Form FRA F 6180.137 FRA F 6180.137 Questions for Phone Interviews with Track Supervisors

Form FRA F6180.137 (07/09)

Questions for Phone Interviews with Track Supervisors (25)

This interview concerns the track inspection process. The Federal Railroad Administration will use this information in preparing a Report to Congress as required by the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008.  Your answers and comments will inform possible future FRA policy and regulatory actions and improve overall railroad operational safety.

Your participation in this study is completely voluntary and you may choose to end your participation at any time. This data collection is authorized by law.   Your identity will be kept private and known only to myself (the interviewer) and the study manager.

Public reporting burden for this information collection is less than 1 hour, including time for explaining the interview process, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing this collection of information.  I am required by law to give you the OMB control number which is OMB No. 2130-XXXX and the expiration date is YYYY.

Your Job

1. On your railroad, do you use the title track supervisor or roadmaster? (Depending upon answer, word following questions with appropriate title.)

2. How long have you been a track supervisor/roadmaster?

3. Did you work as a track inspector prior to becoming a supervisor? If so, how long?

4. How many track inspectors do you supervise?

5. What types of the following training do your inspectors have that is specific to track inspection?

	Never	Every other year	Every year	More frequently
on-the-job training	□	□	□	□
FRA track standards training	□	□	□	□
FRA safety standards training (roadway worker protection)	□	□	□	□
other track inspection related training (please specify) _____________________	□	□	□	□

What type of additional track inspection training, if any, do you think they should have?

6. How do you assure the proficiency of your inspectors in terms of identifying defective conditions and prescribing proper remedial action? What action do you take to improve a track inspector’s performance if it is unacceptable?

7. How do you conduct job briefings with your inspectors?

____in-person ____on the phone ____other (describe)

How often do you have job briefings?

____daily ____more than once a day ____other (describe)

Which of the following are included in your job briefings?

____slow orders on territory ____recent accidents

____recent derailments ____results of track geometry inspections

____results of special inspections ____rough ride reports

____spot maintenance ____mechanized maintenance

____specialized equipment movement (e.g., rail flaw detection car)

____other (please describe)

Your Workday

1. On a typical day, how many hours do you work? On a typical day, how many hours do you spend on inspection issues?

Your Territories

1. How do you establish individual inspection territories? How frequently do they change?

2. On a typical day, how many track miles do your inspectors cover in total? (If an inspector inspects double track, multiply miles of track by 2; if triple track, multiply by 3, etc.)

3. What classes of main track do the territories of your inspectors include? (check all that apply):

____Exempt ____1 ____2 ____3

____4 ____5 ____6 and above

How many: industry tracks __________

sidings __________

yards __________

are inspected by your inspectors?

4. Do you feel that you have an adequate number of inspectors to effectively inspect your territory? On what criteria do you base this assessment?

5. Which of the following characterize the territories of your inspectors?

Territory characteristics (check all that apply):

____single track ____double track ____more than double track

____CWR ____desert terrain ____mountainous terrain

____concrete ties ____urban area ____tunnels

____bridges ____highway crossings ____yard

____industry track ____other (specify)

6. What characteristics of your territory create challenges for the track inspection process?

7. What territory characteristics trigger special inspections?

____extreme heat ____extreme cold ____desert terrain ____mountain terrain

____other (please specify)___________________________

Inspection Procedure

1. How are inspectors assigned to a specific territory?

2. How often do you inspect with each of your track inspectors?

3. (a) Does your railroad inspect more frequently than FRA regulations require? If so, could you provide an example? What was the reason you or your railroad chose to inspect more frequently than FRA regulations require? (b) Does your railroad inspect to FRA minimum safety standards or are your standards more stringent? If so, could you provide an example? What was the reason you or your railroad adopted more stringent standards than FRA regulations prescribe?

