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
- Countdown To Election Day 2024!
- CSX Yardmasters Ratify New Agreement
- SMART military member profile: Chris James, Local 265
- Local 24 hosts SMART MAP training to support member mental health
- Report all transit assaults, help fight for change with SMART-TD’s new reporting tool
- Countdown To Election Day 2024!
- Local 540 members sew union pride into SMART apparel
- Workers Unite Against Keolis at Boston’s South Station
- Your Retirement Is At Risk In This Election
- Full slate of SMART-TD endorsements released