Jan. 3 – SMART Transportation Division submitted comments protesting in-cab distractions to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). The FRA recently issued a public notice in docket FRA 2016-0002-N-22, allowing for comments to be made on in-cab distractions.
“We have been concerned about the increase of in-cab distractions for some time and have submitted letters and comments to the FRA with our concerns. Two examples are Trip Optimizer and Leader, which are computer-generated devices located in locomotive cabs that are allegedly being used to save fuel,” SMART TD’s National Legislative Director John Risch said in the comments.
“In addition, PTC implementation is causing greater cab distractions than we had hoped it would. Instead of the PTC system simply stopping trains when necessary, they are constantly messaging the engineer to take some minor corrective action and requiring the engineer to interact immediately, which takes the crews’ focus off the track ahead and on the cab electronic device.”
Click here to read the full comments made by SMART TD to the FRA.
Related News
- Government Retreats on Passenger Rail Investment While Gas Prices Climb
- WE Have the Power to Protect Jobs in Santa Cruz
- Standing Up for the Future of Work in New Jersey
- Help TD End Drones In Rail Yards
- Supporting the Family of Brother Frank Schultz (Local 1570)
- Recruitment and Retention Council meets in Pittsburgh to strengthen SMART
- A Legend Among Yardmasters: Remembering Brother Richard A. “Smitty” Smith
- READ: Jobs for Life Agreement with Union Pacific
- San Diego transit workers build skills and solidarity through new SMART trainings
- Leave Rail Safety to Railroaders