I'm afraid we'll have to agree to disagree. Before departing this discussion I'll point out that the existing solo-crewmember operations have not slipped anyone's attention. The FRA (whom I do not work for) is fully aware of their operation and has conducted on-site safety reviews. For those that argue that the FRA is "in bed with the heartless industry," there are plenty of examples to the contrary including rigorous Part 225 audits, “voluntary” Compliance Agreements, etc. The next time you see an FRA Administrator being grilled by members of Congress you will know they have sufficient incentive to keep their house in order. If that isn't enough, the BLET and UTU have plenty of state legislative representatives to make sure things don't slip under any radars. There are no regulations banning solo-crewmember operations for a reason; they can be conducted safely. INRD is regulated by the FRA (as is FEC) and the nature of their traffic may explain why the FRA is more comfortable with them then they might be with an operation serving the Gulf Coast chemical region. However, INRD operates over public crossings and probably encounter school busses and gasoline tankers just like any other operation.

Spend some time with the following and you will see that the industry has had a significant and continuing improvement in safety performance since the inception of the Staggers Act. I can understand that an individual crewmember might say they prefer to have another person along in the cab but I attended a hearing where crew members have said they prefer solo-crew operations which generally pay more and because, as one man said, along the lines of, “I don’t have to deal with a grumpy or sleepy guy on the other side of the cab.”


[safetydata.fra.dot.gov]