BLET Cover Letter to Members

Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen
A Division of the Rail Conference — International Brotherhood of Teamsters
NATIONAL DIVISION OFFICE
1370 Ontario Street, Mezzanine • Cleveland, OH 44113-1702
Phone: (216) 241-2630 • Fax: (216) 241-6516 • hahs@ble-t.org

DON M. HAHS
National President

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Dear Sister or Brother:
Fatigue is a major concern in our industry. Poor line-ups, excessive limbo time, operating at near capacity, and crew
shortages all combine to compromise your quality of life. It is more important to optimize rest time between work shifts.
However, it seems that many factors that the carriers fail to control adequately conspire against us.
As you may have read in the Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen News, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), along
with the cooperation of the BLET, is conducting a fatigue study that focuses on operating crews. You have been randomly
selected to participate in this very important scientific study. The results of the study will provide the FRA and the BLET
with a clearer picture of work schedules and sleep patterns of operating crews. The study will also provide the statistical
basis necessary to identify areas for improvements.
You are among a small group of randomly selected BLET members nationwide that are being asked to fill out work/sleep
diaries for a two-week period. Your participation in this study involves: (1) completing a brief background survey; and
(2) keeping a daily log for 14 consecutive days of your sleep and work times along with self-assessments of your level of
alertness five times per day.
To insure that your personal information is completely confidential, the FRA has engaged the services of Foster-Miller for
executing the study. The names and personal information of the participants from the sample group will be completely
confidential, and the data gathered will only be used to compile the information as a group. After the study’s conclusion, all
the personal data gathered will be destroyed and only the compiled information will be distributed.
Completing the background survey should take less than 15 minutes; making entries in the daily log should require no more
than a total of 10 minutes per day. As a reward for your participation in this study, you will receive a $75 gift certificate to
either Home Depot or Sears. You must provide 14 consecutive days of data and a completed background survey to receive
the gift certificate.
The purpose of the study is to develop a better understanding of the work/rest schedules and sleep patterns of operating crews
and to evaluate the relationship between these schedules and fatigue. Your participation is critical to the success of this
study. The data will allow us to identify any fatigue-related problems specific to our crafts. Once we have the data, we will
be able to work toward reducing the risk of fatigue-related accidents and incidents and improving the quality of life for our
members. A report concerning this study will be published next year in the Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen News.
Please read the enclosed instructions carefully before beginning your data collection. Thank you for your participation in this
important research study.
Fraternally yours,

National President

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