ARTICLE 24

DEADHEADING

A. PAYMENT WHEN DEADHEADING AND SERVICE ARE COMBINED

1. Deadheading and service may be combined in any manner that traffic conditions require, and when so combined employees shall be paid actual miles or hours on a continuous time basis, with not less than a minimum day, for the combined service and deadheading. However, when deadheading from the away-from-home terminal to the home terminal is combined with a service trip from such home terminal to such away-from-home terminal and the distance between the two terminals exceeds the applicable mileage for a basic day, the rate paid for the basic day mileage portions of the service trip and deadhead shall be at the full basic daily rate.

2. Employees deadheading into their home terminal can have their deadhead combined with service out of that terminal only when the deadhead and service comes within the provisions of short turnaround service rules.

B. PAYMENT FOR DEADHEADING SEPARATE FROM SERVICE

When deadheading is paid for separate and apart from service:

1. For employees with a seniority date on or prior to October 31, 1985

A minimum day, at the basic rate applicable to the class of service in connection with which deadheading is performed, shall be allowed for the deadheading, unless actual time consumed is greater, in which event the latter amount shall be allowed.

2. For employees with a seniority date after October 31, 1985

Compensation on a minute basis, at the basic rate applicable to the class of service in connection with which deadheading is performed, shall be allowed. However, if service after deadheading to other than the employee's home terminal does not begin within 16 hours after completion of deadhead, a minimum of a basic day at such rate will be paid. If deadheading from service at other than the employee's home terminal does not commence within 16 hours of completion of service, a minimum of a basic day at such rate will be paid.

A minimum of a basic day will be allowed where two separate deadhead trips, the second of which is out of other than the home terminal, are made with no intervening service performed. Non-service payments such as held-away-from-home terminal allowance will count toward the minimum of a basic day provided in this Paragraph B.2.

C. APPLICATION

1. Deadheading will not be paid where not paid under existing rules.

2. The deadhead rule does not apply to employees exercising seniority rights.

3. When an employee is required to deadhead by a mode of transportation other than rail, the rail mileage will be paid between the two points if train service operates directly between such points, subject to the minimum payments required by the agreement.

If no train service operates directly between the two points, the direct highway mileage traveled will be paid, subject to the minimum payments required by the agreement.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

The following examples illustrate application of the rule to all employees regardless of when their seniority date in train service was established, except where specifically stated otherwise:

Question #1: What payment would be due a trainman who performed road service on a train of 81 cars from A, the home terminal, to B, the away-from-home terminal, a distance of 170 miles, and deadheaded from B to A, with the service and deadhead combined between A-B-A?

Answer: A minimum day and applicable over-miles for the service and a minimum day and applicable over-miles for the deadhead, all the 81-105 car rate, with service and deadhead combined.

Question #2: What would be the payment under Question 1 if the distance between A and B were 75 miles?

Answer: A minimum day and applicable over-miles, all at the 81-105 car rate.

Question #3: What payment would be due a trainman who performed road service on a train of 81 cars from A to B, a distance of 170 miles, taking rest at B, and then being deadheaded separate and apart from service from B to A, with the deadhead consuming 8 hours?

Answer: A minimum day and applicable over-miles, all at the 81-105 car rate for the service trip from A to B, and a minimum day at basic rate (no car count) applicable to the class of service in connection with which the deadheading is performed.

Question #4: What payment would be due a trainman who performed road service on a train of 81 cars from A to B, a distance of 170 miles, taking rest at B, and then deadheading separate from service B to A, with the deadhead being completed in 10 hours?

Answer: He would be paid a minimum day and applicable over-miles, all at the 81-105 car rate for the service trip from A to B, and 10 hours straight time rate of pay at the basic rate (no car count) applicable to the class of service in connection with which the deadheading is performed.

Question #5: A trainman operates a train from his home terminal, point A, to the away-from-home terminal, point B, a distance of 170 miles. Upon arrival at the away-from-home terminal, he is ordered to deadhead, separate and apart from service, to the home terminal. The time deadheading is 5 hours. What payment is due?

Answer: A minimum day plus applicable over-miles for service. A minimum day for deadhead if employees’ seniority is on or prior to October 31, 1985; otherwise, 5 hours.

Question #6: Would at least a minimum day at the basic rate (no car count) applicable to the class of service in connection with which the deadheading is performed be paid when a deadhead is separate and apart from service and the actual time consumed is the equivalent of a minimum day or less?

Answer: Yes, for employees whose seniority is on or prior to October 31, 1985. Actual time will be paid to others.

Question #7: A trainman is called to deadhead from point A to point B, a distance of 50 miles, to operate a train back to point A. He is instructed to combine deadhead and service. Total elapsed time for the deadhead and service is 7 hours, 30 minutes. What payment is due?

