Railroaders' Nostalgia > The efficiency expert

Over on the Passenger side, I just did another rant about workload.

In the post-1979 era, I worked jobs that were buried for the entire shift. I worked jobs that were so bad that I just shut off the railroad when I had enough (there's another story). I worked jobs that were 8 hours of terror (combat has been described as hours of boredom and minutes of terror, so combat was better than dispatching). I worked jobs that were so bad that I couldn't face driving home. One of the last jobs I did for the division was a workload study. They eliminated the Vancouver Terminal dispatcher position as part of the justification for the consolidation of four offices into Seattle. After a couple of years, train delays were becoming monumental. The division superintendent wanted the job put back on, but since taking it off was part of the justification for consolidating, it would take some tall talking to put it back on.

I got trainsheets, train order books, lineup books, and CTC permit books and started a timeline (sort of like this http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,2698922,2698924#msg-2698924). I gave time for each train call received (conductor, engineer, on duty, engines, etc.), each OS, each train order, each lineup, each CTC permit, each board lineup and call figure. There was no way of knowing how much was happening in addition that wasn't a record (answering questions, relaying information, calls for a permit that didn't result in a permit, etc.). The job had 14 minutes of "spare" time in 8 hours! (and the biggest continuous chunk of that was 6 minutes) Now, if that isn't efficiency and productivity....

After the office consolidation (which now included the Havre office), the company hired an efficiency expert to find more fat to trim. One second trick, I was working Seattle Terminal. The efficiency expert showed up at the neighboring room, Centralia North. As usual, we were both buried. We didn't have time to even give each other figures on the trains that were coming. The efficiency expert pulled up a chair in his office, got out a stop watch, and started timing. He timed every physical activity. If he picked up a pen, timing started when writing commenced. When he lined up a train, timing commenced when his finger first touched the screen. The entire territory was a mess, but the efficiency expert had a timing list that showed plenty of spare time.

My colleague had just engineered a plan (completely off the clock) to get AMTK 14 around freight traffic that couldn't get into Tacoma while still letting freight trains out of Tacoma so that the ones being held out could get in. The track inspector called. A problem had been reported between Nisqually and Ketron and he had to go take a look. 20 minutes of (off the clock) planning had just collapsed into rubble. The efficiency expert was just sitting there. My colleague told him to start the stopwatch, NOW. The efficiency expert said that he was not doing anything, so no he would not be starting the watch. He would start timing when my colleague was doing something. My colleague told him he had one more chance, start timing NOW! The efficiency expert told him no, he wasn't going to be dishonest about the study. I'll time when you are doing something.

Well, the train dispatchers agreement provided for privacy of office. We could deny access to any one at any time. I've even chased managers out and I know several others who did.

Get out now!

The efficiency expert blustered - the usual I'm important, do you know who I am?

Get out NOW!

The guy stomped out and directly to the night chief. He complained and blustered...and the Chief said, if he told you go get out, then get out.

That was the end of the efficiency expert's study.

TAW

Tom

Just finished a round trip Seattle to Portland.  It has been a few years since I had been south. From King Street to Kent the the new control points seem to be closer than the pickets on a fence. Coming home I counted 23 trains between Portland and Seattle that were either moving or sitting somewhere waiting for us. And they say business is down. Doesn't seem like it on the south end.

DHF

I have always thought that it was better to have dispatchers to have time to think about what is going on. After the UP took us over, it was and continued until I retired with dispatchers being to busy, the older dipatchers that were operators at one time had a better understanding what was going on. It was a sad day when they moved dispatchers from territories they knew, to a subdivision that was new to them. With hardly anything time sensative freight  on the UP now, wasted minutes mean nothing to the lawyers and finacial people who try to run a railroad. Upper management should look and really see what happens to overworked dispatchers and what wasted minutes really cost across the whole spectrum, but they would be against that, for it might cost a bean counter his/her job KCRW287

It seems to be more and more the case: The railroads do not want their employees to think in the sense of planning or analysis, only to think in terms of vigilance and performance of duty according to the rules. With that kind of culture, dispatching jobs are a massive contradiction. The real work, the real contribution to the company by the employee, seemingly does not count.

Best regards,

Rob L.

In June ,1990 when the former Missouri Pacific's Dispatchers Office in Kansas City was closed and the dispatching functions moved to Omaha,           one of the dispatchers called us on the radio and told us his territory started at Leeds Jct and extended  to Little Rock, Ark,524 miles,and from Paola Kan to Mc Alester,Ok 180 miles.  He told he had no idea how was going to handle all this and to be patient if we needed a signal he would get to us when could.  He had approximately 368 miles of CTC and the rest was TWC on former MKT and Mop lines.  Eventually the territories were split up into more manageable size.  I can't remember the traffic density at the time,but there more coal trains than there are now. I wonder what TAW's efficiency would think??

Gee, 700 miles to dispatch.

rob_l Wrote:
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> It seems to be more and more the case: The
> railroads do not want their employees to think in
> the sense of planning or analysis, only to think
> in terms of vigilance and performance of duty
> according to the rules. With that kind of culture,
> dispatching jobs are a massive contradiction. The
> real work, the real contribution to the
> company by the employee, seemingly does not
> count.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Rob L.

