NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
Form 1 THIRD DIVISION Award No. 29641
Docket No. MW-28005
93-3-87-3-524



(Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes PARTIES TO DISPUTE: (Burlington Northern Railroad Company (former (St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Company)

STATEMENT OF CLAIM:





FINDINGS:

The Third Division of the Adjustment Board, upon the whole record and all the evidence, finds that:

The carrier or carriers and the employe or employes involved in this dispute are respectively carrier and employes within the meaning of the Railway Labor Act as approved June 21, 1934.

This Division of the Adjustment Board has jurisdiction over the dispute involved herein.

Parties to said dispute waived right of appearance at hearing thereon.

At the relevant time, Claimant was a trackman-driver assigned to Gang 122 headquartered at Arcadia, Kansas. This claim involves asserted rule violations because Assistant Foreman R. Baker of Gang 122 operated Truck No. 2266 assigned to that gang without a trackman-driver for over 30 days.
Form 1 Award No. 29641


Three vehicles were assigned to Gang 122. The ordinary operation of those vehicles was as follows: Truck No. 7399

material truck operated by a trackman-driver to pick up and deliver materials), 2256 (a district truck operated by a trackman-driver for transporting foreman and trackmen to job sites) and 74600 (a crew hauler truck driven by an assistant foreman to transport machine operators to job sites).




"When motor vehicles for use on the highway are assigned to a gang in the Track Sub-department or in the System Rail Laying Subdepartment for the purpose of trans connection with their work, one or more positions of trackmandriver shall be established in each suc


      Rule 18(a)(5) states, in relevant part:


"The establishment of trackman-driver positions does not grant such employes the exclusive right to the driving of trucks, and does not preclude other members of the gang from driving a motor vehicle assigned to the gang for which they will receive no additional compensation; however, trackman-driver, when available, shall be used for this purpose in preference to other trackmen in the gang."


There is no rule support for the Organization's contention that a trackman-driver must be assigned to operate every vehicle assigned to the gang. Indeed, Rule 18(a)(4) states only that when a gang has vehicles assigned to it, "one or more positions of trackman-driver shall be established in each such gang." Had the parties intended that each vehicle required the assignment of a trackman-driver, they could have easily stated that requirement. This gang has two trackman-drivers. It therefore had "one or more positions of trackman-driver ...." The staffing dictated by the

rules have been met.

                        A W A R D


      Claim denied.


                                NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD By Order of Third Division


Attest:
      fancy ever, Secretary to the Board.


Dated at Chicago, Illinois this 7th day of June 1993.