, etc. After a letter from my senator, it was "No Change" after that.

You had to deduct what the SP paid you, $1.50 @ day, in some cases. Any taxi or motel/hotel bills you had to have a receipt. In engine service, the SP provided lodging.

They were also useful in a court trial, if need be, years later.


Nudge

My Dad has used the daily time record for oh maybe 30 years, so I just followed along when I started and use them as well. Honestly, it seems that a good portion of the newer employees, say maybe those hired on in the last 15 years or so, don't even keep any sort of time book. You do see some using the union provided books and others using the daily time record like I do, and then some use generic little notebooks, but I would say far more of the newer employees do not keep time books then do keep them. Seems to me a time book just saves more info that would otherwise blur into history with all the trips we do over the years. The pay sheet at the end of the half (or green sheet for any SP guys) only tells you so much about what you did. Heck, just writing down the names of who you worked with is reason enough to keep a time book.

I use the Franklin format daily time record found here:

http://www.dailytimerecord.com/products.htm

I've used this for several years now.

I also use the Franklin form Daily Time Record. I like the way it flips open, and has a lot of open space to write comments or delays during the trip.

Any rail that does not keep his own time is an asset to the carrier.


V

SLOCONDR

SLOCONDR Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Any rail that does not keep his own time is an
> asset to the carrier.
>
Boy is that ever true! I have had a few new hires recently ask me "what'cha doin' in that book there?" Apparently, they don't discuss why keeping an accurate log book is important, both for personal IRS information, as well as keeping track of penalty claims and day-to-day information like crewmen you work with.
ALso, yes, I had a nice trip down amnesia lane reading those names of crewmen I worked with when I hired out...

Amnesia Lane. Now that is a tag I haven't heard in years. Ah, I think.

Nudge

I have never been audited but I regard my timebooks as near and dear. In fact, I lost a few years ago, along with a lot of other "more valuable" stuff in a storage unit theft, but it's the timebooks I miss the most. They were a record of my trips, the consists, the crews, and other random notes which really help someone like me with crappy short-term memory recall WTF went on from day to day.

Today, as a second-time new-hire, I started keeping a "log" which includes my job number, date, OD time/location (terminal), crew members, and all the unit number we handle in a given shift. I also keep other notes like what we did and where we went if it's anything unusual. If I get held away from home, I record any expenses. Some of my younger (in age) co-workers take jabs at me for being anal-retentive, and in all honesty, we have a stellar timekeeper that almost never shorts us. But years from now, my log books will serve as my "diary" as I try to recollect my OTJ memories. Especially today since FRA EO 26 has banned electronic devices, thus cameras. All I have are my written notes.

trainjunkie Wrote:
- Especially today since FRA EO 26 has
> banned electronic devices, thus cameras. All I
> have are my written notes.


Thanks, TJ, for the accurate assessment of today's RR'ing--being disarmed of my cameras while on duty by EO 26 was really a shock. Now, I try to make notes of each trip's interesting happenings for a better recall; however there was (and never will be) anything better than photos to jog the memory for sure.

For many years on the CPR, time claims were processed locally by a clerk in the yard office. After an initial inspection by the "time clerk" who OK'd most time claims, a selection of tickets would be put aside to be audited by a manager, as well as the more complicated or doubtful time claims.

I always took very detailed notes of complicated time claims, usually work train service, or "combination claims" involving different classes of service. I knew the clerk would sideline them, sometimes I would give them directly to the clerk rather than filing them through a mail slot. A really complex ticket could end up on the assistant superintendant's desk for a week and miss the deadline for a two week pay period. Sometimes, the officer would phone me and ask exactly what took place because you can only convey so much information on a pre-printed form. He wouldn't be trying to deny me the pay (usually) but was trying to understand what had taken place for pay purposes. Finally, when the claims were submitted to headquarters for payment, sometimes someone would audit them there. Again, having a detailed record of a trip in question was useful. The company had 90 days to pay or deny a time claim.

Sometimes, a pay claim or a class of pay claim would be involved in the grievance process between the union and the company. At times, mediators and arbitrators would make the decision whether to pay. This could be years after the initial claim. Those time books would come into play then if the arbitrator ordered the railway to pay all present and past time claims (usually a small portion of the claim). I remember co-workers cursing because they failed to keep a record of such disputed time claims.

I used the BLE timebooks from day 1, and have kept them all. I kept the right hand page like a diary. Retired now, I love to look through them. And, yes. They were good enough for the IRS.

Posted from Android

I was discussing this recently as made copies of timebooks from 1939 to 1964 from a Wabash conductor friend. He kept loco numbers, train numbers, fellow crew members names and descriptions of assignments and anything noteworthy. They are summarized (mostly loco numbers) in a Wabash book that I am publishing.

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,2892929,2892929#msg-2892929