Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen

Mr. Don Hahs
National President - BLET
Mezzanine/The Standard Building
1370 Ontario St.
Cleveland OH. 44113-1702

Dear Sir and Brother:

This is in reference to your letter addressed to FRA Associate Administrator of Safety Daniel Smith dated June 15, 2005 concerning certain portion of the whistle regulations set to become effective in the next few days. It is our understanding that the Carriers, through the AAR, are making a somewhat last minute attempt to modify that portion of the regulation governing the length of time that the locomotive horn must be sounded in advance of a grade crossing.

As we have advised the Washington Office, the feedback that we are receiving here on property concerning this portion of the new regulation has not been positive or favorable. I have attached a notice that was issued by the Carrier today providing all locomotive engineers with the Carrier's best effort to prepare them for the new regulation. In essence, practical application of this notice will require locomotive engineers to activate a stop watch for each road crossing to actually have any chance of providing the restrictive whistle lengths described in the regulation. When you add in that many crossings are situated so that whistle boards overlap other crossings, this system of counting seconds before initiating the locomotive horn becomes all but ridiculous in our opinion.

Maintaining situational awareness in today's environment is crucial and we do not see that placing locomotive engineers under the kind of scrutiny that comes with any overly burdensome regulation or operating rule concerning whistle blowing does anything but distract from the actual operation of a moving locomotive. While we are sensitive to the needs of the public, ever increasing volumes of traffic on the railroad's lines coupled with current operational procedures such as distributive power operations and constant efficiency testing have already created a very "busy" environment in the locomotive cab. Just because engineers may be capable of being in a constant state of counting does not mean that it makes any sense or improves anyone's safety to be required to do so.

We are hopeful that you will make every effort to see that BLET fully supports AAR's petition to reconsider this portion of the rule in an expeditious fashion and we thank you in advance for your efforts.

Fraternally,

/s/ Dennis R. Pierce
General Chairman

cc: BLET General Chairmen,                         BNSF Raymond Holmes, BLET VP & Nat'l. Leg. Rep
BLET LC's, BNSF Northlines/MRL              Robert Harvey, BLET Washington
 

Equipment Inspection.
If an accident results in personal injury or death, all tools, machinery, and other equipment involved, including the accident site, must be inspected promptly by the foreman, another person in charge of the work, or other competent inspectors. The inspector must promptly forward to his manager a report of the inspection. The report must include the condition of the equipment and the names of those making the inspection.

The equipment inspected must be marked for identification and placed in custody of the responsible manager or employee until the claims department is contacted and determines disposition.
Please have a safe week. Special Message


Subj: Sound Whistle Warning

Effective June 24, 2005 the final rule for use of locomotive horns will go into effect. At the same time the temporary amendment to GCOR 5.2 Whistle Signal will no longer be in effect.
To assist in determining where to start sounding the whistle as described in Whistle signal 7, the following job aid has been developed;
At the speed indicated in the left column wait the time indicated in the right column before sounding the whistle. Example: At 30 MPH, wait 10 seconds to Sound the whistle after passing the crossing sign.

 

Speeds above 45 mph, sound the whistle at the crossing sign.
Use of this chart will provide 20 seconds of warning for speeds of 45 mph or less

Train Message None,
 

Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen
                        A division of the Rail Conference-International Brotherhood of Teamsters

Don M. Hahs
National President

                            National Division
                            1317 Ontario Street, Mezzanine, Cleveland OH, 44113-1702
                             Phone: (216) 241-2630. Fax: (216) 241-6516. www.ble-t.org

June 15, 2005

Mr. Daniel Smith, Associate Administrator for Safety Federal Railroad Administration
1120 Vermont Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20590

Dear Mr. Smith:

The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) represents locomotive engineers on all Class 1 railroads and many trainmen throughout the United States. These individuals will be affected significantly by the Final Rule found in FR Vol. 70, No, 80/Wednesday April 27, 2005, on the "Use of Locomotive Horns at Highway-Rail Grade Crossings". This letter is written to FRA requesting consideration to specific changes that would allow an orderly implementation of the requirements stated in the rule while reducing a significant and adverse burden to our members and the railroad industry.

The BLET's concern lies within the provisions of 49 CFR Subpart B, §222.21(b) (1), wherein it states.

"Except as provided in paragraph (b) (2) of this section, the locomotive Horn shall begin to be sounded at least 15 seconds, but no more than 20 seconds, before the locomotive enters the crossing."

The nature of our concern results from the perception, now expressed by many of our locomotive engineers, that there will be an unreasonable expectation for precise adherence to the time interval- It has been stated by authorities (both FRA and railroad managers) that the failure to comply with this provision by exceeding the 20 seconds allowed for sounding the horn would be a violation of the regulation.

It is our opinion, that discipline and/or FRA enforcement against the individual or railroad under these circumstances would be unreasonable given the difficult environment in which locomotive engineers must perform service. Having said this, BLET does not believe that locomotive engineers are incapable of meeting the requirements of the rule, but they must be provided relief from a strict adherence thereto, but need a whistle post location mile from the crossing from which they can measure their time; accurate/working speed recorders, and relief from unreasonable enforcement of discipline and/or regulatory enforcement.

BLET notes that the Association of American Railroads (AAR) has petitioned the FRA for reconsideration of the rule by adding the following language added to 49 CFR Subpart B, §222.21.

                "(3) A good faith effort by the locomotive engineer to sound the horn in compliance with paragraphs (b)(1) or (b)(2) shall be deemed compliance with this subsection."

BLET supports that addition and requests FRA to act affirmatively to the AAR request for this change. BLET believes the added language will facilitate implementation of the rule without creating a negative impact on safety or unnecessary noise impact on the communities.

Sincerely,

/s/ D. M. Hahs, President

CC: E.W. Rodzwicz, 1st Vice President
W.C. Walpert, National Secretary-Treasurer
R.A. Holmes, Vice President and National Legislative Representative
T. A. Pontolillo, Regulatory and Legislative Assistant
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