NRC's task forces - NRC news - National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association - Brief Article

Railway Track and Structures, August, 2001 by Scott Brace

Several years ago NRC adopted a new philosophy of governance. Our Board of Directors made the decision to shift from a static committee structure to a more-dynamic and flexible model. In this new model, our Board of Directors reassumed many of the core responsibilities for perennial activities, such as marketing and government relations, that had been spun off into committees. When NRC is faced with a problem or task of significance to our industry that requires a special focus, the Board assigns the matter to an ad hoc group.

These groups, which we call "Task Forces," operate with a concise and clear mission. They move at a rapid pace, and when the mission has been accomplished they are disbanded. This new model helps NRC to avoid bureaucratic stagnation and the "committee disease" that occurs when there are numerous standing committees in an organization with little to do. Such committees tend to flounder, endlessly seeking tasks and devouring resources, and producing little benefit to the organization. The rail contracting industry is fast moving, competitive, and constantly changing. We feel this new structure reflects the business environment of our membership. Currently NRC has two task forces operating: Transit Procurement and E-commerce.

Transit Procurement

Transit is the fastest growing segment of NRC member companies' business. Urban areas around the country have witnessed the phenomenal success of rail transit in cities such as Seattle, Dallas, and Washington, D.C., and are moving to fund their own transit and commuter rail systems at a blistering pace. With so many actors out there, policies and standards are still chaotic, and bringing some order to the procurement practices of these many agencies is necessary. Led by Dan Foth of Balfour Beatty Rail Systems, this task force was created in early Spring of this year with the mission to: (1) clarify and articulate difficulties rail contractors face when bidding on transit projects, and (2) liaison with the APTA committee that is working to develop standardized and transparent procurement policies and practices for its members.

Currently, the task force is developing a set of suggestions and recommendations regarding transit procurement from the contractor/supplier perspective. The APTA committee will review this at their first meeting on August 13. This paper will be available on our Website at www.nrcma.org.

E-commerce

The track owners are pushing to implement e-commerce solutions. As work begins to be funneled through these on-line systems, the implications for how our members conduct business are tremendous, particularly for activities such as bidding, purchasing and marketing. How will e-commerce impact the long-standing relationships we have with our customers? Will it open up new markets for our companies or allow them to consolidate their purchasing power? Will it just benefit the track owners' bottom lines while plunging our industry into chaos? Led by Foster Beach of RailWorks Corporation, this task force was created to deal with this emerging phenomenon. Its mission is twofold: (1) to monitor crucial e-commerce industry developments and report them to the NRC membership, and (2) to communicate the unique needs of the rail contracting industry to the players in the e-commerce field to ensure we aren't neglected as new systems and procedures are developed and implemented.

A number of consortia have emerged as the leaders offering e-commerce solutions to the rail industry. NRC has met with the three leaders, NRC-member iRail.com, GE's railmarketplace.com, and the Booz-Allen/APTA venture at transportmax.com. Currently, the task force is assembling a white paper of recommendations and concerns our members have with the e-commerce concepts presented at those meetings. This paper will be submitted to each of these consortia and also posted on our Website at www.nrcma.org.

Up-to-the-minute details of each Task Force's mission, members, and progress are provided on the NRC Website.