Time Claims Guidance

How to Write a CC Claim

A valid Cab Condition claim pays a penalty of 2 hours at the working rate[cite: 3] (often valued at 32.5 miles). To get these approved, you must be highly descriptive about the defect and how it personally affected you.

• Sanitation & Toilets: Do not just write "blue liquid." You must specify that the toilet is "unsanitary" and describe the defect, such as "liquid containing human waste, urine, and fecal matter splashing." Note: This must be reported at a location capable of servicing it[cite: 3].
• Weather Leaks & Seals: Unlike other defects, issues like a bad cab seals do not have to be reported prior to departing. However, you must detail the outside weather, exactly where the leak originates, and the personal impact.
  Example: "It was raining heavily outside. Rain dripped in from the windshield above the stairs directly over the steps. When going to use the bathroom, I became wet from the drip which in turn made me cold."
• Required Amenities: Locomotives must be equipped with cold sanitary drinking water (working mechanical/electrical cooler) year-round, and the means to heat the cab in the winter[cite: 3]. Claims involving a lack of clean toilets, potable water, or toilet paper/towels are valid defects.
• Foreign Power Exceptions: If you inherit a "foreign locomotive" from another railroad at an interchange point, claims are often harder to get approved unless the defects fall completely below the minimum FRA safety requirements.

CC Filing Protocols & Settlement Rules

• Initial Notification: For standard defects (toilets, water coolers, heaters), you must notify the Trainmaster/Yardmaster (or Dispatcher) and log the defect into the VRU prior to departure from a mechanical servicing facility capable of making the repair[cite: 3].
• Cascading Claims (Down the Line): If the defect was properly reported at the previous servicing location before departure, all subsequent engineers down the line who operate that defective unit are also entitled to the CC claim until it reaches a facility capable of fixing it[cite: 3].
• En Route Failures: If a unit breaks en route or at an outlying point unable to repair it, a CC claim is not payable until the unit reaches a mechanical repair facility and is dispatched again without being fixed[cite: 3].
• VRU / Mechanical Desk: Always log the defect into the VRU system. If the VRU fails, notify the BNSF Mechanical Desk directly[cite: 3].
• Outlying / Captive Service: For local or road switchers in captive service, if they depart a mechanical facility with NO open defects, BNSF has a 7-day grace period to fix a subsequently reported water cooler defect before a CC claim becomes valid[cite: 3].