Not having worked in an environment that a Train Dispatcher would have to work in;
I would ask, do they have to be visually familiar with their’territory(ies)?
At least, having riden over it with a train crew?.
Do they have to preform any kind of ‘test’ on their familiarity with their territory?
I had a Supervisor one tim
Sam,
Your post is food for thought.
What experience did Harrison have when he began dispatching IC? Did he have knwledge of the line or did he simply get lucky? Anecdotally it appears he did well in doing so but was it because of luck or previous experience?
What Harrison is currently up against is a completely different railroad structure than IC, CN, or CP. CSX is dependent on branches, both coal and other commodities for survival. Harrison could sell or lease many branches while making CSX into the triangle he thinks it should be. That may not make sense because NS is currently eating CSX’s lunch. Shippers tend to go where they get the best rates and service. Until CSX gets it’s act together I see them losing customers.
[quote user=“samfp1943”]
guetem1
I have worked in a centralized dispatching center my entire career, however my territory is adjacent to the dispatching center. I have worked subdivisions half a continent away. You can do it, but there is nothing like seeing it with your own eyes, having the conductor who works a local showing you why it is a bad thing to make him clear the main line at a certain location. It is also good to be able to put a face to the voice you hear on the phone/radio everyday.
Admittedly it is hard to budget for a road trip for every dispatcher in your division to fly from Texas to Washington state and find relief dispatchers to cover each desk. You’d think that professionalism would win out over self interest but unfortunately not in every case. Sometimes you have an adjacent DS who wants to force all his traffic to your side and then demand you handle all the coordination necessary to call relief crews for the trains you have delayed while he forced his traffic onto you. Some of his/her trains may be priority traffic, some may be short on time, so oftimes there are reasons why he/she may be pushing all the traffic to you and it may be justified. These are the times when face to face helps, these are also the times it would help to talk it over with a beer or two after work, but that does not happen like it did 20 years ago, I have never seen a dispatcher I work with in a social situation outside of work in 18 years.
Not having worked in an environment that a Train Dispatcher would have to work in;
I would ask, do they have to be visually familiar with their’territory(ies)?
At least, having riden over it with a train crew?.
Do they have to preform any kind of ‘test’ on their familia