U.S. Department of 

Transportation 

Federal Railroad 

Administration

Work Schedules and Sleep Patterns of Railroad 

Train and Engine Service Workers 

Office of Research 

and Development 

Washington, DC 20590 

DOT/FRA/ORD-09/22 Final Report 

November 2009 
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Final Report 8/2007-01/2009 

4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE

Work Schedules and Sleep Patterns of Railroad Train and Engine Service Workers 

6. AUTHOR(S)

Judith Gertler and Amanda DiFiore 

5. FUNDING NUMBERS 

7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES)

Foster-Miller, Inc. 

350 Second Avenue 

Waltham, MA 02451-1196 

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REPORT NUMBER

DFRA.080088 

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U.S. Department of Transportation 

Federal Railroad Administration 

Office of Research and Development 

Washington, DC 20590 

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AGENCY REPORT NUMBER

DOT/FRA/ORD-09/22 

11. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES 

COTR: Dr. Thomas Raslear 

12a. DISTRIBUTION/AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

This document is available to the public through the National Technical Information Service, 

Springfield, VA 22161 and at www.fra.dot.gov. 

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13. ABSTRACT (Maximum 200 words)

This report presents the results of a study designed to characterize the work/rest schedules and sleep patterns of U.S. railroad train 

and engine service (T&E) personnel and to examine the relationship between these schedules and alertness. The methodology 

was a survey of a random sample of U.S. railroad T&E personnel who completed a background survey and kept a daily log for 2 

weeks. The majority of T&E workers are either locomotive engineers or conductors. One-third of T&E workers have fixed work 

start times with the remainder having variable start times with significant start time variability. The median length of a work 

period was similar for the two types of schedules; however, limbo time increases total work time for variable workers. Although 

T&E workers report longer daily sleep than U.S. adults, they report poor sleep quality and high stress levels, particularly those 

with variable start times. Variable workers engage in supplementary sleep on workdays because of scheduling issues preventing 

them from planning adequate rest. Variable workers report being less alert than fixed start workers. The Sleep, Activity, Fatigue, 

and Task Effectiveness (SAFTE) model predicted variable start workers work at a slightly lower effectiveness level than fixed 

start workers. Although total work time at low effectiveness is minimal, the total number of labor-h at low effectiveness exceeds 

10M annually for the industry. 

15. NUMBER OF PAGES

93 

14. SUBJECT TERMS

Train and engine service, locomotive engineer, conductor, trainman, switchman, fatigue, work 

schedule, sleep pattern, sleep disorder 16. PRICE CODE

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OF REPORT

Unclassified

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ii 

METRIC/ENGLISH CONVERSION FACTORS 

ENGLISH TO METRIC METRIC TO ENGLISH

LENGTH (APPROXIMATE) LENGTH (APPROXIMATE) 

1 inch (in) = 2.5 centimeters (cm) 1 millimeter (mm) = 0.04 inch (in) 

1 foot (ft) = 30 centimeters (cm) 1 centimeter (cm) = 0.4 inch (in) 

1 yard (yd) = 0.9 meter (m) 1 meter (m) = 3.3 feet (ft) 

1 mile (mi) = 1.6 kilometers (km) 1 meter (m) = 1.1 yards (yd) 

1 kilometer (km) = 0.6 mile (mi)

AREA (APPROXIMATE) AREA (APPROXIMATE) 

1 square inch (sq in, in2) = 6.5 square centimeters (cm2) 1 square centimeter (cm2) = 0.16 square inch (sq in, in2) 

1 square foot (sq ft, ft2) = 0.09 square meter (m2) 1 square meter (m2) = 1.2 square yards (sq yd, yd2) 

1 square yard (sq yd, yd2) = 0.8 square meter (m2) 1 square kilometer (km2) = 0.4 square mile (sq mi, mi2) 

1 square mile (sq mi, mi2) = 2.6 square kilometers (km2) 10,000 square meters (m2) = 1 hectare (ha) = 2.5 acres 

1 acre = 0.4 hectare (he) = 4,000 square meters (m2) 

MASS - WEIGHT (APPROXIMATE) MASS - WEIGHT (APPROXIMATE) 

1 ounce (oz) = 28 grams (gm) 1 gram (gm) = 0.036 ounce (oz) 

1 pound (lb) = 0.45 kilogram (kg) 1 kilogram (kg) = 2.2 pounds (lb) 

1 short ton = 2,000 pounds 

(lb)

= 0.9 tonne (t) 1 tonne (t) =

=

1,000 kilograms (kg) 

1.1 short tons

VOLUME (APPROXIMATE) VOLUME (APPROXIMATE) 

1 teaspoon (tsp) = 5 milliliters (ml) 1 milliliter (ml) = 0.03 fluid ounce (fl oz) 

1 tablespoon (tbsp) = 15 milliliters (ml) 1 liter (l) = 2.1 pints (pt) 

1 fluid ounce (fl oz) = 30 milliliters (ml) 1 liter (l) = 1.06 quarts (qt) 

1 cup (c) = 0.24 liter (l) 1 liter (l) = 0.26 gallon (gal) 

1 pint (pt) = 0.47 liter (l) 

1 quart (qt) = 0.96 liter (l) 

1 gallon (gal) = 3.8 liters (l) 

1 cubic foot (cu ft, ft3) = 0.03 cubic meter (m3) 1 cubic meter (m3) = 36 cubic feet (cu ft, ft3) 

1 cubic yard (cu yd, yd3) = 0.76 cubic meter (m3) 1 cubic meter (m3) = 1.3 cubic yards (cu yd, yd3)

TEMPERATURE (EXACT) TEMPERATURE (EXACT) 

[(x-32)(5/9)] °F = y °C [(9/5) y + 32] °C = x °F

QUICK INCH - CENTIMETER LENGTH CONVERSION

0 1 2 3 4 5

Inches

Centimeters 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

QUICK FAHRENHEIT - CELSIUS TEMPERATURE CONVERSION

 -40° -22° -4° 14° 32° 50° 68° 86° 104° 122° 140° 158° 176° 194° 212°

 

°F

 °C -40° -30° -20° -10° 0° 10° 20° 30° 40° 50° 60° 70° 80° 90° 100°

For more exact and or other conversion factors, see NIST Miscellaneous Publication 286, Units of Weights and 

Measures. Price $2.50 SD Catalog No. C13 10286 Updated 6/17/98
iii 

Contents 

 

Illustrations................................................................................................................................iv 

Tables .................................................................................................................................v 

Acknowledgements...................................................................................................................vii 

Executive Summary....................................................................................................................1 

1. Introduction..............................................................................................................7 

1.1 Nature of Train and Engine Service Work................................................................7 

1.2 Objectives................................................................................................................9 

1.3 Overall Approach...................................................................................................10 

1.4 Scope .....................................................................................................................10 

1.5 Organization of the report ......................................................................................11 

2. Survey Design........................................................................................................13 

2.1 Potential Respondent Universe...............................................................................13 

2.2 Survey Instruments ................................................................................................13 

2.3 Data Collection Period ...........................................................................................14 

2.4 Sampling Plan........................................................................................................14 

2.5 Procedure...............................................................................................................15 

3. Analysis of Survey Data.........................................................................................17 

3.1 Survey Response Rate............................................................................................17 

3.2 Nonresponse Bias Study.........................................................................................17 

3.3 T&E Worker Demographic Characteristics ............................................................18 

3.4 Job Characteristics .................................................................................................24 

3.5 Sleep Characteristics..............................................................................................33 

3.6 Alertness................................................................................................................38 

3.7 Effectiveness..........................................................................................................40 

3.8 Textual Data ..........................................................................................................42 

4. Findings and Recommendations.............................................................................51 

4.1 Key Study Findings................................................................................................51 

4.2 Recommendations for Improvements in Study Procedures.....................................52 

4.3 Recommendations for Additional Research............................................................53 

5. References .............................................................................................................55 

Appendix Survey Materials......................................................................................................57 

Glossary ...............................................................................................................................81 

Abbreviations and Acronyms....................................................................................................83 
iv 

Illustrations 

Figure 1. Overall approach.......................................................................................................11 

Figure 2. Distribution of respondents by age group ..................................................................19 

Figure 3. Type of T&E work....................................................................................................20 

Figure 4. Sick days by type of schedule....................................................................................22 

Figure 5. Exposure to fatigue education ...................................................................................24 

Figure 6. Call time by location .................................................................................................25 

Figure 7. Frequency of work period length by schedule type ....................................................28 

Figure 8. Sources and levels of stress by type of schedule ........................................................31 

Figure 9. Daily sleep by type of day and schedule ....................................................................35 

Figure 10. Supplementary workday sleep start times for variable start workers........................35 

Figure 11. Daily sleep on workdays for T&E and U.S. adults...................................................36 

Figure 12. Differences in alertness ratings between start and end of work as function of work 

period length .....................................................................................................................40 

Figure 13. On-the-job effectiveness by work schedule..............................................................41 
v 

Tables 

Table 1. Breakdown of survey responses....................................................................................2 

Table 2. Discrepancies between chronological and perceived age by age group (percent).........19 

Table 3. Years of T&E experience by type of schedule ............................................................21 

Table 4. Comparison of T&E annual sick days with U.S. working adults.................................23 

Table 5. Guaranteed rest days by type of schedule ...................................................................25 

Table 6. Work in 2 weeks (h:min) ............................................................................................27 

Table 7. Number of work starts in 2 weeks...............................................................................28 

Table 8. Work start time variability (h) ....................................................................................29 

Table 9. Compliance with RSIA rest period requirements (number of occurrences)..................30 

Table 10. Stress ratings by schedule type .................................................................................32 

Table 11. Sleep by type of day and work schedule ...................................................................33 

Table 12. Average sleep quality ratings by type of schedule .....................................................37 

Table 13. Primary sleep length and quality ratings by sleep location ........................................37 

Table 14. Sleep quality ratings for respondents with and without sleep disorders .....................38 

Table 15. Alertness at work by type of schedule (percent)........................................................39 

Table 16. Alertness ratings before and after work by sleep disorder status................................40 

Table 17. Keywords used for each topic area search.................................................................43 

Table 18. Frequency of comments by topic area.......................................................................44 

vii

Acknowledgements 

This report presents the results of a research study designed to characterize the work schedules 

and sleep patterns of U.S. train and engine service (T&E) employees and to examine the 

relationship between these schedules and level of alertness for the individuals working these 

schedules. Foster-Miller, Inc. conducted the study for the Federal Railroad Administration 

(FRA) under contract DTFR53-07-D-00003 with guidance from Dr. Thomas Raslear, Office of 

Research and Development, Human Factors Program. The authors worked closely with the 

Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) and the United Transportation 

Union (UTU) in designing and conducting the survey which was the basis for the study. Special 

thanks are due to Mr. Thomas Pontolillo (BLET) and Mr. James Stem (UTU) who provided 

valuable insights on the various T&E jobs, facilitated distribution of the survey materials to their 

members, and answered numerous questions about the practical application of the Hours of 

Service Law. Their participation was a key element in the successful conduct of the study. 

Mr. Kelly Haley, Brotherhood of Railway Signalmen, assisted BLET and UTU staff in drawing 

the random sample of their memberships for the survey. The authors are also especially 

appreciative of the efforts of Mr. Robert Brogan, FRA Office of Safety, who facilitated the 

Office of Management and Budget approval process. 

The authors also wish to thank several individuals at Foster-Miller for their significant 

contributions to the study. Ms. Angela Murray meticulously coded and processed the data from 

the background surveys and daily logs, and maintained the survey database. Ms. Susan 

McDonough managed the database for tracking and compensating the survey participants. 

Ms. Eileen Ballard-Sarcone from Foster-Miller’s Publications Department was responsible for 

the design and layout of the log books and oversaw the printing and mailing of the survey 

documents. Ms. Jeanne Seaquist designed the database for the survey data. 

Finally, the authors express their thanks to the many T&E employees who participated in the 

study and provided the data, which is the basis for this report. 

1 

Executive Summary 

The Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) efforts to improve railroad safety and to reduce the 

number of injuries and fatalities to railroad workers led the agency to explore the issue of train 

crew fatigue. A seminal study in 1991 provided insights into the locomotive engineer’s sleep 

and work patterns. Because this study used a sample of convenience rather than a statistical 

sample, the results were not necessarily representative of all U.S. locomotive engineers. Since 

this initial fatigue research, FRA has sponsored surveys of three other railroad groups. The 

purpose of these more recent studies was to characterize, using a consistent statistical survey 

methodology, the work schedules and sleep patterns of each unique group of railroad workers. 

Because these three studies used a random sample of each worker population, they provide 

defensible and definitive data on work/rest cycle parameters and fatigue for the respective group. 

The present study of train and engine service workers used this same methodology. 

This study had two primary objectives: 

• To design and conduct a survey to collect work schedule and sleep data from train and 

engine service (T&E) employees. 

• To analyze data to characterize the work/sleep patterns and to identify work schedulerelated fatigue issues. 

The goal was to characterize U.S. T&E personnel as a group, not to characterize T&E personnel 

on a specific railroad. 

T&E employees operate trains both between terminals and in railroad yard environments. The 

types of T&E work include road freight, local freight, passenger and commuter operations, and 

railroad yard operations. There are eight types of positions are in T&E service. The locomotive 

engineer is in direct control of the train while the conductor is responsible for the train and its 

crew. A brakeman/trainman may assist the conductor. A yard foreman has responsibilities in 

the yard similar to those of the conductor in road freight operations. A switchman assists the 

yard foreman on a yard crew. Yard operations may also include a remote control locomotive 

operator and car hostler. All of these positions are subject to the limitations of the Hours of 

Service (HOS) Law that apply to train service employees if the position’s duties relate to the 

movement of a train. 

The work schedules of T&E employees may have either a regular starting time or one that varies 

unpredictably from day to day. Most yard operations, local freight service, and passenger and 

commuter operations have jobs with regular starting times. Jobs in passenger service may 

involve a split assignment where individuals work both morning and afternoon peak periods and 

have time off in the middle of the day. In contrast, T&E workers in road freight service do not 

have a regular work schedule in terms of either the days that they work or the time that they must 

report for work. 

The research described in this report had three phases: preparation, field data collection, and 

data analysis. Since no existing source would provide answers to the study’s research questions, 

a survey of T&E employees was the only means to obtain the necessary data. The preparation 

phase included securing approval from the Office of Management and Budget for the proposed 

data collection. Representatives from the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen 
2 

(BLET) and the United Transportation Union (UTU) worked closely with the researchers 

throughout the study. 

Survey Design 

The study used two survey instruments—a background survey and a daily log. Survey 

participants used the background survey to provide demographic information; descriptive data 

for their type of work, type of position, and work schedule; and a self-assessment of overall 

health. The daily log provided the means for survey participants to record their daily activities in 

terms of sleep, personal time, commute to/from work, work time, limbo time, and interim 

release. Study participants also provided self-assessments of the quality of their sleep and their 

level of alertness at the start and end of each work period. This study used a 14-day data 

collection period to accommodate the many T&E workers who do not work a regular schedule. 

Researchers drew a random sample of 809 T&E workers. The size of the sample from each of 

the two unions was proportional to that organization’s representation in the total number of 

eligible participants. Retirees, fulltime union officials, and anyone currently holding a railroad 

management position were not eligible for the study. Determination of the sample size assumed 

a 95 percent confidence interval on the estimates for mean sleep time, an error tolerance of 15 

percent and a 42 percent response rate. 

Mailing of the survey materials occurred on May 9, 2008. Ten days (d) later, every potential 

survey participant received a postcard, signed by their union president, to encourage them to 

participate in the survey. Two weeks after distribution of the materials, a second postcard 

thanked those who had decided to participate and encouraged those who had not yet done so to 

participate. 

Survey Response Rate 

The overall response rate for the survey was 33 percent. Table 1 provides a breakdown of the 

survey responses. 

