DevonParsons.com

August is finally here, bringing with it the close of my tenure with Frito-Lay in Orlando. I certainly learned a significant amount this summer and I am at an advantage because I have learned thoroughly that college needs to be enjoyed and appreciated because the work world is nothing like it.

My experience this summer was FANTASTIC. I can not say enough good things. Some highlights of the internship:

• First and foremost was learning the process. There is a whole world of Lay's potato chips (and other products outside my department) and I made it a personal goal to learn as much as I could. I took time to understand and refine the process. One day my nose could be buried in a manual and the next day it could be in the middle of a potato peeler on the floor. I appreciated the diverse environment the plant offered.
• Feeling like part of the team. From talking with operators to people at Frito headquarters, I always felt like I was a member of the Frito family and not just a summer temp.
• Business trip to another plant in Atlanta, GA. This was the "mega-plant" of the south and was massively bigger than Orlando. Good perspective on the different operations.
• HAVING FUN.  It may be hard to believe, but everywhere I went at Frito Lay people were having a good time while at the same time driving the business. From the other interns to region executives, there was an overall upbeat atmosphere.

The key point of the summer was that it allowed to me to explore a new industry. Attending career fairs and talking to individuals provides a glimpse at potential career paths, but one never realizes how complex a business is until you dive inside it.

Day Four

Today was Operations Department. If you know me, you know operations has always caught my interest, so it only makes sense that today was one of the most memorable days of the week. Even better? I GOT TO SLEEP IN!

That's right. I mentioned earlier that the FEC is a scheduled railroad, so the trains tend to run on time I think 98% of the time. My train I was scheduled to ride on was called a "meet me" train that departed Bowden Yard in Jacksonville at 1PM. It's called a meet me train because it heads southbound for Miami, meeting the northbound train halfway so the crews can swap trains--so at the end of the day the crew ends up where they started at their home base. It's a full10 hour day. Train 101 is the "hotshot" intermodal train bound for Miami. Why so high priority? It's UPS traffic, and they have an exclusive contract that their cargo has to be in Miami in 8 hours. That means no stops, save for the train meet with Train 202 northbound, 101's counterpart bringing empty loads back to Jacksonville.

I arrived at Bowden yard slighly after noon, hyped up on Dunkin Donuts and ready for the full day. Nearing the yard office, I got some stares. One gentlemen noted, "How old are you?" I said 19. He replied, "Why should I talk to you? I have two grandchildren older than you." And it showed the realm I was dealing with, where seniority is everything. Yet I just smiled, and headed up to the yard office where I met Joe the engineer and Ron the conductor for the day.

Joe and Ron have both been with the FEC since right out of high school, and have over 80 years combined experience. I felt honored to ride-along with them, and I knew it was going to be a day of excellent conversation. They were surprised, as they had never had a student rider before, but were certainly eager to share anything and everything.

Standing in the yard office, I could see all of Bowden yard, and it was pretty impressive. The three units on our train were ready to go, but word got out that maintance was inspecting the train and found a bad flatbed trailer car with a UPS flat on it. That means the train would have to be switched so the broken car could be flagged for the shop, and the UPS freight put onto another car. The delay cost 45 minutes, but Joe was certain we could make it up in route because we had an extra locomotive. Our lead locomotive for the trip south was FEC #707, an ex-Union Pacific SD40-2 locomotive, left in her original armor yellow paint scheme with the FEC logo added. I was told I was in for a treat, the locomotive on Train 202 that we would meet was one of the new SD70-M locomotives in FEC paint. [Since the acquisition, RailAmerica has begun repainting the units red, white, and blue.] The SD70 units are ultra modern, with computerized displays, quiet cabs, and very, very comfortable seats. And after sitting in one for a day, I can tell you there is quite a difference.

We left Bowden and enjoyed the trip south, eagerly talking with Ron and Joe about anything and everything. These men had wonderful insight on the industry which I definately took to heart. The scenery on top of that was BEAUTIFUL, especially near Cape Canaveral where we were right next to the water. (And the Restricted Area for the NASA spur track from the mainline.)

Our train was over 10,000 feet of loaded containers, with everything from Publix produce to IKEA furniture to, mainly, United Parcel Service cargo. We maintained about 60 mph the entire trip save for a few curves with speed restrictions. I also learned how the Flashing Rear End Device worked from the locomotive cab, and how it could be used to trace distances, etc., since you can't really see the back of a two mile long freight train.

