Railroaders' Nostalgia > HDC Mass firings

Right now the Night of the long Knives is happening as we speak at the Harriman. Something like 70 Trick Disp and Corridors(Chiefs) as of right now and the bloodshed isn’t done. PSR is good for everyone sez Chairman Fritz.

Posted from iPhone

Tough times for these dedicated employees.  Will be interesting to see how this affects the operation.  Never easy to downsize a large organization.

This is 100% PSR, G-55+0= the hypotenuse of a right triangle, 23 skidoo, Jim Venna, Ernie Harrison(peace be upon him), CAD-X computer Dispatching, combining Disp. desks, vaca caca.
But who cares, if the stock goes up a quarter It’s all good. Moving trains? Pfftt! That’s old fashioned thinking.
Hell this might be the start of a merger!

Posted from iPhone

You just never know these days what is the real vision of these rail executives.  Wonder what commitments are made to customers these days regarding service?  Bottom line drives all!

Zephyr Wrote:
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> Tough times for these dedicated employees.

The lesson is, never be a dedicated employee. Those days are gone.

TAW

Conversely a wonderful time for Davy Day Trader and his legion of 10 year old options traders.  Someday a new crop of Railroaders will emerge in the wake of their destruction.  No algorithm can replace the real world that competent dispatchers and crews navigate on a daily basis.  

sphogger



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/05/20 07:38 by sphogger.

Maybe the Union Pacific can merge with the CSX. That would be the blind leading the blind.

HardYellow Wrote:
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> Maybe the Union Pacific can merge with the CSX.
> That would be the blind leading the blind.

Nope. Neither demonstrates any leadership or capability thereof.

TAW

Werner is always looking for trainees
Michael t Kerner
Collinsville, IL

Posted from Android

mkerner Wrote:
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> Werner is always looking for trainees
> Michael t Kerner
> Collinsville, IL
>
> Posted from Android

And as soon as they are trained they go......anywhere else.....

Drknow Wrote:
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> This is 100% PSR, G-55+0= the hypotenuse of a
> right triangle, 23 skidoo, Jim Venna, Ernie
> Harrison(peace be upon him), CAD-X computer
> Dispatching, combining Disp. desks, vaca caca.
> But who cares, if the stock goes up a quarter
> It’s all good. Moving trains? Pfftt! That’s
> old fashioned thinking.
> Hell this might be the start of a merger!
>
> Posted from iPhone
I  am not a railroader, so please educate me...
How is a railroad to operate if income does not exceed expenses???
How should a railroad configure it's operations so that income does exceed expenses???
 

That's the million dollar question!  From a pure business perspective, public corporations have a fiduciary responsibility to their shareholders.  Thus, a corporation like a railroad must take actions to increase revenue and decrease expenses.  On a railroad that's always a tough balancing act because it must maintain service to keep customers who provide the income, attract new customers to provide additional income, while cutting costs.  Unfortunately, many of us who come from a railroad background, have seen the balance go too far to the cost cutting side, eliminating jobs, yards, tracks, dispatchers, etc. that ends up diminishing or destroying service which then has the double negative effect of diminishing income.  Let's hope UPRR is doing it correctly and maintaining the necessary balance to insure service is there for its customers.

RNP47 Wrote:
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> Drknow Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > This is 100% PSR, G-55+0= the hypotenuse of a
> > right triangle, 23 skidoo, Jim Venna, Ernie
> > Harrison(peace be upon him), CAD-X computer
> > Dispatching, combining Disp. desks, vaca caca.
> > But who cares, if the stock goes up a quarter
> > It’s all good. Moving trains? Pfftt! That’s
> > old fashioned thinking.
> > Hell this might be the start of a merger!
> >
> > Posted from iPhone
> I  am not a railroader, so please educate me...
> How is a railroad to operate if income does not
> exceed expenses???
> How should a railroad configure it's operations so
> that income does exceed expenses???

These are rational legitimate business questions, but have nothing to do with PSR.

PSR says how a railroad is to operate so that income exceeds expenses by the maximum percentage (not amount) possible.

Would you rather have business A - that had $5 million in profit on $8 million in income?
Or business B - that had $10 million in profit on $25 million in income?

PSR says you would rather have business A.

 

Waybiller Wrote:
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> Would you rather have business A - that had $5
> million in profit on $8 million in income?
> Or business B - that had $10 million in profit on
> $25 million in income?
>
> PSR says you would rather have business A.

