Union Pacific, the Omaha, Nebraska-based rail giant, revealed a proposed pilot program on Tuesday to “redeploy” train conductors to grounds-based positions.
The announcement comes amid hearings at the Federal Rail Administration about a proposed rule that would require railroads to have at least two crew members in the cab of a locomotive. Freight trains are typically operated by two employees: a conductor and an engineer.
Class I railroads, which dominate the $80 billion freight rail industry, have pushed for years to eliminate the in-cab conductor role. They say much of the conductor job has been largely automated out as most rail in the United States operate under a bundle of technologies called positive train control, which automatically prevents train collisions. Trains largely only need engineers to operate, according to railroads.
However, unions and rail employees disagree that automation has made the role of rail conductor redundant. They also say that having only one person in the cab of a freight train would make the job more unsafe. It could also threaten communities through which railroads traverse.
Union Pacific’s pilot program rebrands the conductor role into “expeditors.” Rod Doerr, vice president of crew management and interline operations at Union Pacific, outlined the pilot in the Tuesday announcement:
During the pilot, the conductor will remain on the train and continue to perform his or her role; documenting dates and times of service activities and how long it took to perform the activities. The expeditor will do the same from the ground. At the end of the pilot, Union Pacific will compare the results and adjust the plan as necessary.
If the pilots are a success, expeditors will only be employed on railroad territories that have Positive Train Control (PTC) or a PTC equivalent technology. Approximately 90% of UP’s train miles are covered by this technology. The remaining portion of the Union Pacific network will employ two-person train crews.
Continuing to have the in-cab conductor would allow Union Pacific to explore the grounds-based expeditor role — and potentially prove that they’re as effective as those in the cab — without violating potential federal rules that would require two-person crews.
Union Pacific said its “concept” was that no jobs would be eliminated and wages would remain the same for conductors.
It’s not the first time that railroads have slashed the number of folks in a locomotive cab. As recently as the 1980s, up to five people would operate a single train: an engineer, conductor, head brakeman, second brakeman and sometimes an engineer trainee. Automation has made some of those roles obsolete.
A controversial idea for train operations
Through 2022, rail labor contract negotiations made headline news as employees demanded better working conditions, particularly when it comes to time spent at home.
Rail companies like Union Pacific have used those arguments from rail employees and unions to bolster their argument for a grounds-based conductor role.
“As a ground-based job with consistent, regular shifts, employees will be home routinely to take part in quality family time,” Doerr said on the Union Pacific blog. “They will no longer be living out of a hotel or suitcase and can rely on planned rest. This will make for happier, healthier and safer employees.”
Unions that represent rail employees don’t seem to agree with this concept. That includes the SMART Transportation Division (SMART TD), the largest of the 12 rail unions with 37,400 members.
“There is no greater risk to the safety of railroad workers and the communities they serve than the consideration of a reduction in crew size in the cab of a locomotive,” SMART TD President Jeremy Ferguson said at the Federal Railroad Administration hearings on Monday. “Having conductors on trains saves lives and prevents disasters in ways technology cannot. Artificial intelligence absolutely has a role to play, but it cannot replace authentic human intelligence in railroading.”
European operations suggest that one-person train crews could be safe — but there’s a catch
European freight trains, as well as smaller U.S. freight and passenger trains, that operate with just one individual have proved safe. However, those trains tend to be far shorter and lighter than U.S. ones. Their schedules may also be more bearable for employees.
In the U.S., trains are becoming longer and longer, at times blocking crucial road crossings. According to a 2019 federal study, the average length of a train has increased by 25% since 2008. Some trains are up to 3 miles long, according to the study.
Doerr said in the Union Pacific announcement that grounds-based expeditors would be less fatigued. They would also be able to drive directly to locomotive cars that need service. That could decrease the amount of time spent at public crossings.
In September, FreightWaves reported on a Norfolk Southern conductor who fainted while driving a train in January. His co-worker, the engineer on the train, was able to step in and call for emergency services. The experience solidified for the two men the importance of having a larger crew. Norfolk Southern declined to comment on the incident.
“If it would have been just him on there, who knows how long it would have been until they [the ambulances] got there?” Travis Pierce, the Norfolk Southern engineer, told FreightWaves. “If it was just me, what would have happened? Would I have died? There’s no way to get an ambulance or medical services if we can’t call them.”
Do you work in the rail industry? Email rpremack@freightwaves.com with your experience.
Richard M. Rehmer
Just great they are trying one man on a two-mile-long train. How long before they put a computer in charge of a two-mile-long train and no people on it? Cost-cutting at the expense of American public safety. I am sure it has to do with the automated trucks. If they can do it, so can a train, and when it all ends up in a really bad accident, they will find someone else to blame for the accident, not rail management. Plus, how long are the unions are going to stand still for this?
