August 2026 Update

Division Meeting: Monday, August 10, 10:00 a.m.

Teamsters 988 Hall, 4303 N. Sam Houston Parkway East

All members are encouraged to attend. Division meetings are where you get current information, ask questions, raise concerns, and take part in the business of the organization. If you've never been to one, come. Meetings are not just for officers and long-timers.

Guest speaker: Jeff McGuire of McGuire Injury Law, a FELA attorney. FELA is the federal law governing most railroad worker injury claims, and it works differently than ordinary workers' compensation. You should understand the basics before you ever need them.

His presentation will cover practical grounds:

•        Why accurate reporting after an injury or incident matters

•        Why medical attention shouldn't be delayed for a real injury

•        How to handle written statements and incident reports

•        Knowing your rights before signing anything

•        Why contacting union representation early makes a difference

The goal isn't to make anyone a legal expert. It's to help you avoid common mistakes. After an incident, you're often hurt, tired, rushed, or pressured. That's the worst time to learn how the process works.

Bring questions. Keep them general if they involve sensitive personal details. If you have a specific legal issue, speak privately with qualified counsel.

Rule Enforcement

Enforcement has picked up sharply, especially for engineers. Locomotive shutdown requirements, engine assignments, paperwork, TPA compliance, and shove movements all need your attention right now.

The carrier has the right to expect rules to be followed. You have the right to clear instructions, accurate paperwork, working equipment, and fair treatment. Your best protection is to work by the rules, document problems properly, and get clarification through the OPCC before acting when instructions are unclear.

Do not assume past practice protects you. These charges are directed out of Omaha rather than local management, which makes them very difficult to defend.

Locomotive Shutdown on the Line of Road

Verify what the shutdown requirement actually says for your situation. Make sure you're running the proper engine or engines with your train paperwork and applicable TPA requirements. (You can't run three locomotives on an empty rock train.) If a valid exception applies and the locomotive stays running, be ready to explain the reason from the rule or instruction.

If OPCC contacts you about a locomotive running without a valid reason, a CAPS charge letter follows. They are done advising and coaching. Failure to comply generates a charge letter, period.

If the paperwork identifies certain engines for the move, don't substitute a different one because it's available, already running, or commonly used in that service. Get the mismatch corrected or clarified before proceeding. If you set out engines on the line of road, have the dispatcher or manager acknowledge the set out and remove the engine from your consist.

Watch for:

•        Paperwork that doesn't match the locomotive consist

•        Power swaps not reflected in the documents

•        Changes made after the original paperwork was issued

•        Assuming the previous engineer set up the consist correctly

•        Assuming someone else already verified TPA compliance

If mechanical problems, weather, train status, or air issues prevent compliance, report it through OPCC and locomotive reporting. Don't leave it informal. It may become a discipline matter later.

Terminal and Yard Shutdown: Read the Superintendent Bulletins *see downloads section of website

There is a superintendent bulletin covering shutdown compliance in terminal and yard operations. It is being enforced.

Yard power gets used by multiple crews, moved between tracks, tied down, and left for later use. With that much turnover, shutdown requirements get overlooked because every crew assumes another crew handled it.

Review the bulletin for when shutdown is required, which exceptions apply, what's required before leaving power unattended, and who must be notified if a locomotive can't be shut down.

Rule of thumb: if the engine is being left tied down, shut it down, unless you're explicitly instructed not to. If you are, get the full name of the person instructing you and the reason it's staying running. Document it by typing "go/shutdown" in the MyUP search bar. Yard controllers and management are supposedly aware of these requirements.

Stopped in a terminal for more than thirty minutes? Engines in your consist must be shut down while waiting. Dispatch centers have been alerted and are supposed to give advance notice to restart as needed.

Shoving Limitations

Shove movements require clear communication, proper protection, and strict attention to distance, speed, visibility, and territory conditions.

