Yeah, so for a long time GE was really good to its employees. In fact, when I told my dad I got a job there, he was really excited. Of course, they've since had their issues (similar to Boeing), so the benefits aren't as good anymore. To make matters worse, a lot of people have been laid off.
As for the cameras, I heard a lot about the frustrations from both sides. From my understanding, the camera systems were another instance of federal regulation, or at least companies like BNSF wanted them. I think they wanted someone to blame any time there were issues (agree, total lack of privacy). To make matters worse, those systems were configured for up to 6 cameras. Though, I don't think a single loco has more than 4 today.
On a positive note, I think the cameras—at least the front facing ones—are now being used as a part of the control system. Before I left, they were working on broken rail detection through computer vision, so that's cool!
As for other cool tech, I know that GE was developing a lot of semi-autopilot features like Positive Train Control. Of course, most of the features were only designed to benefit the companies, not necessarily their employees. For instance, I believe there's a product called Trip Optimizer which optimizes for fuel consumption.
At any rate, it was fun chatting with you! Just gave you a follow. I'd be interesting in seeing you convert some of these discussions into an article.
That makes me sad to hear about GM. I had heard on NPR quite some time ago that they were selling their locomotive division. That shocked me to be honest. Warren Buffet was pouring a lot of money into the locomotives, for many obvious reasons.
I cannot completely confirm that BNSF specifically wanted them for someone to blame. What I can tell you was the culture that the railroads put in place is a very strong "Us vs Them". I agree very strongly with you in that assumption.
You totally blew my mind on the broken rail system. This is something that the company never informed the crews about. That sounds like amazing tech!
I was forced to use the trip optimizer for quite some time. And to be honest, like I said in my reply earlier, those trains can drive themselves better than an experienced engineer. It is an amazing feat of engineering. The crews are scared by it for obvious reasons, but not only is it going to save fuel, it is going to save lives.
Thank you so much for taking your time to chat with me, I have greatly enjoyed this conversation. I hope to have more soon! And that sounds good, I appreciate the endorsement of my writing. I am actively trying to improve my skillset so I will do just that.
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Yeah, so for a long time GE was really good to its employees. In fact, when I told my dad I got a job there, he was really excited. Of course, they've since had their issues (similar to Boeing), so the benefits aren't as good anymore. To make matters worse, a lot of people have been laid off.
As for the cameras, I heard a lot about the frustrations from both sides. From my understanding, the camera systems were another instance of federal regulation, or at least companies like BNSF wanted them. I think they wanted someone to blame any time there were issues (agree, total lack of privacy). To make matters worse, those systems were configured for up to 6 cameras. Though, I don't think a single loco has more than 4 today.
On a positive note, I think the cameras—at least the front facing ones—are now being used as a part of the control system. Before I left, they were working on broken rail detection through computer vision, so that's cool!
As for other cool tech, I know that GE was developing a lot of semi-autopilot features like Positive Train Control. Of course, most of the features were only designed to benefit the companies, not necessarily their employees. For instance, I believe there's a product called Trip Optimizer which optimizes for fuel consumption.
At any rate, it was fun chatting with you! Just gave you a follow. I'd be interesting in seeing you convert some of these discussions into an article.
That makes me sad to hear about GM. I had heard on NPR quite some time ago that they were selling their locomotive division. That shocked me to be honest. Warren Buffet was pouring a lot of money into the locomotives, for many obvious reasons.
I cannot completely confirm that BNSF specifically wanted them for someone to blame. What I can tell you was the culture that the railroads put in place is a very strong "Us vs Them". I agree very strongly with you in that assumption.
You totally blew my mind on the broken rail system. This is something that the company never informed the crews about. That sounds like amazing tech!
I was forced to use the trip optimizer for quite some time. And to be honest, like I said in my reply earlier, those trains can drive themselves better than an experienced engineer. It is an amazing feat of engineering. The crews are scared by it for obvious reasons, but not only is it going to save fuel, it is going to save lives.
Thank you so much for taking your time to chat with me, I have greatly enjoyed this conversation. I hope to have more soon! And that sounds good, I appreciate the endorsement of my writing. I am actively trying to improve my skillset so I will do just that.