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[quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by TomDiehl [quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by futuremodal A point about crew size reductions: Such action didn't add any new business, but it also didn't take any business away, did it? Crew size reductions didn't cause lower average velocity. Maybe it increased terminal dwell time somewhat when having to walk the consist prior to departure, but nothing major. Did crew size reductions result in lower morale, which on the public face seemed to make rail crews disenfranchised to the railroad's business clients? My point is the railroads seemed to be focussing all their energies to getting labor concessions, when they should have focussed their energies on approaching the theoretical speed advantage of rail vs highway. Expedient transport is a business draw, grumpy employees is a business repellent. [/quote] So now we're back to the "didn't it" and "maybe" type statements. More guesswork from Dave.[/quote] The "didn't it" and "maybe" statements were put forth with the hope that someone else might want to engage in this conversation. [sigh] [quote]QUOTE: Working for a company that's obviously ready to go belly up isn't exactly good for the morale, either. Which also explains why they didn't invest money into improvements for increasing speeds, they didn't have money for that, any more than they had money for excess crew members. [/quote] Again with the claim that all the rail companies were ready to go belly up if they didn't reduce crew sizes. Not so. The crew size reductions did not add one cent to the profit line, and without increased profits you will go belly up. The idea of trying to achieve financial success by cutting out labor and tearing out trackage is a fool's dream. If anything, the latter two reasons are why the railroads almost went "belly up" if indeed that was the case as you infer. Neither action adds one red cent to the profit line. On the contrary, lopping off assets such as trackage and labor means you are getting rid of the key "multiplier" components that expand business reach and thus increases profit. We've all read enough of how railroad management seemed to prefer getting out of railroading rather than making the type of revenue generating investments necessary for success. One cannot equate this irrational behaviour with general business guidelines.
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