Crew Size: ‘It Depends’

SMART-TD photo

FROM THE EDITOR, RAILWAY AGE MAY 2024 ISSUE: Multiple-choice question: How many crew members should occupy a locomotive cab?

A) Three.
B) Two.
C) One.
D) Zero.
E) None of the Above.

The correct answer is E, None of the Above. More specifically, the best correct answer, which does not appear on the test, is “It Depends.”   

Doubtless, Federal Railroad Administrator Amit Bose, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, SMART-TD President Jeremy Ferguson and BLET National President  Eddie Hall, after agreeing that their answer is B) Two, would fail this very basic, no-brainer test, as they would a course in statistics or data science. 

One crew size number does not fit all. Assigning any number to how many people should be in a cab, whether it’s five or zero (autonomous operation, which occurs in Australia under very specific conditions), is disingenuous. That’s a polite way of saying “silly” or “uninformed”—or “politics prevail,” in this case.

Capitol Hill Contributing Editor Frank N. Wilner, whose storied career has included service representing the carriers (at the Association of American Railroads) and labor (at SMART-TD predecessor United Transportation Union), gives us his usual excellent summary of the politics behind the FRA’s crew-consist ruling in his May Watching Washington column. “Among choices faced by political appointees are whether to obey statutes defining their authority or perform as political partisans,” he writes. “The optics of an April announcement by the DOT and FRA of a final rule mandating two crew members in the locomotive cab—with limited exceptions—was an unashamed demonstration of the latter. The announcement had adornments of a political rally—some dozen rail labor officials on stage—with Buttigieg and  Bose delivering on a Biden campaign promise. Shockingly missing was evidence of how the new rule will enhance rail safety as required by the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), which instructs courts to nullify them as ‘arbitrary and capricious’ when lacking quantitative assessments. There must be, the Supreme Court has said, ‘a rational connection between the facts found and the choice made.’”

“Despite Bose having said in a July 2022 FRA press release that the agency is ‘committed to data-driven decision-making,’ no supporting data accompanied the new rule’s publication,” Wilner notes. “Previously, the National Transportation Safety Board said, ‘There is insufficient data to demonstrate that [rail] accidents are avoided by having a second qualified person in the cab,’ and FRA said in 2019 it lacked ‘reliable or conclusive statistical data’ linking train safety with crew size … Buttigieg swats away lack-of-evidence criticisms by citing ‘common sense’ as sufficient justification for the new rule—an arguably weak defense given APA and Executive Order provisos. Actually, common sense says assemble the required data before publishing.” 

“Common sense,” Buttigieg proclaims? No, Mr. Secretary. Stai dicendo una sciocchezze.

Bottom line: Crew-consist size should always be negotiated, never regulated or legislated. Always remember the correct answer: “It depends.”

Have a safe day.