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Resolutions for 2010

January 25th, 2010

Now that we are a couple of weeks into the new year, and most of us have stopped writing 2009 on our checks (others of us will still be doing it until March), I thought that it would be a good time to mention my resolutions for the new year, since I have already weeded out the easy ones to break, like trying to lose weight and exercise more.  So, without further adieu, here are my resolutions for 2010.

I resolve to:

  • Answer any and all questions relating to radio narrowbanding in a calm and complete manner, whether I have answered that question or written or spoken about it previously to the same person or group umpteen times. I will also remind them again that their interchange locomotives have to be equipped with dual band radios by July 1 of this year, and that the complete changeover to narrowband radios must be complete by January 1, 2013.
  • Try to read the final PTC regulations, which came out January 12, without falling asleep. If I am able to finish them without losing consciousness, I’ll remind people that the implementation plans are due in April of this year, and that we will be required to have the PTC systems in place in 2015.
  • I will give my customers at SDS new versions of my software, including ones that fully implement the new UMLER/EMIS equipment information system and new functionality to deal with the Hours of Service laws.
  • I will stay on top of all of the work being done on the new Conductor Certification laws.
  • Likewise, I will pay attention to all of the things going on with Grade Crossing registration, signage, and emergency notification phone numbers.
  • Hazmat transportation is always a concern, and this year I will be glad to talk to local legislators who feel that it is appropriate for us to notify local responders before we carry hazmats through their communities, and explain to them some of the realities of the world.
  • I also resolve to be more patient with the risk managers of the world (including my mother) and work with them to get over their innate fear of doing anything that involves some risk.
  • I resolve to spend more time with my local, state, and federal representatives and their minions to hopefully prevent some of the legislation that has taken place over the last couple of years, preventing the need for most of the resolutions above.
  • Finally, I resolve to make sure that my co-workers and I get to go home every night safe and sound, because I know that we work in a very dangerous industry, and both their families and Holly, Andrew, and Rob deserve it.

–by Steve Friedland

steven-fb.jpgSteve Friedland is a child of the railroad industry.  Following summers and vacations working on the track gang for the family-owned Morristown & Erie Railway, a 42-mile New Jersey short line, he started full-time in 1994.  He has worked in all areas of the railroad, including track, mechanical, signals, and operations, and currently is a member of the management team for the company as director of operations in Morristown, N.J. In 1999, he founded Short Line Data Systems, a provider of railroad EDI and dispatching software, AEI hardware, and management consulting to the short line industry.  He also served as  chairman of the ASLRRA’s Technology Committee for the past four years.

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