As the saying goes, “be careful what you wish for, because you might get it.” Right now, we, as an industry, are getting what we wished for. What is it, you ask? Attention, with a capital “A”. Is all this attention good? Yes and no, but maybe this is an opportunity to turn the attention into something that can benefit all of us.First of all, why are we getting all of this attention? As they said in the Beverly Hillbillies, “oil that is, black gold, Texas tea…” Are all of the railroads in the country handling it? No, but enough of them are, and unfortunately the accidents that have occurred, both big and small, are getting everyone’s attention. Honestly, would the derailment in Virginia last week have received the attention it did both politically and on the news if Lac Megantic had not occurred? Probably not, but the fact is it did, and shortly thereafter we got the emergency order from the DOT and the advisory from PHMSA. Again, the order didn’t come from one accident, but a series of incidents that have received enough attention that something needs to be done.So while we wait for the rules and battles (like crew size) to be fought, what can we do? I think this is a great opportunity to both reinforce training and procedures that you may already have in place, and also it is a good time to look at how you operate and make any adjustments that might be needed to your operating practices. It doesn’t make a difference if you are moving unit trains of Bakken crude or a single car of sand, the operating practices are the same, just on a slightly different scale.One other area that you can always improve by just picking up the phone is talking to the communities you travel through. It’s never a good thing to meet the chief of the police or fire department for the first time when you have an incident. Take some time, give them a call, and tell them about your business. This way the railroad isn’t a mystery to them, and they can tailor their response properly to the situation, instead of them calling out a full-blown response every time that you drop a wheel in.If anything, the latest instructions from DOT and PHMSA highlight practices we should already be doing, whether we carry crude oil or not, and this is the time for all of us to make sure that our time spent in the limelight shows our best side.
---By Steve Friedland
Steve Friedland is a child of the railroad industry. Following summers and vacations working on the track gang for the family-owned Morristown & Erie Railway, a 42-mile New Jersey short line, he started full-time in 1994. He has worked in all areas of the railroad, including track, mechanical, signals, and operations, and currently is a member of the management team for the company as director of operations in Morristown, N.J. In 1999, he founded Short Line Data Systems, a provider of railroad EDI and dispatching software, AEI hardware, and management consulting to the short line industry. He currently serves as the ASLRRA representative to the AAR's Wireless Communications Committee and is chairman of the joint AAR-ASLRRA Short Line Information Improvement Committee. He also is a member of the ASLRRA's board of directors.
Steve Friedland is a child of the railroad industry. Following summers and vacations working on the track gang for the family-owned Morristown & Erie Railway, a 42-mile New Jersey short line, he started full-time in 1994. He has worked in all areas of the railroad, including track, mechanical, signals, and operations, and currently is a member of the management team for the company as director of operations in Morristown, N.J. In 1999, he founded Short Line Data Systems, a provider of railroad EDI and dispatching software, AEI hardware, and management consulting to the short line industry. He currently serves as the ASLRRA representative to the AAR's Wireless Communications Committee and is chairman of the joint AAR-ASLRRA Short Line Information Improvement Committee. He also is a member of the ASLRRA's board of directors.