UTU Local 426 Archived News.
Subject: President Signs Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 Includes New Hours-of-Service Requirements
Date: 10/25/2008
News
President Bush signed the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 into law Thursday, Oct. 16. The new measure includes several provisions that, among other changes, outline new hours-of-service and time-off requirements for train, yard and engine (TY&E) employees. The act provides for a nine-month window before implementation of the hours-of-service changes, and the railroads are working to implement these provisions by July 16, 2009. Between now and the time the hours-of-service changes go into effect, railroad management, union leaders, regulatory and safety specialists at the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and others will work to clarify and reach consensus on the act’s requirements and terminology. At this time, rail and labor leaders have questions about the details of the bill and specifically how they impact TY&E employees’ hours of service, rest time, training and many other issues. BNSF will partner with labor leaders - who introduced the hours-of-service portions of the bill to Congress - over the coming weeks to review these issues. BNSF leaders are committed to communicating resolutions to each of these issues as they are finalized. Over the coming months, employees will receive regular updates from supervisors, in BNSF News and on BNSF-TV as hours-of-service issues are brought to light and terms are clarified. Information will also be posted on the Labor Relations Web site. The following is an overview of the major hours-of-service changes, which go into effect July 16, 2009, outlined in the just-released Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008. General provisions for TY&E employees Employees must have at least 10 consecutive hours off duty during the prior 24-hour period. This applies at both the home terminal and the away-from-home terminal. If the time on duty, plus the time spent waiting for or in deadhead transportation, exceeds 12 consecutive hours, then the employee will receive additional time-off duty (beyond the standard 10 hours) equal to the number of hours by which such sum exceeds 12 hours. Employees will not spend more than 40 hours per calendar month waiting for or in deadhead transportation from a duty assignment to the place of final release. However, only limbo time beyond the 12 consecutive hours on duty will count toward this cap. This number is reduced to 30 hours beginning Oct. 16, 2009. Employees with an on-duty period each day for six consecutive days must have at least 48 consecutive hours off duty at their home terminal. Employees at away-from-home terminals on the sixth day who work a seventh consecutive day into the home terminal will have at least 72 consecutive hours off duty at the home terminal. Employees who have spent a total of 276 hours in any calendar month on duty, waiting for or in deadhead transportation, or in any other mandatory service, will not remain on or go on duty for the remainder of that month. Fewer than 1 percent of BNSF TY&E employees exceed this limit in a typical month. During a train employee’s minimum required off-duty period, a “railroad carrier, and its officers and agents, shall not communicate with the train employee by telephone, by pager, or in any other manner that could reasonably be expected to disrupt the employee’s rest.” In addition to the hours-of-service provisions, the legislation also requires: The use of positive train control by all passenger and most freight railroads by 2015 A comprehensive fatigue management plan What’s next? As BNSF leaders work with labor and the FRA to better define impacts, additional information will be communicated. BNSF is working to ensure TY&E employees are well informed about any changes affecting them prior to the effective date.
Subject: Timetable on safety bill provisions
Date: 10/20/2008
News
The following provides the timetable for when major provisions of the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008, directly affecting train and engine service employees, take effect. The president signed the previously House-Senate passed legislation into law on Oct. 17. Section 103. Railroad Safety Risk Reduction Programs: The carriers have four years after enactment of the law in which to develop such programs that must include methods to manage and reduce crew fatigue. Section 104. Postive Train Control: Class I and passenger railroads have 18 months after enactment of the law to submit plans for implementing PTC by 2015. Section 108. Hours of Service: Within nine months after enactment of the law, freight railroads must implement the required hours of service changes, including the reduction in limbo time. Section 401. Minimum Training Standards: Within one year of enactment of the law, DOT must issue minimum training standards. Section 402. Certification of conductors: Within 18 months of enactment of the law, DOT must have in place procedures to certify conductors. Section 405. Locomotive Cab Studies: The study on use of personal electronic devices in cabs due within one year of enactment of the law. The study of the locomotive cab’s environment is discretionary. In the case of both studies, implementing regulations are discretionary. (The FRA already has imposed an emergency order banning the use of personal electronic devices in cabs.) Section 406. Switch Position Indicators: Within one year of enactment of the law, DOT must publish regulations or guidance governing the use of technology in dark territory, which includes switch position indicators. Section 413. Emergency Breathing Apparatus: Within 18 months of enactment of the law, DOT must require emergency breathing apparatus for train crews Section 419. Prompt Medical Attention for Injured Train Crew members: This provision took effect immediately upon its enactment into law. See www.utu.org for more information on the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008, including a copy of 315-page the act itself. To view the act, look to the lower left hand corner of the home page and click on "2008 Rail Safety Bill."
Subject: FRA issues cell-phone ban
Date: 10/03/2008
News
WASHINGTON -- In an emergency order, the Federal Railroad Administration on Oct. 2 banned the use of personal electronic devices by railroad employees while operating trains and in other settings. The emergency order will be published in the Federal Register shortly, and take effect 20 days later. Violators of this prohibition are now subject to civil penalties and removal from safety-sensitive service. "Operating freight and passenger trains, and maintaining track and signals requires the full and undivided attention of those charged with carrying out such responsibilities," said FRA Administrator Joseph Boardman. The FRA's emergency order came after the National Transportation Safety Board said on Oct. 1 that the Metrolink engineer involved in a Sept. 12 train accident in Los Angeles had sent a cell phone text message 22 seconds before his commuter train crashed head-on into a freight train, killing 25, including the engineer. Cell-phone records of engineer Robert Sanchez show he sent a text message after receiving one about a minute and 20 seconds before the crash, the NTSB said. Records obtained from Sanchez's cell phone provider also showed that he sent 24 text messages and received 21 messages over a two-hour period during his morning shift, the NTSB said. During his afternoon shift, he received seven and sent five messages, the NTSB said. The FRA's Boardman also said: "The bottom line is railroad operating employees cannot focus on their critical safety functions while engaging in phone conversations, texting or any other form of unessential electronic communication, often in violation of railroad operating rules." To read the emergency order, click below: http://www.fra.dot.gov/downloads/PubAffairs/EmergencyOrder26.pdf