Year: 2014

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FRA_logo_wordsIn response to Congress’ mandate in the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (RSIA), the Federal Railroad Administration is proposing to expand the scope of its alcohol and drug regulations to cover employees who perform maintenance-of-way (MOW) activities.

In addition, FRA is proposing certain substantive amendments that either respond to National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommendations or update and clarify the alcohol and drug regulations based on a retrospective regulatory review (RRR) analysis.

“This NPRM addresses the application of drug and alcohol testing for maintenance-of-way employees that are not now covered by those requirements. These maintenance-of-way employees will not be covered by hours of service, but will soon be covered by the same drug and alcohol testing protocols that hours of service employees are under,” SMART Transportation Division National Legislative Director James Stem said.

“These employees will be also tested at a higher rate for the first two years under this NPRM than the other covered service employees.”

Comments can be posted to the docket [Docket No. FRA–2009–0039] at www.regulations.gov and should be offered on or before Sept. 26, 2014.

To read the complete proposed rule, click here.

RRB_seal_150pxThe Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) is required by law to submit annual financial reports to Congress on the financial condition of the railroad retirement system and the railroad unemployment insurance system. These reports must also include recommendations for any financing changes which may be advisable in order to ensure the solvency of the systems. In June, the RRB submitted its 2014 reports on the railroad retirement and railroad unemployment insurance systems.

The following questions and answers summarize the findings of these reports.

1. What were the assets of the railroad retirement and railroad unemployment insurance systems last year?

As of Sept. 30, 2013, total railroad retirement system assets, comprising assets managed by the National Railroad Retirement Investment Trust and the railroad retirement system accounts at the Treasury, equaled $26.7 billion. The trust was established by the Railroad Retirement and Survivors’ Improvement Act of 2001 to manage and invest railroad retirement assets. The cash balance of the railroad unemployment insurance system was $192.5 million at the end of fiscal year 2013.

2. What was the conclusion of the 2014 report on the financial condition of the railroad retirement system?

The overall conclusion was that, barring a sudden, unanticipated, large decrease in railroad employment or substantial investment losses, the railroad retirement system will experience no cash-flow problems during the next 25 years. The long-term stability of the system, however, is still uncertain. Under the current financing structure, actual levels of railroad employment and investment return over the coming years will largely determine whether corrective action is necessary.

3. What methods were used in forecasting the financial condition of the railroad retirement system?

The 2014 report projected the various components of income and outgo of the railroad retirement system under three employment assumptions, intended to provide an optimistic, moderate and pessimistic outlook, for the 25 calendar years 2014-2038. The projections of these components were combined and the investment income calculated to produce the projected balances in the railroad retirement accounts at the end of each projection year.

Projecting income and outgo under optimistic, moderate and pessimistic employment assumptions, the valuation indicated no cash-flow problems occur throughout the 25-year projection period under any of the assumptions.

4. How do the results of the 2014 report compare with those of the 2013 report?

The projected tier II tax rates for each calendar year are either the same or lower than in last year’s report. (Railroad retirement payroll taxes, like railroad retirement benefits, are calculated on a two-tier basis.) The projected combined account balances are higher at the end of each year.

The favorable comparison with last year was due to overall favorable economic and employment experience, with the largest impacts resulting from employment exceeding the RRB’s projections and actual investment return of approximately 16 percent exceeding the expected investment return of seven percent in calendar year 2013.

5. Did the 2014 report on the financial condition of the railroad retirement system recommend any railroad retirement payroll tax rate changes?

The report did not recommend any change in the rate of tax imposed by current law on employers and employees.

6. What were the findings of the 2014 report on the financial condition of the railroad unemployment insurance system?

The RRB’s 2014 railroad unemployment insurance financial report was also generally favorable. Even as maximum benefit rates increase 41 percent (from $68 to $96) from 2013 to 2024, experience-based contribution rates are expected to keep the unemployment insurance system solvent. Unemployment levels are the single most significant factor affecting the financial status of the railroad unemployment insurance system. However, the system’s experience-rating provisions, which adjust contribution rates for changing benefit levels, and its surcharge trigger for maintaining a minimum balance, help to ensure financial stability in the advent of adverse economic conditions.

