Narrative:

Towbar-less tug operators are daily; being ordered by management to operate their tugs in an unsafe manor as judged by the tug driver. As I am being forced to often operate the tug and aircraft on company property and ATC controlled airspace; I find in many situations I am no longer confident of a safe outcome.it is my opinion that this station has an unsafe SOP that has resulted in a runway incursion in the recent past; as well as other 'near misses' that are not reported because nothing happened; however; they may be an indicator of the unsafe SOP.no remedies to these incursions or ATC misunderstandings have ever been implemented at this station. Other issues of safe operation include chronic ramp congestion that often does not allow safe movement of the tug.this forced demand from the company is in conflict with their own [manual]. I believe there is a real safety issue here that requires a resolution from outside the station.management still needs to move metal around the airport; understandable. However; as the environment has changed over the last few years (for several reasons) at ZZZ both within the company and ATC concerning safe aircraft movement our old procedures are no longer acceptable. Management demanding that [towbar-less tug] operators continue to move aircraft without addressing this safety issue is unacceptable for obvious reasons; the most obvious one being the safety of the flying public and of course myself.I'm suggesting a committee be set up outside this station to provide: a clarification on [our manual] (tow operations member job description) does the [tug] operator have the authority to determine the appropriate number of personnel for a safe move of that aircraft?I'm also suggesting that this station's SOP concerning the tug be reviewed and that new policies be implemented that will allow us to move ahead safely and not threatened.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Maintenance employee reported that they are ordered by management to operate tugs in an unsafe manner.

Narrative: Towbar-less Tug Operators are daily; being ordered by Management to operate their tugs in an unsafe manor as judged by the Tug Driver. As I am being forced to often operate the tug and aircraft on company property and ATC controlled airspace; I find in many situations I am no longer confident of a safe outcome.It is my opinion that this station has an unsafe SOP that has resulted in a Runway incursion in the recent past; as well as other 'near misses' that are not reported because nothing happened; however; they may be an indicator of the unsafe SOP.No remedies to these incursions or ATC misunderstandings have ever been implemented at this station. Other issues of safe operation include chronic Ramp congestion that often does not allow safe movement of the Tug.This forced demand from the company is in conflict with their own [manual]. I believe there is a real safety issue here that requires a resolution from outside the station.Management still needs to move metal around the airport; understandable. However; as the environment has changed over the last few years (for several reasons) at ZZZ both within the company and ATC concerning safe aircraft movement our old procedures are no longer acceptable. Management demanding that [towbar-less tug] operators continue to move aircraft without addressing this safety issue is unacceptable for obvious reasons; the most obvious one being the safety of the flying public and of course myself.I'm suggesting a committee be set up outside this station to provide: a clarification on [our manual] (Tow operations member job description) Does the [tug] operator have the authority to determine the appropriate number of personnel for a safe move of that aircraft?I'm also suggesting that this station's SOP concerning the tug be reviewed and that new policies be implemented that will allow us to move ahead safely and not threatened.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.