Our train made good time, and we got all the way to Melbourne where we met Train 202, pulling the locomotive windows right next to eachother so all of our gear could be transferred between the two crews. While we were stopped, I didn't even want to think about the unlucky motorists trapped by our train behind us, and additionally the other train and the crossings it was blocking. Well, they should have taken the train!

Ron played a joke a pretended that I was an Federal Railroad Administration inspector with the crew of the northbound, and they bought it for a few minutes. After the laughs and quick conversation was over, each train asked for clearance, and we were on our way.

On our way in a different world. The SD70 at the head of the 6,000 feet long Train 202 was a wonderful locomotive from the cab perspective. Very cushy, and once again on the ride back to Jacksonville I taked with Ron quite extensively about anything and everything. That's what you do to pass the time.

And while the day didn't entail any problems, we were lucky. We didn't have to walk the train for a broken axel or anything of the sort. But it does happen. We pulled into Bowden yard at about 10:30PM, just ahead of schedule. The train was cut, and the locomotives headed toward the engine barn. I thanked my hosts, and headed back to the car.

Thursday showed me more than I could soak in. However, it confirmed my aspirations of career choice. I'll never forget when we stepped into the cab of the locomotive and Ron said,

"Welcome to my office."

That about sums it up, my first time down the east coast of Florida and it was on a train. Not bad, not bad at all.

Day Three

Today was Mechanical Department day, much like yesterday was Engineering Department day. (The engineering dept. is responsible for all the track maintance, signals, gates, etc, etc.) I arrived at FEC's Bowden Yard, the mainstay of the operatons. Bowden is on the east side of Jacksonville, not far from the RailAmerica building. Bowden is essentially the northern terminus for the FEC trains, and there is a very active interchange on the other side of the St. John's river with Norfolk Southern and CSX Transportation, two very big "Class I" railroads.

In the morning, around 7AM, I met with Mr. Leo Helms, the manager of FEC's intermodal services. Intermodal is the type of container freight. It's like the LEGOs of transportation, it can be put on ships, placed on a train, then put onto a trailer chassis and delivered to the customer. There's no need to repackage it or use different methods, etc. It's just containerization. FEC is able to load intermodal freight and piggyback (the term used to describe putting regular truck trailers on railroad flatcars) trailers on the ramp. This is where I spend my morning, meeting various ramp supervisors and observing the operation of how the drivers bring in the loaded freight, and the crane places it on the waiting railcars. It's mesmerizing to watch. Mr. Helms drove around the large ramp once or twice so I could take it all in. I was very impressed by the size, and it was hard to keep in perspective that this is actually a small ramp operation compared to the bigger railroads and other terminals. FEC's Miami ramp is also bigger than the Jacksonville operation.

There's a lot of details in ramp operation, and it's a very neat process to watch and learn about. I also saw the car repair shop. It's basically a souped up auto mechanic garage. Very, very souped up. I learned about the various equipment and billing processes, and how the railcars are tagged for repair from beginning to end.

The second half of the day consisted of driving down 95 with Mr. Helms to New Smyrna Beach, Florida, where FEC has its locomotive shop. This is where locomotives are inspected, taken apart, fixed, painted, you name it. The guys here can do it. Mr. Helms was just as interested as I was, as I realized that when I met some of these people that they were the right hand and they didn't see what the left hand was doing. And they were just as interested as I was. It's a massive operation. And this is a medium sized railroad by industry standards.

We spent about an hour at the FEC locomotive shop before heading back to Jacksonville and ending our day. The mechanical department starts early and tends to end early in regards to their workday. Fine by me, time for dinner and a little bit of Jacksonville Beach at dusk!

Day Two

The number one rule--ask anyone--on the railroad is SAFETY. Safety, safety, safety. It couldn't be more true. Railroaders in all departments interact with machinery that could seriously or fatally injure you. Just look at the FEC's slogan: "Moving America Safely and Efficiently." See the emphasis on safety? Railroads have always been dangerous places, but in modern times more safety practices and implementations of the Federal Railroad Administration (much like the FAA for railroads) have drastically improved railroad safety.

To start my day, I reported to a local hotel to observe a safety class for roadway workers, basically individuals who work on and maintain the track. Thanks to my experience with the Florida Gulf Coast Railroad, I know the general safety rule and how vital they are to survival in the railroad environment. Yet always ready to learn, I stepped into the hotel conference room with an eagerness to learn. I did get a few curious stares as to why I was there, but any 19 year old in the railroad enviroment will certainly be a point of interest.

I took in the safety presentation and the procedures that FEC goes through to be one of the safest railroads it can. Around 10AM I met Mr. Burnet, a track supervisor for the Florida East Coast Railway. He would take me on my hi-rail experience for the afternoon.