Under experience-rating provisions, each employer’s contribution rate is determined by the RRB on the basis of benefit payments made to the railroad’s employees. Even under the report’s most pessimistic assumption, the average employer contribution rate remains well below the maximum throughout the projection period.

While no surcharge is in effect in calendar year 2014, this year’s report predicts a 1.5 percent surcharge in calendar years 2015 and 2016. A surcharge of 1.5 percent is also likely in calendar year 2017.

7. What methods were used to evaluate the financial condition of the railroad unemployment insurance system?

The economic and employment assumptions used in the unemployment insurance report corresponded to those used in the 2014 report on the financial condition of the retirement system. Projections were made for various components of income and outgo under each of the three employment assumptions, but for the period 2014-2024, rather than a 25-year period.

8. Did the 2014 report on the railroad unemployment insurance system recommend any financing changes to the system?

No financing changes were recommended at this time by the report.

 

An act of apparent malicious intent was discovered on July 30, 2014, when a Union Pacific carman reported finding two razor blades glued to the air valve of an Amtrak car during a routine repair.

Association of American Railroads Assistant Vice President – Technical Services James P. Grady said no injuries were reported, nor were any suspects observed at the UP San Bernardino Sub in Bloomington, Calif.

“Please give this information widespread distribution to co-workers, contractors, customers and all who deal with freight cars,and be on the lookout for any similar acts of vandalism. We also ask that anyone who makes any other such discoveries report it to me or any other AAR employee, including MID inspectors. This will enable us to broadcast alerts to all who may be affected,” Grady said.

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Amtrak LogoResponding to increasingly serious delays across the national train network, the National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP), represented by the Environmental Law and Policy Center (ELPC), will file an amicus curiae, or “friend of the court,” brief with the United States Supreme Court in the lawsuit between the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Association of American Railroads.

The brief will argue that a lower court was mistaken in ruling that it is unconstitutional for Amtrak to participate with the Federal Railroad Administration in setting performance standards. These metrics helped ensure that Amtrak’s trains – which operate on tracks owned by the private freight railroads – met minimum standards of service quality, and they were developed in conjunction with the Surface Transportation Board, freight railroads, states, rail labor, and rail passenger organizations. NARP believes that the recent decline in on-time performance by Amtrak trains is at least in part due to lower court’s ruling (U.S. Court of Appeals – D.C. Circuit; Association of American Railroads v. U.S. Department of Transportation, et al., No. 12-5204).

ELPC is undertaking the legal research and will file the brief on NARP’s behalf on a pro bono basis. The case is expected to be argued in late 2014 or early 2015, with a decision expected sometime after that.

“This is one of the most important issues NARP has ever tackled,” said NARP Chairman Robert Stewart. “The standards adopted by the government provided real protection for the train-traveling public. As a consumer organization representing railroad passengers, our primary responsibility is to ensure that the services provided meet the reasonable expectations people have for getting to their destinations on time and safely. NARP is deeply grateful to ELPC for their professional assistance in presenting our views to the Supreme Court.”

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special_bus_150pxWASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced today that its waiver program that helps experienced veterans and active duty personnel transition into civilian jobs as commercial truck and bus drivers has been expanded to all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

“Our nation’s veterans deserve good-paying jobs when they return home from serving overseas and we are proud to help,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “Thousands of active duty service members and veterans have already transferred their skills to jobs driving trucks and buses through the Military Skills Test Waiver Program and we look forward to helping even more now that we’ve expanded to all 50 states.”

On June 27, 2014, Alaska became the 50th state to participate in the FMCSA Military Skills Test Waiver Program. Begun in 2011, the Program grants state licensing agencies, including the District of Columbia, the authority to waive the skills test portion of the commercial driver’s license application for active duty or recently separated veterans who possess at least two years of safe driving experience operating a military truck or bus. Waiving the skills test expedites the civilian commercial drivers licensing application process and reduces expenses for qualified individuals and operating costs to state licensing agencies.

