Western Railroad Discussion > Fatigue.... rr version....

Fatigue....
Try thinking you are working at noon and have been up all day and get called at 11pm.... right after you went to bed for a 1 o'clock call.... now you get to work your 12 hour shift after already being up 16 .... now that's Fatigue....

Posted from Android

There are many, many occupations that experience such fatigue on a regular reoccurring basis.

Railroaders are certainly one of them, but by no means exclusively. 

 

With all the technology, there is no excuse for not having a somewhat updated train lineup.  This has been an issue since forever and has never been addressed by anyone.  The other problem is that there is no notes section on the lineup that can be seen by T & E.  i.e. hold until, or run after. etc.

Getting down off my soapbox.

Eng.Shadetree

The absence of an adequate extra board is a major problem in many places. If people can't lay off when they need or want to, people will become fatigued. With no way to break the cycle.

Even supposed contractual guarantees are being ignored with an absence of fill-in staff.

shadetree Wrote:
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> With all the technology, there is no excuse for
> not having a somewhat updated train lineup.

Technology has actually made it worse.

trainjunkie Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> shadetree Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > With all the technology, there is no excuse for
> > not having a somewhat updated train lineup.
>
> Technology has actually made it worse.

Technology developed by people who have never done the work they are replacing.

The best application of technology is as a power tool for experts, developed by experts. That almost never happens, especially when the technosellers promise technmogoodies that eliminate people . . . except executives and some managers.

TAW

They don't want a train delayed one second for a crew but once you depart it is OK to sit in a siding for two hours,
wait two hours for MW to clear, wait two hours for a clear track in the recieving yard, etc.

I used to crash and not know what time of day it was when I woke up and think it's AM and find out that it's PM after I got to my workplace. Getting into the building I would discover 2nd shift working. (I used to work 12 hour shifts and get dead tired, but was relieved to learn that I wasn't the only one to make that mistake. LOL It happend twice.) This was before I had a cell phone.

Victor Baird

longliveSP Wrote:
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> There are many, many occupations that experience
> such fatigue on a regular reoccurring basis.
>
> Railroaders are certainly one of them, but by no
> means exclusively. 
>
>  



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/26/24 06:32 by wabash2800.

wabash2800 Wrote:
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> I used to crash and not know what time of day it
> was when I woke up and think it's AM and find out
> that it's PM after I got to my workplace. Getting
> into the building I would discover 2nd shift
> working. (I used to work 12 hour shifts and get
> dead tired, but was relieved to learn that I wan't
> the only one to make that mistake. LOL It happend
> twice.) This was before I had a cell phone.

There used to be a chemical plant here in Southern California that the plant workers did a rotating AM/PM 4-4 shift. I thought that was nuts, but apparently it is common in chemical plants. 

• Day 1 7 AM to 7 PM
• Day 2 7 AM to 7 PM
• Day 3 7 PM to 7 AM
• Day 4 7 PM to 7 AM
• Day 5 off
• Day 6 off
• Day 7 off 
• Day 8 off

Back in the day, I worked for the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Dept.  Worked 100 hours of overtime a month for a year.  Most of that was ordered.  Not voluntary.

Try working graveyard, go to court most of the day, go home, sleep maybe and go back to work.  My dad worked for SP 42 years.  Worked all the time.  Still made time for our baseball games.

Really tired of all the complaining.

SJDL Wrote:
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> Still made time for our baseball games.
>
> Really tired of all the complaining.

It ain't your daddy's railroad any more. Back in the day we could lay off whenever we wanted with no consequences. Those days are over.

shadetree Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> With all the technology, there is no excuse for
> not having a somewhat updated train lineup.  This
> has been an issue since forever and has never been
> addressed by anyone.  The other problem is that
> there is no notes section on the lineup that can
> be seen by T & E.  i.e. hold until, or run after.
> etc.
>
> Getting down off my soapbox.
>
> Eng.Shadetree

It's possible in some ways to put notes on our train summary of events that can be accessed through our line ups.  Of course that means someone would actually have to take the time to do it.  Then they would actually have to follow through with the comments.

Many years ago it was Christmas Eve and I was first out on the conductor's extra board.  Nothing really showing on the line up.  The junk manifest had the notation to it that it was going to be held in for the holiday.  I get called for it, on duty at 8pm.  I said to the caller, way before the robot callers, that it had a note about it not running over the holiday.  She then saw the note and asked if I wanted her to call the corridor manager to see if they really wanted to run the train.  I said no, I'd take the call. (If I didn't want to go to work, I wouldlve layed off.)

trainjunkie Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> SJDL Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Still made time for our baseball games.
> >
> > Really tired of all the complaining.
>
> It ain't your daddy's railroad any more. Back in
> the day we could lay off whenever we wanted with
> no consequences. Those days are over.


This!

Regards

Posted from iPhone

Englewood Wrote:
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> They don't want a train delayed one second for a
> crew but once you depart it is OK to sit in a
> siding for two hours,
> wait two hours for MW to clear, wait two hours for
> a clear track in the recieving yard, etc.

Same goes for they don't want a train delayed by Amtrak.

I'm entertained by the Class 1 railroad demands for 'staging' tracks so passenger service can be accommodated. When stopped for Amtrak, they are delayed. When they delay their own trains, it's staging and the passenger service must pay for it.

TAW

trainjunkie Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> SJDL Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Still made time for our baseball games.
> >
> > Really tired of all the complaining.
>
> It ain't your daddy's railroad any more. Back in
> the day we could lay off whenever we wanted with
> no consequences. Those days are over.


Baseball games?? GOOD LUCK with things like doctor's appointments, car repairs, stuff that needs done around the house, etc.

Don't get me started on family obligations....things like aging parents, kids, etc.

Posted from Android