Cite as: 516 U. S. 152 (1996)
Opinion of the Court
transportation from a duty assignment to the place of final release is neither time on duty nor time off duty.
"(5) An interim period available for rest at a place other than a designated terminal is time on duty.
"(6) An interim period available for less than 4 hours rest at a designated terminal is time on duty.
"(7) An interim period available for at least 4 hours rest at a place with suitable facilities for food and lodging is not time on duty when the employee is prevented from getting to the employee's designated terminal by any of the following:
"(A) a casualty "(B) a track obstruction "(C) an act of God "(D) a derailment or major equipment failure resulting from a cause that was unknown and unforeseeable to the railroad carrier or its officer or agent in charge of that employee when that employee left the designated terminal." 49 U. S. C. § 21103(b).
Although these provisions do not specify time spent waiting for deadhead transportation as a separate category, § 21103(b)(4) does classify the "time spent in deadhead transportation." That phrase, as a matter of common usage, can be read to include the time spent waiting for the deadhead transportation, but we need not confine our examination to those words alone. When we consider the question in light of the purpose of the HSA and all the quoted provisions, we conclude that the time spent waiting for deadhead transportation is of the same character as the time spent in the dead-head transportation itself.
The purpose of the HSA is to promote the safe operation of trains, and the statutory classification must be understood in accord with that objective. The statute, in effect, makes the determination that a train employee who remains on duty for more than 12 consecutive hours will be too fatigued to operate a train in a safe manner. In consequence, the
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