Ensuring Quality Dining Car Service

[I always rode the Southern]

Venture:

You mentioned "crew sitting in the lounge taking up tables, ignoring crew rooms[?], not eating in groups of four to minimize impact on passengers, and worst of all sitting around and watching the scenery."

In my experience, I have seen this happen on trains without chiefs; I have seen these things done by visiting high-level managers on the Auto Train; but I have never seen it done on the Auto Train when the chief was empowered to step in and prevent it.

To be fair, I have to assume these managers know their office jobs. But I've rarely seen evidence that they know anything about managing a train and its crew on the road. If they rode the trains in order to learn, then I would say that's a good thing. But it seems more likely that they mostly come to show off; so I think the more they stay in Washington and off the train, the better.

Tom

I ride the auto train several times a year and see SCA's in the diner a ridiculous number of times; not eating, not sitting around, but running their behinds off taking meals back to passengers throughout the dinner service. I've also seen them pitching in to help in the diner. Before the loss of the extra lounge, I used to spend a lot of time there and never saw crew sitting around.

However, even though I usually see great service on the star, there have been occasions when 1 or more of the crew does tend to spend a lot of time sitting in the lounge. One time a few years ago, on leaving out of Tampa I went straight to the lounge looking to see the conductor for an upgrade; both conductors(who were trying to do their paperwork and 2 OBS(not sure if sleeper or coach) were sprawled out across 3 tables with the 1 staff member talking non-stop. She did not get up once and was still sitting there long after we left Orlando and I finally went into the diner.

 

[VentureForth]

Yes - my experiences have been on the trains in my sig. I have yet to enjoy the Auto Train, but wonder if I want to anymore. Not because of the loss of the 2nd lounge. Not because of the cost. Not because the reduction in amenities. But because Tom retired.

 

[OBS]

Having spent time working on the Auto Train with FormerOBS as well as currently working in regular service, There is no question that the AT OBS employees consistently work harder than anywhere else on the Amtrak system.

IMO the quality of service is also more CONSISTENT than anywhere else in the system.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Its always good to get word from the field from those that actually do the work where the steel wheels meet the rails!

I'm starting to think that in a way Amtrak's inconsistent service is totally Managements fault since it is well known by passengers and management who the lazy, worthless OBS are and yet nothing seems to happen to fix this problem!

Amtrak's Management attitude towards OBS and their Customers seems to be Let them eat cake!

 

[FormerOBS]

Some OBS people do move into management jobs. Some show themselves to be excellent managers. Some show that the quality of onboard service is improved by their removal from it. Interpret that any way you like. Many wouldn't move on to management jobs because they don't want to swim with sharks. I once told a manager that the stupidest thing he could do would be to promote me into a job like that. I was quite happy to stick with like-minded people.

Within Amtrak there is a thinly-veiled sense of superiority over O.B.S. It's something like the disrespect that used to be shown to teachers, which seems to be less common now. In the old days, the expression was "Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach." It was a terribly damning and a terribly ignorant thing to say. The modern Amtrak equivalent is something like "Those who have no expertise (or value) will go into O.B.S." I've heard terrible things said about O.B.S. It's usually "The crews aren't......." or "The crews won't....." or "The crews can't....." or "The crews shouldn't....." or "The crews should have ....". It's always something negative, and the root issue is usually something the O.B.S. staff didn't cause, but are seen as deficient because they were there and couldn't work a miracle to solve the problem. I always hate to hear a sentence that begins with "The crews....."

In my experience, most O.B.S. employees don't feel comfortable with management because they feel that they have nothing in common.

When I retired, I left some wonderful people behind. They're still there, and they continue to stand in the way of ill-informed and ill-conceived efforts to diminish service. They don't have a free hand to do as much as they used to, but they are still there to give the best service they can.

 

[VentureForth]

And to that end, I think that a good crew needs to have a good leader. It doesn't have to be a stiff in a suit, or a lazy guy with a seniority. A leader is one who is followed by those who want to be led. Can't help some who don't want to work, but still get the same paycheck as everyone else.

Good management would appoint such a person rather than have the position bestowed upon s/he who wants it and has the seniority to get what they want.

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

Its always good to get word from the field from those that actually do the work where the steel wheels meet the rails!

I'm starting to think that in a way Amtrak's inconsistent service is totally Managements fault since it is well known by passengers and management who the lazy, worthless OBS are and yet nothing seems to happen to fix this problem!

Amtrak's Management attitude towards OBS and their Customers seems to be Let them eat cake!

We have seen the same things happen with airlines-when they began to expand and grow multiple leverls of management, those positions all the way up to the Top Office often ended up being filled by people who had no understanding whatsoever of an airline. They just knew how to push numbers. As a result customer service has suffered dearly. Don't you know C.R. Smith, Bob Six, William Patterson and the other founders and early bosses are spinning 'round and 'round where they lie!

 

[FormerOBS]

A few minutes ago I talked with a friend who used to work in O.B.S. out of Washington, DC. When I mentioned the "thinly veiled sense of superiority...", he objected. He said "It's not thinly veiled. It has to do with a history of racism." Of course, O.B.S. jobs were traditionally held by men of color; and there are still those who see the jobs that way, and are not even aware of their own attitudes.

 

[FormerOBS]

Previous post was not edited because system would not accept changes.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

A few minutes ago I talked with a friend who used to work in O.B.S. out of Washington, DC. When I mentioned the "thinly veiled sense of superiority...", he objected. He said "It's not thinly veiled. It has to do with a history of racism." Of course, O.B.S. jobs were traditionally held by men of color; and there are still those who see the jobs that way, and are not even aware of their own attitudes.

I'm sure this is, unfortunately, true in some cases.

 

[neroden]

I have absolutely no doubt that your friend is correct. Roughly 90 years (1860s-1950s) of OBS jobs being held by "Negros" and conductor jobs being held by "Anglos", during extremely racist periods, was bound to create a form of bigotry which hangs on even decades after desegregation. :-( Hopefully people will learn better eventually.

 

[FormerOBS]

You mentioned OBS jobs being held by "Negroes" (this term subject to change due to the whims of political correctness) and Conductor jobs being held by white people. Equally important is the fact that upper levels of management were always all white; and that is largely true today, although it's better now than in the past.

Tom