Table 1. Breakdown of survey responses 

Number Percent 

Returned both background survey and daily log 265 32.8 

Returned only one survey instrument 19 2.3 

No response 525 64.9 

Total surveys mailed 809 

Of the 265 complete responses, 15 could not be part of the analysis because either there were 

problems with their log books or they were not in crafts covered by the survey. (It was not 

possible to identify these individuals a priori from the union membership databases.) 

The nonresponse bias study based on age found no difference between survey respondents and 

nonrespondents. 
3 

T&E Worker Demographics 

Nearly all of the survey respondents indicated that they worked as a locomotive engineer (49 

percent) or conductor (40 percent). Many are qualified to work in more than one position. 

Similarly, T&E workers may work in more than one type of work, for example, road freight and 

yard operations. Nearly two-thirds reported working road freight and a third work in yard 

operations. A third of the T&E employees reported working a job that had a fixed starting time 

while the starting time for the remainder varied from day to day. Work in yard operations, local 

freight and passenger/commuter operations typically have a fixed start time while road freight 

does not. 

The average age of a T&E worker is 45 years (yr) and over 40 percent are 50 yr or older. They 

have, on average, 17 yr of T&E experience, 15 with their current employer. The more 

experienced T&E workers held positions that had fixed starting times and the less experienced 

people held jobs with variable start times and irregular schedules. Only 2 percent of the survey 

respondents were women. 

The majority (80 percent) of T&E workers is married, but few have children under the age of 

2 yr. In contrast, 69 percent of U.S. males aged 40 to 44 are married. The lack of young 

children is consistent with the average age of this population. 

As a group, T&E employees take more sick days than U.S. adults, yet over 80 percent of T&E 

workers rated their overall health as good or excellent. There was no difference in ratings 

between those working a job with a fixed start time and those with a variable start time. 

However, a difference existed between these two groups in terms of number of sick days taken, 

3.2 d for fixed start time and 6.3 d for variable start time. The higher rate of sick time for the 

variable start group is likely due to marking off sick to catch up on sleep. 

Approximately 8 percent of T&E workers reported having a sleep disorder. All of these reported 

having sleep apnea and two-thirds reported receiving treatment. The rate of sleep apnea is twice 

the norm for U.S. working adults. Two possible explanations exist: an awareness of the signs 

and symptoms of sleep apnea and the sedentary nature of a locomotive engineer’s job that 

requires sitting for extended periods of time. (Sedentary jobs may lead to obesity; a known risk 

factor for sleep apnea.) 

Job Characteristics 

Two-thirds of T&E workers hold positions with a variable start time. The most common call 

times for these people are 2 hours (h) at the home terminal and 1.5 h when at an away terminal, 

although a few reported other arrangements. 

Provision for rest days differs between the two types of work schedules. Two-thirds of those 

with variable start times have no guaranteed rest days while nearly all of those with fixed start 

times have at least one guaranteed rest day per week. 

The median length of a work period (hours:minutes) was similar for the two types of schedules, 

8:42 for fixed start and 8:39 for variable start. When limbo time is considered, the total time 

increases to 8:55 for fixed start and 9:09 for variable start. The median number of work periods 

is 10 for both groups. Although the total work time is similar for both groups, the median work 

start time variability is .5 h for fixed start people and 7.1 h for those working jobs with a variable 

start time. In comparison with data from 1993, today’s T&E jobs require more work starts in a 

2-week period and have greater start time variability. 
4 

Management policies were the greatest source of stress for both schedule groups. The two 

groups had statistically different ratings for 6 of the 14 sources of job-related stress. Five of 

these dealt with work schedule and rest. 

Sleep Characteristics 

As a group, T&E employees obtain longer average daily sleep than U.S. adults. However, sleep 

length alone does not necessarily predict fatigue. Primary sleep is statistically the same for fixed 

and variable workers. Daily sleep and the average number of sleep periods on workdays are 

greater for variable workers. The results suggest that variable workers engage in supplementary 

sleep on workdays, primarily between noon and 2 a.m., to manage fatigue. 

While fixed workers make up their sleep on rest days, variable workers do not have the same 

opportunity because of the unpredictable nature of their schedules. The variability of their work 

start time makes it difficult for these workers to plan for rest. Furthermore, variable workers 

without a call window report interrupted sleep from call centers. 

For all of the sleep quality ratings on the survey (e.g., ease of falling asleep, ease of arising, etc.), 

variable workers consistently rate their sleep quality lower than fixed workers. Compared with 

fixed workers, variable workers report higher stress ratings related to work schedule and rest. 

Participants also rate away-from-home sleep of poorer quality than sleep at home. Away-fromhome primary sleep is significantly shorter than sleep at home. Because variable workers engage 

in away-from-home sleep to a greater extent than fixed workers, they are at an increased risk for 

fatigue at away terminals. 

Alertness 

Responses to a question on the background survey indicated that more than 60 percent of the 

fixed start people reported that they were frequently or always alert at work while only 43 

percent of the variable start people reported this level of alertness. Self-ratings of alertness from 

the daily logs confirmed this difference. Differences in alertness ratings between the start and 

end of the work period also existed based on the length of the work period. This was particularly 

pronounced for work periods of 9 h or more. 

Effectiveness 

This study used the Sleep, Activity, Fatigue, and Task Effectiveness (SAFTE) model to predict 

effectiveness, or lack of fatigue, during time at work. T&E workers with a variable start time 

were more likely to be working at a lower effectiveness level than those with a fixed start; 

however, the percent of time working at an unacceptable effectiveness level was less than 8 

percent for both groups. Although the portion of total work time at low effectiveness is small, 

the total number of labor-h at low effectiveness exceeds 10 million annually for the industry. 

Textual Analysis of Log Book Comments 

A qualitative analysis of the textual comments in the daily logs provides insight into the concerns 

of T&E workers. Also, the analysis helps explain some of the quantitative data trends. The most 

frequently mentioned topics are sleep, work schedule, alertness/fatigue, and personal issues. 

Issues with schedule lineups were initially categorized as work schedule comments. However, 

numerous comments about problems with the lineup prompted its own category. Lineup is the 

sixth most frequently mentioned word in the comments. 
5 

Findings and Recommendations 

The following lists the key findings with respect to T&E workers’ health, work schedules, sleep 

patterns, and alertness: 

• T&E workers with variable start time jobs mark off sick at twice the rate of their 

counterparts in fixed start time jobs (6.3 vs. 3.2 d annually), yet both groups give similar 

ratings to their overall health. Their rate of sick days is also considerably higher than that 

for U.S. adult males, 3.9 d. Several possible explanations exist for this more frequent use 

of sick days. A possible explanation is that this group of T&E workers marks off sick to 

recover from fatigue because they lack guaranteed rest days. 

• The reported rate of diagnosis of sleep apnea among T&E workers is higher than that of 

U.S. working adult males, perhaps as a result of industry education and wellness 

programs. Yet, 25 percent of the study participants reported receiving no fatigue 

education. The opportunity exists for the industry to expand its education efforts on this 

important subject. 

• The number of hours worked did not differ significantly between the two groups of T&E 

workers. Regardless, for T&E workers with jobs that do not have a fixed starting time, 

five of the top eight sources of stress related to work schedules and sleep loss. The lack 

of guaranteed rest days for two-thirds of this group and the high level of variability in 

their work start times undoubtedly account for work schedules being a major source of 

work-related stress. The provisions of the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (RSIA) 

requiring longer undisturbed rest and guaranteed rest days under certain circumstances 

may improve this situation. 

• Overall, T&E workers get more total sleep on workdays than U.S. adults. Frequently, 

T&E workers with variable start time jobs have multiple sleep periods in a day due to 

their erratic work schedule and sleep at an away-from-home location. This compromises 

the quality of their sleep and its restorative value, as reflected in their sleep quality 

ratings. 

• While the effectiveness analysis with the Fatigue Avoidance Scheduling Tool (FAST) 

indicates that T&E workers spend a small portion of their work time at a compromised 

level of effectiveness, the total industry exposure, based on number of T&E labor-hours 

annually, justifies attention to the issue of fatigue among T&E workers. 

Based on the experience of this study, several methodological changes should be a part of future 

studies of this nature. The following lists the recommended changes: 

• Provide definitions for interim release and limbo time. T&E workers in road freight 

service are familiar with limbo time just as people in passenger service understand the 

meaning of interim release. Lack of familiarity with these terms lead to some innovative 

uses of those columns in the daily log book. Clear definitions of these terms should be 

part of the instructions for any future studies of this type. 

• Provide for ratings of multiple work periods in one day. The daily log included space to 

rate alertness at the beginning and end of a work period. In a few cases, an individual 

had two work periods in a day. The log book and instructions did not cover this situation. 

This issue is of particular concern for individuals working split assignment schedules and 
6 

those who complete their regular work period and are called back to work later in the 

day. 

• Provide a way to capture sleep interruptions. The present study asked participants to log 

sleep interruptions exceeding 15 minutes (min). Given the results of the textual analysis 

with regard to sleep interruptions by call centers, noise, and other sources, future studies 

of T&E employees should capture the frequency of all sleep interruptions regardless of 

length. 

RSIA requires changes to provisions of the HOS Law. In particular, once RSIA provisions are in 

effect, there will be a limit on the number of hours that a T&E employee may work in a calendar 

month and a guarantee for 10 h of undisturbed rest between duty tours. Because most T&E 

people in road freight service have a 2-h call window at home, this new provision will guarantee 

T&E workers who are on call 12 h off duty before reporting for a work start. The intent of the 

new law is to ease the fatigue problem for T&E workers. The new law also requires changes in 

HOS provisions for passenger service employees; however, the implementation date for those 

changes will occur later. 

The delay in implementation of HOS changes for passenger service T&E workers provides an 

opportunity for closer study of this subpopulation. The small number of passenger service 

workers with split assignment schedules (interim release) in the present study did now allow for 

meaningful conclusions with regard to this subpopulation of T&E workers. However, an 

opportunity exists now to conduct an additional study that will provide baseline fatigue data from 

passenger service T&E workers before changes in their HOS requirements occur. 

The results of the present study provide a baseline for comparison after the changes prescribed 

by the new law take effect. Comparison of the results of the subsequent study with those 

presented here will give an indication of the success of the measures in reducing fatigue in the 

railroad industry. 

 
7

1. Introduction 

FRA’s efforts to improve railroad safety and to reduce the number of injuries and fatalities to 

railroad workers led FRA to explore the issue of crew fatigue. Beginning in the late 1980s, FRA 

sponsored two studies, an initial one to examine crew-calling systems and to identify problems 

that contribute to fatigue and loss of alertness (Pollard, 1991), and a followup study to collect 

quantitative data on locomotive engineer fatigue and stress (Pollard 1996). This seminal study 

provided insights into the locomotive engineer’s sleep and work patterns, but because it used a 

sample of convenience rather than a statistical sample, the results were not necessarily 

representative of all U.S. locomotive engineers. 

Since this initial research, FRA has sponsored surveys of other railroad worker groups. The 

purpose of the more recent studies was to characterize, using a consistent statistical survey 

methodology, the work schedules and sleep patterns of each unique group of railroad workers. 

In 2001, FRA decided to begin exploring fatigue of the nonoperating craft workers by initially 

focusing on signalmen, then maintenance of way (MOW) workers, and most recently, railroad 

dispatchers (Gertler & Viale, 2006(a); Gertler & Viale, 2006(b); Gertler & Viale, 2007). 

Because these three studies used a random sample of each worker population, they provide 

defensible and definitive data on work/rest cycle parameters and fatigue for the respective group. 

The present study of train and engine service workers used this same methodology. 

1.1 Nature of Train and Engine Service Work 

T&E employees are the largest group of employees on a railroad. They operate the trains both 

between terminals and in railroad yard environments. There are several types of T&E work. 

Road freight work involves moving trains over long distances between major terminals or 

interchange points and frequently requires overnight stays at an out-of-town location. In 

contrast, local freight involves moving trains between a railroad yard and a nearby location, and 

the employee returns to the starting location at the end of the work period. T&E employees who 

work in passenger or commuter operations usually return to their starting location, but some 

who work in intercity service may be required to stay at an out-of-town location. Work in a 

railroad yard involves breaking up inbound trains, identifying freight for local delivery, and 

making up trains of outbound freight. 

There are eight types of positions in T&E service. A locomotive engineer is in immediate and 

direct control of the motion of a train and is responsible for obeying all directions and signals as 

well as controlling train movements and speed between stops. A conductor is responsible for the 

train and its crew. The conductor position usually applies to road freight or passenger service. A 

train crew may have a brakeman/trainman, in addition to a locomotive engineer and conductor. 

The brakeman is the conductor’s assistant. A yard foreman has responsibilities in the yard 

similar to those of the conductor in road freight operations. The person in this position works as 

a team with the locomotive engineer to break up and assemble trains in a yard. While the 

brakeman is an assistant to the conductor in road freight operations, a switchman is an assistant 

to the yard foreman on a yard crew. Yard operations may include two additional positions. With 

the introduction of remote controlled locomotives in yard operations, the position of remote 

control locomotive (RCL) operator has evolved. The RCL operator controls the movement of a 

specially-equipped yard locomotive from the ground rather than the cab of the locomotive. If the 
8

yard includes a mechanical shop for repair of locomotives, hostlers may move engines between 

the yard track and repair facility. 

The HOS Law limits the length of the T&E worker’s on-duty period to a maximum of 12 

consecutive h in a 24-hour period. After working 12 h, the T&E worker must have at least 10 h 

off duty before returning to work. If he or she works less than 12 h in a 24-hour period, then the 

required off-duty period is 8 h. If the employee has 12 non-consecutive h on duty in a 24-hour 

period, then the Law requires that the employee have only 8 h off before returning to work. The 

T&E worker may work a total of 16 h (non-consecutive) in a 24-hour period if the individual has 

at least 8 h off duty between two 8-hour work periods. The HOS Law limits the length of the 

T&E worker’s on-duty period and provides for guaranteed time off, but it does not address either 

the number of consecutive days that the individual may work or guaranteed rest days.

1

Although the HOS Law is intended to reduce fatigue and assure that workers are well-rested, 

situations arise where this is not the case. For example, a locomotive engineer goes to bed at 10 

p.m. The railroad notifies the engineer at 4 a.m. that he or she must report for a 6 a.m. work 

start. The employee goes back to sleep until 4:30 a.m. and then gets up to report to work. The 

employee works from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. At 10 p.m., according to the Hours of Service Law, the 

employee is fully rested and available to work for up to 12 h. If the employee is called at 8 p.m. 

for a 10 p.m. start of work, the reality is that at most he or she has had only a few hours of sleep 

before returning to work. In this situation, the employee is sleep-deprived and will be 

performing safety-critical duties with an increased risk of making an error. 

The work schedules of T&E employees may have either a regular starting time or one that varies 

unpredictably from day to day. Most yard operations, local freight service, and passenger and 

commuter operations have jobs with regular starting times. Employees on the extra board, in 

both yard and road freight operations, fill in for regularly assigned T&E workers and as such 

their work schedule may vary from day to day. Because most yards operate 24 h a day, railroads 

staff their yards with either three 8-hour shifts or two 12-hour shifts. Jobs in passenger service 

may involve a split assignment where the individual works the morning rush, has time off in the 

middle of the day, and returns to work the evening rush. The period of time between the two 

work periods may be referred to as “interim release.” During this period, the employee is off 

duty but must be available to work if called. If the interim release occurs at a location other than 

the employee’s reporting point, the railroad must provide a quiet room or other facility where the 

employee may rest. If the interim release period is less than 4 h, it will count as on-duty time in 

terms of the HOS Law, so there is a disincentive for the railroad to limit the time between the 

two work periods. The end result is that the time that the employee has before and after work for 

personal activities and sleep becomes limited. 