This is 100% explicitly stated by upper management.  They got rid of the clerks, Dispatchers, Yardmasters, and Trainmasters are next.  Those that remain will be purely for rules compliance.  Crews will be dumbed down and reduced to 1 or 2 man.

Meanwhile, this will make the railroads more and more dependent on outside consultants on how to actually run the railroad.  The funny thing is the consultants are purging the experienced railroad people themselves and replacing them with process MBAs.

 

I'd like to see an MBA try to run a train, or drop a Thermite weld, or replace a wheelset...with no experience other than a book.
In the end, they can only cut so much.  They need people to actually *do* the things.  And doing things at the railroad involves experienced employees teaching new ones.  That takes time, and a long term view of profitablilty.  Those things are, of course, misunderstood and misinterpreted by those very MBA's who just see an ID number and another employee that is cutting into their quarterly pofit margin.

The MBA types are seen as "Universial Managers" in that they can manage anything.
They seem to think that you don't need job knowledge to manage the people who actually do the job.
AT&T has been trying to make this work for the past 20 years plus with so so results.

Back in the 70s, the SP had a dispatcher for the "West End,"  (LA to West Colton) that only had 57 miles of CTC.  What they couldn't see was that  five miles of it on the West end, had several yard engines that had to get behind Westbounds to get the pigs off of them for the Shops.  The afternoon Aurant/Alhambra yard job was next, followed by the 9am San Gabriel switcher.  One of the Baldwin Park jobs ran between Basset and Cof I with the inbound and outbound traffic from the three jobs that went on duty at Baldwin Park. Next was the 8pm CofI job that did everything East of Industry to where the two Pomona jobs took over. The 830pm Industry job did everything between Industry and Basset on the main track.  The day Pomona job did everything on the main track between Pomona and Ontario, and the night job had to cross the main line to get to the siding to cross the UP to get to the Chino branch.  Then out of Kaiser was the Ontario who did everything East of what the Pomona did, as well as crossing the UP to get to the Ontario branch.  Last was the 9am Kaiser which did all the work between Kaiser and the yard limits at West Colton.  The night Kaiser job did the North and South yards at Kaiser, and hauled the traffic from Kaiser to Colton and return.
This in addition to running a lot of trains, the M of W, and keeping trains off of crossings.

The Coast dispatcher had 218 miles of single track ABS train orders, plus if I remember correctly, he had to dispatch 451 and 452 om the SD&AE.

One day RL King (the General Manager) came in the dispatchers office, saw the Coast dispatcher doing nothing, and put out an order to combine the Coast and West End dispatchers.

I was assigned to pilot a hi-rail weed sprayer truck on the Coast one day, and waited over four hours for a track car lineup.  Finally I gave up and called the operator at Santa Barbara and asked him what had gone West on the OS report since midnight.  Then I called Guadalupe and got the Eastbounds, then took it upon myself to go spray some weeds after five hours on duty.

This stayed until King died, and as soon as Ben Biaggini took over, a request was submitted to split the jobs.
G 

ExSPCondr Wrote:
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> This stayed until King died, and as soon as Ben
> Biaggini took over, a request was submitted to
> split the jobs.

Not to take away from your fine story, but something's awry in this last statement.

King was GM of Pacific Lines under CEO Ben Biaggini (maybe under DJR for a few years at the end of DJR's term as CEO as well). Then King got promoted to VP Traffic and somebody else became GM of Pacific Lines, but of course it was not Biaggini.

Best regards,

Rob L.

rob_l Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ExSPCondr Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > This stayed until King died, and as soon as Ben
> > Biaggini took over, a request was submitted to
> > split the jobs.
>
> Not to take away from your fine story, but
> something's awry in this last statement.
>
> King was GM of Pacific Lines under CEO Ben
> Biaggini (maybe under DJR for a few years at the
> end of DJR's term as CEO as well). Then King got
> promoted to VP Traffic and somebody else became GM
> of Pacific Lines, but of course it was not
> Biaggini.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Rob L.

DeMoss became VPO when RLK did a lateral move to VPT. Krebs replaced DeMoss when DeMoss headed PMT

WAF Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> rob_l Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > ExSPCondr Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > This stayed until King died, and as soon as
> Ben
> > > Biaggini took over, a request was submitted
> to
> > > split the jobs.
> >
> > Not to take away from your fine story, but
> > something's awry in this last statement.
> >
> > King was GM of Pacific Lines under CEO Ben
> > Biaggini (maybe under DJR for a few years at
> the
> > end of DJR's term as CEO as well). Then King
> got
> > promoted to VP Traffic and somebody else became
> GM
> > of Pacific Lines, but of course it was not
> > Biaggini.
> >
> > Best regards,
> >
> > Rob L.
>
> DeMoss became VPO when RLK did a lateral move to
> VPT. Krebs replaced DeMoss when DeMoss headed PMT

Thanks. Who replaced King as GM Pacific Lines when King became VPO?

TIA,

Rob L.

RLK first became GM/VPO. When he became VPO, John Ramsey came west from the T&L to be GM and Charlie Babers replaced WJ Lacy as AGM when Lacy was sent to college. When Krebs became VPO, Ramsey was sent back to TX and Babers became GM. Lacy returned as AGM. Lacy became VPO and Krebs became VP of Transportation. Barbers was still GM.