Western Railroad Discussion > BNSF layoffs starting

Per social media. Some terminals getting hit hard. Pipe fitters, boilermakers and carmen.


Keith

Posted from Android



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/27/24 14:18 by Keith_Kevet.

Keith_Kevet Wrote:
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> Per social media. Some terminals getting hit
> hard. Pipe fitters, boilermakers and carmen.
>

They're not important to the bottom line. They only fix stuff and prevent trains from running with broken stuff. See - just a cost.

TAW

Sorry to learn the Fort Worth axe is at it again - folks losing their jobs.  Tough year ahead for employees.

Keith_Kevet Wrote:
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> Per social media. Some terminals getting hit
> hard. Pipe fitters, boilermakers and carmen.
 

That didn't take long. Warren said BNSF needed to improve profit margins closer to other class 1s...and Katie starts eliminating jobs. Wall Street runs class 1s

Keith_Kevet Wrote:
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> Per social media. Some terminals getting hit
> hard. Pipe fitters, boilermakers and carmen.
>
I am ignorant on this, what trades do pipe fitters and boilermakers perform on the modern railroad?  

 

Todd Clark
Canyon Country, CA
Trainorders.com

webmaster Wrote:
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> Keith_Kevet Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Per social media. Some terminals getting hit
> > hard. Pipe fitters, boilermakers and carmen.
> >
> I am ignorant on this, what trades do pipe fitters
> and boilermakers perform on the modern
> railroad?  

Depends on the railroad and local agreements but, Pipe Fitters would be doing air piping and cooling system piping. The Boilermaker craft is generally associated with wreck repairs, especially involving torch cutting and lots of welding.

HotWater Wrote:
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> Depends on the railroad and local agreements but,
> Pipe Fitters would be doing air piping and cooling
> system piping. The Boilermaker craft is generally
> associated with wreck repairs, especially
> involving torch cutting and lots of welding.

Thank you,

 

Todd Clark
Canyon Country, CA
Trainorders.com

UP did it so now BNSF has to

> The Boilermaker craft is generally
> associated with wreck repairs, especially
> involving torch cutting and lots of welding.

Sounds like a long way from "creating a boiler", and rather, torching Any and Everything!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/27/24 18:43 by rrman6.

Terrible news.

In addition to eliminating those positions…they also just cut the last utility position in Seattle. The afternoon South Seattle utility that assists in making up and departing priority Z’s and Q’s…and also landing them. Gee…I can’t wait until I pull into town on a 10,000 foot Z that has to cut off DP and land in 3 tracks with no transportation available. I don’t see this working out too well for train crews, customers, or the company.

Anybody else seeing them getting rid of utilities anywhere else?

dan Wrote:
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> UP did it so now BNSF has to

Lack of independent thinking. Copycat managing.

Texican65 Wrote:
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> Terrible news.
>
> In addition to eliminating those positions…they
> also just cut the last utility position in
> Seattle. The afternoon South Seattle utility that
> assists in making up and departing priority Z’s
> and Q’s…and also landing them. Gee…I can’t
> wait until I pull into town on a 10,000 foot Z
> that has to cut off DP and land in 3 tracks with
> no transportation available. I don’t see this
> working out too well for train crews, customers,
> or the company.

Look at it this way; you burn a couple of hours at Wenatch because the call was no good,  then eight getting to South Seattle, you've only got two left to screw with it and you won't be getting much done. Not too bad. Not good for the customers. Company doesn't care.

TAW

Preceding observations suggest the most appropriate and money-saving personnel reductions should begin at the very top.

They're being replaced by A I Mario Bros.

Keith_Kevet Wrote:
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> Per social media. Some terminals getting hit
> hard. Pipe fitters, boilermakers and carmen.
>
>
> Keith
>
> Posted from Android

Whaaaat?!

You mean ol’ grampa Warren is really a shrewd Wall Street gunslinger who has a love of mammon above all else?

How dare anyone think that about him! He’s just a folksy old man that can’t stand Wall Street screwing up the economy and…

Yeah, and Santa is bringing me a Duesenberg SJ for Xmas next year.

The sub is loosing neutral buoyancy and starting to sink towards crush depth again.

Anyone wanna make bets on when Congress gets involved and makes political hay?

Regards

Posted from iPhone

Drknow Wrote:
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> Anyone wanna make bets on when Congress gets
> involved and makes political hay?


About the 12th of Never.  Congress has been a slave of Wall Street for a couple of centuries now, what makes you think they'll change now?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/28/24 08:00 by PHall.

rrman6 Wrote:
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> > The Boilermaker craft is generally
> > associated with wreck repairs, especially
> > involving torch cutting and lots of welding.
>
> Sounds like a long way from "creating a boiler",
> and rather, torching Any and Everything!!

They work with the fuel tanks and air tanks as well...both testing and repairing, and also mounting and dismounting. Yes, much depends on local agreements, and whose exactly is available....if you have a shop of machinists and laborers....then guess who does everything? Machinists and laborers. 

And out on the road, 40 and idle, will now become 30 and idle. Just imagine how much fuel you can save when all the trains are moving at 25-30 MPH. Which is basically what's happening already with the robot dispatcher running the show causing mass congestion at the terminals.
Just when you think it can't get any worse. So glad I'm not a customer looking for quality service that was once provided by big orange.
Thankfully, all of the higher ups in the shipping industry that remember excellent service from the Santa Fe and early BNSF, have all retired or moved on. And the new guys just pay the money, and get the level of service given to them, not knowing what excellent service really was.
Railroad management has lost their way, and unfortunately, it's just going to get worse.



 

TAW Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Keith_Kevet Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Per social media. Some terminals getting hit
> > hard. Pipe fitters, boilermakers and carmen.
> >
>
> They're not important to the bottom line. They
> only fix stuff and prevent trains from running
> with broken stuff. See - just a cost.

And when they end up sideways, the carrier will look anywhere but in the mirror to assign blame.
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/28/24 10:18 by RetiredHogger.

To my fellow Rails, just remember... we're simply being paid for our time (basically per mile or hour) anymore, not for the quality or efficiency of our work. The quality (or comfort) of one's work now revolves around our seniority and what positions or locations we can hold. Seniority is all we've got anymore, until the Wall Street backed shareholders or the AI algorithms figure out how to obliterate that...

Many of the old-heads I used to work with (1960-70s hire dates) knew it well. One of their known slogans was to, "just sit there and open your pockets, let the railroad fill them up." Course, most of them were also used to working 6 or 7 day positions up to 16hrs/day. Along with the ability(s) to take near-unlimited time off if/when needed. It was a different time, different RR.

Mr. MRL ~ 18 years, not an old-head yet...