Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - (Page 28)

Choosing the best m/w machinery out a solution to the problem that has been handed to them.” “We talk about keeping costs down on the initial purchase and about product support,” MRL’s Keller said. “Sometimes suppliers do respond.” Drake of NS said: “We continually stress reliability, quality, productivity, machine development and the need for research and development to provide the next break through in track maintenance. Areas such as tie plate handling and machine automation need to be addressed. We are seeing the application of higher technology to the equipment, but not always seeing noticeable productivity gains or the productivity gains are being lost due to reliability or difficulty of complex system diagnosis. The manufacturers are showing interest, but aren’t dedicating sufficient resources to new product development. The manufacturers’ product lines seem to be shrinking and the equipment industry appears to be heading to single producers of several key track maintenance machines such as spikers, spike pullers, tie cranes, anchor machines, etc., which will ultimately stifle competition.” “In addition to safety, our message is automation, lowering unit cost as it pertains to track maintenance and getting more done in shorter track time,” noted Domski of UP. “Suppliers are always willing to listen. However, some projects don’t advance as rapidly as we would like, usually due to expense and risk.” ment and improved reliability go a long way to alleviate this problem.” BNSF’s Upward noted: “Finding productivity improvements continues to be a challenge. Track time will always be an issue, but as an engineering team we must continue to find ways to improve our safety, as well as our productivity. As labor and material costs continue to rise year over year, the only countermeasure we have is to be more productive. We continually ask the supply community to help us do more with less.” “On-time clear performance,” CPR’s Graham said. “Machinery process data transfer to allow for remote troubleshooting, if necessary, ease of towing or removing equipment from track.” “Without a doubt, track time is still our Number 1 headache,” CSXT’s Robey said. “Thus, machines that are more productive, yet safe, are what we need. Depending on the machine, the ability to get on and off the track versus tramming to a siding can mean the difference between a productive day and a so-so day.” MRL’s Keller sees track time as the biggest headache and he would like to see equipment that can travel to and from the job site or be set off, quickly. “Track time remains the biggest challenge,” said Drake of NS. “It limits local and program maintenance operations. Considering the small track windows, the machines have to be reliable, highly productive, quick to the job site and require little preparation to start and finish at a worksite.” “Keeping consistent track time remains a huge challenge,” UP’s Domski said. “Recent increases in fuel and parts prices, the latter mainly due to rocketing metals prices, is becoming a huge problem for us. We cannot efficiently operate and maintain our fleet of equipment with runaway expenses.” Supplier responsiveness When you meet with suppliers, what are you telling them about your m/w machinery needs? Do you find suppliers responsive to your requests? “Yes, several original equipment manufacturers have suggested or adapted new construction cranes for railway service,” Amtrak’s Falkenstein 7. said. “Working under our catenary wire reduces the lift capacity of standard cranes. We need railway-capable cranes that are built with new variable-position-counterweight technology. We own one large railway crane with a variable-position counterweight that allows heavy lifts with a low boom angle.” “We are continually talking to our suppliers about our needs for equipment types, ease of operation, productivity and total cost of operation,” said Upward of BNSF. “I believe that they listen to us. However, it appears that there are only a few of the vendors investing much into R&D for new product development.” “We tell suppliers we need machinery that will add value through productivity, reliability improvements and, therefore, improving the line balancing within a crew consist”, CPR’s Graham noted. “Generally, the industry is responsive to our needs.” “We try to visit our major suppliers at least once a year,” Robey of CSXT noted. “A few of the better suppliers listen to our feedback and are willing to change to meet our needs. However, too many suppliers have the mind set that the railroads will take what they are offering and be glad they got it. As we said before, customer service is the key to the future. Suppliers are too quick with the excuses or they tell us we are not using the machine right or they provide some other excuse except for looking at themselves and figuring Positive, negative trends Checking trends, would you say today’s equipment is getting safer, more reliable, more productive, or other qualities? On the negative side, what trends are out there such as too costly, too complicated, etc.? “The machinery is safer and machines with on-board diagnostics are more reliable and productive,” noted Falkenstein of Amtrak. “On the negative side parts costs are escalating and long lead times for key components have forced us to stock more items, which raises our machinery life-cycle costs.” “Some of the best trends that we see are the improvements in operator ergonomics and comfort,” BNSF’s Upward responded. “Also, the newer 8. 28 Railway Track & Structures August 2008 www.rtands.com http://www.rtands.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Railway Track & Structures - August 2008

Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 Contents On Track Industry Today Supplier News AREMA News NRC News TTCI R&D Wish List: What Chief Engineers Really Want in M/W Machinery Keeping Ballast in Shape Amtrak Turns to Sophisticated System to Manage NEC Assets Supplier Profiles Products and Literature People Calendar Sales Representatives Website Directory Advertisers Index Professional Directory Classified Advertising Chicago Perspective

Railway Track & Structures - August 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.