•        Confirm who is protecting the shove

•        Confirm the intended distance and stopping point

•        Confirm the route and any switches involved

•        Maintain required communication and stop if it's lost or unclear

•        Do not exceed the limits of the instruction

•        Question any shove that appears unsafe or noncompliant

The superintendent bulletin now limits you to two engines online, no higher than notch two, with a minimum brake pipe reduction. I understand this creates problems. They're applying one operating method to about a million different scenarios. Comply anyway and put it over the radio: "I'm sorry conductor/hump controller, I'm going to have to stop and recharge my train to continue shoving per rules."

Energy Management System (EMS)

The carrier requires engineers to fully utilize the onboard Energy Management System, and compliance is being monitored. Follow the instructions and use the system as directed.

That said, understand what this technology represents. EMS is an early form of autopilot for trains. Every step toward automated train handling is a step the carrier can eventually point to when arguing that the engineer in the seat is optional. The BLET is fighting that, and we are not doing it on sentiment. We are doing it on the record.

That record is built from your reports.

The BLET National Division has created an app for members to document problems they experience with EMS. If you've dealt with any of the following, report it:

•        Excessive or distracting interactive prompts

•        Poor train handling, including slack action and undesired brake applications

•        Overspeeds

•        Failure to respond appropriately to grade, curve, or restriction

•        Any situation where you had to intervene to keep the train safe

•        Anything that created a rules exposure for you

Report it here:

BLET EMS Reporting App

This information is for BLET use only. The carrier does not see your report. This is not a complaint form that lands on a manager's desk. It goes to your own organization, and it is used to build the factual case against automation.

A few reminders. You remain responsible for the safe handling of your train regardless of what the system is doing. If EMS handling creates an unsafe condition, take the action the rules require and report it afterward through both the proper carrier channels and the BLET app. Comply with the instructions to use the system, then document what it did. Take the two minutes to file a report. One engineer saying the system handles a train poorly is an opinion. A thousand documented reports are evidence.

For other concerns such as long trains and HOS violations visit https://www.txslb.org/reporting-portal

Comply Now, Grieve Later

If management instructs you, you are required to comply and grieve afterward. The grievance can take the form of a claim or a report to the FRA.

The exception is the Good Faith Challenge. Under Rule 1.4.1, you may challenge instructions to violate the rule on shoving, position of switches and derails, and equipment left to foul. File a written challenge by searching "good faith challenge" in the MyUP search bar.

Don't argue on the radio. Be professional and direct: state the issue, ask for the instruction, follow the rule, and document it.

A Benefit Worth Using: One Pass

Something useful came across my desk from the wellness side of our medical coverage, and not enough members seem to know about it. It's called One Pass.

Here's how it works. You choose a membership tier and pay a monthly fee. In return, you get unlimited access to multiple gyms, all of them, at the same time, on the one fee. It is not one gym per membership. You also get access to a number of online and at-home fitness services.

The perks are where it gets interesting. Depending on your tier, the membership can include:

•        Walmart+, which by itself includes free streaming through either Peacock or Paramount+

•        SHIPT delivery

•        AARP membership

•        Several other consumer services

How to find it: go to the United Healthcare member site, benefits page, then scroll to the bottom of the page for the One Pass link. Check what each tier costs and what it includes before you sign up, since the perks vary by level. If you use a gym at all, or if you're already paying for Walmart+ or a streaming service on your own, run the numbers. It may cost you less to get all of it through One Pass.

We pay for these benefits one way or another. Use them.

member.uhc.com additional benefits

Bring It to the Meeting

If you see repeated problems, the Division needs to know. That includes conflicting shutdown instructions, paperwork that doesn't match assigned power, unclear yard procedures, pressure to move before compliance is verified, EMS issues, or enforcement that looks inconsistent.

Dates, locations, general circumstances, and the rules at issue are what help most. Names and personal details aren't necessary in open discussion. When enough members report the same thing, we can identify patterns before they become larger problems.

The point isn't complaints for the sake of complaints. It's protecting members and making sure enforcement stays fair and consistent.

August 10, 10:00 a.m., Teamsters 988 Hall. Be there. On the job, don't hand the carrier an easy discipline case. And when EMS gives you a problem, report it.