On May 1, Foreman in Training (FIT) began.

The program presently is open to journeyman carmen who are interested in becoming foremen. 

“We’re excited to kick this off and offer a great opportunity to Car employees to strengthen their knowledge and leadership skills,” Mechanical Superintendent Adam Brock said. “I feel training is one of the most important aspects of what we do to help people better themselves. Knowledge is power. The more people we can train to understand all aspects of our railroad, the better. I’m a big proponent of training and always have been.” 

The program calls for applications from journeyman carmen. From those applicants, one will be chosen to enter a cross-functional 10-week course dedicated to learning all aspects of the foreman role, including related software and how to interact with employees from other departments. The trainee will be evaluated based on his or her performance, including leaderships skills and knowledge of rules, and must demonstrate competency.

Upon successfully completing the course, the applicant will enter an FIT pool and be considered when a foreman assignment becomes available. Applicants are free to quit the program at any time with no repercussions. Should an applicant quit, the next qualified applicant will be chosen to participate. 

While the program presently is limited to Car due to the size of its workforce, Brock can see FIT expanding to other departments if it proves as successful as he expects it to be.