T&E workers in road freight service do not have a regular work schedule in terms of either the 

days that they work or the time that they must report for work. A limited number of collective 

bargaining agreements have provisions for guaranteed rest days. This situation makes it difficult 

for the T&E worker to plan his/her sleep and personal activities. In an attempt to assure some 

 

1

Following the completion of the data collection for this study, Congress passed and the President signed the Rail 

Safety Improvement Act of 2008 which provides that T&E workers must have 10 h of undisturbed rest in a 24-hour 

period, regardless of the number of hours worked, and may work no more than 276 h in a calendar month. In 

addition, RSIA requires that if a T&E employee has a work start on 6 consecutive d, then the employee must have 

48 h off duty. RSIA also requires 72 h off duty following seven consecutive work starts. 
9

advance notice to the worker, most collective bargaining agreements stipulate the minimum 

notice, which is rarely more than 2 h, that the railroad must give the T&E worker before the start 

of the duty period. This call time may be different for the home and away terminals. In addition, 

a few agreements also specify a period of time, referred to as the call window, during which the 

railroad may call the employee to work. In most cases, the employee must be available 24 h a 

day unless he or she notifies the railroad that he or she is not available to work. 

Other situations compromise the start of the rest period. When the T&E worker in road freight 

service reaches the 12-hour limit of the on-duty period, the employee’s rest period may not begin 

immediately. Frequently a crew reaches this limit, but they have not yet arrived at their 

destination. When this occurs, they must wait for a relief crew or transportation to the final 

destination. Sometimes this situation creates the opportunity for a nap depending on railroad 

policy. This period of time is referred to as limbo time, meaning that it is neither on-duty time 

nor rest period. Another circumstance that can postpone the start of the rest period involves 

deadheading (e.g., ride as passengers, not crew, on another road freight train or in other 

transportation) back to the home terminal. When the crew arrives at the destination terminal, 

regardless of whether or not they have reached the statutory 12-hour limit, they may be asked to 

deadhead back to their home terminal. In this situation, the deadhead time is considered limbo 

time, thus postponing the start of the rest period. Once again, the crew may be able to nap on the 

return to the home terminal. 

1.2 Objectives 

This study had two primary objectives: 

• To design and conduct a survey to collect work schedule and sleep data from T&E 

employees. 

• To analyze data to characterize the work/sleep patterns and to identify work-schedulerelated fatigue issues. 

The goal was to characterize U.S. T&E workers as a group, not to characterize T&E workers on 

a specific railroad. 

Specific research issues that the study sought to answer included the following: 

• What is the distribution of T&E employees among T&E positions and types of work? 

• On average, how many hours does a T&E employee work in 2 weeks? How does the 

average number of hours worked vary by type of work, position, or work schedule? 

What is the average length of a work period? 

• For employees working jobs with fixed starting times, how does the nominal schedule 

compare with the actual time worked? 

• What are the differences in start time variability by type of work and schedule? 

• What is the average daily sleep of T&E employees? How does this compare with other 

adult populations? 

• What is the average length of work period by type of work? 
10

• How does daily sleep vary for T&E workers with fixed start times compared with nonfixed start times? How does daily sleep vary by type of work? 

• How does the length of sleep at home compare with sleep away from home? Does the 

sleep quality differ by location? 

• For jobs without fixed starting times, what is the average length of call time? How many 

T&E workers have a call window? Does the type of call window (24-h or time interval) 

affect feelings of alertness/sleepiness? 

• Does the number of sick days taken vary by type of work or schedule? How does this 

compare with U.S. adult norms? 

• Are work schedule issues major sources of workplace stress? 

• To what extent have railroads provided sleep/fatigue education? 

• How prevalent is sleep apnea among T&E workers? 

1.3 Overall Approach 

Since no existing data sources could provide answers to the above issues, a survey of T&E 

workers was the only means to obtain the necessary work schedule and sleep data. The research 

project consisted of three phases: preparation, field data collection, and data analysis (see Figure 

1). The preparation phase involved designing the survey methodology and procedures, 

conducting a pilot survey to refine the survey instruments and data collection procedure, securing 

approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and preparing the final survey 

instruments. (Because this survey involved more than nine participants, Federal regulations 

required that OMB approve the overall study design.) Activities during this phase included 

discussions with BLET and UTU representatives to assure that the survey instruments had 

suitable wording and would collect the data necessary to address the research issues. A pilot 

survey, conducted in parallel with the OMB review process, assured that the survey would 

capture the data needed to meet the survey objectives. 

The second phase of the research consisted of distributing the survey materials and collecting the 

survey data. Analysis of the survey data was the final phase. A nonresponse bias study 

validated that no difference existed between the survey participants and the non-respondents. 

The data analysis methods for the survey data included descriptive statistics, analysis of variance 

(ANOVA), and textual analysis of the log book comments. 

1.4 Scope 

This research involved T&E employees working in the United States and covered by the HOS 

Law. Yardmasters and trainmasters are T&E workers who oversee the activities of the work 

described in section 1.1. In general, they are not subject to the limits of the HOS Law except in 

circumstances in which they themselves perform functions comparable to those described in 

section 1.1. For this reason, yardmasters and trainmasters were not included in the study. The 

study characterized T&E workers as a group. It did not attempt to characterize T&E employees 

working for specific railroads. Making recommendations regarding fatigue countermeasures was 

beyond the scope of the study. 
11

Figure 1. Overall approach 

1.5 Organization of the report 

Section 2 describes the overall survey design and procedures. Section 3 provides analysis of the 

survey results, and Section 4 contains the findings and recommendations. A list of the references 

appears in Section 5. A glossary containing definitions for statistical and railroad terminology 

used in this report, follows Section 4. The Appendix contains copies of the survey materials. A 

list of abbreviations and acronyms used in the report follows the appendix. 

13

2. Survey Design 

One of the objectives of this study was to characterize the work schedules and sleep patterns of 

U.S. T&E workers. Achieving this objective required a nationwide survey. The only practical 

means of reaching these individuals was through their labor organizations, the BLET and the 

UTU. This section describes the potential respondent universe, the survey instruments, sampling 

plan, and procedures that the researchers developed to survey this population. This methodology 

is similar to that used in the earlier studies of railroad signalmen, MOW workers, and 

dispatchers. 

2.1 Potential Respondent Universe 

The potential respondent universe was the 86,000 actively working railroad T&E employees in 

the United States. The majority of U.S. T&E employees, approximately 55,000, are members of 

the UTU. The remainder belongs to the BLET. There is a very small number of T&E 

employees who work for short line railroads and are not represented by a labor organization. No 

way existed to easily identify and contact these individuals so they could not be part of this 

study. 

2.2 Survey Instruments 

This study used two survey instruments, a background survey and a daily log. (Copies of both 

instruments appear in the Appendix.) The background survey gathered demographic 

information, descriptive data for the T&E worker’s current position, type of work, and work 

schedule. The purpose for collecting this data was twofold. First, it provided data for 

characterizing the U.S. T&E worker population. Second, it provided identifying data that 

researchers used in conjunction with the daily log to characterize the work/sleep patterns by the 

two primary types of work schedule: regular starting time and variable starting time. This 

instrument also asked participants to rate, using a Likert scale of 1 to 4, potential sources of 

stress at work. In addition, the background survey included a list of life stress events. In the 

event that a participant’s daily log indicated frequent nighttime awakenings or excessive fatigue, 

the researchers could use the individual’s response to this section of the background survey to 

assure that no nonwork circumstances were confounding the survey data. Completion of the 

background survey required less than 15 min. 

The daily log provided the means for survey participants to record their daily activities in terms 

of sleep, personal time, commute to and from work, work, limbo time, and interim release. T&E 

workers recorded the start and end time of each activity in a graphical format. They also 

provided self-assessments of the quality of their sleep and their level of alertness at the start and 

end of each work period. These subjective assessments used a five-point Likert scale. The daily 

log included space to record “Comments on Today’s Activities.” The instructions for the log 

encouraged participants to use this space to explain anything unusual about the day’s activities. 

These comments proved useful in understanding an irregular work or sleep pattern and, in 

general, complemented the study’s quantitative findings. Completion of the daily log required 

less than a total of 10 min daily. 
14

2.3 Data Collection Period 

Examination of the relationship between work schedules and fatigue requires data from each 

person that encompasses at least a full work cycle. Fatigue is cumulative, and its effects on the 

individual are not readily identified from 1 or 2 d of data. In addition, adequate data must be 

available from both workdays and rest days so that the individual’s ability to compensate for lost 

sleep on workdays can be assessed. T&E workers with a regular work schedule have a work 

cycle of 1 week. This study used a 14-day data collection period to accommodate the many T&E 

workers who do not work a regular schedule. 

2.4 Sampling Plan 

Both the BLET and the UTU maintain databases with the names, mailing addresses, and date of 

birth for all of their members. These databases do not include the type of work, current 

position(s), or whether or not the member’s job has a regular work schedule. Only actively 

working union members living in the United States could be in the sampling frame. Retirees, 

fulltime union officials, and anyone currently holding a railroad management position were not 

eligible for the study. The effective sampling frame was 85,594 after these exclusions. A total 

of 54,610 were UTU members (63.8 percent), and the remainder (30,984) were BLET members 

(36.2 percent). The researchers drew a random sample from each group. The size of the sample 

from each of the two union databases was proportional to that organization’s representation in 

the sampling frame. 

One of the most important issues in conducting this study was determining how large a sample 

was necessary for the estimates obtained from the survey data to be reliable enough to meet the 

objectives of the study. In general, the larger the sample, the greater the reliability of the 

resulting estimates, but this must be traded off against the expense of a larger sample. The first 

step in this process was to specify the level of reliability needed for the resulting estimates. 

The appropriate sample size, n, for estimating the mean daily sleep time can be computed from 

the following (Levy & Lemeshow, 1999): 

2 2 2

2 2

( 1)

( )

+ − e

≥

z V N

z NV

n

x

x

where z = reliability coefficient (1.96 for 95 percent confidence level) 

N = population size 

Vx = unknown population variance 

ε = error tolerance 

This estimation for sample size applies as well to other mean values, such as work and commute 

time, that the study seeks to estimate. 

Webb (1992) estimates the standard deviation for daily sleep for the general population is 1 h 

(Webb, p. 72). Applying this estimate of standard deviation (and hence Vx, variance) to the T&E 

employee population (N = 85,594) and using an ε = .15 (±.075), there must be 340 (n) in the 

sample. Because it was not possible to know a priori the type of position or type of work that 

each BLET and UTU member works, a stratified sample was not possible. 
15

Because not every BLET and UTU member who is selected to participate in the survey would 

choose to do so, oversampling was necessary. The extent of oversampling was a function of the 

anticipated response rate. The researchers assumed a 42 percent response rate. This is the 

average of the response rate from the three prior surveys of this type. (The already completed 

signalmen, MOW, and dispatcher surveys achieved response rates of 50 percent, 30 percent, and 

46 percent, respectively.) If 42 percent of the selected individuals in the random sample decide 

to participate in the survey, then the random sample must be 809 (340/.42) to yield 340 

participants. 

2.5 Procedure 

In accordance with government regulation, FRA sought approval for the proposed survey from 

OMB. OMB approved this collection of information under OMB control number 2130-0577 on 

April 30, 2008. 

Concurrent with submittal of the OMB application, the researchers conducted a 1-week pilot 

survey with eight participants. The purpose of the pilot survey was to refine the data collection 

procedures and survey instruments. Both BLET and UTU assisted the researchers in identifying 

suitable participants for this pilot survey. People working yard jobs, road freight, local freight 

and commuter operations participated in the pilot survey. The study participants also represented 

both regular and nonregular starting times. Pilot study participants completed the Train and 

Engine Service Employee Background Survey and Train and Engine Service Daily Log as well 

as a brief Post-Survey Feedback Form to provide feedback on the survey instruments and 

procedures. Similar to the full survey, pilot survey participants received a $75 gift certificate to a 

national retail establishment. Based on the experience with the pilot survey, the researchers 

made the following changes in the background survey: 

• A question was added to ask about the number of times the employee checks the lineup.

2

• A question was added regarding guaranteed rest days. 

• A “none” option was added to the question regarding fatigue education. 

• “Irregular work schedule” was added to the list under Stress at Work. 

Changes to the daily log were the following: 

• The time scale was changed to military time. 

• A fifth activity category, interim release, was added. 

• Two minor errors in the sample entry were corrected. 

In addition, problems that pilot participants had in recording data in the daily log necessitated 

refinements to the instruction sheet. 

Following the pilot survey and prior to mailing the survey materials, an article describing the 

upcoming survey was posted on the Web sites of both BLET and UTU. 

 

2 The lineup is the list, by time, of trains expected to leave the terminal. By knowing the expected departure time of 

trains and the employee’s position on the crew call list, the employee can estimate when he or she will be called to 

work. 
16

The researchers drew a random sample of 299 BLET members and 510 UTU members, without 

replacement from the sampling frame derived from the two membership lists. The package 

mailed to each participant on May 9, 2008, consisted of the following items: 

• Train and Engine Service Employee Background Survey in booklet form. Each page was 

5.5 x 8.5 in, printed on white paper with no questions on the cover page. 

• Train and Engine Service Employee Daily Log in spiral notebook form. Each page was 

5.2 x 6.5 in. The Daily Log included 14 sections, one for each day of the data collection 

period. Brief instructions and a sample entry appeared at the beginning of the log book. 

• Cover letter signed by the President of the T&E employee’s labor organization. This 

letter explained the purpose of the study and encouraged participation. 

• Instructions explaining the survey procedures and how to complete the daily log. 

• Return envelope, postage paid. 

• $5 bill.

Copies of the cover letters and instructions appear in Appendix A along with the survey 

instruments. 

All materials were printed on high quality paper, and each letter was individually addressed to 

the recipient. The instruction sheet was printed on yellow paper to increase the likelihood that 

recipients would read it. The mailing envelope for the survey packet used the union return 

address rather than Foster-Miller, because it would be familiar to recipients. The purpose of the 

$5 was to encourage participation. Those who returned both the background survey and daily 

log also received a $75 gift certificate to a national retail establishment. 

The instructions emphasized that 14 consecutive d of data should be provided and that data 

should not be reported during vacation periods. Both the instructions and the log included 

contact information for two Foster-Miller staff members who were available to answer questions 

regarding the survey instruments and procedures and to provide additional copies of the survey 

materials. 

Ten d after distribution of the survey materials, every survey recipient received a postcard, 

signed by their union president, to encourage them to participate in the survey. Two weeks after 

distribution of the materials, every survey recipient who had not yet returned the survey 

materials or indicated that they were not interested in participating, received a second postcard to 

thank those who had decided to participate and to encourage those who had not yet done so to 

participate in the study. The second postcard also established July 15 as the deadline for 

returning survey materials and provided a Foster-Miller contact for duplicate survey materials. 
17

3. Analysis of Survey Data 

This chapter presents the survey findings based on data provided in respondent background 

surveys and daily logs. The results are organized into the following subtopic headings: 

• Survey response rate 

• Nonresponse bias study 

• T&E worker demographic characteristics 

• Job characteristics 

• Sleep characteristics 

• Alertness 

• Effectiveness on the job 

• Textual data 

This study used a confidence interval of 95 percent. The researchers used SPSS 15.0 to analyze 

the survey data and ATLAS.ti® V 5.5.9 for textual analysis. 

3.1 Survey Response Rate 

The survey materials were mailed to 809 Train and Engine Service Employees. A total of 265 

respondents returned both the background survey and the activity/sleep log. Fifteen respondents 

replied with both survey instruments but their data were not a part of the analysis because either 

there were problems with their log books or they were not in crafts covered by the survey. (In 

some locations, UTU represents all employees. Excluding non-T&E people from the sampling 

frame was not possible because the UTU database does not identify members by craft.) One 

individual was a member of both UTU and BLET and was in the random sample from each 

group. This individual returned two sets of survey materials so only one was used. Nineteen 

individuals returned only one of the survey instruments and thus were not a part of the analysis. 

