The other day I learned a valuable lesson. Apparently the railroad does not want cars delivered early to the customer. I was quite surprised to learn this actually, because all my previous jobs have had a very strong emphasis in providing exceptional customer service! In my previous employment, if we could do something extra for the guests, or get them to their destination or tour sooner, we did! Customer service was the focus of those jobs, and so in my mind, if I can get something the customer has requested to them earlier, why wouldn't I?!
The other night, I was assigned to a westbound M train, whose ultimate destination was Laurel, MT. Before we left Glendive, we were to pick up some cars from off of four track, in the yard. We also had several cars to set out in Miles City, about 78 miles west of Glendive. There was a mix up in communication about the cars we had to pick up. I was under the impression that we were to pick up the 16 cars on the west end of four track. I noted what I had been told in the depot, and then I checked what I had been told against two different car lists, and it made sense, because on both lists, those 16 cars were listed for our train. Also in our work order, it showed picking up those 16 cars. Everything I could find indicated that those cars were our entire Glendive pickup, so that is what we put on our train. Once the air test was complete, and we had a track warrant, we headed out of town.
Our trip to Miles City was relatively uneventful. I consulted the paperwork and I found that we had five cars which were specifically listed as needing to be set out in Miles City. I also noticed that the two behind them had Miles City listed as their destination, but for some reason they showed being set out in Laurel, about 150 miles past Miles City! We also have about 30 cars to pick up in Miles City. I explained what we had to do in Miles City to my brakeman and engineer, and told them what the plan was. We would stop about 40 cars before the switch, and I would hop off the train. The engineer would then pull up so that I could make the cut behind the cars we were leaving in Miles City. The brakeman at the same time would get off at the switch, and then they would pick up the cars first, and send them back to me. Once we had put the 30 or so cars on the train, we would set out the seven that were destined for Miles City. After that, we would put the train back together and do the air test of the cars we had just picked up. It all went pretty well, although there were a few cars unaccounted for in the pickup. We had two that showed being lost in Miles City and two that were not on any list. We left them on the train and figured the switch crew in Laurel could figure out what to do with them. Once we finished the air test, we continued west, ultimately to Forsyth.
The next day, as luck would have it, I got called for another M train to get back to Glendive. That one also showed work in Miles City and Glendive. When we got to Miles City, the car we were supposed to pick up was not on the track that the paperwork said it was, and it was nowhere else to be found. So we obviously did not pick that one up. When we got to Glendive we had 29 cars to set out, and the utility crew helped us with that, making it a pretty quick process. As we were finishing up the set out, I walked to the last locomotive, to uncouple it from the cars, so we could take all the locomotives to the roundhouse.
As I stepped off the rear engine to tie a hand brake on the cars, I was approached by the utility man, who asked what happened with out pick up of the night before. I was confused and told him exactly what we did. He then told me that we were supposed to pick up everything on four track before heading west. There had been 50 cars on that track, and we had only picked up 16. He was polite as he explained what had happened, but he also mentioned that the switch foreman had been quite furious when he had arrived at work that morning and saw most of the cars still there! Luckily for me, the switch foreman had already finished for the day and gone home! Ultimately, it was not a big deal that I had left 34 cars behind. They were simply reassigned to a different M train the next day, and no one even said anything about, with the exception of the utility man.
A little later I head about the two extra cars I had set out at Miles City. Let me explaining my reasoning in why I set them out. They were next to the cars we were already setting out, and so it required no more work to set the two extras out. Also, they were ultimately destined for Miles City, and were not going anywhere beforehand to be loaded or unloaded. So, had they stayed on the train, they would have gone to Laurel. In Laurel, they would have been put on a train back to Glendive. Back in Glendive, they would have been put on another train destined for Laurel, and the crew of that train would have to set them out in Miles City. That would require handling them two more times, and take four days in a best case scenario. I figured I could set them out easily enough, and save a few people extra work. I saw no need to send them an extra 150 miles to Laurel, just for them to return to Glendive! When I reported which cars had been set out at Miles City, that showed up in the computer, and apparently someone had seen it, and did not like it! They were about three days ahead of schedule, and when I returned to Glendive, I was chewed out for doing that. I asked if they were going anywhere for loading or unloading, and the answer was no. I also asked if they had been set out on the wrong track, and again the answer was no. They were in the right place, and they were ready to be there, just as I had concluded from my paperwork. I also asked if the customer had called and complained. I figured that was possible, because if a customer holds on to a car too long, it can incur fees from the railroad. They had not. As I asked a few more questions, trying to figure out exactly what was wrong, I was able to conclude that the only thing that bothered anyone was that the cars were early! I would have liked to know the reasoning for that being such a problem, but I never was able to get that question answered! The thing that amused me about the whole situation is that if that person had looked in the computer, they would have also seen that I had not picked up 34 cars, which were mostly late, but that was never mentioned! Sometimes I really do not understand the logic behind this outfits car routing and scheduling schemes. It almost seems as if they are trying to get rid of customers. I'll just ship by truck if I ever have to!
Anyway, with the exception of that little M train incident, if you can even call it that, it has been a pretty quiet week. It has been pretty slow really. In a few more weeks traffic should begin to pick up again, and there will be more to do.
Next week, Steven and I will be on vacation. Internet access will be limited, and consequently we will probably not make our regular posts. If we have the chance, we will definitely put something up though. This time we are not doing a railroad vacation, and we will actually be enjoying a week of warmth in the Caribbean with our family. Though it has not been terribly cold here, it will be a welcome change! When we return, we will resume our regular posting schedule.
1 comment:
CONTROL FREAKS.
How's that for an explanation?
Post a Comment