Privatization of Dining Car Service may be the answer

[Bob Dylan]

Spot on Tom!

 

[railiner]

I've ridden Amtrak since "A Day" and through the years have seen and met many Managers, Execs etc. riding the trains.

Too many of them ride around in Beech Grove and the other Business Cars. They need to be on the LD Trains including the Silver Star and CONO, to experience what their schemes actually do to customer service, and to observe the crews performance so as to retrain or de-train the duds and sore heads that give the good Amtrak employees (the vast majority) a bad name!

Depending on the person, some I've seen actually on the Trains were just along for the ride (eat and hide out in their room),others interacted with the crew and passengers and were highly visible except when asleep.

The last suit I saw that actually interacted with passengers and crew was on the Re- Reroute of the Texas Eagle on the old Mopac Route last Fall between Taylor and Longview, for the dedication of the remodeled Longview Depot.

The guy ate in the Diner with passengers,went downstairs to talk to the kitchen crew, hung out in the Sightseer Lounge, got off @ the one stop in Hearne and talked with crew members during the crew change there.

He also visited in the Coaches and Sleeper asking questions and I saw him making lots of notes on his lap top.

He attended the Dedication the next morning @ the nicely remodeled Depot and talked with waiting passengers and those arriving on the Thruways from Shrevport and Houston.

When I boarded #21 to return to Austin ( it too was rerouted to Taylor but on a different route than #22)he was in the Sightseer Lounge talking with passengers and crew, ate in the Diner ( Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner).

A couple of weeks later I received a custom survey/questionnaire from Amtrak asking about this trip, the best one I ever received!

Ever since that trip all the Amtrak suits I've seen were free loading furniture. They would eat in the Diner and go back to their room without talking to anyone.

I think it's time to return to the Chief of On Board Services and make this a Management, not a Union job, so the crews level of services is observed, and consistency of good service can become a standard @ Amtrak.

I would agree with this observation.

Yes, there is a definite difference in the way different manager's perform their job.

Just as there are difference's in the way the employees perform their jobs.

As for the manager's that 'hide out' in their bedroom's....part of the reason could be that they are wary of certain types (you may know who they are ), of passenger's that if learning their identity, may 'buttonhole them' with long rants over what's wrong with this and that.

I'm not saying that is a valid excuse, just a possibility....

And yes, some manager's really have no interest or ambition in their job, and are just 'along for the ride....

 

[Ryan]

haolerider: good question. I wrote an explanation for you but decided never mind,to sum up my view on the current Management @ Amtrak:

"Too many Chiefs, not enough Indians!"

The view from Beech Grove rolling down the tracks us great! Let them eat cake is the mindset @ 60 Mass! YMMV

How many chiefs are there, and what is the right number?

 

[Bob Dylan]

Edited: Excellent points by jis and Ryan, my opinions are just that, my own opinions based on what's going on with Amtrak right now!

I'm on the side of those that actually do the work where the steel wheels meet the rails, ( the Indians), not the cut and appease your way to prosperity Management! ( the Chiefs)

Out!!

 

[boxcarsyix]

When I was on the SWC last year, there was a representative of management onboard. I don't remember his title, but he was very interactive with the passengers. Went through the sleepers (don't know about coach) and introduced himself and was very open to feedback.

 

[Carolina Special]

If you think you have all the answers to the dining car problems, the Amtrak Jobs website is currently (as of 6/28) advertising for a Senior Director Food and Beverage Services, reporting to the VP of Customer Service. I'm having trouble copying a link or a quote into this post, but it's listed under Entry Level Jobs.

But In part, it says "This position provides corporate direction for menu development, service delivery and development of OBS procedures and policies."

Any takers?

 

[Bob Dylan]

Interesting!

So like the Government to call a position "Senior _________" and list it under the Entry Level Jobs site!

 

[Ryan]

That's not unique to government, there are plenty of "entry level" positions out there in private industry that call for years of experience.

 

[FormerOBS]

"Development of OBS procedures and policies" requires familiarity with the onboard, enroute environment. I don't necessarily object to bringing somebody into the Company from the outside to do a job like this because an outsider can come up with fresh ideas. But I do object to the old practice whereby the F&B people stayed in the Wilmington test kitchen and decided what was to be done onboard, without bothering to come out on the trains to see how their ideas were to be implemented in the real world.

Tom

 

[Bob Dylan]

"Development of OBS procedures and policies" requires familiarity with the onboard, enroute environment. I don't necessarily object to bringing somebody into the Company from the outside to do a job like this because an outsider can come up with fresh ideas. But I do object to the old practice whereby the F&B people stayed in the Wilmington test kitchen and decided what was to be done onboard, without bothering to come out on the trains to see how their ideas were to be implemented in the real world.

Tom

This!!!!

