01-08-2011, 12:59 PM
I guess I missed this thread in the past few weeks. I didn't realise that Gary had asked me a question back on Dec18 until just now. The problem with the T-K mechanics that BNSF had was that, typically, if a refrigeration mechanic is called out on a job, the tech is on "flat rate." If the job has a flat rate schedule of 1 hour, the tech is allowed 1 hour to complete the job plus reasonable travel time to and from the location where the work is done. You go to the location where the truck or trailer is located, park as near to it as you can and set up your ladders and tools and go to work. You get the job done as quickly as possible, pack up and go to the next job. It doesn't work that way with the railroad. I
On the railroad, you need to lock out the siding, if the switch is manually controlled. If it is controlled by ctc, you can't do anything with it. In either case, you need to call the railroad dispatcher, to get clearance to work on the equipment with an estimate of how long you will be working. You then place a "blue flag" at the end of the train between the spur and the mainline, or if there is a switch at each end and the car is on a siding, a blue flag needs to be placed at each end of the siding to effectively "kill" the siding. If the cut of cars your car is in is in a siding that is over 1 mile long, you need to place the flag at one end and then walk or drive (if possible) to the other end to place a second flag. After you have done that, you can unload tools, ladders, etc. and go to work. What the T-K mechanics were doing was driving up to the car in question, and going right to work on it just like it was a truck or trailer in a parking lot. Unlike other industries, many of the safety rules that the railroads live by are not simply company rules but are actually federal law. The "blue flag" laws are federal laws, not simply company work rules.
For me, the U.P. was a special problem. If I was called to the BNSF to work on a unit, I had a phone # for one man in Idaho, if I remember correctly. He was the BNSF Car Maintenance Supervisor. All repair work on any car on any siding in the system went through him. If someone called me to fix a BNSF reefer, I called him for authorization. When he authorized the work, he notified the dispatchers that the siding was dead, and that car was deadlined. I went to the job and set out my blue flags and went to work. If I was called out to the U.P., I had to call the dispatcher on his personal cell phone. Sometimes I had the number, sometimes I had to try to find it! I would tell the dispatcher when I wanted to work on the car and gave an estimate of how long I would be. I would then set out my blue flag. Of course, if the dispatcher went off duty and someone else came on duty while I was working, I could count on the U.P. dispatcher to forget me completely, so the new guy never knew I was there! In that case I would frequently see a train show up with the switch crew calling dispatch to find out "Who the H___ put this blue flag up here?" I would clear off my tools, and pull my blue flag and tell the switch crew, that I called in and cleared the job with say Joe Smith for instance, and they would respond "He got off work 1/2 hour ago!" Like I'm supposed to know the U.P.'s working hours, and of course the dispatcher never ever told his relief about anyone working under blue flag protection, at least it never happened when I was working on a U.P. track.
On the railroad, you need to lock out the siding, if the switch is manually controlled. If it is controlled by ctc, you can't do anything with it. In either case, you need to call the railroad dispatcher, to get clearance to work on the equipment with an estimate of how long you will be working. You then place a "blue flag" at the end of the train between the spur and the mainline, or if there is a switch at each end and the car is on a siding, a blue flag needs to be placed at each end of the siding to effectively "kill" the siding. If the cut of cars your car is in is in a siding that is over 1 mile long, you need to place the flag at one end and then walk or drive (if possible) to the other end to place a second flag. After you have done that, you can unload tools, ladders, etc. and go to work. What the T-K mechanics were doing was driving up to the car in question, and going right to work on it just like it was a truck or trailer in a parking lot. Unlike other industries, many of the safety rules that the railroads live by are not simply company rules but are actually federal law. The "blue flag" laws are federal laws, not simply company work rules.
For me, the U.P. was a special problem. If I was called to the BNSF to work on a unit, I had a phone # for one man in Idaho, if I remember correctly. He was the BNSF Car Maintenance Supervisor. All repair work on any car on any siding in the system went through him. If someone called me to fix a BNSF reefer, I called him for authorization. When he authorized the work, he notified the dispatchers that the siding was dead, and that car was deadlined. I went to the job and set out my blue flags and went to work. If I was called out to the U.P., I had to call the dispatcher on his personal cell phone. Sometimes I had the number, sometimes I had to try to find it! I would tell the dispatcher when I wanted to work on the car and gave an estimate of how long I would be. I would then set out my blue flag. Of course, if the dispatcher went off duty and someone else came on duty while I was working, I could count on the U.P. dispatcher to forget me completely, so the new guy never knew I was there! In that case I would frequently see a train show up with the switch crew calling dispatch to find out "Who the H___ put this blue flag up here?" I would clear off my tools, and pull my blue flag and tell the switch crew, that I called in and cleared the job with say Joe Smith for instance, and they would respond "He got off work 1/2 hour ago!" Like I'm supposed to know the U.P.'s working hours, and of course the dispatcher never ever told his relief about anyone working under blue flag protection, at least it never happened when I was working on a U.P. track.