b'14American Journal ofTransportation ajot.com(NOTEcontinued fromandweneedtocommuni- (SUPPORTScontinuedresolve disputes in instancesThisisaproblemthathas page 6) cate and work more with ourfrom page 12) wherethoseobligationsarebeen building for some time. precision look out of place.employees, so we can changerailroadsareobligatedtonot being met. The core of this is Precision BackinMay,theSurfacewhathasclearlybecomeaprovide service in complianceThestatementissignedScheduledRailroading(PSR). TransportationBoard(STB)frustrating environment (for)with such standards. by a number of labor unionsThisisaphilosophythat ordered the Class 1 railroadsthem.Ifweregoingtobe2.)Iftherailroadsdonotand shippers including: Iknowtherailroadswill (BNSF,UP,CSX,NS,CN,successfulwe have to havemeet these obligations, there American Train Dispatcherssayisaboutefficiency.Our CP and KCS) to submit on- ahappyproductive,union- needstobeanexpeditiousAssociation experienceisitsabout time data in response to ship- ized workforce. andeffectiveenforcement Brotherhood of Locomotivereducingheadcountand per complaints and testimony.processtoobtainsuchEngineers and Trainmen overhead to pursue as much When the first submission ofreasonable terms and service Brotherhood of Maintenanceprofitsaspossible.The on-time performance data(TALKScontinued fromthroughtheauthorityoftheof Way Employees Division railroadshavealreadybeen wassubmitted(May13)itpage 11) STB,whichisstatutorily American Chemistry Counciloperatingatsuchaskeletal wasclearfromtheresultsessential. Aretheytryingtocharged to provide economic Corn Refiners Associationlevel.Theyhavecrewsizes thattherewereproblemsachievebetterturntimes?oversightoftherailroad Freight Rail Customer Alliancethat are well below what they with rail service. In fairness,For the trucking community,industryandresolverailNationalGrainandFeedneedtooperateforefficient becauseClass1soperateare they trying to achieve lessservice issues.Associationrailservice.Since2015,the differentsystemsandcol- dwelltime,whileforrail- 3.)Congressmustensure National Industrial Transportationrailroadshavereducedtheir lectdatadifferentlythereroads, do they think they canthatrailcustomersreceiveLeaguework force by 45,000 people. areinherentproblemswithreturntherailcarsquicker?the quality and frequency ofPrivateRailcarFoodandDuringthesametime,the theOTPcomparisonstheAre they trying to get every- service that they require andBeverage Associationrailroads made $146 billion in STB collected. Nonetheless,thingonwheelsinsteadofare entitled to by law, and that Western Coal Traffic Leaguepure profit. During that time, getting the railroads to pro- stackingthem?Understand- railroadswillprovidesuchthey have also mothballed rail videgreatervisibilityanding whatever that customersservicebybetterdefiningP roBleMsw ithPsr carsandlocomotives,they accountabilitywasattheneeds are is what we want toanddetailingthecommonRegansaysamajorhaveshutteredrailyardsand core of the complaint. beabletocomeinanddo.carrierobligation,andbyproblemistheadoptionofdeferredmaintenance.This Part of the problem for theAnd then try to have a flex- establishinganexpeditedtheClass1railroadsoftheis in pursuit of that quarterly Class 1s was they didnt seeiblesolutionthatsupportsmechanismfortheSTBsystemknownasPrecisionreturnsoastobenefittheir it comingthe post-COVIDthose needs. toensurecomplianceandScheduledRailroading(PSR):shareholders.freightmovements.They expected a return to something approaching 2018, 2019 and it didnt happen. Railroads were accustomedtotheseasonal ebbandflowofemployeesW E L C O M E T O M I A M Iandsimplywerentprepared for the demand. For example, CSXs train and engine man-ning level was around 7,000 in 2019, dropped around a 1,000 employees to 6,000 during the heightofthepandemicand grewto6,800withrecalls.BOOK YOUR BOOTH NOW!Sincethen,CSXhashired 2,000moretrainandengineJoin the premier event for staffbutaroundhalfquitthe entire supply chainwithin the first six months. Footesaidoftheman-ning issue: If I had the deci-sion to make over again we would have never laid off an employee, Never. But there was no vision of the future, therewasnoideawhatwe expected to encounter. Adding,Wevehired 2,000employeesandwere goingbackwards.Wehave anissuewithretention Half of them in the first six months,quit, many ofthem intheearlydaysofwhen theyreactuallycalledto work on an assignment, or for the first time when they real-ize theyre going to work on weekend or a holiday, or their kids birthday. Still from the labor per-spectivethathasbeencon-siderable dissatisfaction with how CSX and other Class 1s have handle employee staff-ingandtheyareexpressing the feeling with their feet. Foote, to his credit, sees theneedforchange:We needtoprovideemploy-eeswithgreaterflexibility. Itisadifferentkindofbid arrangement, where they can gotoworkonthiskindofNovember 0810, 2022job one day, and this kind of job another day yard jobs,Miami, Florida, USAwhere they can have a regular assignment and work regular www.aircargoforum.org days off, and then the people www.tl-americas.orgthatwanttomakemore moneycanbidontheroad jobs. We need to understand,'