Shane Nagel
It was in the works ever since they enabled auto run on most of the locomotive fleet engineer only controls the take start of the run and the end of the run and maybe the stop in between. But having that sleeping conductor doing absolutely nothing the whole time during your run make no sense or cost effective and you know this. Preach safety for the community’s is laughable. What safety is that sleeping conductor doing not a thing. Wine and cry safety all you want the only safety the comunities need to worried about is if your competent to do your job correctly. 99% of the safety you worry about is because the operator was incompetent to stay focused and aware and do their job correct. But hey, 2 people in the cab isn’t needed to avoid the same outcome of one. Cry fatiqued and its hard. You have no concept of fatique you work six starts you get 48 hours off you have pl days utilize your time vacation you can single out if needed Manage your time and do your job. You’re already paid a good wage. Going to be even more laughable when they re-lable your job titles from conductor to ground support. And engineer to operator enjoy the change! do your job and suck it up, no sympathy here.
Drew G
Let’s face it: this is all about one thing, BIGGER PROFITS. Nothing more. I find it so hypocritical that during the recent contract negotiations, everyone of these large Railroads refused to even give their employees “1 sick day”, not caring about their employees. Now, they want to push this narrative about “how much better it will be for conductors not being on the train, more time at home, no hotel stays, etc….”. This is laughable. They must believe their the smartest CEO’s in the world and the general public and their employees are nothing but fools and pawns. Give me a break. You can’t in one hand, refuse to offer even a single paid sick day, and than go on and on pushing “one man Crew’s” as such a wonderful benefit. It’s not. Thus is nothing more than a way to add to their record profits. Time for the US Government to step in, re-regulate these railroads, and slap these CEO’s off their perches and show Wall Street who’s really boss.
Robert Cooper
Comparing US rail and European rail is idiotic at best. Much of Europe’s rail is government owned or subsidized where US rail isn’t. You also can’t compare a system that can take multiple days to cross a single state (Texas) vs a system that you can cross an entire country in hours (Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Switzerland….).
Railroads needed the Staggers Act to financially survive. Unfortunately, they’ve taken cost cutting and profit making too far over the years that it enabled. Technology to make the job safer and easier is all well and good but a certain amount of short term gains are not always worth the long term problems that can creep up.
Phillip
This effects every town and state across America. Safety should be number 1 prior!!! Thank you this is in reference to Ron Batory with the FRA Removing the two person train crew rule and precise scheduled railroading known as (PSR)! They have been tripling up trains making them 3-5 miles long the blocking road crossings for hours on in blocking first responders now wanting one man or women to run the whole operation is absurd not to mention many of these people are veterans who have served this great nation who are now gonna be out of a job. This effects every town and state across America. We need to get the word out thanks for all the help. It is greatly needed. They are calling man vs machine. They even have an article to that shows from the FRAs own reports it’s unsafe research was done by Tennessee state university
Support two person train crews keep America safe.
You have all got this wrong when it come to 2 man crew verses one man
crew. The airlines have had autopilot for years but still have two and 3 people in the cockpit. If Boeing has taught us anything technology fails. It’s all the workers do is worry about losing jobs. Its common sense thousands of railroad workers will lose their jobs if all the railroads are allowed to go to 1 man crews. That’s an issue you need to take up with Politicians ! They claims they are creating jobs then let him do something
about people keeping the ones they have!
This is about safety. This is about saving lives. Not just crew lives but the American people as well. Don’t forget about the rule-making process that was invoked by then-FRA Administrator Joseph C. Szabo after an unattended 74-car freight train carrying crude oil ran downhill and crashed in the Canadian town of Lac-Mégantic, killing 49 people in 2013 that had just one man on the train! Hunter Harrison said on the record those extra set of eyes in the cab are valuable. PTC will not detect track issues or mechanical issues like bad order cars or prevent crossing accidents. Our rules change daily so if an engineer or conductor takes a day off or vacation who will job brief with each other on any newly updated rules that change. How about filling out an EC-1 as the train moves along the tracks or stop and flag a railroad crossing when they have an activation failure with the public crossing gates. We are suppose to job brief to make smart decisions taking the safer course. So if engineers are busy pushing buttons on a screen and reading train orders his eyes are in the cab. If they remove the conductor, it would be counterintuitive. So in my opinion one safety system cancels out the other. Now with ptc and full crew in the cab increases the safety of of train movement. Just plain old common sense.
Railroads preach safety every single day.
Its in their rule books and in their advertising. Its 24 hour a day
safety…safety….safety. Well let them put their money where their mouths are. Pay for safety. Keep 2 men in the cab.
Just like GM shutting down 5 plants putting 15,000 people out of work and pay there CEO 22 million. CSX on the other hand lost 41% of the business once Hunter Harrison took over cutting out almost half the work force from 27,893 people down to 15,362 people system wide and they paid him 385 million only to pass away 8 months later!