What is hi-rail you ask? Well it's a combination of the words highway and rail. It's a vehicle, usually a truck, that is certified to operate on both the road and tracks. They have railroad wheels that are operated by hydralics which lower onto the tracks and raise the vehicle above the rails. No need for that steering wheel anymore! (If you're wondering, it gets locked into place one the rail wheels are lowered.)

Mr. Burnet met me at the hotel and we headed out to the parking lot where we climbed inside the hi-rail truck. The agenda for the day took us down to Bunnell, Florida via Interstate 95 where we would get on the tracks and ride the rails in the truck back north to Jacksonville.

We had a wonderful conversation on the drive down. Most of the guys I met had been with the FEC their entire lives and couldn't say enough good things about the company and the business they are in. They take great pride in their work, and Mr. Burnet was very eager to show off his pride and joy--the trackwork he supervises on a daily basis to keep the FEC in tip-top shape for its freight trains.

After stopping for lunch in Bunnell, we headed down a sidestreet and approched a crossing. After recieving permission from the railroad dispatcher through the computer, Mr. Burnet lined the truck up parallel to the tracks, blocking the crossing, and lowered the railroad wheels on the truck.

At this point, the expression of the people's faces in the cars around us was hysterical. It's definately something you don't see every day.

The wheels were lowered, steering wheel locked, step on the gas, and off we go at 30mph down the tracks. Note that we had to stop at every crossing for traffic. Although we technically have the right of way being on the tracks. Mr. Burnet didn't want to bother with the device that signals the crossing gates to lower.

We traversed the line, and the day was beautiful. We had to pull over into a siding a few times to let freights pass us. The FEC is a single track railroad, so when equipment going northbound has to pass something going southbound, one has to wait in a sidetrack, which are automatically controlled by dispatchers at FEC headquarters.

The FEC hi-rail truck, on a siding waiting for southbound Train 101 to pass.

We finally reached Jacksonville a few hours later, and reversed the process of putting the wheels up to become roadworthy again. Back to the hotel we went, I thanked Mr. Burnet, and was back in my car (that Accord that, unfortunately, doesn't have railroad capabilities. I was going to upgrade the stereo... but maybe railroad wheels will be more practical?) The week was just getting better and better.

WOW. What a week.

First off, I apologize for not doing daily updates, but last week was just too crazy to do so. Not only that, but I was planning on doing updates over the weekend until I remember that the oh-so-cruel UF Physics department decided to give our second exam the Monday after break.

So, after the test, here I am. For confidentiality purposes, the names of people from my externship week have been altered. And what a week it was.

Day One

I got up at 6AM. I make note of this because I haven't gotten up that early in a while, and thrust me back into reality that waking up at 8AM for classes really isn't so bad. After a wonderful breakfast of scrambled eggs and fresh fruit with my hosts, I took off for RailAmerica headquarters. RailAmerica is a shortline holding company, essentially, they manage 42 railroads across North America. These "shortlines" are railroads that are usually small by industry standards--often less than 300 miles or so. I would be spending most of my week with their newest property which RailAmerica recently purchased along with its parent company Fortress Investments, the Florida East Coast Railway (FEC) running from Jacksonville to Miami.

FEC Headquarters building in southeast Jacksonville, Fl. Now home to the RailAmerica corporate offices as well since the aquisition.

Day One started at headquarters for RailAmerica, and it was essentially meetings all day. Sitting in on the meetings gave a real perspective on the managment process that goes on behind the scenes in the railroading world. For instance, we started the day with the FEC managers staff meeting, where they gave updates on the railroad, how business was doing, and future projects the managers wanted to implement. It was also a time to meet the individuals I would be spending some of the week with at the FEC. Following that meeting was another where I sat in with RailAmerica Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President on his weekly conference call to the different RailAmerica regions. Discussed were any problems an individual railroad was facing, solutions, etc, etc. Following that was the Chief Executive Officer's staff meeting with most of RailAmerica corporate, and after that was another meeting where various topics and subjects came up for review. These topics were, for example, how to analyze the current system to improve fuel efficiency and how the individual would go about doing so.

Essentially the day required a lot of meetings stamina, but it was well worth it. It really gave a good glimpse into the area I want to pursue--the business side of railroad operations. I learned about the chain of command and how proposals get approved and the thought and work that goes into them. And while the business side was extremely interesting, little did I realize that on day two I would be hitting the ground (the railroad ground) running. No more office building for me until the end of the week.

Below is a map of the FEC route down the east coast of the state. It's about 350 miles, 8 hours running time from Jacksonville to Miami nonstop.