The Carriers request ample time and opportunity to reply to any and all allegations contained in Employes' and Organization's submission and pleadings.

Except as herein expressly admitted, the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad Company and Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad Company of Texas, and each of them, deny each and every, all and singular, the allegations of the Organization and Employes in alleged unadjusted dispute, claim or grievance.

For each and all of the foregoing reasons, the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad Company and Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad Company of Texas, and each of them, respectfully request the Third Division, National Railroad Adjustment Board, deny said claim and grant said Railroad Companies, and each of them, such other relief to which they may be entitled.

(Exhibits not reproduced.)

OPINION OF BOARD: Claimants C. T. Hatfield and F. L. Rhymes, were members of a System Pile Driver Gang located at Denison, Texas, with assigned camp cars. The assigned workweek was Mondays through Fridays. At the close of work on Friday, September 27, 1957, the crew was informed that the outfit would be moved to Smithville, Texas, some 437 miles, and that Monday morning, they were to report for work at Smithville. The Claimants allege that because the Company was required to furnish transportation, and offered no other transportation, they were required to ride the camp cars to Smithville, thus qualifying for sixteen (16) hours pay at straight time rates, pursuant to Article 12, Rule 1 of the Agreement.

Article 12, Rule 1 of the Agreement, reads as follows:

"Article 12. Travel Time.

"Rule 1. Employes required by the management to travel on or off their assigned territory in boarding cars will be allowed straight time traveling during regular working hours, and for rest days and holidays during hours established for work periods on other days."

The presentation to the Board included twenty-three previous awards put forth by the parties as precedents, in addition to oral argument, and numerous awards cited in the ex-parte submission. The Carrier disputed the claims on two grounds:

1. That the claim was not submitted to the Board within nine (9) months time limit for submission of disputes to the Board;

2. That the Claimants do not qualify for compensation under the quoted rule, in that they were not required to ride the camp cars used for transportation.

The question of what constitutes a timely submission has been before this Board many times. The August 21, 1954 Agreement provides a limit of nine (9) months for submission of disputes to the appropriate division of the National Railroad Adjustment Board, and reads, in part, as follows:

°' * * * All cliams or grievances involved in a decision by the highest designated officer, shall be barred unless within nine (9)

months from the date of said officer's decision proceedings are instituted by the employe or his duly authorized representative before the appropriate division of the National Railroad Adjustment Board r > a

Within said nine months limitation, the Organization on August 21, 1958, notified the Board of the claim, by letter, setting out the names of the Claimants, dates of claim, and the nature of the claim, indicating that the ex-parte submission would be filed within thirty days, as is required pursuant to Circular No. 1 (October 10, 1934) rules of procedure of the Board. This has been the practice for ex-parte submissions for a great number of years, sustained by Awards 10500, 9059, and many others.

There is no dispute that Claimants were members of the System Pile Driver Crew and that their work site was changed at the end of the workweek from Denison to Smithville, over four hundred miles. The Claimants allege, and it is not denied, that the transportation was the responsibility of the Carrier. The claim, however, is not for transportation expense, and that issue is not before us. The Rule, Article 12, Rule 1, requires that straight time compensation be paid when employes are required to travel in Camp Cars. The record does not contain a showing that such travel was required of the Claimants. Claimants contend that the camp car travel requirements must be imputed, from the fact that travel was necessary, the camp cars were being moved, and no other transportation was arranged. Such a finding would require this Board to make a new rule, that where transportation was necessary and pass transportation, or money for public transportation was not tendered, employes were required to ride their equipment to new locations. This Board is not empowered to write rules, and the contention cannot be maintained. The Claimants chose to ride the camp cars on their free days, and have made no showing that they demanded transportation from the Carrier, which demand was refused.

FINDINGS: The Third Division of the Adjustment Board, after giving the parties to this dispute due notice of hearing thereon, and upon the whole record and all the evidence, finds and holds:

That the Carrier and the Employes involved in this dispute are respectively Carrier and Employes within the meaning of the Railway Labor Act, as approved June 21, 1934;

That this Division of the Adjustment Board has jurisdiction over the dispute involved herein; and

That the Agreement was not violated.

AWARD