How to Fix CSX...

conrail_engineer wrote:

Conrail4evr wrote:

conrail_engineer wrote:How? Because needed maintenance is being deferred.

If the money WERE put into the physical plant and upkeep of equipment, their bottom line would be far different. The term used to be, "running a business into the ground" - taking money needed for reinvestment, and spending it or paying it to shareholders.

So the record amounts of maintenance they've done this year is meaningless? I've seen far more maintenance being performed along the Chicago Line than any other year by a very large margin. The amount of maintenance work being done this summer was absolutely massive, and they're still working hard at it (rebuilding grade crossings, replacing rail, fixing low spots, etc.).

How are YOU judged in your job? By how "hard" you work - or by RESULTS?

Yesterday, Willard to Buffalo, we had over 50 slow orders. Eleven of them were 30 mph or under.

New rail was laid from QD 58 to QD 68...and the track is even ROUGHER riding, with wild pitching and bottoming out, that it was previously.

Even when CSX actually does something, they cut corners, don't do it RIGHT. Partly because everything is done on the cheap; and partly because the company demands blind obedience from Home Office commands - issued by people who know nothing about railroading.

These are not just my observations, as I've said - Rush Loving noted exactly the same problems. But the proof of it is what happened to the New York Central Water Level Route since CSX came to own it.

That CSX does things on the cheap is no lie. When they put track one in Between CP5 and CP10 on the River Line here in NJ, they used reclaimed ties instead of new ones. When they surfaced between CP10 and CP22 this spring, they used yard grade ties on a main line. Definitely not a way to run a railroad.

Very common practice for CEOs and top management in publicly held companies these days, is to cut spending on expenses, do whatever crazy things to increase the bottom line as long as possible, then retire with large bonus just before the crap hits the fan and sell off your shares.

Working today, I got it from the grapevine (more than one person; and one of those persons was lower-level management) that the person responsible for the track at the site of the Painesville derailment had noted abnormalities but was not given authority to proceed with repairs.

He was FIRED after the derailment for not having repaired the area.

And THAT, folks, is how CSX works.

Thats pretty much what happens if you get hurt and it's their fault, too.

But it seems like all this guy has to do is threaten to go to the news media and CSX has to pay him off or something.

I agree with lvrr... if that was true, don't you think the person fired would have some forward with the story? A buck says this is urban legend.

Cowford wrote:I agree with lvrr... if that was true, don't you think the person fired would have some forward with the story? A buck says this is urban legend.

Not if he ever wants to work in the railroad industry again.........."black lists" - offical and unoffical are out there....... I doubt any "settlement" would be large enough for him never to work a day in his life and set him for retirement....

or, he can be quiet and hold out for an arbitartion hearing and possibly get his job back and extra $$$$$$$ to boot.....

lvrr325 wrote:Thats pretty much what happens if you get hurt and it's their fault, too.

But it seems like all this guy has to do is threaten to go to the news media and CSX has to pay him off or something.

Cowford wrote:I agree with lvrr... if that was true, don't you think the person fired would have some forward with the story? A buck says this is urban legend.

I can't swear it's true; I don't have access to personnel records. But that grapevine I heard through, it was pretty short (two people removed). Since I got the name of the individual and listened to a whole bunch of guys commiserating about his lousy luck, I don't doubt it occurred.

Now, whether the Company is covering up, or whether HE is actually spinning to hide incompetence, I don't know. I HAVE heard the same problem mentioned by Albany Div. track workers - that they're not allowed to do their jobs; but held responsible for what happens when things aren't done; so it's plausible in the current environment.

Jtgshu has it right - he's appealing and hoping to come back with back pay. That's pretty much what happens EVERY time someone is wrongfully terminated - that they keep their yaps shut and let the arbitration process work. Going to the media would end his railroad career.

It's a dam shame that we have to talk about this in the first place but
unfortunately, it is a legitimate subject. The present management of
CSX has "thumbed their nose" at everyone, local governments, their
employees, the communities that they run through, the local commuter
agencies, Amtrak and just about everybody else too.
It is unfortunate but when you look at BNSF, CN and CP among others
that have reasonably good relations with all of the above and compare
them with CSX, it is pretty hard to think of something very positive.
I had a good career with the industry but I don't remember even Penn
Central in its darkest days having this bad of a relationship with everyone.
Penn Central certainally cooperated with the locals in setting up commuter
train operations and providing for their eventual takeover by the local
authorities.
What might well happen will be for CSX to let things go downhill so badly
that they become congested even more than they presently are and then
they will plead for a government bail out and taxpayer funds to take
care of things that they should have been doing all along.
Unfortunately, important maintenance is being sacrificed in the name of
stock dividends and bonuses for executives. This has not worked in the
past, how much longer will it take for CSX to find this out?
Noel Weaver

conrail_engineer wrote:
Now, whether the Company is covering up, or whether HE is actually spinning to hide incompetence, I don't know. I HAVE heard the same problem mentioned by Albany Div. track workers - that they're not allowed to do their jobs; but held responsible for what happens when things aren't done; so it's plausible in the current environment.

I'm not saying I don't believe it, either - it just seems to me the guy only needs to threaten to go to the media in his arbitration process.

CSX management is a whole different animal from Conrail, that's for sure. I think part of the problem is the railroad is too damned big, they think they can get away with this stuff just because the company is so large it's tough to hammer them with fines, damage costs, etc. in enough of an amount to hurt the company. And the rest of it is the usual "blame the low man on the totem pole" mentality. That's always gone on to some extent, but Conrail generally only fired guys who really blatantly broke the rules - probably to save the $$$ fighting those arbitrations.

One thing is for sure, these maintainers should keep their own records of what's wrong and when they request to fix it and get turned down by management - if for no other reason than should someone get killed and their family sue the railroad and the railroad try to dump it in your lap. They can then prove the RR was aware of the problem and refused to fix it.

