As I mentioned in my last blog, I was at the NS Short Line Meeting in Roanoke, and like most meetings of this type, we were wined and dined, spoken to by members of NS senior management about all sorts of topics, and numerous meetings took place with market managers about business, old, current, and new. There was something, though, that a number of us who had been attending the meeting for a long time noticed, and that was that there were a significant number of young people at the meeting.So why is this so important?Ok folks, time for a little history lesson here. People are what make railroads run. Yes, you have the guys at the throttle and throwing the switches, but they are just the tip of the arrow. There is a huge supporting cast that does everything from building and maintaining infrastructure, to financial services, to maintaining equipment, and everything else that makes the freight move. Railroads are also very much a hands-on industry, and a lot of what you learn to do your job comes from hands-on instruction, and not from a computer or book. Because of this, railroading does not provide an instantaneous path for upward mobility like a number of other jobs. You may be working at the same level for a number of years before spots open up to allow you to move up.According to the most recent BA-6 from the Railroad Retirement Board, I have been working full time for over 254 months in the industry, and in those 21+ years I have seen three or four major waves of retirements. In those waves, we have lost a good amount of the knowledge about how things work in our industry. While there have been people who have filled the positions of the retirees, in many cases the numbers have not filled all of the seats, and we have also had to rebuild the institutional knowledge of the new people. What had been lacking was a visible group of younger people who were being exposed to all parts of the industry, and were going to be in this for the long haul. And it looks like we are starting to see them now.And seeing them was a very important thing. Over the years I had met a number of younger management people from Class 1 railroads, and while most of them knew what a Short Line was, they had never been to or had met someone from a Short Line up until that point. What was truly scary was that some of them had been with the company for many years. It was great the NS had their younger employees at the meeting because they got the exposure to other railroads than the one they were working for, and hopefully that exposure will lead to better (and longer) relationships down the road.For the longest time in my career, I was the “kid” in the room. I welcome the new crop of “children” and I hope that their careers are long and fruitful.
---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.