Relentless Pursuit of Perfection

[Anonymous]

Good Saves Put Perfect Peak Within Reach

2004-12-22 edition of "BNSF Today"

BNSF and UPS employees are working around the clock to achieve another perfect peak season -- deliver all of Big Brown’s holiday packages on time, that is. The two companies entered the homestretch this week with 31,165 loads successfully shipped.

It’s been no small task. Since peak season began Nov. 26, the number of “good saves” made by BNSF employees and its service partners have been too numerous to describe in a single article. However, the following examples demonstrate BNSF’s commitment to perform flawlessly for UPS during this critical shipping season:

Four set-outs of bad-order cars requiring recovery handling occurred at Arkansas City and Wellington, Kan.; Havre, Mont.; and Pampa, Texas. Crews caught and compensated for all of the problems by, among other things, running one-car specials -- one on the Havre-Seattle route, and the other on the Wellington-Los Angeles route. In both cases, the special trains actually caught up to the original trains, with no impact on UPS’ service. In Amarillo, Texas, a car with a bad wheel was identified prior to departure, and Mechanical employees replaced it in just 22 minutes.


Also in Amarillo, Team BNSF “cherry picked” a total of three trailers that were misrouted by UPS. Another trailer had to be cherry picked because its roof was torn, leaving UPS packages exposed. In one instance, BNSF helped find team drivers to truck the trailers to their destinations. Crews in St. Paul, Minn., also did some cherry picking after four UPS trailers had to be loaded onto another train due to capacity constraints. The trailers were subsequently trucked to Chicago.


A locomotive computer problem occurred near Defiance, N.M., Dec. 16. BNSF’s mechanical team performed temporary repairs allowing the train to continue on to Winslow, Ariz., where it picked up a new lead locomotive. The train arrived in Winslow just 14 minutes behind schedule, and 23 of its San Bernardino-bound cars actually departed one hour ahead of schedule. On Dec. 14, a westbound train was forced to stop near Kingman, Ariz., after an eastbound train spotted a motorcyclist taking a midnight ride on the mainline. The action prevented a fatal accident that would have caused delays on that line.


In Oklahoma City, a Z train failed to set out three cars carrying seven UPS loads Dec. 14. Local hub personnel quickly identified the shortage and contacted the train crew, which then dropped the cars off at Norman, Okla. A northbound train returned them to Oklahoma City, and UPS was able to process all of the loads aboard them on time.


Three derailment recoveries were successfully executed. Four cars carrying two UPS trailers derailed in the yard at Northtown, Minn., Nov. 28. One damaged trailer was transloaded and trucked to Greensboro, N.C. The other was reloaded onto the next train bound for Chicago. Both loads arrived on time. Eleven cars on a stack train derailed at Ottawa, Kan., Dec. 8, blocking both mainlines for 15 hours. Four priority UPS trains were successfully detoured as result. On Dec. 19, a rail broke due to cold weather derailing 11 cars on a UPS train near St. Cloud, Minn. One UPS trailer had to be uprighted and pulled to a UPS facility in St. Cloud; the packages were reloaded and then trucked to Portland, Ore., in time for their sort. Two other westbound UPS trains bound for Portland and Seattle were successfully detoured via Willmar, Minn.

Working together, BNSF and UPS have had six perfect seasons since 1995 -- including two back-to-back in 2003 and 2002. A perfect Peak in 2004 would make three in a row.

[Puckdropper]

Just one word for this:

Wow.

[Anonymous]

That is some railroading. What joy! Certainly none of these issues are welcome but if they can do it it is worth celebrating!

[daveklepper]

Changing a wheel set in 22 minutes. Wow! Is that a world's record?

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by daveklepper

Changing a wheel set in 22 minutes. Wow! Is that a world's record?

Suddenly I imagined Indy car/Formula 1 type of service: Train enters a siding - then service team replaces all trucks and refuels locomotives - just in 8 seconds ^^

[mucable]

Good Job BNSF1 [:)][:O] [wow]

This really shows what can happen with commitment and know-how. While I wasn't there to witness it, I bet this sort of thing happened routinely when the railroads hauled mail and passengers on their own nickel.

[Anonymous]

Shows how far you go to make sure the customer is always happy with the service you provide.

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

The pursuit of perfection is always worth the extra expense when your largest customer is more than willing to pay the extra bucks to get it.

[jchnhtfd]

BNSF -- the inheritors of a wonderful tradition (Santa Fe, Great Northern, Northern Pacific, CB&Q -- all first class outfits) showing that it is not only the inheritor, but that it can uphold that tradition.

You guys should be real proud!

[Junctionfan]

I'm glad that some railroads care about the needs of the customer.