Name: RRJ
E-mail: 
Employed as: Locomotive Engineer, for 30+ years
Posted: 26 June 2010

Your right Goob things should of been left alone. Today they complain if
they have to work seeing drawing a gaurentee leaves no incentive. When
it was feast or famine we were glad to accept the call. Years of being
on an extra board meant you had something to look forwards eventually
getting a job on a freight pool. Those gaurentees placed a lot of
restrictions on the job gone were the days a person could mark off for
28 days without recourse from the railroad. The railroads now control
the numbers on the XB which are kept low. Many a payday while working
the XB I'd get my check from the paymaster then move to the right to
sign up for days of unemployment for time missed while marked up.