Nineteen individuals responded that they did not want to participate in the survey. The overall 

response rate was 33 percent. The final analysis used data from 250 respondents who returned 

both survey instruments. Because the number of usable responses was less than the target level 

of 340, the effective error tolerance (ε) is 0.175 or ±.0875. 

3.2 Nonresponse Bias Study 

The OMB requires a statistical analysis assessing response bias if the response rate of a survey is 

less than 75 percent. The purpose of this analysis is to determine whether or not respondents 

differ from non-respondents with respect to personal characteristics. 

Personal information for non-respondents was limited to information from the union membership 

databases. In addition to each member’s address, these databases contain members’ birth dates. 

Birth date (or age) is an appropriate variable to use for assessing nonresponse bias as sleep 

patterns are known to change as an individual ages (Van Cauter, Leproult, & Plat, 2000). In 

addition, age is positively correlated with years of experience. Therefore, experienced personnel 
18

with more seniority may get to choose convenient work schedules and as a result be more rested 

than individuals with less seniority. 

The 265 individuals who returned both survey instruments were respondents. The remaining 

members of the sample were nonrespondents. One member did not have available birth date 

information and was not included in the nonresponse bias study reducing the number of nonrespondents to 543. An analysis comparing the mean age of respondents and non-respondents 

found no significant difference, t(806) = 1.83, p = 0.067. The t value was adjusted for unequal 

variances. 

3.3 T&E Worker Demographic Characteristics 

This section provides demographics, as well as basic job-, family-, and health-related 

information based on responses in the background survey. Where appropriate, the study includes 

comparisons of the study results with national norms. 

Characterization of the T&E workers considered many factors. These factors are sex and age, 

type of position and type of work, experience, overall health, sick days taken, incidence of sleep 

disorders, and caffeine consumption. 

3.3.1 Sex and Age 

The T&E workforce is predominantly male. Only 2 percent of the usable survey responses were 

from females so reporting of results by sex was not meaningful. 

Survey respondents have an average age of 45.4 yr, and their median age is 46 yr. As is common 

with other railroad craft groups, this is an aging workforce with over 40 percent being 50 or 

older. Figure 2 contains the age distribution of survey respondents. The response rate among the 

20–29 and 60-plus age groups was lower than that for the other age groups thus showing them as 

a smaller proportion of the work force. 

Research has found that a higher perceived age, relative to chronological age, can be an indicator 

of chronic stress and poor psychological well-being (Barnes-Farrell & Piotrowski, 1989, 1991). 

Overall, T&E workers reported a lower perceived age (41.2 yr) in comparison with their average 

chronological age (45.4 yr). As shown in Table 2, the T&E population tends to feel younger as 

they age. This is the same pattern that Barnes-Farrell and Piotrowski found with permanent day 

shift workers in a manufacturing plant. They point out that younger people tend to report feeling 

older to reflect perceived maturity. The T&E workers’ perceived age follows the pattern 

reported by these researchers and, as such, is not indicative of poor psychological well-being. 

Statistical analysis confirmed the differences in perceived versus chronological age, χ

2

(8, N = 

243) = 29.15, p < .001. 

3.3.2 Type of Position 

Many T&E workers are qualified to work in more than one position. For example, a remote 

control operator may also be qualified as a conductor. For this reason, some survey respondents 

reported working more than one type of position. Nearly all of the survey respondents indicated 

that they worked as a locomotive engineer (49 percent) or conductor (40 percent). A total of 11 
19

percent reported working as a switchman, brakeman or trainman, 8 percent worked the position 

of yard foreman, and 7 percent were RCL operators. 

6

27

25

39

4

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60+

Age Group

Percent

Figure 2. Distribution of respondents by age group 

Table 2. Discrepancies between chronological and perceived age by age group (percent) 

Worker Age (yr) 

Age 

Perception 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60+ 

Younger 28.6 42.4 64.4 66.3 88.9 

Same Age 21.4 25.8 22.0 24.2 11.0 

Older 50.0 31.8 13.6 9.5 0 

3.3.3 Type of Work and Work Schedule 

Railroads use T&E employees in several different types of work. They may work in road 

freight, yard operations, local freight, or passenger operations. Approximately 2 percent of 

respondents reported work other than that previously listed. Most of these individuals were 

trainers. As in the case of type of position, some may work in more than one type of work, for 
20

example, road freight and yard operations. Nearly two-thirds reported working road freight and 

a third work in yard operations (see Figure 3). Nearly a quarter worked in local freight 

operations and a small number, 7 percent, worked in passenger operations. Overall, 21 percent 

of respondents reported exposure to more than one type of work 

62

33

23

7

2

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Road Freight Yard Operations Local Freight Passenger/

Commuter

Operations

Other

Percent

Figure 3. Type of T&E work 

A third of the T&E employees reported working a job that had a fixed starting time while the 

starting time for the remainder varied from day to day. Eighty-five percent of those working a 

job with a variable start time held road freight jobs. Yard operations accounted for more than 

half of those with a fixed start time; local freight and passenger/commuter operations each 

accounted for 15 percent. 

The researchers felt that work schedule, as characterized by the start time, was a key determinant 

of work-related fatigue. For this reason, the analyses that follow compared two T&E groups on 

the basis of the regularity, or lack of regularity, of their work starts. 

3.3.4 Experience 

Overall, T&E workers who participated in the study have an average of 17.2 yr of T&E 

experience and 15 yr with their current employer. Since their average age is 45.4 yr, this group 

worked in either another industry or another railroad craft prior to working in train and engine 

service. T&E workers with more experience tend to work the jobs with a fixed start time, as 
21

Table 3 illustrates. Because jobs are chosen by seniority, those with more experience select the 

more desirable jobs, which have regular schedules. 

Table 3. Years of T&E experience by type of schedule 

Schedule* Mean (Std. Dev.) Median 

Fixed start 23.5 (13.6) 29.5 

Total experience 

Variable start 14.0 (11.7) 9.9 

Exp Fixed start 19.1 (12.9) 17.2 erience with 

current employer Variable start 12.9 (11.1) 9.7 

*Total experience comparison between fixed and variable start, t(248) = 5.74, p < .001 

Current experience comparison between fixed and variable start, t(248) = 3.97, p < .001 

3.3.5 Marital and Family Status 

Most recent population data from the U.S. Census indicates that 68.6 percent of U.S. males age 

40 to 44 are married (U.S. Census Bureau, 2007). For the U.S. male population 18 and older, 

59.9 percent are married. At the time of the study, 80 percent of the respondents were married, 

10.8 percent single, 7.2 divorced, 0.8 widowed and 1.2 categorized themselves as other. (These 

people were likely separated or living with a partner.) Because many railroaders report that their 

work schedule strains marital relationships, finding such a high proportion of T&E people who 

are married was surprising. This data, however, does not indicate whether or not the married 

individuals were in an initial marriage or one subsequent to a divorce. 

The survey asked participants whether or not their family included young children, a factor that 

can lead to disrupted sleep. Although a large percentage of the group is married, only 10.3 

percent had children under 2 yr. This finding is not surprising given the average age of a T&E 

worker. 

3.3.6 Health 

A recent study of the health of the American workforce (Aumann & Galinsky, 2009) found that 

79 percent of the respondents rated their overall health as good (51 percent) or excellent (28 

percent). The T&E background survey asked an identical question. Participants rated their 

health as excellent, good, fair or poor. A total of 86 percent of T&E workers rated themselves in 

good (62.4 percent) or excellent (23.6 percent) health. The difference in perceptions of overall 

health between T&E workers and the U.S. workforce may be due to the availability of health 

insurance to all T&E workers. 

Analysis of these responses by work schedule found no difference in perceived health between 

those working a job with a fixed start time and those with a variable start time, χ

2

(3, N = 248) = 

1.18, p = 0.76. The self-assessment of health did not differ between the two groups based on 

type of schedule, but a difference existed in terms of the number of sick days taken. Those with 

a fixed start time averaged 3.2 sick days while those with a variable start averaged 6.3 d (see 

Table 4). These means were statistically different by work schedule, t(247) = -3.87, p < 0.001. 
22

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ≥10

Number of Sick Days

Percent

Fixed Start

Variable Start

Figure 4. Sick days by type of schedule 

As a group, T&E employees take more sick days than U.S. adults (see Table 4). Those with a 

variable start, who comprise two-thirds of the total, average 6.3 sick days per year. In fact, the 

T&E workers with a variable start exceed the mean sick days for U.S. adults, U.S. adult males, 

age-based subsets of U.S. adults, and U.S. adults with private health insurance. Because no 

difference exists in how the two groups of T&E workers rate their health, it is likely that the 

T&E employees working jobs with a variable start are marking off sick to catch up on sleep or to 

handle personal business. Comments in the daily logs support this explanation. 

3.3.7 Incidence of Sleep Disorders 

The Wisconsin Sleep Cohort Study, a longitudinal study of cardiopulmonary sleep disorders 

among middle-aged working adults, estimated that 2 percent of women and 4 percent of men 

have sleep apnea (Young, et al., 1993). (The definition of sleep apnea for this study was an 

apnea-hypopnea score of 5 or higher and daytime hypersomnolence.) The National Sleep 

Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health report the numbers from the Wisconsin 

study as an estimate of the prevalence of sleep apnea among U.S. adults. Some sleep researchers 

hypothesize that the prevalence of sleep apnea may in fact be higher because many remain to be 

diagnosed. According to the Wisconsin study, 9 percent of women and 24 percent of men have 

undiagnosed sleep-disordered breathing, a condition that in some people results in excessive 

daytime sleepiness. 
23

Table 4. Comparison of T&E annual sick days with U.S. working adults 

Group Mean Work-Loss Days 

All T&E 5.3 

T&E Fixed Start 3.2 

T&E Variable Start 6.3 

U.S. Adults* 4.1 

U.S. Adult Males* 3.9 

U.S. Adults Age 18-44 * 3.7 

U.S. Adults Age 45-64 * 5.0 

Private Health Insurance (<age 65 yr)* 4.0 

*U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2007 

Of the 250 participants in this study, 21 or 8.4 percent reported having a sleep disorder. All 

reported having sleep apnea. Two-thirds of those reported receiving treatment. The remaining 

third may have mild to moderate sleep apnea which does not always require treatment or these 

individuals may have chosen not to seek treatment. Two possible reasons exist as to why this 

group’s incidence of sleep apnea is twice that of the reported norm for U.S. middle-aged working 

males. Railroad and labor educational and wellness programs, as well as media publicity, in 

recent years may have made this group of railroad employees more cognizant of the symptoms 

of sleep apnea and its consequences and caused them to seek medical evaluation. In addition, the 

job of a locomotive engineer is a sedentary job that requires sitting in one place for extended 

periods of time. Sedentary jobs may lead to weight gain, which exacerbates sleep apnea. 

3.3.8 Fatigue Education 

The background survey asked about participants’ exposure to educational materials or training 

on fatigue, sleep hygiene, napping, or sleep disorders. Three quarters reported having some type 

of fatigue education, but a quarter reported that they never had this type of training. The most 

common types of training were a videotape or brochure (see Figure 5). Some reported more than 

one type of fatigue education. 

3.3.9 Use of Caffeine 

NSF reports that 250 mg of caffeine a day, the equivalent of a soda and a couple of coffees, 

generally poses no harm. Almost all participants (92.4 percent) reported consuming caffeinated 

beverages on a daily basis, and those who did, average four beverages per day. This level of 

caffeine consumption is within normal healthy limits, and T&E workers’ sleep, in general, is not 

likely disrupted because of caffeine, unless caffeine consumption occurs close to a sleep period 

(NSF, 2002). 
24

46 46

26

7

24

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

Videotape Brochure Briefing Other None

Type of Education

Percent

Figure 5. Exposure to fatigue education 

3.3.10 Summary of T&E Worker Demographic Characteristics 

Participants in the study reported an average age of 45.4 yr. Only 2 percent are female. Nearly 

two-thirds work in road freight and a third work in yard operations, and over a third perform 

more than one type of work. A third holds a job with a fixed start time and the remainder hold 

jobs where their start time varies. Overall T&E workers have over 17 yr of T&E experience, 

nearly all of it (15 yr) with their current employer. Those with more experience hold the jobs 

with a fixed start time. Eighty percent are married but only 10.3 percent have children under the 

age of 2 yr. A total of 86 percent rated themselves in good or excellent health, but T&E workers 

whose jobs have a variable start time take more sick days than U.S. working adults. Over 8 

percent of T&E workers report having sleep apnea but a third is not receiving treatment. 

3.4 Job Characteristics 

This section explores several aspects of the T&E worker’s job, including work/rest schedule, 

hours worked, start time variability, call time, and sources of workplace stress. 

3.4.1 Call Time 

T&E workers who work a job with a variable start time have a call time associated with their job. 

These would be people either working road freight jobs or holding extra board jobs. Call time is 

the amount of advance notice that the employer must give the employee of the start of the work 
25

period. More than half of these people have a 2-h call time at home and 1.5 h at an away 

terminal, but there is some variation, as shown in Figure 6. Most T&E people are subject to call 

24 h a day, but 5 percent reported that they have a limited call window when the railroad may 

call them for work, such as 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

2 2

39

51

2

4

2

4

56

37

0

1

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

1:00 1:15 1:30 2:00 2:30 3:00

Call Time (h:min)

Percent

Home Away

Figure 6. Call time by location 

3.4.2 Rest Days 

Provision for rest days differs between the two types of work schedules. Two-thirds of the 

people with variable start times have no guaranteed rest days, while 81 percent of those with 

fixed start times have 2 consecutive rest d per week (see Table 5). The provision for guaranteed 

rest days was statistically different by type of schedule, χ

2

(4, N = 250) = 181.5, p < 0.001. 

Table 5. Guaranteed rest days by type of schedule 

Guaranteed Days Fixed Start Variable Start 

None 1.2% 65.9% 

2 d per week 1.2% 0% 

2 consecutive d per week 80.7% 2.4% 

1 d per week 12.0% 13.2% 

Other 4.8% 18.6% 
26

3.4.3 Hours Worked 

Through the background survey, the study collected data on a nominal workweek and a typical 

workweek. For people working jobs with a fixed start time, their nominal workweek was 40 h. 

Jobs with a variable start time by their nature do not have a nominal workweek. Using the daily 

log book, T&E workers recorded their actual work hours. The actual hours worked included 

work as well as limbo time and interim release. In addition, they recorded their commute times. 

Table 6 summarizes the work periods for the two groups of T&E workers based on the type of 

start time. Those with a fixed start time reported that they typically work 43 h per week (or 86 h 

in 2 weeks) while those with a variable start reported typically working 54 h per week. The 

actual work reported in the log books of those with fixed start times was close to their typical 

work but this was not the case for those working jobs with variable start times. Either the survey 

period was atypical for this group or they tend to recall the longest workweeks that they 

experience. The average length of the individual work periods was similar for both groups, as 

Table 6 indicates, but those in the variable start group were more likely to have work periods of 

10 h or more (see Figure 7). 

A General Accounting Office (GAO) analysis of 1990 engineer schedule data from four railroads 

found 63.4 percent of the work periods to be less than 8 h (GAO, 1992). This finding differs 

from the results of the present study where the median work period exceeded 8 h. In addition, 

the GAO study found 3.1 percent of the work periods exceeded 12 h whereas the data reported in 

the present study had 8.1 percent of fixed start time work periods and 9.2 percent of variable start 

time work periods exceeding 12 h. Using the GAO results as a point of comparison, it appears 

that T&E people are working longer shifts now than they did in 1990. Because engineers and 

conductors work the same schedules, the fact that the GAO analysis considered only engineer 

schedules does not affect this comparison. 

