BLET Cover Letter to Study Participants

BROTHERHOOD OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS AND TRAINMEN
EDWARD W. RODZWICZ
National President

Phone: 216.241.2630
Fax: 216.241.6516
www.ble-t.org

1370 Ontario Street
Standard Building, Mezzanine
Cleveland, Ohio 44113-1702
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Dear Sister or Brother:

As you may know, the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 has charged the Federal Railroad Administration
(FRA) with the responsibility for promulgating regulations to govern the hours of service for operating crews working in intercity passenger and commuter service. In order to create an objective and scientifically-based hours of
service regulation, the FRA, with the cooperation of the BLET and the United Transportation Union, is conducting a
fatigue study that focuses on intercity passenger and commuter operating crews. You have been randomly selected
to participate in this very important scientific study. The results of the study will provide a clearer picture of work
schedules and sleep patterns of intercity passenger and commuter operating crews. The study will also provide the
statistical basis necessary to identify the appropriate areas for change to mitigate fatigue.
You are among a group of randomly selected BLET members working in intercity passenger and commuter service
that are being asked to fill out work/sleep diaries for a two-week period. Your participation in this study involves:
(1) completing a brief background survey; and (2) keeping a daily log for 14 consecutive days of your sleep and
work times along with self-assessments of your level of alertness five times per day.
To insure that your personal information is confidential FRA has engaged the services of QinetiQ for executing the
study. The names and personal information of the participants is confidential, and the data gathered will only be
used to compile the information as a group. After the study’s conclusion, the personal data gathered will be destroyed and only the compiled information will be distributed
Completing the background survey should take less than 15 minutes; making entries in the daily log should require
no more than a total of 10 minutes per day. As a reward for your participation in this study, you will receive a $75
gift certificate to either Home Depot or Sears. You must provide 14 consecutive days of data and a completed background survey to receive the gift certificate.
The purpose of the study is to develop a better understanding of the work/rest schedules and sleep/napping behavior
of intercity passenger and commuter operating crews and to evaluate the relationship between these schedules and
fatigue. Your participation is critical to the success of this study and it is essential that you record your work, sleep
and nap schedules truthfully. Only accurate data will allow us to identify where, if any, fatigue-related problems
exist in our crafts. Once we have the data, we will be able to work toward creating an hours of service regulation
that reduces the risk of fatigue-related accidents, improves the quality of life while minimizing the financial impact
to our members.
Please read the enclosed instructions carefully before beginning your data collection. Thank you for your participation in this important research study.
Fraternally yours,

National President

A Division of the Rail Conference – International Brotherhood of Teamsters
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