Hours of Service

The Hours of Service rules are complicated and hard to follow. They encompass an array of railroad workers and most of those rules don't apply to us. We follow the rules for Signal Workers, but even that isn't straight forward. All regulations can be found at FRA.gov, but that is still very hard to navigate. We have compiled a list of answers to common questions, and we have found a Technical Bulletin from 2014 that quite excellently lays out the details of these rules. it also contains several examples.

Frequently Asked Questions

(Q) Where can I find information that pertains to the Hours of Service Laws that I work under as a Signal Employee?

(A)   There are multiple documents provided by the Federal Railroad Administration that will help in understanding the Hours of Service Laws. The Code of Federal Regulations books (commonly known as a CFR) are the final rules to go by. The 49 CFR parts 200-299 are the primary rules in which a railroad is to operate. More specifically, part 228 is mainly on the subject of hours of service laws. The FRA.DOT.GOV website has this documentation readily available to the public.

(Q) In the Hours of Service section of the 49 CFR, part 228, what would a Cab Signal Employee be referred to as?

(A)   Electricians who are more commonly referred to as Cab Signal workers, and who are subject to the Hours of Service Laws, are named as “Signal Employees” and are not to be confused with “Employee” or “Train Employees” who would be Dispatchers, Engineers, and Conductors.  The “Signal Employee” is specifically defined as; an individual who is engaged in installing, repairing, or maintaining signal systems.

(Q) Am I considered a “Signal Employee” at all times just because I own a Cab Signal, A.T.C, or ACSES job?

(A)   No. You are only considered a “Signal Employee” when performing what is considered by the FRA as “Covered Service”. Covered Service is defined as; the portion of the employee’s time on duty during which the employee is engaged in installing, repairing, or maintaining a signal system. You will still be subject to random DOT drug testing which is required under the hours of service laws, but that is because you are put in the testing pools when you are awarded a Cab Signal job.

(Q) If I perform what is considered “covered service” starting 4 hours into my 8 hour shift, was the previous 4 hours considered “non-covered service” and therefore also considered “time off duty” or “rest time”?

(A)   No. In this situation, you were involved in what is called “commingled service”. In short, commingled service is when you perform covered service along with non-covered service, and this would make the start of your shift, or “duty tour”, when you arrived at the beginning of the 8 hour shift.

(Q) If I do not sign any paperwork proving that I had performed covered service duties, do I still need to abide by the Hours of Service Laws?

(A)   Yes. If you have performed “covered service” as defined above, yet did not fill out any paperwork to prove you did in fact, install, repair, or maintain a cab signal systems of any kind, you are still subject to the laws. Remember that even self testing an ATC system is considered maintaining it, and something as simple as terminating the cab signal speed sensor wiring is considered installing/repairing.

(Q) How many hours of “time off duty” (commonly referred to as rest time) do I need before working “covered Service” or “commingled Service”?

(A)   You will need 10 hours of rest that is uninterrupted by railroad communications. “During a signal employee’s minimum off-duty period of 10 consecutive hours, as provided under subsection (a), a railroad carrier or a contractor or subcontractor to a railroad carrier, and its officers and agents, shall not communicate with the signal employee by telephone, by pager, or in any other manner that could reasonably be expected to disrupt the employee’s rest. Nothing in this subsection shall prohibit communication necessary to notify an employee of an emergency situation, as defined by the Secretary.”

(Q) If I work 4pm-12am (Mon-Fri), was released from service at 12:01am on Thursday, and then was contacted by the railroad 8 hours later at 8:01am to work an 8am-4pm shift on that same Thursday. Do I need to restart my 10 hour minimum required uninterrupted off duty time before reporting to work, and if so does the employer need to pay me the 2 hours of regularly scheduled time I will lose if I am forced to show up at 6pm instead of 4pm?

(A)   Your rest time will start over from the end of the time of last contact, so yes the 10 hour time will start over. When it comes to getting paid, it has to be worked out between the railroad and its employees, and in our case through collective bargaining. There is no law stating that you must be paid. The railroad is not to make an employee miss time paid on purpose according to FRA interpretations.

(Q) What is the maximum number of hours that I can work in a calendar day?

(A)   That depends if you will be working a covered or non-covered service job. A traditional calendar day does not apply to a signal employee that will be performing covered service. Instead it will go by 24 hour periods that start with “time on duty”. Time on duty begins when the employee reports for duty and ends when the employee is finally released from duty. This “duty tour” is after you have had the minimum 10 hours of required rest time, and the duty tour begins when the employee reports for duty. This starts the 24 hour period in which you will be able to work a maximum of 12 hours before being released for another 10 hour rest period. If you are going into work to perform non-covered service, then you can work unlimited hours, but you may need time off duty before this shift if you worked a covered service job on the shift before a non- covered service job. See the next question for limitations on working non-covered service.

(Q) If I have 10 hours rest and report for covered service duties on Friday at 12:01pm and are released from my duties 12 hours later at 12:01am on Saturday morning, can I go into work to perform a non-covered service job 8 hours later at 8:00am on the same morning?

(A)   No. You will need 10 hours rest after a 12 hour duty tour.

Below is 49 U.S.C. 21104(b)(2) Determining time on duty;

(2) Time spent performing any other service for the railroad carrier during a 24-hour period in which the employee is engaged in installing, repairing, or maintaining signal systems is time on duty. This explains the term “commingled service” and states that any other services (even if they are non-covered tasks) performed for the railroad carrier in the 24 hour period (which started when you reported for duty at 12:01pm on Friday) will be considered time on duty.

(Q) If I am regularly scheduled on a Boston based 9am-5pm shift, and work a covered service job from 12am-8am at an outlying point before that shift, would I be relived from service (outlaw) at 12pm or 1pm because of the hour off in between shifts?

(A)   The 1 hour between shifts while in transportation to your headquarters is not to break the continuity of the 12 hour maximum day required under this law, and is not considered time on-duty, nor time off-duty as described by the FRA. In this situation, you would outlaw at 12pm and will be paid for 5 hours of Time Paid Not Worked (TPNW).

(Q) Is there a weekly, monthly, or yearly limit on the amount of hours a Signal Employee can work?

(A)   No. There is no limit for Signal Employees. There are limits for Train Employees who are mostly Engineers or Conductors, and this sometimes causes confusion when reading the rules on hours of service.