A subsequent GAO analysis examined shift lengths of engineers working yard and mainline 

(road) jobs at CSX and Conrail (GAO, 1993). For both CSX and Conrail, as in the present study, 

the average yard shift was slightly longer than the shift for a mainline engineer. The 1993 GAO 

study found the median number of work starts in a 2-week period to be 8 while the individuals in 

the present survey had a median of 10 work starts for 2 weeks (see Table 7). This second GAO 

study also examined start time variability. Start time variability is the difference in start time, in 

hours, between consecutive work starts. It is of concern because a variable schedule may make it 

difficult for the individual to plan and get adequate rest between work periods. 
27

Table 6. Work in 2 weeks (h:min) 

Fixed Start Variable Start 

Mean Median 

Std. 

dev. 

1st 

quartile 

3rd 

quartile Mean Median 

Std. 

dev. 

1st 

quartile 

3rd 

quartile 

Typical 

work* 98:00 96:00 10:11 40:00 55:00 110:00 108:00 13:09 48:00 62:00 

Actual 

work 90:53 86:17 17:13 79:30 102:36 85:17 84:12 23:49 69:14 101:20 

Length of 

work 

period 

8:52 8:42 1:50 7:51 10:07 8:54 8:39 1:30 7:55 10:02 

Actual 

work + 

limbo 

91:29 86:47 17:38 79:47 103:43 87:31 86:35 24:47 70:53 105:02 

Length of 

work 

period + 

limbo 

8:55 8:51 1:53 7:51 10:06 9:09 8:56 1:38 8:05 10:25 

Actual 

work + 

limbo+ 

commute 

101:20 96:07 25:13 86:36 121:53 99:30 97:19 25:34 83:16 114:07 

Length of 

work 

period + 

limbo + 

commute 

10:12 10:10 2:07 8:48 11:31 10:15 10:03 1:44 9:06 11:40 

Number 

of work 

starts 

10.6 10 2.5 9.3 11.0 9.7 10 2.5 8 11.0 

*Reported in background survey. Remaining data in table from daily logs. 
28

2.2

3.5

9.6

14.6

40

21.6

8.1

1.2

5.9

9.3

17.9

28.9

27.6

9.2

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

0:00-1:59 2:00-3:59 4:00-5:59 6:00-7:59 8:00-9:59 10:00-12:00 > 12:00

Time Worked (h:min)

Percent

Fixed Start

Variable Start

Figure 7. Frequency of work period length by schedule type 

Table 7. Number of work starts in 2 weeks 

Mean Std. dev. Median 1st quartile 3rd quartile 

Fixed Start 10.6 2.5 10 9.3 11.0 

Variable Start 9.7 2.5 10 8.0 11.0 

CSX* 7.8 n/a 8 6 10 

Conrail* 7.6 n/a 8 6 10 

*Source: GAO, 1993. 

Table 8 presents several statistical measures of start time variability for the present study along 

with the results from the 1993 GAO study. These data, from both the present study and the GAO 

study, suggest several differences between the schedules of fixed start or yard jobs and those of 

the variable start or mainline jobs. First, the average start time variability for fixed start jobs is 

less than half that of the variable start time jobs, and half of the fixed start work periods have 

little or no start time variability; the median variability for CSX and Conrail is 0 h, for the survey 

it is .5 h. The survey data indicate that a quarter of the variable start jobs have a start time 

variability of nearly 9 h or more. In comparison with the earlier CSX and Conrail data, it 

appears that T&E work schedules today have more start time variability than was true at the time 

of the GAO analysis 
29

Table 8. Work start time variability (h) 

Mean Std. Dev. Median 1

st quartile 3rd quartile 

Fixed Start 3.3 5.0 .5 0 6.6 

CSX Yard* 2.2 n/a 0 0 4.3 

Conrail Yard* 1.6 n/a 0 0 1.4 

Variable Start 7.1 2.7 7.1 5.1 8.9 

CSX Mainline* 5.2 n/a 4.9 2.3 8 

Conrail 

Mainline* 

4.7 n/a 4.3 1.8 7.4 

Source: GAO, 1993. 

The variable nature of the T&E worker’s job is further complicated by the fact that the worker 

may be asked to work off his or her regular assignment. This may mean working a different 

shift, if the worker has a yard job, or working from a different home terminal, if the worker is in 

freight service. On average, those with fixed start jobs were used off their regular assignment 

6.3 times in the past year and those on variable start jobs averaged 4.8 times; however, the 

median number of nonregular assignments for fixed start jobs was 0 and for variable start jobs it 

was 2. 

T&E employees working variable start jobs check the lineup to estimate when they might be 

called to work. This is a key strategy that they employ in trying to plan their rest and personal 

activities. On average, they reported checking the lineup five times a day. Those working jobs 

with regular start times have no need to employ this strategy. 

T&E employees working road jobs frequently reach the statutory limit of 12 h on duty and find 

themselves on limbo time before finally reaching their release point when their rest period 

begins. If the limbo time is added to the work period time, the average work period for people 

with fixed start jobs increases only 3 min and for those with variable start jobs, the average work 

period increases by 15 min (see Table 6). As Figure 7 illustrates, 9.2 percent of the work periods 

for jobs with variable starts exceeded 12 h. When limbo time is added to the work period, 16.2 

percent of the variable start and 10.2 percent of the fixed start work periods exceeded 12 h. This 

means that a T&E worker on a fixed start job is likely to have to work more than 12 h in one out 

of every 10 work starts whereas a T&E worker on a variable start job is likely to work this length 

of time in one out of every six work starts. 

RSIA limits total time on duty, including limbo time, to 276 h in a calendar month. Another 

provision of RSIA provides that after an employee has work starts on 6 consecutive d, the 

individual must have at least 48 hr off duty, and after 7 consecutive d, the individual must have 

at least 72 hr off duty. While these restrictions were not in place at the time of the survey, the 

survey data provides an indication of the extent of the impact that these new limits will have on 

T&E work schedules. 

By extrapolating the 14 d of survey data to 30 d, it is possible to estimate the number of T&E 

workers who likely exceeded this limit during the study period. There were 232 survey 

respondents whose diaries had complete work histories for 14 d. Of these, 12 (5.2 percent), 
30

exceeded the new statutory limit. Of the 12, two worked a job with a fixed start time and the 

remainder worked jobs with variable start times. 

In terms of work starts, there were 49 instances of six or more consecutive work starts. Of this 

total, 16 occurred at the end of the 14-day survey period so it was not possible to determine 

whether or not there was a subsequent rest period. Of the remaining 33 occurrences, there were 

17 six-day work starts followed by a break; 13 had less than 48 hr before the next work start. 

For the occurrences of seven consecutive starts, none had 72 hr before the next work start. In 

fact, 12 of these worked on the following day (see Table 9). These data indicate that 11.6 

percent of the survey participants had work patterns that would be disallowed once the rest 

provisions of RSIA are in effect. The incidence of this work pattern is probably even greater 

since with the survey data it was not possible to include occurrences where the last day worked 

was on the 14th day of the survey. 

Table 9. Compliance with RSIA rest period requirements (number of occurrences) 

Length of rest period Number of 

consecutive work 

starts 

Meets RSIA 

requirement 

Does not meet 

new requirement Total 

6 4 13 17 

7 0 16 16 

Total 4 29 33 

When commute time is considered along with work time and limbo time, the total time devoted 

to work in 2 weeks increases by 10 h for those with fixed start jobs and 12 h for those on variable 

start jobs. The average time devoted to work increases from 8:55 to 10:12 for people on fixed 

start jobs but from 9:09 to 10:15 for variable start jobs. These results indicate that those on 

variable start time jobs live close to their reporting point while those on variable fixed time jobs 

either live further from their home terminal or are frequently required to travel to an alternate 

reporting point further from home. When people working road freight jobs are at an out-of-town 

terminal, if their travel time between lodging and reporting or release point is more than 30 min, 

this commute time would be reported as limbo or on duty time. For this reason, the 1-hour 

increase observed for variable start people when commute time is included most likely reflects 

travel time between the employee’s home and the home terminal. 
31

3.4.4 Sources of Stress 

In the background survey, T&E workers rated job-related sources of stress. They rate stress 

using a Likert scale with values from 1 to 4 with 1–no stress, 2–a little stress, 3–stressful, and 4–

very stressful. As Figure 8 illustrates, the top stressor for both groups of T&E workers was 

management policies. Of the 14 sources of stress, statistically different ratings existed for six of 

them (see Table 10). Five of the six stressors dealt with work schedule and rest. For all six 

stressors with a difference between the two groups, the variable start group gave the stressor a 

higher rating. Overall, the variable start group has a higher level of work-related stressprimarily 

because of their work schedule and sleep issues. 

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

Management policies

Lack of control over work schedule

Irregular work schedule

Sleep loss

Ambiguous rules and/or procedures

Inadequate time off

Oversight of new hires

Lack of uninterrupted rest

Inadequate staffing

Communication problems

Responsibility for others’ safety

Coordination with other departments

Job security

Lack of break time

Sources of Stress

Ratings

Fixed Start Variable Start

Figure 8. Sources and levels of stress by type of schedule 
32

Table 10. Stress ratings by schedule type 

Source of Stress 

Fixed 

Start 

Variable 

Start Significance Test 

Management policies 3.01 3.08 t(245) = -0.55, p = .58 

Lack of control over work 

schedule 

2.05 3.07 t(243) = -8.23, p < .001 

Irregular work schedule 1.99 2.94 t(130) = -7.56, p < .001*

Sleep loss 2.27 2.86 t(125) = -4.60, p < .001*

Ambiguous rules and/or 

procedures 

2.71 2.86 t(246) = -1.21, p = .23 

Inadequate time off 1.98 2.69 t(245) = -5.43, p < .001 

Oversight of new hires 2.56 2.47 t(245) = -0.61, p = .55 

Lack of uninterrupted rest 1.95 2.43 t(244) = -3.55, p < .001 

Inadequate staffing 2.29 2.42 t(246) = -0.90, p = .37 

Communication problems 2.33 2.40 t(246) = -0.53, p = .60 

Responsibility for others’ 

safety 

2.50 2.34 t(246) = -1.27, p = .21 

Coordination with other 

departments 

2.13 2.22 t(244) = -0.65, p = .52 

Job security 1.80 2.21 t(246) = -3.09, p < .01 

Lack of break time 1.96 1.95 t(245) = -0.14, p = .89 

*

Degrees of freedom were adjusted for unequal variances. 

Note: 1 = no stress, 2 = a little stress, 3 = stressful, 4 = very stressful 

3.4.5 Job Characteristics Summary 

Two-thirds of T&E workers hold jobs with a variable start time. The most common call times 

for these people are 2 h at the home terminal and 1.5 h when at an away terminal, although some 

people reported other arrangements. Over 80 percent of T&E people with fixed start jobs were 

guaranteed 2 consecutive rest days per week but two-thirds of those with variable start jobs had 

no guaranteed rest days. The average work period did not differ between the two groups but 

when limbo time, and then both limbo time and commute time were considered, the variable start 

group had a longer total time devoted to work. Variable start jobs also had higher work start 

time variability (7.1 h versus 3.3 h) than fixed start jobs. In comparison with data from 1993, 

today’s T&E jobs require more work starts in a 2-week period and have greater start time 

variability. Management policies are the greatest source of stress for all T&E workers. For T&E 

workers with variable start time jobs, work schedule issues and lack of opportunity for adequate 

sleep cause the most job-related stress. 
33

3.5 Sleep Characteristics 

This section reports the results from analyzing the sleep data of T&E employees. The sleep 

analyses focus on primary and daily sleep, the number of sleep periods per day, and the quality 

of sleep. The study examines sleep characteristics with respect to type of schedule (fixed or 

variable start), the location of sleep (home or away), and the prevalence of sleep disorders. 

For the purpose of the study, primary sleep for a given calendar day is the longest sleep period 

ending on that day. Likewise, daily sleep is the sum of all sleep periods that end on a calendar 

day. Each sleep period ending on a calendar day is counted to determine the number of sleep 

periods per day. Finally, the study examines workday and rest day sleep characteristics. 

Workdays have at least one work start time reported on the activity log for a calendar day. By 

contrast, rest days have no work starts occurring on a calendar day. If a sleep period ends on a 

workday, it is classified as workday sleep. Otherwise, if a sleep period ends on a rest day, it is 

considered rest day sleep. Understanding the method for categorizing sleep as workday or rest 

day sleep is important when reviewing the sleep results. 

3.5.1 Primary and Daily Sleep 

Table 11 presents descriptive statistics for primary sleep, daily sleep, and the average number of 

sleep periods per day by type of schedule (fixed or variable start) and type of day (work or rest). 

Table 11. Sleep by type of day and work schedule 

Fixed Start Variable Start 

Mean Median 

Std. 

dev. 

1st 

quartile 

3rd 

quartile Mean Median 

Std. 

dev. 

1st 

quartile 

3rd 

quartile 

Primary sleep 

Workday 6:48 6:59 0:57 6:17 7:35 6:58 6:51 1:01 6:16 7:36 

Rest day 7:32 7:38 1:30 6:31 8:29 7:16 7:15 1:24 6:19 8:04 

Daily sleep 

Workday 7:12 7:15 0:58 6:45 7:48 7:34 7:30 1:03 6:47 8:12 

Rest day 8:06 8:08 1:39 7:04 8:55 7:50 7:51 1:26 6:52 8:47 

Number of sleep periods 

Workday 1.17 1.10 0.26 1.00 1.20 1.28 1.20 0.25 1.10 1.43 

Rest day 1.21 1.20 0.30 1.00 1.25 1.25 1.20 0.29 1.00 1.40 

A 2 (schedule) x 2 (type of day) mixed-model ANOVA examines the average length of primary 

sleep for each respondent. The results indicate that no overall difference exists in the length of 

primary sleep between individuals working a fixed start schedule and those with a variable start 

time, F(1,492) = .28, p = .60. However, the length of primary sleep is significantly longer on 

rest days when compared to the length on workdays, F(1,492) = 91.03, p < .001, suggesting that 

T&E workers make up lost sleep on their days off. Also a significant interaction exists between 

type of schedule and day, F(1, 492) = 19.18, p < .001. Additional analysis reveals that the 

source of this interaction is a nonsignificant trend for fixed workers reporting longer primary 
34

sleep on rest days when compared with variable workers, F(1,492) = 2.98, p = .08. No 

difference exists between the type of schedule worked and the length of primary sleep on 

workdays, F(1,492) = 1.26, p = .26. Although not significant, these latter findings suggest a 

trend whereby fixed start workers have longer, uninterrupted sleep periods on rest days when 

compared with variable workers. With respect to workdays, fixed and variable workers obtain 

approximately the same amount of primary sleep. A potential explanation for these findings may 

be the schedule inconsistency of variable workers. Start time variability prevents this group 

from identifying specific time periods dedicated for long, uninterrupted sleep periods. 

Therefore, they may not be able to distinguish between work and rest days for the purpose of 

planning sleep. 

Primary sleep provides limited information about an individual’s sleep on a calendar day. Daily 

sleep, that is primary plus any supplementary sleep periods, provides a more complete measure 

of sleep. Since workday and rest day sleep may differ, it is important to characterize average 

daily sleep for fixed and variable scheduled employees on both workdays and rest days to 

determine the overall pattern of supplementary sleep. A 2 (schedule) x 2 (type of day) mixedmodel ANOVA examining average daily sleep yields a main effect for type of day, F(1,492) = 

86.66, p < .001, and a significant interaction between schedule and type of day, F(1,492) = 

32.46, p < .001. The main effect for schedule is not significant, F(1,492) = .27, p = .60, 

suggesting that no overall difference in daily sleep exists between fixed and variable workers. 

Similar to the results of the primary sleep period analysis, examination of average daily sleep 

indicates that T&E workers sleep longer on rest days than on workdays. This finding confirms 

that T&E workers as a group make up their sleep debt on their days off. Comparing fixed and 

variable workers daily sleep on workdays and rest days yields different sleep trends for those 

days. Figure 9 presents the average daily sleep by schedule and type of day. Variable workers 

log significantly more daily sleep on workdays than fixed workers F(1,492) = 5.52, p < .05. 