But I certainly wouldn't blame them for striking over this.. you'd have to keep a lot of info and a lot of people would have to do it, but I have to think sooner or later they're going to blame someone over a wreck and that's going to be the last straw. A strike would get the news media's attention, even though I'm sure a court would order it to end within a few days, then just dump all that info on the media and to your senator's offices. CSX would have to take it in the wallet one way or another then; and it would be kinda hard to fire the entire union.

I noticed all the problems that CSX has had around here in the past year or so. It took them about a year to a year and a half to "fix" the problems with the soft spots here in town. These soft spots were primarily at the eastern most crossing here in town. This soft spot was on both number one and number two tracks on the westward side of the crossing, right next to it.

They came along sometime late last year and re-ballasted the spots. Then they came along during May of this year and worked on both crossings here in town. They worked on the crossings for over a week, putting new rail in and what have ya. Since the crossing work has been done, I've noticed that the soft spots are returning.

These soft spots, everytime a train would go over them. It would sound like the rail was going to snap and wreck the train.

$1.6 billion dollars spent on investing on Capitol Improvements system wide last year. However, CSX only made $1.5 billion in 2006. I think we know where the other $100 million came from.

Can you say Maintanence?

conrail_engineer wrote:

Conrail4evr wrote:
I'll conclude this post with the following: no matter what we say on this board, CSX will maintain its tracks however they see fit. Instead of spending 15 minutes typing up a long-winded speech about how bad CSX's track is (and how poor their managers are), I would just assume go watch TV, surf the net, etc. We all know that CSX's track condition is poor, and you'll just end up angrier after you've posted it...but, that's merely how I'd approach things (disclaimer: don't take any of this personally - it's just my opinion, not an attack!).

That's a reasonable attitude for a railfan.

But I have more riding on their actions...literally. I have to WORK in that environment.

I have to find all those UNMARKED slow orders...read the dot-matrix bulletin printout on a pitching locomotive; get speed down in the CSX approved way (now power brake applications and no "stripping" throttles...

It's a BIG difference from how it used to be, just get on and move the train. It takes MUCH more time; some seven-hour days are now outlaw jobs, consistently.

Constantly checking that bulletin in poor light leads to eyestrain. The pitching locomotives lead to fatigue. And the day just gets longer; and there's the constant worry, are you gonna be the NEXT train to come off the rail, at CP 85 or the rough curve at Willoughby, or the mudhole at QDI 4...

Yah, it's my problem. Trouble is, it's a CSX problem, and it puts people, on the rail and near the right-of-way, in jeopardy. And as someone interested in railroading, in ANY way...you should be disgusted, too.

I should get out? I am working toward leaving CSX. That's what it's come to...whoever heard of people quitting the railroad, in the past?

I have been told too many times by RR employees and moderators on these forums that unless I have a professional relationship with the industry, I have NO BUSINESS making comments or asking questions about RR operations, no matter what I see or may perceive as a hazardous situation.

Let the employees, or others with a vested interest, bring problems to light. Meantime, I will stay well clear of CSX tracks.

I worked as an operating department manager for Conrail for many years, and in various capacities did business with CSX, so I would like to add a few thoughts on this topic.

CSX has no shortage of capable, talented managers. Many comments here point to the proliferation of slow orders as a measure of the railroad's state of repair, and I agree - it's a good measure. In fact, we had a senior VP at CR who watched for slow orders and challenged division managers to justify them and demanded commitment for the necessary repairs - pronto!

CSX operating management is, and has been for many years, highly centralized, with little real authority vested at the Division level. Conrail, on the other hand, held its operating divisions accountable for all basic operating functions - transportation, maintenance of way, and maintenance of equipment - including the necessary budgets and other resources for each. Headquarters managed the planning and budgeting for the major capital programs.

In my view, with mergers and acquisitions having brought the Class I railroads to their present scale, it simply isn't possible to effectively run everything from a centralized headquarters. The present arrangement only serves to isolate top management from the customers and the employees - yet these are the people who are vital to lasting success.

CSX needs to look at its operating management structure and move farther toward decentralization. The accountants and financial planners have a vital role too - to establish internal controls and to audit results.

CSX's stance was and will always be that it is much cheaper to clean up a derailment than fix the bad track. yes m ward and his BOD have tripled the stock price in the last few years but at what cost to HR??? that is the real question....a company of CSX's size is only as "profitable" as the employees and mangement at the local levels let it be. disgruntled employees and crooked managment will never pulla company out of a slump.

CSX Corporation - Underperforming Its Class I Peers?
Michael Harris gives his point of view on the letter sent to the CSX Board of Directors this past fall by the Children's Investment Master Fund citing several weaknesses in the governance of the railroad company.

Hint: he thinks there may be something to what they are saying -- specifically, problems with the ways in which cash is being accounted for, and problems with return on invested capital.

To what extent is CSX dependent on coal traffic for profitability? As demonstrated by this very recent federal Energy Information Administration release, eastern coal production is declining in favor of western (and not mentioned by EIA, but a major factor, imported coal). Is there a cause and effect in terms of deferred maintenance akin to that of the anthracite roads in the late 50's and the 60's?

According to the EIA, coal production in the Central Appalachia region dropped by 5.5 million tons to record the fifth consecutive yearly production dip. The EIA reports that spot prices for coal per ton as of Dec. 14, at $57.70 per ton for coal produced in the Central Appalachia region, including Virginia. In contrast, a ton of coal harvested from surface mines in western states such as Wyoming cost just $11.50 per ton. According to Virginia's Energy Plan, the high costs of mining the state's remaining thin coal seams is partly to blame for the production decrease in Central Appalachia in general.