One of the most - if not the most - pressing safety concerns of train and engine crews in North America is the whole question of chronic train crew fatigue. It has been an issue for decades. It has been scientifically shown that being subject to fatigue is very similar upon the brain and body as being under the influence of alcohol. And while the rail carriers have zero tolerance for the latter, when it comes to the former, they are mute on the subject. In fact, they do not even acknowledge the existence of fatigue at all!

Those of us in the T&E craft - especially those on road freight pools and extra boards - know and understand the harsh reality - and the dangers - of chronic crew fatigue. It is unconscionable that the rail carriers sit idly by and do nothing to mitigate against fatigue. The unions are all too often complicit in this silence. It is high time we mount an all-out campaign to blow the whistle on fatigue. If the general population was aware of what we go through, the dangers that we present to ourselves and the communities we travel through, something would be done to put a stop to this insanity.

Check out the information below. We hope that every single railroader will be inspired to join the fight against crew fatigue!

Union Strikes CN for a Week Over Safety Issues

In November 2019, the Teamster Canada Rail Conference struck CN in Canada. The strike was largely over safety issues including chronic fatigue and lack of time of work for conductors, yardmen and yardmasters. Listen to the dialog at the link below for an exchange between an exhausted CN train crew and their train dispatcher. This recording of the 2018 incident was released to the media by the union in late November 2019, just before reaching a TA with the carrier.

Listen the audio recording of a conductor saying he is unfit to move the train…HERE