Similar to primary sleep, fixed workers have longer daily sleep on rest days than variable 

workers, however, this latter trend was not statistically significant, F(1,492) = 2.84, p = .09. As 

mentioned previously, no statistically significant difference exists between primary sleep for the 

two groups on workdays; however, variable workers get more daily sleep than fixed workers on 

these days. These results indicate that variable workers are napping on workdays. Figure 10 

shows that variable workers engage in supplementary sleep most often between noon and 2 a.m. 

An analysis comparing fixed and variable workers’ daily sleep periods supports the hypothesis 

that variable workers log more daily sleep (but not primary sleep) on workdays, because they are 

engaging in supplementary sleep. A 2 (schedule) x 2 (type of day) mixed-model ANOVA 

examining the average number of sleep periods per day yields a main effect for schedule, 

F(1,492) = 10.55, p < .01, but not for type of day, F(1,492) = .51, p = .48. That is, the average 

number of sleep periods per day is significantly higher for variable workers than for fixed 

workers. While T&E personnel obtain approximately the same amount of sleep regardless of 

schedule, these results show that variable workers must obtain supplementary sleep to achieve 

the same restorative effect. There was a significant interaction between schedule and type of day 

for average daily sleep period, F(1,492) = 8.63, p < .01. Two additional analyses explain this 

interaction. As a group, variable workers logged more sleep periods on workdays than on rest 

days, F(1,492) = 5.29, p < .05. An examination of workdays showed that variable workers 

logged more sleep periods on these days than did fixed workers, F(1,492) = 11.16, p < .01. This 

provides additional evidence that variable workers obtain supplementary workday sleep. 
35

7:12

8:06

7:34

7:50

6:00

7:00

8:00

9:00

Work Day Rest Day

Type of Day

Mean Daily

Sleep (h:m)

Fixed

Variable

Main effect Schedule F (1, 492) = 0.27, p = .60

Main effect Type of Day F (1, 492) = 86.66, p < .001

Interaction Schedule x Type of Day F (1, 492) = 32.47, p < .001

Figure 9. Daily sleep by type of day and schedule 

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

12-1:59 AM

2-3:59 AM4-5:59 AM6-7:59 AM8-9:59 AM

10-11:59 AM

12-1:59 PM

2-3:59 PM4-5:59 PM6-7:59 PM8-9:59 PM

10-11:59 PM

Sleep Start Time

Percent Figure 10. Supplementary workday sleep start times for variable start workers 
36

3.5.2 Comparison with Other Adult Populations 

Sleep data from other adult populations are not readily comparable to the T&E population. The 

National Sleep Foundation’s (NSF) 2008 Sleep in America Poll reports nighttime sleep on 

workdays as total sleep time. Because people with daytime jobs usually get their daily sleep at 

night, comparison with the NSF data is reasonable. Data from the NSF survey show that as a 

group, T&E workers get more daily sleep on workdays than the national average for U.S. adults 

(see Figure 11). Mean total sleep, as reported in the NSF survey, was 6:40; mean workday sleep 

for the combined T&E group was 7:26 and the 1996 Pollard study reported 7:08. Since the T&E 

data are for a population where the majority do not have a regular work schedule, comparison 

with normative data for U.S. adults may be misleading. As discussed above, multiple daily sleep 

periods for T&E workers and the quality of many T&E workers’ sleep makes their sleep less 

than fully restorative. In contrast, most U.S. adults have a single nighttime sleep period on 

workdays. While these data indicate T&E workers sleep more, increased total sleep time does 

not always indicate a lack of fatigue. 

3.5.3 Sleep Quality 

Study participants rated the quality of their longest sleep period on a Likert scale from 1 to 5. 

Lower ratings indicate poorer sleep quality. Table 12 lists the average sleep quality ratings for 

participants working fixed and variable start work schedules. Statistical analyses reveal that 

variable workers consistently rate the quality of their sleep lower than fixed workers. These 

differences are statistically significant for all sleep ratings. 

6

29

40

19

6

17

29

33

19

2

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Less than 6 6 to less than 7 7 to less than 8 8 to less than 9 9 or more

Average Daily Sleep (h) on Work Days

Percent

T & E

U.S. Adults

Figure 11. Daily sleep on workdays for T&E and U.S. adults 
37

Table 12. Average sleep quality ratings by type of schedule 

Sleep Rating Fixed Schedule Variable Schedule Significance Test* 

Ease of falling asleep 4.06 3.83 t(2452) = 6.16, p < .001 

Ease of getting up 3.57 3.34 t(2221) = 5.84, p < .001 

Length of sleep 3.58 3.36 t(2304) = 5.86, p < .001 

Quality of sleep 3.69 3.48 t(2261) = 5.56, p < .001 

Alertness upon 

awakening 

3.72 3.57 t(2172) = 4.11, p < .001 

*Equal variances for t-tests were not assumed; the degrees of freedom were adjusted accordingly. In addition to the 

t-tests, Mann Whitney nonparametric analyses also yielded significant differences between fixed and variable 

workers for each sleep rating. These additional nonparametric analyses were conducted because of the categorical 

nature of the dependent variable. 

Participants also recorded the location of their sleep as either home or away. Table 13 lists the 

average length of home and away primary sleep periods as well as the qualitative sleep ratings 

for the different sleep locations. Statistical analyses reveal that primary sleep periods occurring 

away from home are significantly shorter than they are at home. Average sleep ratings indicate 

poorer sleep quality for away sleep when compared to home sleep; this difference is statistically 

significant for all rating categories. As compared with fixed workers, a larger proportion of 

primary sleep periods for variable workers occurs away from home, χ

2

(4, N = 3370) = 209.1, p < 

0.001. This may explain why these workers consistently report poorer sleep quality than fixed 

workers. 

Table 13. Primary sleep length and quality ratings by sleep location 

Primary Sleep and 

Qualitative Ratings Home Sleep Away Sleep Significance Test* 

Primary sleep (h:min) 7:08 6:41 t(827) = 4.36, p < .001

Ease of falling asleep 3.94 3.76 t(793) = 3.28, p < .01 

Ease of getting up 3.45 3.24 t(888) = 4.35, p < .001 

Length of sleep 3.48 3.18 t(871) = 6.45, p < .001 

Quality of sleep 3.61 3.29 t(852) = 6.79, p < .001 

Alertness upon 

awakening 

3.64 3.52 t(892) = 2.81, p < .01 

*Equal variances for t-tests were not assumed; the degrees of freedom were adjusted accordingly. Mann Whitney 

nonparametric analyses were conducted on qualitative ratings between home and away sleep ratings; the results 

were statistically different for all sleep ratings. 
38

3.5.4 Sleep Quality and Sleep Disorders 

One-way between subjects ANOVAs with three levels (untreated sleep disorder, treated sleep 

disorder, and normal workers) calculated for each sleep quality rating resulted in no significant 

differences. The small number of participants with a sleep disorder is inadequate for meaningful 

statistical conclusions. Table 14 presents the average sleep quality ratings for respondents with 

and without sleep disorders. 

Table 14. Sleep quality ratings for respondents with and without sleep disorders 

Sleep Rating 

Untreated Sleep 

Disorder (n=7) 

Treated Sleep 

Disorder (n=14) 

Normal 

(n=228) 

Ease of falling asleep 3.8 3.7 3.9 

Ease of getting up 3.4 3.2 3.4 

Length of sleep 3.3 3.2 3.4 

Quality of sleep 3.4 3.4 3.6 

Alertness upon 

awakening 

3.5 3.3 3.6 

3.5.5 Sleep Characteristics Summary 

As a group, T&E employees report longer average daily sleep than U.S. adults. However, the 

analyses reveal that sleep length alone does not necessarily predict a lack of fatigue. Although 

primary sleep is not statistically distinguishable between fixed and variable workers, daily sleep 

and the average number of sleep periods per day are different for these two groups in very telling 

ways. Compared with fixed workers, variable workers report longer daily sleep and more sleep 

periods on workdays. This suggests that on workdays, variable workers engage in 

supplementary sleep to manage fatigue. These groups also report differences in their sleep 

quality. For all of the sleep quality ratings on the survey, variable workers consistently rate their 

sleep quality lower than fixed workers; these differences are statistically significant. Participants 

also rate away-from-home sleep of poorer quality than sleep at home. A χ

2

analysis 

demonstrates that variable workers sleep away from home more frequently than fixed workers. 

Away-from-home primary sleep is also significantly shorter than sleep at home. These findings 

show that variable workers, more so than fixed workers, are at risk for fatigue because the nature 

of their work schedules forces them to sleep away from home on a frequent basis. 

3.6 Alertness 

Through a question on the background survey, T&E workers rated their overall alertness at work. 

As Table 15 indicates, those with fixed start time jobs reported being alert more often than those 

with variable start time jobs. More than 60 percent of the fixed start people reported that they 

were frequently or always alert at work while only 43 percent of the variable start people 

reported this level of alertness. These are statistically significant differences, χ

2

(3, N = 247) = 

23.1, p < 0.001. 
39

Table 15. Alertness at work by type of schedule (percent) 

Alert at Work? Fixed Start Variable Start 

Never 3.8 1.2 

Occasionally 33.8 55.7 

Frequently 47.5 41.3 

Always 15.0 1.8 

Study participants rated their alertness at the start and end of each work period and recorded this 

rating in their daily log. A 2 x 2 mixed model ANOVA found significant differences between 

ratings for start/end of work, F(1, 494) = 207.97, p < .001, with ratings of alertness at the end of 

work significantly lower than pre-work ratings. Variable schedule workers rated their overall 

level of alertness significantly lower than fixed schedule workers, F(1, 494) = 13.67, p < .01. 

The interaction between time of alertness rating and schedule was not significant, F(1,494) = .85, 

p = .36. Differences in alertness ratings between start and end of the work period also existed 

based on the length of the work period, as Figure 12 illustrates. For work periods of 9 h or more, 

the difference between starting and ending alertness rating increases markedly. This indicates 

that alertness dramatically decreases for these longer work periods. 

Wesensten, Balkin, and Belenky (1999) conducted a review and reanalysis of studies 

investigating sleep fragmentation. These studies showed that sleep interruptions significantly 

impair daytime alertness and performance similar to sleep deprivation. Sleep interruptions are 

thought to prevent the transition to deeper, more restorative stages of sleep. Variable workers 

rate their levels of alertness significantly lower than fixed schedule workers. They also rate their 

sleep of poorer quality. Textual comments from section 3.8 provide anecdotal reports of variable 

workers reporting interrupted sleep, which may help to explain why this group has lower 

alertness and poorer sleep quality ratings than the fixed start workers. 

The study also compared alertness ratings for individuals with sleep disorders, treated and 

untreated, with alertness ratings for individuals reporting no sleep disorders. A 2 (alertness 

ratings before and after work) x 3 (normal, treated sleep disorder, and untreated sleep disorder) 

mixed model ANOVA revealed a main effect for time of alertness rating, F(1, 492) = 49.43, 

p < .001. That is, after-work alertness ratings were significantly lower compared to the beforework ratings. There was a marginally significant main effect for sleep disorder, F(2, 492) = 

3.22, p = .041; however, subsequent post hoc analyses yielded no significant differences among 

subgroups. No significant interaction existed between time of alertness rating and 

presence/absence of a sleep disorder. Table 16 presents the mean pre- and postwork alertness 

ratings for workers with and without sleep disorders. The small numbers in the two sleep 

disorder categories make meaningful results difficult to obtain. 
40

0.64

0.35

0.53

0.58

0.73

0.63

1.07

0.87

1.03

1.17 1.17

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

1.2

1.4

<4:00

4:00 - 4:595:00 - 5:596:00 - 6:597:00 - 7:598:00 - 8:599:00 - 9:59

10:00 - 10:5911:00 - 11:5912:00 - 12:59

Length of Work Period

Difference in Alertness Rating (Start-End)

Figure 12. Differences in alertness ratings between start and end of work as function of 

work period length 

Table 16. Alertness ratings before and after work by sleep disorder status 

Sleep Rating 

Untreated Sleep 

Disorder (n=7) 

Treated Sleep 

Disorder (n=14) 

Normal 

(n=228) 

Start of work alertness 3.7 3.4 3.8 

End of work alertness 2.2 2.7 2.8 

3.7 Effectiveness 

The SAFTE model is a biomathematical model for predicting fatigue based on sleep schedule. 

The SAFTE algorithm is incorporated in FAST, a software tool for analyzing work schedules 

and predicting the individual’s effectiveness, or lack of fatigue during the work period (Hursh, 

Balkin, Miller & Eddy, 2004). The FASTBatch software provides the capability to analyze 

multiple schedules in one batch analysis. 

This analysis used the FASTBatch software tool to compute effectiveness. FASTBatch predicts 

effectiveness at work based on the sleep pattern and the number of hours since awakening. The 

FAST effectiveness metric is a score based on predicted speed on a psychomotor vigilance test 

(PVT). FAST computes effectiveness as percent of the performance of the average well-rested 

daytime worker. The FASTBatch results, provided in an Access database, include an 

effectiveness score for each half hour of work time. By combining these results for all work 

periods and all individuals in a specified group, it is possible to create a cumulative distribution 
41

of the percent of work time spent at or below specified efficiency levels. Of particular interest is 

the time spent working at or below 70 percent efficiency. This efficiency level corresponds to a 

reaction time that is 1.4 times that of a well-rested person, cognitive throughput that is 81 percent 

of a well-rested individual, and five times the likelihood of a lapse in attention relative to a wellrested person. 

As Figure 13 indicates, T&E workers with a variable start time were more likely to be working at 

a lower effectiveness level than those working with a fixed start time. The percent of work 

periods at or below an effectiveness of 70 was 7.5 percent and 7.7 percent for fixed and variable 

start, respectively. The mean effectiveness scores for the two groups were 88.9 for fixed start 

jobs and 86.5 for variable start jobs. These two scores were statistically different, t(30774) = 

22.59, p<.001 (equal variances not assumed). Of the 21 T&E workers whose first quartile mean 

effectiveness was ≤70, nine worked a third shift job with a regular start time. 

More than 40 percent of Class I railroad employees are T&E workers. This group accounts for 

over 150 M labor-h annually. While the portion of total work time at low effectiveness is less 

than 10 percent, the total number of labor-hours at low effectiveness exceeds 10 million 

annually. 

0.0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1.0

<50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100

Effectiveness

C

u

m

ulativ

e

P

erc

e

nt

Fixed Start Variable Start

Figure 13. On-the-job effectiveness by work schedule 
42

3.8 Textual Data 

The daily log included space for participants to record any comments regarding their sleep and 

work periods each day. This section presents an overview of participants’ comments on their 

sleep and work experiences throughout the 2 weeks of the study. 

While not a requirement for participation, commenting on sleep and work experiences presented 

participants with the opportunity to qualify part of their day. Not all participants chose to record 

daily comments. As such, these data are not statistically meaningful. However, the content of 

the participants’ comments do provide valuable qualitative information regarding common 

themes in the work and personal lives of train and engine service employees. The following 

themes emerged from a review of the log book comments: 

1. Sleep 

2. Work Schedule 

3. Alertness/Fatigue 

4. Personal Issues (family, leisure activities) 

5. Travel 

6. Lineups 

7. Naps 

8. Responsibility 

9. Management 

10. Stress 

11. Communication 

12. Safety 

Researchers used ATLAS.ti®software V 5.5.9 to autocode comments based on keyword 

searches and to tally the number of comments made under each topic area. Table 17 lists the 

keywords that were the basis for each topic area search. 

These categories were not mutually exclusive because a single comment may have contained 

keywords of multiple topic areas. As a result, comments fell into more than one category. For 

example, a comment may have been counted in both the stress and work schedule categories 

because the comment contained the keywords “stress” and “schedule.” The most frequently 

mentioned topics were sleep, work schedule, alertness/fatigue, and personal issues. The high 

frequency of the keywords “nap” and “lineup” (associated with the sleep and work schedule 

topics, respectively) warranted including separate topic categories for these items. Table 18 

presents more detailed results of keyword searches. 