4. What conditions would you not expect a track inspector working alone to fix?

_____tie plate issues _____missing fasteners _____missing bolts

_____broken joint bars _____gage adjustment _____spot surfacing

_____other (describe)

5. Under what circumstances would you assign a single inspector to a territory? What circumstances warrant a two-person inspection team? What benefits are there to a single inspector? Two inspectors working as a team?

6. How do your inspectors report the results of their work to you?

	Always	Mostly	Sometimes	Never
paper reporting	□	□	□	□
electronic reporting	□	□	□	□
other (specify)	□	□	□	□

How could this process be improved?

7. What additional equipment would you provide to your inspectors if cost were not a consideration?

8. How frequently do your inspectors work overtime to complete routine inspections? What causes the need for overtime? (e.g., waiting for track time, assignment to non-inspection duties, short-staffed)

9. What types of automated inspections occur on your territory? How frequently do these occur? How would you rate the usefulness of these inspections? In what way are they useful?

1. Ultrasonic rail flaw detection

2. Gage restraint measurements (GRMS or PTLF)

3. Track geometry measurements

4. Vehicle track interaction (impact loads and vehicle dynamics)

5. Anything else?

Are there any other automated inspections that you would find helpful?

10. How do you use the information from each of the automated inspections previously described?

11. With regard to the table that you completed prior to this conversation, could you suggest a means to improve detection of those conditions that you indicate as “not readily detectable”?

12. Are there any other aspects of the inspection process that you would like to comment on for FRA consideration in preparing its Report to Congress?

Please complete the table on the following page and send it to your interviewer prior to your phone conversation.

Track Condition	How do your inspectors commonly detect each condition? (Check all that apply.)
	Visual		Results of Automated Inspection	Not readily detectable	Not applicable on my territories
	on foot	hi-rail
Geometry
Gage dimension less than/greater than allowable	□	□	□	□	□
Alinement deviation exceeds allowable	□	□	□	□	□
Maximum crosslevel exceeds allowable	□	□	□	□	□
Runoff at end of raise exceeds allowable	□	□	□	□	□
Deviation from uniform profile on either rail exceeds allowable	□	□	□	□	□
Difference in crosslevel (warp) exceeds allowable	□	□	□	□	□
Reverse elevation on curve exceeds allowable	□	□	□	□	□
Ballast
Insufficient ballast	□	□	□	□	□
Fouled ballast	□	□	□	□	□
Ties
Ineffective/defective ties	□	□	□	□	□
Rail seat abrasion	□	□	□	□	□
Track constructed without crossties does not effectively support track structure	□	□	□	□	□
Rail/joints
Broken rail	□	□	□	□	□
Worn rail	□	□	□	□	□
Rail-end mismatch	□	□	□	□	□
Cracked or broken joint bar	□	□	□	□	□
Insufficient number of joint bolts	□	□	□	□	□
Loose/worn joint bars	□	□	□	□	□
Torch-cut or burned bolt hole in rail	□	□	□	□	□
Switches
Stock rail/ switch point not seated or functioning as intended	□	□	□	□	□
Loose, worn, or missing switch components	□	□	□	□	□
Fasteners/anchors
Insufficient/ineffective fasteners	□	□	□	□	□
Insufficient anchors to restrain rail movement at turnouts or CWR	□	□	□	□	□
Frogs
Insufficient flangeway depth/width	□	□	□	□	□
Worn or defective frog/frog components	□	□	□	□	□
Misc.
Heat kinks	□	□	□	□	□
Right-of-way obstructions	□	□	□	□	□
Object between base of rail and the bearing surface of the tie plate causing concentrated load	□	□	□	□	□
Insufficient/defective tie plates	□	□	□	□	□
Missing or damaged signage	□	□	□	□	□
Track washouts	□	□	□	□	□
Poor drainage/pumping ties	□	□	□	□	□
Excessive vegetation	□	□	□	□	□
Defective derail conditions(s)	□	□	□	□	□

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