 

[City of Miami]

I think Amtrak is just trying to find some way to have a F/B system that works. Apparently the current system is broken = loses a lot of money which is not acceptable to some in power. So they're trying different things - including to find out what is, in fact, important to most passengers. It may be surprising - I don't know.

They have purchased a bunch of new diners (25?); I'm sure they want to use them. I say Good on 'em

 

[neroden]

I can't say that the current system works. It doesn't seem like rocket science to fix it, however; perhaps someone with a clue about restaurants might be a good choice, since the problems seem to be mostly sheer management idiocy of the sort Gordon Ramsey yells about on "Kitchen Nightmares". Running out of stock?!? Failing to turn over tables efficiently due to short-staffing?!? Poor quality ingredients??! Not even *knowing* your ingredients? Failing to publicize? Attempting to raise the menu prices to "compensate" for low patronage?!?! These are textbook errors.

 

[OBS]

Two comments... I do sometimes wonder if there is any coordination between departments, besides getting to the LOWEST cost denominator in each department. lE, Food & Beverage focusing on cutting/lowest cost...and OBS management focusing only on cutting labor costs/hours, but no one looks at where these intersect as has been discussed on here before.

Also, YEARS ago food stocking pars were very closely managed by day of the week issuance for each café and diner on each train. Tuesdays, you stocked less than Friday, etc. In 2000, with Y2K,,and the rush to convert to a new F&B accounting system, this was dropped. Within a few years, the ability to manage this was added back into the system, but I wonder if it is used much (doubt it) as the trend I have observed the last few years seems to be to simplify everything for consistency to make Aramark job easier...

 

[haolerider]

"Development of OBS procedures and policies" requires familiarity with the onboard, enroute environment. I don't necessarily object to bringing somebody into the Company from the outside to do a job like this because an outsider can come up with fresh ideas. But I do object to the old practice whereby the F&B people stayed in the Wilmington test kitchen and decided what was to be done onboard, without bothering to come out on the trains to see how their ideas were to be implemented in the real world.

Tom

This!!!!

Actually, chefs from LD trains are in the Wilmington test kitchen with the Aramark food service staff when new menus and new applications are introduced. It is really not feasible to have the Wilmington staff visit all LD trains, but I do know that they have gone out into the field to work with chefs and dining car staff in the past. On the topic of 60 Mass "suits", I am sure there are numbers somewhere that can tell us how many non-bargaining unit employees there are versus bargaining unit employees.

This is not meant to be a sarcastic comment, but what does "This!!!" mean?

 

[City of Miami]

"Aramark food service staff"

How is Aramark involved? Are it just the dry goods supplier like Sysco? Sounds like more.

Aramark manages the food service here at UVA and is known for cost cutting and squeezing = no generosity in any direction. The new American way I guess.

"someone with a clue about restaurants"

With thought it is clear there is little or no correlation with management of a bricks & mortar restaurant.

 

[FormerOBS]

No need for the Wilmington F&B folks to visit all LD trains. And it is true that some F&B reps have occasionally visited the trains, generally after the decisions have been made. In my experience, what communication there has been, has been one way, and that's the real problem. It seems the decisions are made and the info is communicated to the O.B.S. personnel, rather than making the decisions with the benefit of prior input from O.B.S. That's backwards.

Tom

 

[jis]

Seems to me that what needs to happen is trying something new out in a real service environment before rolling it out system wide. This would enable getting the kinks out rather than foisting it on everyone kinks and all. During that prototyping period is when feedback should be taken and problems that are identified addressed.

 

[City of Miami]

"Seems to me that what needs to happen is trying something new out in a real service environment before rolling it out system wide."

Isn't this what is happening? For example on the Silver Star and reportedly on City of New Orleans? We as individuals may not like it, but something new is being tried on a limited basis.

 

[jis]

Yes, and that is why I do like the approach irrespective of whether I like what is being tried or not.

 

[Carolina Special]

As WiFi becomes more prevalent on the LD trains, it seems like it would be more efficient to order your dining car meal on your phone prior to seating. Ordering tablets can be placed in each of the cars for those who don't have access to a phone connection.

If the meal is served as you are seated, it will encourage more turnover of seats in the dining car during the meal periods, allowing more customers to be served. More customers served should translate into better financial results.

 

[FormerOBS]

F&B decides what O.B.S. is to do. Then it's up to O.B.S. to figure out how to get it done, sometimes without the appropriate resources available, and often without the help of F&B. An example is a menu change that requires a certain number of available steam table wells, and a dining car that actually has fewer steam table wells available for use. This is the product of a test kitchen that has lots of steam table wells, I guess.

 

[Lonestar648]

By not having one central decision and responsibility management this is a recipe for failure. Its like it was at the corporation I worked for 2 decades. A committee was for formed to select a committee that would review the issue that would form committees to form separate plans of action then create individual committees to work with the plan of action. All this so no one could be held responsible.

 

[OBS]

Lonestar648....Welcome to Amtrak...LOL