Hours of Service Question

[Falcon48]

sandyhookken

One of my neighbors has a son who's an engineer for NJTransit, working on the Extra Board. This neighbor said that his son was working long hours as a result of the accident in Hoboken Terminal. Specifically, 12 hour shifts followed by 6 hours off between shifts. This doesn't seem right to me.

Can someone clarify the hours of service rule for me?

 

Normal hours of service requirements for passenger train operating employees limit on-duty time to 12 hours.  An employee cannot go on duty unless he/she has had 8 consecutive hours rest during the prior 24 hours.  If the employee has been on duty for 12 consecutive hours, the requirement is at least 10 consecutive hours off duty (49 CFR 228.405).  There are exceptions to these restrictions for situations involving a "casualty, "unavoidable accident", "act of God" or a delay resulting from a cause unknown and unforeseeable when an emplyee left a terminal" (228.403).  Presumably, if NJT has been requiring service in excess of normal restrictions, they are relying on one or more of these exceptions.  Since I have no personal knowledge of what's happening, I wouldn't hazard an opinion on whether the exceptions apply to this situation..

[selector]

I can't answer you directly, sorry...no experience...but as a quick dart aside, I listen to the railnet locally most late evenings.  Three nights ago, a dispatcher was urging a trainman on the CPR to locate his replacement more urgently as he'd already been 'at it' for about 11 hours.  The operator made some off the cuff remark, sounding huffy or annoyed.  There was an exchange, whereupon the Asst. Super chimed up on the net and ordered the banter to cease, and for the operator to do as he was told.  Some words back from the operator sounding verbatim like, "Are you threatening me?"  Last words heard between the two were, "Come and see me as soon as your replacement has the controls."

First time I ever heard someone dig himself a hole out of which he was unlikely to extricate himself.

[sandyhookken]

One of my neighbors has a son who's an engineer for NJTransit, working on the Extra Board. This neighbor said that his son was working long hours as a result of the accident in Hoboken Terminal. Specifically, 12 hour shifts followed by 6 hours off between shifts. This doesn't seem right to me.

Can someone clarify the hours of service rule for me?