This Site is Constantly Under Construction!!

Welcome to the New website for

Local 1168. 

Regular Meetings are at the Elks Lodge, 218 North Sycamore, the Second and Fourth Tuesdays of each month, at 9 am:

NEXT MEETING ON 11/24/09

On Wednesday 11/18/09, There will be no change to Board 21 at Clovis, leaving the number at 95 turns.  

The thing to watch this week is:

There has recently been another decertification on our subdivision for not making the proper set and release. Please review these requirements as I believe that this will trigger more testing for this locally.  Rule of thumb is if you break the train line, or get on an unattended train, MAKE A SET AND RELEASE, There will also be increased testing on Radio procedures, make sure you Identify yourself, & as always leaving the crossovers in correspondence.  Engineers, be sure your reverser is centered when stopping for extended periods of time & New on the radar, there has been a lot of incidents of setting the independent over 20 MPH, they are watching this closely.  And the 8 Deadlies, as always.

                              ***************************NEWS FLASH*************************************

                             They have implemented the “Push” technology for text devices on

                                the North and Central Lines. The South Lines implementation is

                                                            on schedule for 04/2

                             ********************************************************************************** 

Push Profile Screen – CCTM_option 24

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  Did you know that there is a field in this screen to designate whether you want a message to be pushed to you when you are not rested? If this field is set to “Y”, the system will push a message regardless of whether or not you are rested. Otherwise, a message will not be pushed when not rested
  Did you know that once you set up a push alert that you can pf10 and send a test message to be sure the address for your communication device is set up correctly – there is a similar option in the telephone maintenance screen…

Projected View – CCTM_Option 1

Did you know that we have added a pf10 key to toggle between the “C” and “P” views so that you can easily tell the difference without having to back out of the screen

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  •  
    “Push Info1” – “times out on my working board” alert
    “Push Info2” – “times out on my Active/Ratio board” alert
    “Push Info3” – “hours out” alert
  Did you know that when you receive a push alert, a record is written to this standing history recording the information that was pushed
  Did you know that if you have more than one push alert set up, the standing history screen will identify which alert set-up the push was based on

 

Conductor Recertifications coming along check out the Article on the UTU web site at UTU.org 

Operations Testing Highlights, the following are items that have been brought out at the Safety Meeting as areas to focus on and improve on when we perform our duties:

1.  MAINTAINING 3 POINT CONTACT

2.  MAINTAINING 50 FOOT RULE AT SWITCHES WHEN LINING THEM.

3.  MAKING SURE CROSS OVER SWITHCHES ARE IN CORRESPONDENCE PRIOR TO MOVING THROUGH THEM OR      PASSING ON TANGENT TRACK.

4.  FROM KEVIN MCREYNOLDS AND THE ROAD FOREMAN OF ENGINES AND THE REMOTE TESTING DESK, THERE HAS BEEN AN INCREASE IN STALL BURNS, BY NOT CENTERING THE REVERSER AND LEAVING THE THROTTLE IN RUN 1.  And applying the Independent Brake at speeds above 20mph.

Remote Audit
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Total audits decreased the 1st half of 2009 compared to the last half of 2008, but an increasing number of exceptions were identified.
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Significant exceptions identified during this period also increased, especially speeding and between equipment events.
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Cause attributed to 3 initiatives:
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Reduction in audit goal numbers (01/09) enables more thorough analysis of data.
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Modified Remote Audit Guide (05/09) more precisely identifies speed compliance.
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Auditors continue developing skill sets.
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8 deadly decision support beginning 01/09 is identifying a growing number of Between Equipment & Shoving Movement exceptions.
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Approach Signal and Class III Brake Test exceptions trending downward.
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Train handling events identified by AutoScan indicate positive behavioral change.
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Undesirable braking events trending downward
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Engineer Emergencies & Full Service Applications.
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Power Braking
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Undesirable fuel use trending downward
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Stalls & Revving
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Recent focus is on compliance rather than exceptions only.
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Positive Reinforcement increasingly used to acknowledge stellar performance.
2009 – 2nd QTR Summary

Belen is right in step with Mr. Fox because they are testing anything that moves over there. So be very careful especially on the going in between rule and shoving rule. They are banner testing and it appears they will be doing so from now on. Apparently Phillip Mullen is still with the rules department. He pretty much said that you must be able to see the end car being shoved or if anything happens it’s going to be your baby. They will also be coming out with a rule that says you must have a lantern if you are working in any capacity but RCO or as and Engineer

For Insurance Needs Check Out the Download Under UTU Insurance or Click on The Follow Link:

Dan McElley Field Representative

and He Can Get You Fixed Up With What Ever Insurance Needs You May Have.

 Stay In touch with YOUR Officers
All Local 1168 Sisters & Brothers: If you have recently changed your Mailing Address, Email Address, or Phone Number please let the Secretary/Treasurer know as soon as possible. This is necessary to keep our records up to date with the National Division and we will also be able to pass information along from the Division to all of it's members.
Those members who have questions about, or wish to contribute to Local 1168 but cannot attend the monthly meetings you can email any of the  Local Officers.

Questions or Concerns about unsafe work conditions or work practices;

Contact the UTU Rail Safety Task Force and express your safety issues and concerns with one of the Task Force Members to help resolve the problem and bring it to the attention of others.  Get onboard with Safety in the Work Place and benefit not only yourself but others also!!

We can be more powerful than a

 locomotive only through unity

COME BACK OFTEN