April 2017 Monthly Performance Report

[west point]

Well this poster is going way out on a limb to be sawed off. As a long time union member think what happens to private companies. The ATC and as well private operations of passenger service and specifically diners will may not be subject to railway labor act and a series of wildcat strikes against the private companies could have disastrous effects. Regan could do something with FAA employees but -------- ?? And with no meal service at all on any train -------- ??

 

[jis]

DA, on your later editorial addition to your post, yeah, we can take it up in a different thread under Random Discussions.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

when you want something to fail, you instruct it to do something (ex. Run the northeast corridor) and then don't give them the tools to do it (a lot of Amtrak's budget goes into duct tape and bailing wire-style repairs to keep 40-year-old rolling stock and 120 year old infrastructure from literally falling apart, precluding maintenance and state of good repair investment) and then blame them when they don't get the job done. The one they didn't have the tools to do.

I'm not saying that every Amtrak manager is a dedicated hard working genius, nor am I saying that there isn't graft, inefficiency, and laziness. However, there are idiots, graft, embezzlement, and especially laziness in every corner and center of both the private and public sectors.

Even if Amtrak was among the most honest and efficient government agencies (and actually, I think it is- a low bar indeed) it still can't do what we (or congress) ask of it with the tools in its toolbox. And the biggest problem is that each cadre of advocates (and I'm not just talking trains) attacks there own realm of interest as if these problems were of their realm- in reality, it is of all realms.

Worse, it is of all nations, of all people, and is a monumental and likely insurmountable problem all of its own. We need to stop fighting how Amtrak runs its projects, and concentrating on getting them the resources they need to get them done.

 

[Thirdrail7]

. We need to stop fighting how Amtrak runs its projects.

Thanks for the rest of your post but I wouldn't go THAT far. One of the first things Mr .Moorman did when he arrived is to overhaul the way Amtrak managed its projects. He noted that managing too projects many leads to a lack of focus and oversight, which yields poor results.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

I don't dispute you, thirdrail. That is Wick Moormans job- to manage Amtrak's management.

It isn't ours.

 

[jis]

Indeed, a significant plurality if not a majority of advocates spend most of their time arguing among themselves about minutia about what needs to be done to restore things to the way they were in the 1920's (or 1950's or pick your favorite year) instead of addressing deeper systemic issues, thus frittering away all the good energy. that is the nature of the beast.

 

[Lonestar648]

It isn't just how many projects are being managed, but the priority and complexity of the projects. Some companies assign projects to the next available project manager without regard to the priority or complexity of the new project. The management I worked for evaluated each new project, occasionally clearing my plate to take on the new high priority, very complex, and very large project. It is utilizing your assets in the most efficient manner, even changing the leadership on a lesser project to keep everything going. The key is to know when PM are getting maxed out. This is different with every person in the company. A good manager knows how to manage his people. Like we has a few PM's that were great on the short term, not so much on the long. I was given two when I would pick up a "Project Impossible" to help close out my current projects.