The comments complement the quantitative survey results by exemplifying the personal effects 

of work or sleep patterns present in the survey data. For example, variable start employees 

reported taking more annual sick days than fixed start employees even though these groups rated 

their health comparably. An examination of the textual data demonstrated that many variable 

schedule employees “laid off sick” because the call to work came sooner than anticipated and 

they were not adequately rested to accept the assignment. In this way, the comments provide a 
43

more complete picture of train and engine service employees’ concerns regarding the effects of 

job-related fatigue. 

Table 17. Keywords used for each topic area search 

Topic Keywords 

Alertness (mental)/Fatigue (physical) Alert*, atten*, awake, aware*, energy, exhaust*, 

fatigue*, prepared, sleepy, tired, vigilant, watchful, 

weak*, weary 

Communication Communicat*, communication equipment, dispatch*, 

radio 

Lineups Lineup* 

Management Administration, boss, chief, company, control, 

inadequate, manage*, organization, policy, rule*, staff, 

supervis* 

Naps Nap 

Personal Issues (family, etc.) Baby, child*, daughter, domestic, family, father, 

girlfriend, grand*, husband, in-law, kid*, mother, 

personal, private, relative*, son, wife 

Responsibility (trainees) Accountab*, blame, duty, incident, responsib* 

Safety Accident, casualty, error, injury, protect*, safe* 

Sleep (including location) Accommodation*, away from home, bed, hotel, 

lodging, motel, nois*, quarters rest, room*, sleep* 

Stress Anx*, pressure, strain, stress*, tense, worr* 

Travel Car, commute, driv*, drove, travel, truck, van 

Work Schedule Call time, deadhead, extra*, hours, limbo, overtime, 

relief, respond, rest day, schedul*, time off 

Note: ATLAS.ti®search logic uses the symbol “*” as a wildcard. For example, searching for “stress*” would result 

in all words starting with s-t-r-e-s-s including any ending (such as stressful, stressor, etc.). 

The selected comments that appear following Table 18 illustrate the consequences of the work 

and sleep patterns in the survey data. For example: 

• Sleep-related comments occurred at a high frequency because many of the participants 

reported sleep onset times. The more detailed comments highlighted participants’ 

difficulty with interrupted sleep and sleeping away from home. Commonly cited reasons 

for sleep problems included noise, sleeping during the day, call center interrupting sleep, 

and inadequate opportunity to rest because of work scheduling. 

• Comments on Work Schedule concerned primarily the uncertainty of work start time for 

variable start employees. According to the comments, the start time variability for these 

workers was a substantial source of stress for this group. Fixed start workers who once 
44

worked a variable start schedule commented on the problems associated with these 

schedules and how their quality of life improved after beginning a fixed start schedule. 

• Several participants commented on the difficulty of staying Alert towards the end of long 

shifts (>10 h). Some participants commented that they went to work Fatigued because 

they got called to work sooner than anticipated. 

• Many survey participants reported that their work schedule interfered with their Personal

lives including the inability to plan for family responsibilities and activities. 

• Comments regarding Travel centered on issues with commuting to and from work 

including the issue of driving while fatigued. Some participants commented on long wait 

times for vans to transport them from the away terminal to their point of rest. 

• There were a large number of comments regarding poor Lineups, which resulted in 

workers not being able to plan rest or personal activities. As such, poor lineups led to 

fatigued and stressed workers. 

• Comments regarding Naps included the way many T&E workers strategically used short 

sleep periods to counteract the effects of fatigue. 

• A majority of the comments related to worker Responsibility centered on the stress of 

being in charge of trainees. 

Table 18. Frequency of comments by topic area 

Topic Frequency 

Sleep 1267 

Work Schedule 740 

Alertness/Fatigue 286 

Personal Issues 272 

Travel 199 

Lineups 136 

Naps 132 

Responsibility 130 

Management 52 

Stress 44 

Communication 19 

Safety 17 

Total 3164 
45

The keywords associated with the Communication topic area yielded comments that focused on 

issues associated with poor lineups and are reported in that category. 

The comments that follow are representative of the topic areas: 

Sleep 

• “A key to rest at [the] hotel is getting a room in a timely manner and people respecting 

day sleepers.” 

• “The railroad calls our rooms directly with our assignments 2 hours prior to work. In the 

past, the railroad would give that information to the hotel front desk clerk, and the hotel 

would call us. We were able to request any amount of time we wanted to be called up to 

the two hours. On nights like tonight, I would request a 30–45-minute call to get the 

most sleep possible. But the railroad now says we must accept the full two hours because 

that’s what the contract says!” 

• “Hotel at away terminal. Sleep interrupted three times by banging noises. Hotel repair 

work.” 

• “Should be mandatory [eight hours rest] at hotels. Called after 5 hours. How do you eat 

and sleep and expect to be rested to work 12 more hours?” 

• “...I was deadheaded to the away from home terminal for rest. I couldn’t find any logical 

reason why additional crews were needed. Looks like we will be here for a while. My 

afternoon nap has spoiled my night’s sleep as it is after midnight and I still am not ready 

to go to bed for the evening. I wish that I had resisted the urge to nap this afternoon, but 

there was a slight possibility that we might be rested prior to the crews ahead of us in turn 

order. As it turns out, those other crews became rested before us, so we will be here all 

night and into tomorrow...It is virtually impossible in pool or extra board service to 

foresee what might occur and thus how to plan when to take rest.” 

• “Was on lineup for 21:10. Was not called until 14:50, 17 hours later. Was at away from 

home for 27 hours 10 minutes. This is the way it is. Away more than home. How can 

you get rested either end with this kind of margin.” 

• “Deadheaded home after being off at away from home terminal for 26 hours. 

Deadheaded home, tied up 6 times out at home. Rest cycle day at midnight. I was to be 

on a rest cycle day, but at 06:59 I was notified that my rest cycle was changing. I laid off 

sick.” 

• “1 hour and 30 minute call time doesn’t give me time to shower, dress, pack, shave, brush 

teeth, eat and get to work on time at away from home and not be rushed and a little late 

and totally uncomfortable and maybe edgy.” 

• “Short rest...Makes for a long day. Hard to gauge your sleep when you don’t know if 

you are going to be away from home 10 hours or 16 hours.” 

• “Don’t sleep well away from home when tie up in afternoon and then go to work in the 

middle of the night.” 

• “If you go to bed early you are up 4–6 hours before you go to work. If you go to bed late 

and get called on your rest, you are short rested.” 
46

Work Schedule 

• “I have changed jobs from a pool job to an assigned job so that I might have a more 

predictable schedule for a week or so. The railroad does not have enough manpower to 

grant adequate time off requests, so I try to jump to a different position so that I can gain 

a little time off between assignments.” 

• “Wonderful RR schedule. On lineups for 22:40 train. Still waiting for call at 02:15. 

Train is tied down at depot. Train station activity was stimulus for 02:15 wake-up 

event.” 

• “Thanks for the chance to participate in this study, which is a good idea, but I don’t think 

it can really start to describe how fatigued and wore out you feel after doing this kind of 

work schedule for months on end and limited days off for the rest and doing just every 

day chores.” 

• “Guaranteed time off or at least a lineup that is close to call times would make a world of 

difference.” 

• “I spent 16 hours and 15 minutes in hotel waiting for return train. This in itself can be 

exhausting. Very poor utilization of crews.” 

• “This is a consensus of a 14 day work/rest period. My pool job that I have worked for 

several years in a row has an 8-hour call time or activation. This system is the best for 

providing me with the most structured work schedule. I know 8 hours in advance when 

my call time is, which makes all the difference when scheduling my rest and sleep time. 

I can be first out and not ‘locked’ or ‘activated’ and be able to spend time with my family 

or do the things I want and not have to worry about the phone ringing unexpectedly. 

With the way the lineups are these days, this system is a godsend. Every pool in the 

system should have a program like this.” 

• “Most of the time I have worked an extra board, it is much harder to get rested and be 

ready for work off the extra board.” 

• “It is virtually impossible in pool or extra board service to foresee what might occur and 

thus how to plan when to take rest.” 

• “Terrible dispatching! Sat on train over 12 hours.” 

Alertness/Fatigue 

• “I am frequently up 24–30 hours straight when working nights. Needless to say, I am not 

alert when doing that.” 

• “I was lucky enough to sleep at home in my own bed at night so I got a fairly good rest, 

but now here I’m called for 19:25 after being up all day. I’ll be up all night and have to 

try to stay alert and focused, and probably by the time I get to bed I will have been up 

close to 24 hours.” 

• “I absolutely despise working in this manner, where I sleep at night then work in the 

morning, take the required 8 hours off in the afternoon, then must work again in the 

evening. I intentionally short myself sleep/induce fatigue on these days so I can get some 

sleep during these afternoon layovers.” 
47

• “Started to get very sleepy towards end of trip. I found myself micro-napping 

occasionally. When one gets like this, it is difficult to remember the last signal or 

whether you have sounded the horn properly at the last crossing. Your mind is very 

foggy (almost like being intoxicated) and concentration is difficult. You try to snap out 

of it, but before you know what has happened, you have fallen back into a fatigueinduced fog.” 

• “I was told I would not work any earlier than late afternoon..., so I stayed up late, going 

to bed killed I might add at 02:00 a.m. ready for a good 8 hours or more of sleep, only to 

be called 2.5 hours later at 04:35 for a 06:55 on duty time. I had slept only five hours and 

50 minutes in the last 42 hours when I went to work extremely fatigued.” 

• “Maybe having a 12 hour period to cover and then 12 hours off, that might help on the 

fatigue on the extra board.” 

• “[Laid off sick] at 14:45...because I showed to go back to work on rest at 18:30. Was 

too fatigued and did not feel safe going back to work that soon. Marked up at 23:59.” 

• “I work a regular yard job, so sleeping is not a problem. For 30 years I worked crazy 

hours, had trouble sleeping during the daylight hours, and was always tired. Hopefully 

those days are behind me.” 

• “You will always have a tired work force when we have no idea when we are going to 

work.” 

• “Laid off sick due to exhaustion and lack of sleep.” 

Personal Issues 

• “Son had a baseball tournament..., so after work I lay down in our van in the...parking 

lot for a few hours of sleep. Got up at 08:00 and picked up my son at the...station and 

we drove to the baseball tournament. I knew I wouldn’t be able to get much sleep so I 

marked off from work Saturday night, taking a personal day.” 

• “It is frustrating that I spend a lot of my personal time in the morning calling and 

wondering when I will be called for work. We get a two hour call on this job and the 

commute takes one hour and forty minutes. The more advance warning I can get about 

when I will go to work, the better.” 

• “Called right on rest, not getting a lot of personal time with family. Keep losing my 

seven starts in seven days rest due to call times. Trying to remember last day off?” 

• “Came in on off day. Didn’t go to bed until 22:30. A lot of off days I stay up because I 

only have one off day, and if I get to bed and sleep most of the day, I have no time for 

family or even mowing my grass, and the rest of my yard work.” 

• “Sleep was patchy. So many family things during daylight hours. Railroaders at best 

have 1/2 a family life. Trying to work family life when you go to work is tough.”

• “My son had a field trip that I had to attend. It lasted longer than expected so when I 

checked the stand line at 13:30, I realized that I was first out. As a single parent (male), I 

had to find out who was going to watch him since his mother was unable to do it this 

weekend.” 
48

• “Sleep the night before very poor. I was interrupted by my 1.5 year old daughter, stuffy 

nose and a bad road phone call to work. Beginning of shift. I am quite tired.” 

Travel 

• “We get a two hour call on this job and the commute takes one hour and forty minutes. 

The more advance warning I can get about when I will go to work, the better.” 

• “Called to work for 9:00 a.m. Work was routine. Van was late picking us up. Was on 

limbo time driving back to tie up.” 

• “Had great night’s sleep. Felt very rested with good outlook for coming day. Good day at 

work. Got all work accomplished and almost made it back to terminal. I wish company 

had a van at siding outside of terminal. Knew we were not going to be able to get in 

terminal 30 minutes later. We got to siding and had to wait 35 minutes at siding for van.” 

• “Worked 12 hours. Went on the law. Waited for 5 hours 50 minutes for a van ride. Had 

a couple of naps in that period. Got a van ride home.” 

Lineups 

• “It’s basically a crap-shoot when you’ll go to work. Generally the line-ups will jump 12–

14 hours up. You just check the...line-ups to get an idea when you’ll go to work. I don’t 

think crew management (mis-management) has a clue.” 

• “Lineups are bad. They show a time when I should get called so I go to bed and get 

rested. Then I wake up and don’t get called for several hours. By the time that I finally 

get called, I am tired and should be going to bed instead of to work.” 

• “Train lineups are terrible. The company needs to communicate with the crew callers 

and dispatchers more and maybe the lineups could be better.” 

• “Standing to get out on rest. Did not happen. No conductor available. Went to work 

poorly rested because of poor line up. Made 10.5 hour trip...No breaks.” 

• “Very poor line ups today. They fell down 12 hours. Very difficult to get rested for 

work.” 

• “Problems with sleep or lack of sleep mostly consist of poor train lineups.” 

• “Lineups of trains are rarely accurate and are not updated enough to get a proper estimate 

of when trains will be called. Too many variables to plan rest.” 

• “Went to bed at 19:30...for a train that was on the lineup for 23:00. Did not get called 

for work until 04:30...From midnight until I was called, my sleep pattern was very 

disjointed while I waited for the phone to ring. During the day...I checked the lineup on 

the internet seven different times.” 

• “The train lineup was so bad. The day before I was on the lineup for 05:30 hours. I had 

to cancel my...test at the hospital which was scheduled for 08:45 hours...I didn’t get 

called until 21:40 hours.” 

• “Got up at 06:30. Was three times out. There were two loaded trains at...[location X] 

and...[location Y]. Track turn at...[location X] protect all day. No idea from the poor 

lineup. It shows me to get out at 06:30...These lineups...only show the empty trains, but 
49

not the loads we have to go get at the [location X]. So, per lineup, I was tied to the phone 

all day, never knowing if I should try and start something around the place or not. Finally 

went to bed around 20:30, and got called at 21:30 for 23:00 on a train that was called at 

19:40 for a different crew. Some rest. They don’t even try to give us an idea when we 

are going to work.” 

• “Today I woke up at 09:30 rested. Scheduled and expecting to go to work in the 

afternoon. At 16:00, I was first in line to go to work. I watched the lineup and expected 

to go to work any time. The phone call came finally at 20:45. At 20:55 they called and 

busted our call. I checked the lineup and it looked like I could get called any time so I 

did not nap. Finally at midnight, I lay down to sleep but the phone rang at 00:25 to be on 

duty at 02:25. This is going to be a long night.” 

• “Did not sleep well. Just kept waking up to check train lineup. Did not get called until 5 

a.m.” 

Naps 

• “Took two naps, one for 30 minutes at 11:00 a.m. and one for 30 minutes at 1:15 p.m. 

First nap was on train waiting to get to terminal. Second nap was in van from terminal 

(yard where take train) to tie up, which takes about 50 minutes.” 

• “The naps helped me a lot on getting through the day.” 

• “My afternoon nap has spoiled my night’s sleep as it is after midnight and I still am not 

ready to go to bed for the evening. I wish that I had resisted the urge to nap this 

afternoon, but there was a slight possibility that we might be rested prior to the crews 

ahead of us in turn order. As it turns out, those other crews became rested before us, so 

we will be here all night and into tomorrow...It is virtually impossible in pool or extra 

board service to foresee what might occur and thus how to plan when to take rest.” 

• “Even if I go to bed late or get off work late, I always try to get up early and take a nap 

later if needed. It makes me feel a little normal. I’ll usually do this for a week or so and 

then finally my body says enough and I’ll sleep for 12–14 hours and then start all over 

again.” 

