I don't think anything can help this company other than some radical changes, but I don't believe that will happen. It's been a long time since we've seen any, even the smallest of improvements here. I'm wondering, if you had the opportunity to make a decision about making some changes for the better, what would you prioritize?
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Furthermore: just get back to what it is that we do: railroading. We run a railroad. Not a technology company. While advances in tech have gotten us to where we do things a little different, the fundamentals remain the same; methods, procedures, equipment. Just because your computer modeling is telling you that it should be done “like this” doesn’t mean it works that way in practice. Today’s operation expectations are based on perfect world scenarios. If the people running this company were true railroaders that understood the business from the inside out they would know that we’ve become even more of a danger to ourselves and to the public, even more so than we already were. Too many corners have been cut. Too much is being left to chance. No one is thinking about tomorrow because of being blinded by todays profits.
Bottom line: you need to put jobs back on. You need to get people hired right now and train them the right way. Open shops back up because your equipment is failing you. Get up to par with your maintenance programs and quit trying to stretch everything past it’s useful limit. Get rid of all the overhead you have in your corporate headquarters…each floor of that new building doesn’t need 100 supervisors.
How about realizing that it’s just a part of doing business that you need people and that you are going to have to pay people to do the work. How about recognizing that it’s also a part of the deal that it takes fuel to move freight from one point to another and that it’s better, in terms of maintenance and wear-and-tear, to run a second unit then it is to abuse one. How about coming to terms with the fact that our customers have put up with our BS for years and that we should try to work with them instead of dictating to them how it’s going to be.
These are just a few ideas but who are we kidding? Nobody towards the top cares or is going to listen to anything.
The 401k match is pitiful, but in all fairness the employer contribution to tier 2 railroad retirement is over 13%. That's a big contribution. On a 70k job, that's a 10k contribution on their side with about a $3500 contribution on our side.
We need trained employees on the job!! They cut way way to deep and they expect the people that’s left to do the same work or more. They also expect us to cross crafts all the time, that in itself is bad enough but there’s absolutely no training and no thought at all about safety, but let someone get hurt and they throw the whole rule book at you.
It needs to be pointed out that our 401k is the biggest joke of corporate America. The maximum company contribution is $500/yr. it has been that way for 4 decades, since NS started the program. No adjustment for inflation...ever. NS should be absolutely ashamed.
Our union contracts suck. At a minimum each employee with 20 years service should have 5 personal days. All employees should get a dollar per dollar match on the first $100 per paycheck in their 401k and health insurance premiums need to be frozen at the current rate...and that’s just the minimum.
NS sucks period. Any you wouldn't believe the amount of clueless id--ts that are in the hiring process now. The people have no clue what a mistake they are making
Try treating the employees as fellow human beings, not like a commodity. How about some respect instead of threats and intimidation. How about running a rail road, not a get rich quick scheme. How about making our customers happy first before the shareholders. That’s just a few.