The effort is part of First Lady Michelle Obama’s and Dr. Jill Biden’s Joining Forces initiative to promote expanded employment and career development opportunities for veterans and military spouses.

The July 25 announcement also includes two additional expansions of the program.

First, the eligibility period for qualified individuals to obtain an FMCSA Military Skills Test Waiver has been extended from 90 days to one year, nationwide.

Second, commencing with Virginia residents, returning military service personnel who possess a state-issued Skill Performance Evaluation (SPE) certificate due to a limb impairment will automatically be recognized as equivalent to an FMCSA-issued SPE certificate and allowed to obtain an interstate commercial driver’s license (CDL). FMCSA encourages other state licensing agencies to establish comparable equivalency SPE programs.

“Commercial drivers fulfill a vital role ensuring that America’s economy continually moves forward,” said Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrator Anne S. Ferro. “Service members who have clocked countless miles safely working behind the wheel of a military vehicle will now have more time and opportunity to find long-term employment in the commercial driving industry. Reducing the burden of finding civilian jobs is one of the best ways we can thank members of our military and their families for their service to our nation.”

From 2010 to 2020, the need for heavy-vehicle drivers is expected to grow by more than 17 percent – faster than the national average for other occupations.

To date, more than 6,000 current and former military personnel – including Reserves, National Guard, and U.S. Coast Guard service members – have taken advantage of FMCSA’s Military Skills Test Waiver Program, which has been conducted in close cooperation with the Department of Transportation, Department of Defense and the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA).

Additional information, including a standardized application form accepted in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, is available at: http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/registration/commercial-drivers-license/military.

IT SAYS something about Kelly Morris that his funeral was attended by nearly 1,000 people, that SEPTA, his employer, had to use two buses to bring co-workers to the services.

What it says is that Kelly James Morris was an exceptional human being, a man who captured the hearts and esteem of just about everybody he came in contact with.

Read the complete story at the Philadelphia Inquirer.

(Morris was a member of SMART Transportation Division Local 1594 at Upper Darby, Pa.)

With a yellow hat and golf cart emblazoned with his nickname, John “Gig” Gigliotti has perhaps become as iconic on the Wildwood Boardwalk as the yellow tram cars he oversees. A former Conrail train conductor, the 85-year-old West Deptford resident returns to his North Wildwood home each summer, and to his job supervising eight 5-m.p.h. electric trains that transport boardwalk goers along the two-mile stretch. The service has been a staple since 1949.
It’s frequent that workers at the eateries and stands along the boardwalk call out “Giggy” as he drives up and down the planks during 16-hour days, seven days a week, April through September.
Read the complete story at the Philadelphia Inquirer.
(Gigliotti is a member of SMART Transportation Division Local 1375 at Philadelphia.)

A worker at a North Las Vegas business died in a railroad tank car early Saturday, the North Las Vegas Fire Department said.

Witnesses told fire crews that their co-worker had lost consciousness inside the empty tank car and was unable to climb out. Firefighters discovered that the tank car contained highly volatile ethanol vapors and appeared to be unsafe, said Capt. Cedric Williams, a spokesman for the department.

Read the complete story at the Las Vegas Sun.

dscn1647The United Labor Agency and Feeding Hungry Children arrived at Sheet Metal Workers Local 40’s training center with an empty truck. By the end of the event, the truck was full. During one hour, 10,000 meals were packaged by 36 people on three assembly lines. Apprentices Daniel Meyer, Christopher Scott, Kevin Angell, Kevin Nelson, William Garthwaite, Matheau Willette, Oleg Afendulov, Robert Brown, Cullen Bridgers and Jonathan Medina, along with Jason Sherman, executive board member, helped with the event.
Each meal consisted of rice, lentils, vegetables and Himalayan salt, and each ingredient was put into a plastic bag, weighed and heat sealed. Each bag provides six child-sized meals. The majority of the meals went to children in Waterbury, Hartford and New Britain in Connecticut who only eat while at school. The meals packaged by the volunteers at Local #40 bridge the night, weekend and vacation gaps when nutritious food is not available.