Eastern Railroad Discussion > OT: Flight attendants get increase in guaranteed rest time

Congress added an hour of guaranteed rest to the nine hours previously provided when the FA works 14 hours or less.  It only took the FAA from 2018 until now to write the implementing rules.

It would be great to see Congress do the same for railroaders if they have to pass a cram down back to work bill.


https://www.politico.com/news/2022/10/04/flight-attendants-guaranteed-10-hours-rest-under-new-faa-rule-00060207

We have ten hours undisturbed already. That’s workable if indeed I am prepared to work…the problem we have is how do I secure time to deal with life’s problems? The carriers don’t care if I deal with them at all. I have no value and contribute nothing but am somehow so indispensable as to warrant no time away from the throttle at all.

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engineerinvirginia Wrote:
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> We have ten hours undisturbed already.

Does that 10 hours start the second you mark off from the job or does the commute to/from home come out of it?

CPR_4000 Wrote:
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> engineerinvirginia Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > We have ten hours undisturbed already.
>
> Does that 10 hours start the second you mark off
> from the job or does the commute to/from home come
> out of it?

Well, thats the rub, and of course those details are burried somewhere.  When does "rest" start and end?
for air crew...its typically an hour from when u block in, to when ur in a hotel room...as if when u get to hotel room, you can fall asleep instantly anyway.   Id say with 9 hours of "rest", maybe u can get 5 hours of sleep if your lucky.    And there's the circadian rhythm thing.

CPR_4000 Wrote:
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> engineerinvirginia Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > We have ten hours undisturbed already.
>
> Does that 10 hours start the second you mark off
> from the job or does the commute to/from home come
> out of it?

for rails, it's the minute you put off....mark off means making yourself indefinitely unavailable...put off is the proper term. The circadian rhythm thing gets a beating. But as I can work up to 12 hours and in all likelihood will work much of that, add to that how much i was up before being called, how much call time I got for calling time ( i get 3 hours notice) I may have been awake 16 hours or more so I will probably sleep well. The fact though that our schedule is topsy turvey is an issue but again the real issue is when do I grt to take care of myself and my family? And yes looking after daily things I will be caught unawares and unrested. That's what we muddle through. It's being able to schedule a specific time period to do scheduled things. The airline people undoubtedly have similar issues but getting adequate time between trips to unwind and sleep is also at issue. And I hope they get adequate rest between trips. 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/04/22 12:25 by engineerinvirginia.

There are comments on wages vs geography and that and you can throw in rest time as well. You'd expect that sonewhere close to the
end of your 12 hours that you would be close to your "put off" "tie up" point. Back to geography and lately the availability of vans, it's just
not that simple and the problem is like flyover country, can't see it from up here. And that's the crux of the "no" votes on the contract, it's
just 39,000 feet over the things that really matter.

Out

Congress can do just about anything it wants. it seems.  So, issuing a detailed directive on how railroad employees take rest, claim days off, etc would be within its purview.

(In the past, Congress has issued rules on which ticket offices must be staffed by Amtrak)

engineerinvirginia Wrote:
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> We have ten hours undisturbed already.

And a 12 hour on duty limit. So fight attendants are still behind the rules provided for railroad crews.

The biggest issue is when the next call will come. Even if one gets their legally defined rest, it isn't like a regular job where you know what days you will be working a week or two in advance (if not longer). The next call could be any shift any time, Wake up fully rested and ready to go to work then hang around for hours until the phone rings. Make sure your rest doesn't wear you out.

Wouldn't it be nice if "precision scheduled railroading" meant a 12 on/12 off rotation where one could have consistent sleep hours for weeks at a time?

It should be mentioned that time on duty over 12 hours is added to the 10 hours off.  So if you you are on duty 14 hours, the 2 hours over is added to the 10 undisturbed to equal 12 hours undisturbed off.

justalurker66 Wrote:
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> Wouldn't it be nice if "precision scheduled
> railroading" meant a 12 on/12 off rotation where
> one could have consistent sleep hours for weeks at
> a time?

...or at least a schedule developed and executed with precision?

TAW

Not all rail crews are covered under or are protected by the RSIA requirements.

Yardmasters and Carmen can be required to work 16 hours straight…which has been happening quite frequently as of lately…the guys are making big $$$, but it’s all blood money and they are completely worn out.

What other crafts still work 16 hours?

And there are still plenty of road and yard train crews on duty for over 12 hours these days too…doesn’t matter how much extra rest your given…it’s not enough.

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