jeffhergert PSR is all about cost control and returning any savings to the shareholders. It's not about providing better service to customers. PSR is working as intendened. They design their plans with the expectation that nothing will go wrong. That their will be no equipment failures. That all engines work as if they just left the factory. That the weather is 70 degrees and sunny. That terminals can process trains in the allotted time. Then they plan their manpower to reflect the above plan. To try to cut down on the need for extra people to cover vacancies, they come up with attendence policies to try to force people to stay marked up and continually working. Then reality sets in. Something happens that snowballs across the railroad. First thing you know is available equipment and manpower is used up. The railroad grinds to a snail's pace, if not a complete stop. So the answer to all the problems is to restrict the amount of business we'll allow customers to do. Mottos used by UP once upon a time in the past were, "We can handle it." and "Dependable Transportation." I'm afraid those days are gone. Jeff
PSR is all about cost control and returning any savings to the shareholders. It's not about providing better service to customers. PSR is working as intendened.
They design their plans with the expectation that nothing will go wrong. That their will be no equipment failures. That all engines work as if they just left the factory. That the weather is 70 degrees and sunny. That terminals can process trains in the allotted time.
Then they plan their manpower to reflect the above plan. To try to cut down on the need for extra people to cover vacancies, they come up with attendence policies to try to force people to stay marked up and continually working.
Then reality sets in. Something happens that snowballs across the railroad. First thing you know is available equipment and manpower is used up. The railroad grinds to a snail's pace, if not a complete stop.
So the answer to all the problems is to restrict the amount of business we'll allow customers to do.
Mottos used by UP once upon a time in the past were, "We can handle it." and "Dependable Transportation."
I'm afraid those days are gone.
Jeff
I remember the UP of that era..relatively short, fast, trains with alot of power on the point. Even during the oil crisis of 73 which brought about the 55 mph speed limit on the interstates, The UP powered its trains generously. Of course the UP of the mid 70s would be considered a mid sized regional by today's standards, but perhaps there are lessons there that could be learned or relearned.
I also see UP freights. Most days there are many more, and with DP.
IMO UP and the other RRs should quit limiting speeds and use enough power to allow trains to operate at allowed max speeds for that train. No artifical slower trains due to supposed cost savings! That would at least reduce the number of dog catch crews . As well not as many crews would die on the law so they could start another duty tour sooner. That will not solve the lack of crew but is somewhat of a start.
So the train can get to the holdout spot faster since the yard is plugged with 2 other 300 car trains?
And most crews these days don't want to turn n' burn. They want some semblence of a work-life balance. Hence the employee shortage.
It's not even a matter of just trying to get new people. I've never seen so many people with 5-10-15-20 years walk out - and I'm sure the other RRers here can confirm.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.
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