BNSF News

Best Way Spotlight: Initiatives Build on Sound Foundation in Tulsa, Okla.

2010-05-10

Five months after the Service Excellence Implementation Team departed Cherokee Yard in Tulsa, Okla., the positive lasting effects of the "Best Way" initiatives continue.

Both exempt and scheduled employees in Tulsa have focused on safe performance for years. In addition, the terminal has done a good job historically with achieving on-time performance (OTP), one of the foundations of Service Excellence and Best Way teams. But terminal leadership wanted to improve and fine-tune interdepartmental communication, while, at the same time, outlining clear roles and responsibilities for each position impacting terminal performance.

A look at the tools

Two important tools that are part of the Service Excellence "toolkit" have helped with improvements in the Cherokee Yard. The internal alert is the most significant communication tool brought to Tulsa through Service Excellence. This process, which communicates barriers to OTP and treats each originating train as a deadline, has paid dividends in reinforcing Transportation Service Plans. Operations groups are more aware of each other's issues for every train that could be in jeopardy and make adjustments as needed to meet the deadline.

Ted Shrader, yardmaster, said, "The internal alert has made it possible to ensure we are helping each other succeed. We understand barriers early enough to compensate in other areas of the manifest plan."

Since use of the internal alert rolled out at the yard, Cherokee yard has "saved" the on-time schedules for more than 30 trains that could have been lost without this communication process. The yard now reports that it has run nearly 2,800 consecutive trains on time.

The terminal dashboard is another vital addition to the daily communication in this terminal. The dashboard meshes the goals of multiple departments into a standard document highlighting areas of focus, accountability and success.

Gerald Luster, Mechanical foreman, said, "Briefings are more standard, and our crews understand what to expect from each first-line supervisor giving the briefing. The dashboard tells our terminal's story daily in a consistent way."

The dashboard also provides a user-friendly format for gathering data and pinpointing areas of opportunity for continuous improvement through the issue resolution process. Displaying a solid green front page of the dashboard is one of the terminal's goals. Terminal leadership has challenged all employees to push themselves as leaders and railroaders to attain an all-green board, and the team believes it will achieve this goal soon.

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