Comment from SMART-TD
SMART-TDSupportIndividual
Summary: Shawn Bruderly, a railroad worker with over 20 years of experience, supports the proposed restriction on drones near rail facilities. He argues that drones create a distraction and a safety concern for workers who must already maintain high levels of situational awareness in a complex environment.
Hello,
I have 20 plus years of railroad service in transportation. I have been trained to report anything out of sync with my work environment. Boxes and containers placed haphazardly on or in railcars, mysterious containers on the right of way. This frontline defense is in addition to the multitasking of operating in the railroad setting; pointing and calling for switch handling, reviewing switching orders, looking out for poor walking conditions, wildlife and insects that may be lurking inside a railcar or underneath switch stand timbers, and keeping a monitoring eye on a massive influx of new hire trainees. As you can see my plate is full and my eyes are forever surveying the landscape before, beneath, and beside me.
I certainly, don't need another layer of distraction or another box to check off to see if the drone in the sky is friend or foe. Is it over by the PIH tank car because it's watching me or is this the first phase of a techno terrorism assault.
Regards,
Shawn Bruderly