Answer: A minimum day.

Question #8: A trainman is called to deadhead from point A to point B, a distance of 50 miles, to operate a train from point B to point C, a distance of 75 miles. He is instructed to combined deadhead and service. Total elapsed time is 10 hours. What payment is due?

Answer: A minimum day plus applicable over-miles or overtime, if any.

Question #9: A trainman operates a train from point A to point B, a distance of 50 miles. He is ordered to deadhead back to point A, service and deadhead combined. Total elapsed time, 8 hours, 30 minutes. What payment is due?

Answer: A minimum day plus 30 minutes overtime.

Question #10: A trainman operates a train from his home terminal, point A, to the away-from-home terminal, point B, a distance of 275 miles. After rest, he is ordered to deadhead, separate and apart from service, to the home terminal. Time deadheading is 9 hours, 10 minutes. What payment is due?

Answer: A minimum day plus applicable over-miles for service, 9 hours, 10 minutes straight time for the deadhead.

The following examples illustrate the application of this Article to employees whose earliest seniority date in a craft covered by this Agreement is established after October 31, 1985:

Question #1: A trainman is called to deadhead from his home terminal to an away-from-home point. He last performed service 30 hours prior to commencing the deadhead trip. The deadhead trip consumed 5 hours and was not combined with the service trip. The service trip out of the away-from-home terminal began within 6 hours from the time the deadhead trip was completed. What payment is due?

Answer: 5 hours at the straight time rate.

Question #2: What payment would have been made to the trainman in Question #1 if the service trip out of the away-from-home terminal had begun 17 hours after the time the deadhead trip ended, and the held-away rule was not applicable?

Answer: A minimum day for the deadhead.

Question #3: What payment would have been made to the trainman in Question #1 if the service trip out of the away-from-home terminal had begun 18 hours after the time the deadhead trip ended, and the trainman received 2 hours pay under the held-away rule?

Answer: 6 hours at the straight time rate.

Question #4: A trainman is deadheaded to the home terminal after having performed service into the away-from-home terminal. The deadhead trip, which consumed 5 hours and was not combined with the service trip, commenced 8 hours after the service trip ended. What payment is due?

Answer: 5 hours at the straight time rate.

Question #5: What payment would have been made to the trainman in Question #4 if the deadhead trip had begun 18 hours after the service trip ended and the held-away rule was not applicable?

Answer: A minimum day for the deadhead.

Question #6: What payment would have been made to the trainman in Question #4 if the deadhead trip had begun 18 hours after the time the service trip ended and the trainman received 2 hours pay under the held-away- rule?

Answer: 6 hours at the straight time rate.

Question #7: A trainman is deadheaded from the home terminal to an away-from-home location. Then (10) hours after completion of the trip, he is deadheaded to the home terminal without having performed service. The deadhead trips each consumed two hours. What payment is due?

Answer: A minimum day for the combined deadhead trips.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS - DEADHEADING (IN GENERAL)

Question No. 1: If an employee works from his home terminal to the away-from-home terminal and then deadheads from the away-from-home terminal to the home terminal, is it necessary to notify the employee to combine deadhead and service prior to going off duty on the service trip?

Answer: Yes.

Question No. 2: Does the Carrier have the sole right to determine whether deadheading will be combined with service or paid for separately?

Answer: Yes.

Question No. 3: How is a crew or individual to know whether or not deadheading is combined with service?

Answer: When deadheading for which called is combined with subsequent service, will be notified when called. When deadheading is to be combined with prior service, will be notified before being relieved from prior service. If not so notified, deadheading and service cannot be combined.

Question No. 4: Can notification to combine deadheading and service be included in a bulletin: e.g. where a crew regularly performs deadheading that the Carrier wishes to combine with service?

Answer: Yes.

Question No. 5: Where deadheading is combined with service with a mileage component, what is the rate of pay for the deadhead portion of the trip?

Answer: The rate of pay allowed for the service portion of the trip.

Question No. 6: Does the new deadhead rule deal in any way with employees using their personal automobiles to deadhead?

Answer: No. Use of automobiles is not involved in this rule and local agreements and understandings continue to apply.

Question No. 7: Are local agreements such as "if deadheaded by highway, highway mileage applies and if deadheaded by rail, rail mileage applies" preserved by the new agreement?

Answer: Yes, in those situations where deadheading is combined with service and is paid for on a mileage basis.

Question No. 8: In situations where the Carrier chooses to combine deadheading with service, at what point does initial terminal delay begin?

Answer: At the point and time the crew actually reports on duty for the service trip.

This page last updated: March 02, 2005