WASHINGTON — Two members of Congress have introduced legislation to place railroad yardmasters under the same hours-of-service regulations that cover workers such as train crew members and dispatchers.
U.S. Reps. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara, Calif.) and Mike Lawler (R-Pearl River, N.Y.) on Tuesday introduced the Railroad Yardmaster Protection Act, which would limit a yardmaster to 12 hours of duty, after which the individual must receive at least 10 hours off.
“Yardmasters serve a critical role in our nation’s railroad network. They oversee the operations of a rail yard and manage the duties of various rail workers,” Carbajal said in a press release. “They not only direct the activities of their fellow workers but also passenger and freight trains when they arrive and depart. But currently, there are no limitations to the number of hours a yardmaster can work in a day, week, or month. This is not only dangerous for the well-being of the yardmasters but the safety of workers on the yard and train passengers.”
A version of the bill previously passed the House in 2020. It has been endorsed by the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers (SMART).
The full text of the bill is available here.
I am a retired train dispatcher who worked under the Hours of Service Law. Dispatchers are limited to nine hours of service with an emergency provision of 12 hours maximum. I never was a yardmaster but have spent time in towers observing them. Yardmasters are under stress and should be covered by hours of service provisions.
We are already sleepwalking in this direction. 49CFR243 introduced a new catch-all for certain railroaders: Safety Related Railroad Employee. Anyone working on the train, track or signals, their immediate supervision and trainer are considered SRREs. Currently some of these are under hours of service and others are not. Eventually anyone who falls under the SRRE definition will come under hours of service. I saw the same thing happen in nuclear power 30 years ago.
More political pandering; an imaginary solution in search of an imaginary problem.
The article is talking about yardmasters, Do they really mean Dispatchers? With the exception of the obvious Amtrak and commuter rail line yards, I would think the Yardmasters in the freight world wouldn’t have anything to do with passenger trains.
As a retired railroad worker, I can assure you that 12 plus hours working as a yardmaster or in any operating position, can lead to a dangerous, seriously foolish, workplace environment. Anyone working over 12 hours should have at least a 10 hour mandatory rest period. Anyone making decisions on train movements should be knowledgeable about all train movements in his/her territory. Safety is the top priority at anytime for anyone in operations.
I know what it’s like to work 11:59 hours and be required to be available in 8 hours for another 12 hour shift of duty. After an 8 to 11:59 workday, you can be called back to work after only an 8 hour rest period for a possible 12 hour workday. After working a 12 hour time period, you cannot be called back for duty until you have at least a 10 hour rest period. 11:59 hours seems to be the magic number on some railroads. Anyone working on or around a railroad needs all the rest available to them. Safety above all else, must be foremost on their mind.
Rick, I was not questioning the work environment, conditions, safety or responsibility, more the point that they said the yardmasters control passenger trains. With some exceptions, as I mentioned earlier, I wouldn’t think that is the norm.
Any passenger train passing through a yard would be under the supervision of a yardmaster, even if only peripherally. And this often happens in congested areas like New Orleans where Amtrak’s route along the Sunset Corridor passes through Freight yards and is a current bone of contention by Amtrak with the freight railroads.
Can these two concerned legislators point to any specific examples of injuries, deaths, derailments or collisions caused by excessive yardmaster overtime, or are they just blowing smoke to pander to some constituency and get headlines? Plus, there is always the question of how much personal in-depth knowledge and experience these two actually have with railroads and railroading.
I’d rather get ahead of a future problem rather than deal with potential consequences later on. Just because there hasn’t been a direct injury related to hours of service, it still is a good idea. It’s a win-win for everyone (maybe except the checkbook of the railroads).