With everything going automated from self check out lanes to manufacturing does anyone profit except share holders and CEOs!!!! The public has no idea what we deal with. Tell your neighbors about how many cars we hit and people are killed every year when they are hit by
trains. Explain to them how the engineer is in the cab calling the dispatcher and getting 911 called. He is taking care of anything that may be wrong with the locomotive. He stays with the train. Tell them how the conductor gets down and rushes to the vehicle to see if he can
possibly save a life. Maybe a baby is in the car and needs to be helped
or maybe the parents can be removed and need CPR. Maybe he can comfort
someone who is dying or in shock or screaming because they are severely
injured . Tell them about how we hit live stock and large deer. Tell them how people love to put junk on the tracks. Shopping carts, bicycles, steel barrows, wheelchairs and even abandoned cars. A two person crew saved a child’s life wondering around on the tracks in Minnesota near midnight Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020. PTC didn’t help them. Tell them about how many trees we hit a year and do extensive damage to the
locomotive. The engineer stays with the locomotives and assess the damage and does what is necessary to radio dispatchers for help while the conductors gets down and removes debris and check the rest of the train for any damage or signs of derailment. Tell them about the
territory that is in the middle of TIM BUCK TWO! The places where no one can get to you fast unless you have a helicopter. How will they go bathroom now without two people to keep the train going down the tracks unless they have to stop not blocking crossings or take lunch. Tell them how radios don’t always work in remote locations. Telemetry drops out and communication is lost. How many times does a conductor have to go back
and trouble shoot another locomotive after alarms are going off. The engineer
keeps the train rolling the best he can while the conductor checks the
computers and checks to see if it is loading, traction motor faults or any other issue that may arise. Tell them about the blind curves that only one crew member can see around when your approaching
public crossings or trees that block signals so that only one crew member can see them until you get the train right on top of them. Tell them about wash outs from floods, and heat warped rail and fog so thick you cant see a foot in front of you. SO WHAT IF YOU GOT PTC!! PTC does not tell you if a car in stopped on the tracks or a tree is across it or a person is walking in the tracks or there is 5 inches of water over the rail! Tell them how crew members have been attacked and some have even been killed by gang thugs and trespassers. A single man has no
chance in these situations. It is better to have someone else with you to keep watch when working in bad areas and ghetto rail yards. The list goes on and on. Tell them how the company took away the right of the crew members to take a power nap. One crew member is supposed to call stopped every 15 minutes while they are waiting on line of road. As long as someone is awake and doing this and paying attention there is no reason on god green earth while a tired crew member cant take a 20
minute power nap. Tell them how crews are run into the ground and some
are called out every 10 hours around the clock. They work all hours of the day and night and most have no weekends off. The company wont even let them have a power nap. What is going to happen when there is only 1 man on the train by himself and he is just plain worn out or is sick and afraid to take a day off because of the companies new attendance policy
which is just absolutely insane. People come to work sick all the time. Vomiting, diarrhea, fevers and the flu doesn’t stop them because they are in fear of losing their jobs. How is a sick man who is all by
himself going to be able to make a full run safely and without risking his life or the publics when he doesn’t have his other crew member to help keep him alert. The engineer has many roles and duties as well as the conductor. There are times when something happens that it is a must
for an engineer to be on board and ready to take instructions while the conductor handles the rest of the responsibilities. There are so many things that go into railroading and running trains that the public doesn’t know a thing about.
THIS ONE MAN CREW IDEA IS THE MOST UNSAFE AND IRRESPONSIBLE IDEA that
has ever been brought forward in the history of the railroad industry.
And for what? To save a dollar. To line someone’s pockets. To make someone rich. Who care who gets killed. If you think crossings are blocked now imagine if there was only one man and had to wait on someone to cut a crossing!Who care about the destruction to family lives. I don’t know about you but I sure do and so should every person in America!
Also if you haven’t seen it check out these two YouTube videos.
https://youtu.be/atfY4tiyMz8
https://youtu.be/PoJ1MYWsJ5Q
https://youtu.be/j_rPE44oDE4
Don
Engineer will have to use a hospital urinal or a Gatorade empty bottle to urinate in.
Why not? ILWU lift operators in LB and LA do.
Look at their terminal next time you are there.
😆
Stephen Webster
We need 2 and 3 man crews on trains for safety with sick railway workers still coming to work
Greg olsen
I work as a conductor. It’s flat out lie they think it will be faster to do work on a train if they used ground conductors. All they care about is making more money and once they get there way for one man crew they will eventually eliminate conductors overall. They could contract it out to not be liable for injures etc. It’s all an illusion. There is alot of areas a train can derail or break a knuckle or get a draw bar where a ground base conductor will never get to because of no roads etc. Trains go cross country not run on highways. This is all about more greed and not having liability on employees if an injury happens. Another problem is if you only have an engineer in cab and he has a stroke or heartattack there’s a good chance he will die before anybody gets help to them. Another example they don’t care about employees when they could leave a single person on train without anybody to get them medical help. If conductor is on board with engineer they can help run locomotive to a road crossing for help. Another problem is when a engineer has to go to bathroom they will have to stop train everytime to use bathroom which will lead to more delays and more fuel use to get the train back up to track speed. All us railroads just laugh when the railroads tell the public this nonsense.