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A basic question that no one familiar with railroad practices seems to have mentioned: Does the turnover rate for hiring employees on the Class 1's create a security risk? With the turnover of new employees at UP approaching 30%-- as some insiders have said-- driving away the loyalty of good employees means that the ones left over either can't or don't want to leave. There are several reasons, but I think the biggest one is time vested and lack of transferable job skills. Because most T & E are treated as if they have no brains by management, and are worked to the point of exhaustion, there is no reason to expect that employees will be able to readily prevent those who were once in their ranks from using that field knowledge detrimentally. Without going into great detail, there are unfortunately many ways that people could cause problems, by knowing a few simple bits of information. It worries me as a former railroader, that people could easily infiltrate the railroad employment structures because there is no redundancy built in for the human factor. A minimum number of people are watching the railroad infrastructure due to reduced crew size (unlike highways), and while efficiency isn't a bad thing, the deficiency of over-capacity and underutilization of human resources is leading to a national security crisis. Punishing existing employees with testing designed to fail, or an abusive lack of people-skills, is not the way to maintain confidence. Fortunately, most railroaders are dedicated to their craft. But the equivalent of hiring and overworking temps due to traffic fluctuations, is a recipe for disaster. Defense against terrorism depends on a vigorous economy. This economy has increasingly relied upon railroads to alleviate highway constraints. If the railroads are not prepared for humane growth, then they are not prepared at all. What are your thoughts, fellow forum members?
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