Responsibility 

• “Had a[n]...engineer [trainee]. Wanted to help him learn to run an engine. High stress. I 

get no pay and full responsibility for a new [trainee] learning to run engines. What holds 

me to 100 rule compliance for a guy who does not know what he is doing—that makes 

for a lot of stress!!” 

• “Being one hundred percent responsible to train new hires is stress we don’t need.” 

• “Worked with new employee. One year seniority. Some stress.” 

Management 

• “One thing to remember: just because the amount of time between work cycles is larger 

does not mean a person is more rested. I hate when a [supervisor] points out about an 

incident that the employee had been off for a long period of time.” 
50

• “Long night! Have to love the ‘availability’ policy. Don’t layoff unless near death or 

face a reprimand.” 

Stress 

• “Totally burnt out. Ill, standing for train on my rest. Already stressed. Mentally 

confused. Will probably lay off fatigued.” 

• “Good day of work. Very little stress related to work. More stress put on men from 

management than work. We get very little communication from [supervisor] other than 

threats and belittlement.” 

• “Called to work off my turn on a different sub-division that I was forced to qualify on 

over eight months ago, on a job that’s called late at night, which adds stress, besides 

being tired and not as alert because of the time and not expecting to go to work.” 

• “Was called at 17:55 for a 18:15. Called to work off turn. At the time I took the call I 

thought I was being stepped up in my pool I am assigned to. It turns out that I am going 

to [location X]. I haven’t been to [location X] in [many] years on the railroad tracks. I 

tried to talk a [supervisor] into changing me to something else but he wouldn’t. So I take 

the train to [location X] and the call office hangs my turn and doesn’t fill my assignment. 

This will be the last time I work off my turn. I felt quite unsafe in going to [location X]. 

Thank god my engineer knew the road. He is an extra board engineer.” 

Safety 

• “I have seen accident assessments come out from the railroad after a bad train wreck and 

in recent years, in the first paragraph of the cause, the railroad will state, ‘Engineer off 27 

hours, conductor off 34 hours, fatigue was not an issue in this accident.’ My hope is that 

after this study, the FRA will understand that time off does not necessarily mean the crew 

was properly rested. Good line ups will get rested crews. 10 hour calls would get you 

rested crews. Active and inactive boards would probably help too!” 

• “Worked through the night. Felt bad all night, couldn’t go to hotel after work because I 

was forced away from my home terminal 108 miles. Company doesn’t allow us to stay 

in hotel on off days. It was too far to drive home and not safe so I went to a friend’s 

house and goofed around all day. Exhausted, finally went to sleep but couldn’t get 

quality sleep.” 

• “Worked a double day with very little sleep today and yesterday. Working any and all 3 

shifts at any given time makes it difficult to sleep. Days like this make me wonder how 

important the safety at work issue is.” 
51

4. Findings and Recommendations 

Analysis of the data from this study provides some insights into the demographics of the U.S. 

railroad T&E worker population as well as their work schedules and sleep patterns. The data 

came from a random sample of T&E workers who are members of either the UTU or the BLET. 

Nevertheless, the results are representative of the U.S. railroad industry’s T&E population at the 

time of the survey because the vast majority of the Nation’s T&E workers are represented by 

these two labor organizations. It is reasonable to assume that the work schedules and sleep 

patterns of T&E workers in nonunion positions are similar to the study population because of the 

limitations of the Hours of Service Law. 

4.1 Key Study Findings 

The following subsections highlight the key study findings with regard to worker health, work 

schedules, alertness, and sleep. 

4.1.1 T&E Worker Health 

T&E workers with variable start jobs mark off sick at twice the rate of their counterparts in fixed 

start jobs (6.3 vs. 3.2 d annually). Their rate of sick days is also considerably higher than that for 

U.S. adult males, 3.9 d. Several possible explanations exist for this more frequent use of sick 

days. The most likely explanation is that this group of T&E workers marks off sick to recover 

from fatigue since a majority of this group lacks guaranteed rest days. Comments in the daily 

log books support this explanation. 

In recent years, the railroad industry and the various labor organizations have conducted 

programs to educate T&E workers about the symptoms of sleep apnea and the risks that an 

untreated sleep disorder poses to safety-critical work. The reported rate of sleep apnea diagnoses 

among T&E workers is higher than U.S. working adult males, probably as a result of industry 

education and wellness programs. Yet 25 percent of the study participants reported receiving no 

fatigue education. The opportunity exists for the industry to expand its education efforts on this 

important subject. 

4.1.2 Work Schedules 

During the study period, the number of hours worked did not differ significantly between the two 

groups of T&E workers. The average work period for both groups was 8:40 and a quarter of 

each group worked more than 10 h. When limbo time was considered, the total of work plus 

limbo for variable start T&E people was only slightly longer than for those with fixed start time 

jobs. Both groups averaged 10 work starts in 2 weeks and a quarter averaged 11 or more work 

starts. Regardless, for T&E workers with jobs that do not have a fixed starting time, five of the 

top eight sources of stress related to work schedules and sleep loss. The lack of guaranteed rest 

days for two-thirds of this group and the high level of variability in their work start times 

undoubtedly account for work schedules being a major source of work-related stress. The 

comments in the log books provided anecdotal evidence of the fatiguing and stressful nature of 

variable start time jobs. 
52

RSIA guarantees 10 h of undisturbed rest and limits the maximum number of consecutive days 

that may be worked without extended time off. These provisions should reduce the level of 

fatigue from irregular work, but most T&E employees will probably continue to look forward to 

having enough seniority to bid for a job that has a fixed starting time and does not require awayfrom-home overnight stays. 

4.1.3 Effectiveness and Alertness 

Subjective assessments of alertness at work revealed a difference between those working a job 

with a fixed starting time and those whose start time varied. Analysis of the log book data with 

the FAST tool predicted that T&E workers are working below an acceptable effectiveness level 

less than 10 percent of the time, with little difference between the two groups of T&E workers. 

Regardless, since the number of labor hours for T&E workers in the industry as a whole is 

substantial, the exposure to less than acceptable effectiveness levels poses a risk that justifies 

attention to the fatigue issues for this group. RSIA acknowledges this situation in that it requires 

each railroad to implement a fatigue risk management plan. Individual railroads could use the 

FAST tool in the same way to assess the fatigue risk associated with their work schedules. 

4.1.4 Sleep 

As a group, T&E employees sleep more on workdays than U.S. adults. However, sleep length 

alone does not necessarily predict lack of fatigue. Although primary sleep is the same for fixed 

and variable workers, daily sleep and the average number of sleep periods per day are different 

for these two groups. Compared with fixed workers, variable workers report longer daily sleep 

and more sleep periods on workdays, suggesting they engage in supplementary sleep on 

workdays to manage fatigue. 

While fixed workers make up their sleep on rest days, variable workers do not have the same 

opportunity due to the unpredictable nature of their schedules. This makes it difficult for these 

workers to plan for adequate rest. Variable workers without a call window also report 

interrupted sleep from call centers. Analyses of sleep length, work start time variability and 

textual comments regarding poor line ups support these conclusions. 

Fixed and variable workers also report differences in sleep quality. For all of the sleep quality 

ratings on the survey (e.g., ease of falling asleep, ease of arising, etc.), variable workers 

consistently rate their sleep quality lower than fixed workers. Compared with fixed workers, 

variable workers report higher stress ratings related to work schedule and rest. Stress has the 

potential to impair the quality of sleep. This may explain why variable workers have low sleep 

quality ratings. Participants also rate away-from-home sleep of poorer quality than sleep at 

home. Away-from-home primary sleep is also significantly shorter than sleep at home. Because 

variable workers engage in away-from-home sleep to a greater extent than fixed workers, they 

are more likely to be affected by fatigue because of the poorer quality and shorter length of away 

sleep. 

4.2 Recommendations for Improvements in Study Procedures 

This was the fourth FRA-sponsored study of work schedules and sleep patterns of a group of 

railroad workers. Each successive study has led to improvements in the subsequent one in terms 
53

of study design as well as procedures for coding and analysis of the data. The experiences of the 

T&E survey suggest areas to improvement future studies of this population: 

• Provide definitions for interim release and limbo time. T&E workers in road freight 

service are familiar with limbo time but those who have never worked in road freight are 

not. Similarly, only people in passenger service understand the meaning of interim 

release. The lack of familiarity with these terms led to some innovative uses of those 

columns in the daily log book. (In nearly all cases, the researchers were able to recategorize the time that was inappropriately recorded.) Clear definitions of these terms 

should be part of the instructions for any future studies of this type. 

• Provide for ratings of multiple work periods in one day. The daily log included space to 

rate alertness at the beginning and end of a work period. In a few cases, an individual 

had two work periods in one day. The instructions did not cover this situation. As a 

result, analysis of these ratings assumed that the ratings were for the first work period 

ending on the calendar day. This issue is of particular concern for individuals working 

split assignment schedules. 

• Provide a way to capture sleep interruptions. The instructions did not require 

participants to log all sleep interruptions, only those exceeding 15 min. Given the results 

of the textual analysis with regard to sleep interruptions by call centers, noise, and other 

pertinent reasons, future studies of T&E employees should consider capturing the 

frequency of all sleep interruptions. These data would be useful to provide quantitative 

support for the anecdotal reports of troublesome interrupted sleep. 

4.3 Recommendations for Additional Research 

RSIA requires changes to provisions of the Hours of Service Act. In particular, there will be a 

limit on the number of hours that a T&E employee may work in a calendar month and a T&E 

employee will be guaranteed 10 h of undisturbed rest. Because most T&E people in road freight 

service have a 2-hour call window at home, this new provision will guarantee the T&E worker 

an opportunity for quality undisturbed sleep and often12 h off duty before reporting for a work 

start. The intent of the new law is that this requirement will ease the fatigue problem for T&E 

workers. The new law also requires changes in HOS for passenger service employees; however, 

the implementation date for those changes will occur later. 

The delay in implementation of HOS changes for passenger service T&E workers provides an 

opportunity for closer study of this subpopulation of T&E workers. The accident in Chatsworth 

CA that led to passage of the Rail Safety Improvement Act last year also called into question the 

impact of split assignment schedules on employees who work them. There were an inadequate 

number of passenger service workers in the present study to make meaningful conclusions with 

regard to this subpopulation of T&E workers. An opportunity exists now to conduct an 

additional study that will provide baseline fatigue data from passenger service T&E workers 

before changes in their HOS limitations occur. 

The results of the present study, as well as the three earlier studies, provide a baseline for 

comparison after the changes prescribed by the new law take effect. A study, using similar 

methodology, could be conducted several years after the changes are implemented. Comparison 
54

of the results of the subsequent study with those presented here will give an indication of the 

success of the measures in reducing fatigue in the railroad industry. 
55

5. References 

Aumann, K. & Galinsky, E. (2009). The State of Health in the American Workforce: Does 

Having an Effective Workplace Matter? Retrieved October 20, 2009 from 

http://familiesandwork.org/site/research/reports/HealthReport.pdf

Barnes-Farrell. J. & Piotrowski, M. (1989). Workers’ perceptions of discrepancies between 

chronological age and personal age: You’re only as old as you feel. Psychology and Aging, 

4, 376-377. 

Barnes-Farrell. J. & Piotrowski, M. (1991). Discrepancies between chronological age and 

personal age as a reflection of unrelieved worker stress. Work & Stress, 5, 177-187. 

General Accounting Office. (1992). Engineer Work Shift Length and Schedule Variability. 

(GAO/RCED-92-133). Washington, DC: Author. 

General Accounting Office. (1993). Human Factor Accidents and Issues Affecting Engineer 

Work Schedules. (GAO/RCED-93-160BR). Washington, DC: Author. 

Gertler, J., & Viale, A. (2006). Work Schedules and Sleep Patterns of Railroad Signalmen. 

(DOT/FRA/ORD-06/16). Washington, DC: Federal Railroad Administration. 

Gertler, J., & Viale, A. (2006). Work Schedules and Sleep Patterns of Railroad Maintenance of 

Way Workers. (DOT/FRA/ORD-06/25). Washington, DC: Federal Railroad 

Administration. 

Gertler, J., & Viale, A. (2007). Work Schedules and Sleep Patterns of Railroad Dispatchers. 

(DOT/FRA/ORD-07/11). Washington, DC: Federal Railroad Administration. 

Hursh, S.R., Balkin, T.J., Miller, J.C., & Eddy, D.F. (2004). The fatigue avoidance scheduling 

tool: Modeling to minimize the effect of fatigue on cognitive performance. SAE 

Transactions, 113, 1, 111-119. 

Levy, P., & Lemeshow, S. (1999) Sampling of Populations: Methods and Applications. New 

York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 

National Sleep Foundation. (2002). Sleep problems? Watch the caffeine, says the National 

sleep foundation. Retrieved December 30, 2004, from 

http://www.sleepfoundation.org/PressArchives/caffcalc.cfm

National Sleep Foundation. (2008). 2008 Sleep in American Poll. Washington, DC: Author. 

Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008, 49 U.S.C.A § 20101 Et. Seq. 

Pollard, J. (1991). Issues in Locomotive Crew Management and Scheduling. (DOT/FRA/RRP91-01). Washington, DC: Federal Railroad Administration. 

Pollard, J. (1996). Locomotive Engineer’s Activity Diary. (DOT/FRA/RRP-96/02). 

Washington, DC: Federal Railroad Administration. 

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2007). Summary Health Statistics for U.S. 

Adults: National Health Interview Survey, 2006. Retrieved July 14, 2008 from 

www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_105/r10_235.pdf 
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Van Cauter, E., Leproult, R., & Plat, L. (2000). Age-related changes in slow wave sleep and 

REM sleep and relationship with growth hormone and cortisol levels in healthy men. 

Journal of the American Medical Association, 284(7), 861-867. 

Webb, W.B. (1992). Sleep, the Gentle Tyrant. Bolton, MA: Anker Publishing. 

Wesensten, N. J., Balkin, T. J., & Belenky, G. (1999). Does sleep fragmentation impact 

recuperation? A review and reanalysis. Journal of Sleep Research, 8, 237-245. 

Young, T., Palta, M., Dempsey, J., Skatrud, J., Weber, S., & Bare, S. (1993). The occurrence of 

sleep-disordered breathing among middle-aged adults. New England Journal of Medicine, 

328, 1230-1235. 
57

Appendix 

Survey Materials 

This appendix contains copies of the following survey materials: 

• Cover letters from the BLET and UTU Presidents 

• Instructions to participants 

• Train and Engine Service Employee Daily Log (1 day) 

• Train and Engine Service Employee Background Survey 
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Glossary 

convenience sample – a sample from a population that is selected because it is readily available 

and convenient. Generalizations about the population cannot be made using data from a 

convenience sample. 

extra board – a list of employees who fill in when regularly scheduled employees are not 

available to work 

hostler – a person who moves locomotives only in engine house territory. 

interim release – a period of 4 h or more between two on duty periods at a designated terminal. 

limbo time – time that is neither on duty nor off duty. It is the time after which Hours of Service 

expire and an employee stops operating the train until he or she is released from duty. 

statistical sample – a sample from a population that was selected in a way to assure that it is 

representative of the entire population and that conclusions about the entire population can be 

drawn from the sample data. 

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Abbreviations and Acronyms 

ANOVA analysis of variance 

BLET Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen 

d day 

FAST Fatigue Avoidance Scheduling Tool 

FRA Federal Railroad Administration 

GAO General Accountability Office 

h hour 

HOS Hours of Service 

min minutes 

MOW maintenance of way 

NSF National Sleep Foundation 

OMB Office of Management and Budget 

PVT Psychomotor Vigilance Test 

RCL remote controlled locomotive 

SAFTE Sleep, Activity, Fatigue and Task Effectiveness 

T&E train and engine service 

UTU United Transportation Union 

yr year