I offered BN the opportunity to go with B, keep the 8 million from A and give me the rest. That didn't work out.

That is the era when I developed the definition of railroad accounting: If you made $10 million and you wanted to make $15 million, you lost five million and had to make cuts.

TAW

TAW Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Zephyr Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Tough times for these dedicated employees.
>
> The lesson is, never be a dedicated employee.
> Those days are gone.
>
> TAW
----------------------------
Yep,
I got hosed three times in the 1970s and the 1980s.
[ RCA, 3M, Lanier ]
I was intrinsically loyal.
Nevermore.
...Lorenzo

Zephyr Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> That's the million dollar question!  From a pure
> business perspective, public corporations have a
> fiduciary responsibility to their shareholders.
>  Thus, a corporation like a railroad must take
> actions to increase revenue and decrease expenses.
>  On a railroad that's always a tough balancing
> act because it must maintain service to keep
> customers who provide the income, attract new
> customers to provide additional income, while
> cutting costs.  Unfortunately, many of us who
> come from a railroad background, have seen the
> balance go too far to the cost cutting side,
> eliminating jobs, yards, tracks, dispatchers, etc.
> that ends up diminishing or destroying service
> which then has the double negative effect of
> diminishing income.  Let's hope UPRR is doing it
> correctly and maintaining the necessary balance to
> insure service is there for its customers.


Yes...to a large degree, this was Southern Pacific in the 1980's t

I always felt if there is "a buck to be made, let's do it"  To hell with PSR

Waybiller Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> PSR says how a railroad is to operate so that
> income exceeds expenses by the maximum percentage
> (not amount) possible.
>
> Would you rather have business A - that had $5
> million in profit on $8 million in income?
> Or business B - that had $10 million in profit on
> $25 million in income?
>
> PSR says you would rather have business A.
>

Exactly! And Wall Street says they want to invest in a company under Plan A and not B! Because Wall Street assumes under Plan A the company will get rid of so many assets that it will be cheaper to buy than the company under Plan B by something not much worse than the 8/25 ratio. (Good luck with that.) That way, investors can put the rest of their money into some other investments providing a 5/8 return or more and not be forced to invest in the lower-margin 8/25 stuff.

And so now we see that Waybiller has made abundantly clear the fundamental conflict between investors and other stakeholders. The other stakeholders (employees, shippers, government, the local public, you-name-it) prefer Plan B. But investors do not want to tie up their money in something making a lower ROI. 

Back when the RRs made no money, employee ownership was suggested as a panacea. (And Ben Heineman actually was able to pull it off as his exit strategy from the RR biz.) Now that RRs are really profitable, I am wondering if we will again hear suggestions of employee ownership as a panacea.

Best regards,

Rob L.

rob_l Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Waybiller Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > PSR says how a railroad is to operate so that
> > income exceeds expenses by the maximum
> percentage
> > (not amount) possible.
> >
> > Would you rather have business A - that had $5
> > million in profit on $8 million in income?
> > Or business B - that had $10 million in profit
> on
> > $25 million in income?

>
> Back when the RRs made no money, employee
> ownership was suggested as a panacea. (And Ben
> Heineman actually was able to pull it off as his
> exit strategy from the RR biz.) Now that RRs are
> really profitable, I am wondering if we will again
> hear suggestions of employee ownership as a
> panacea.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Rob L.


Ben Heineman did a lot more harm then good for the C&NW.
JC

JasonCNW Wrote:
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> Ben Heineman did a lot more harm then good for the
> C&NW.

 Beside the point. The more relevant question: Did CNW improve as a result of employee ownership? In CNW's case it wasn't really employee ownership because almost none of the rank-and-file had the guts to invest in their company. Considering those who ponied up cash to buy it, it was really a management buyout. And I would say, CNW improved substantially as a result of the management buyout (and those in managemnt who participated in the buyout realized a very good return, albeit they had to wait a long time and work hard a long time to get it. (Isn't that how it is supposed to be: "We make money the old fashioned way. We earn it.") In contrast, the other Iowa Lines were abandoned or turned into marginal short lines, save for the BN line, which survived because of coal (and watch what happens to that line when the coal is gone, which I expect will happen sooner than most might expect). In contrast, CNW picked up all the marbles and became part of UP. 

Best regards,

Rob L.