Thirty years with men operating trains and yard engines. For the past 30 years I have been closely involved with men who operate trains and yard engines in Tennessee and neighboring states. The main portion of my service to the Norfolk-Southern was in Debutts Yard in Chattanooga, first as a yard switchman and from 1977 to 1988 as yard foreman. This promotion was due to accumulated seniority which allowed me to successfully bid on higher paying and less physically strenuous jobs as foreman. In addition, since February 1966, I have held numerous elective offices in the United Transportation Union, which represents workers in all operating crafts.
Read the complete story at Our Life at Work.
Author: amyr
With profit seemingly driving all business decisions, it shouldn’t be a surprise that the country’s major railroad companies are continuing their quest to reduce freight trains crews … to one person. Not surprising, but scary.
The railroad bosses are united in their desire for this change, citing technological advances. Labor groups, those living on rail lines and people interested in common sense are opposed. Rail “crews” are already down to two — an engineer who drives the train and a conductor who oversees the long line of cars, communicates with dispatchers and provides a second set of monitoring eyes.
The preceding editorial was published Dec. 29 by The Herald of Everett, Wash. Read the complete editorial here.
The Long Island Rail Road is on pace to close out the year, once again, as the busiest commuter rail system in the United States — this time by a much wider margin over Metro-North than last year.
Transportation experts attributed the LIRR’s widening lead over its sister MTA railroad to the recovering economy, LIRR’s investments in service, and a spate of safety-related incidents on Metro-North.
Read the complete story at Newsday.
The railroad industry is usually a good indicator of the underlying North American economy rising at a much faster pace over the last couple of years. In 2014, the key stories have been the rising crude-by-rail trend, stronger broad-based volume growth, rail consolidation, and network congestion problems. We believe these key themes will be pivotal to earnings growth in 2015.
Read the complete story at Guru Focus.
Labor negotiations are set to begin between Union Pacific, BNSF Railway and unions that represent about 10,000 railroad workers in Nebraska and Iowa.
Formal negotiations are scheduled for next month on a new collective bargaining agreement between the nation’s freight railroads and 13 unions representing about 143,000 workers. The most recent contracts were ratified in 2011 and 2012.
Read the complete story at the Omaha World-Herald.
Canada’s two biggest railroads aren’t letting winter go unchallenged.
Canadian National Railway Co. (CNR) is strengthening its network, increasing employees and engines to keep trains running smoothly prevent another winter of icy and prevent another winter of profit-sapping gridlock. Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. (CP) is putting additional staff on standby, redeploying some equipment to “strategic” locations, and building new sidings in case below-average temperatures halt cargos.
“Last year was an extraordinary winter,” Canadian Pacific Chief Operating Officer Keith Creel said in a Dec. 15 interview in Toronto. “The rolling equipment, the air-brake systems, the steel that you ride the trains on, the locomotives that have to operate at 40 below zero — there are certain things that just don’t work when it gets this cold.”
Read the complete story at Bloomberg News.
Palmetto GBA is conducting a Railroad Medicare Beneficiary Satisfaction Survey. The survey is designed to collect data on beneficiary satisfaction regarding its performance as Railroad Medicare’s contractor. The survey will be sent to a random sample of approximately 8,000 Railroad Medicare Beneficiaries.
The surveys will be included in an upcoming Medicare Summary Notice (MSN). Palmetto GBA is listening and wants to hear from you about the services we provide to you.
For additional information about the survey, click here.
MTA Metro-North Railroad has selected a health care firm that specializes in sleep disorders to screen all locomotive engineers for sleep apnea, railroad officials announced Dec. 15.
Under a seven-month pilot project, all 410 Metro-North engineers and about 20 engineers in training will undergo an initial screening by the railroad’s Occupational Health Services Department based on industry best practices. The locomotive engineers recommended for additional screening will be referred to the contractor, Persante Health Care Inc., Metro-North officials said in a press release.
Read the complete story at Progressive Railroading.
More than 2.7 billion trips were taken on U.S. public transportation in the third quarter of 2014, according to a report released today by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA). This is a 1.8 percent increase over the same quarter last year, representing an increase of more than 48 million trips and the highest third quarter ridership since 1974 (the oldest third quarter APTA has available for comparison).
Some public transit systems that reported record third quarter ridership for their entire system or for a specific line are located in the following cities: Albany, N.Y.; Ann Arbor, Mich.; Birmingham, Ala.; Denver; Minneapolis; New York City (Metro North); Oakland, Calif.; St. Petersburg, Fla.; Peoria, Ill.; Seattle; and Wenatchee, Wash.
Noting that ridership on U.S. public transportation has increased in 12 of the last 15 quarters, APTA President and CEO Michael Melaniphy said, “There are a number of reasons why public transportation ridership is on the rise. First, the investment in public transportation by the federal government has paid off with new rail and bus rapid transit lines or extensions that have opened up in recent years. These new services have not only created greater access for people to use public transit, but have led to economic development that has transformed and revitalized the community. Public transportation is not just moving people, but also positively shaping the communities we live in.
“A second reason for increased ridership is that people are affirmatively responding to the quality of public transportation that is now available,” said Melaniphy. “For example, some public transit systems have increased their frequency of service and have modernized their vehicle fleets. Additionally, with the use of apps and real time information at stations, riders can easily find out when the next bus or train will arrive. Technology has made riding public transportation more convenient and easier to use.
“Additionally, the economy is recovering and since nearly 60 percent of public transit trips are taken to travel for work commutes, public transportation ridership has increased in cities where the economy has improved,” said Melaniphy.
The following cities are some examples of areas with higher employment and public transit ridership for the third quarter: Atlanta; Boston; Champaign-Urbana, Ill.; Columbus, Ohio; Dallas; Denver; Minneapolis; Portland, Ore; Salt Lake City; San Francisco, and Seattle.
“High and volatile gas prices have played a part over the past nine years in convincing people to try public transportation,” said Melaniphy. “Now that gas prices are declining, many people are still choosing to ride public transportation. They have discovered that there are other benefits to taking public transit besides saving money.”
CLEVELAND, Dec. 17 — Top leaders of the Transportation Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART–TD) and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) announced today that their organizations will be participating with four other rail unions in coordinated bargaining in the upcoming round of national negotiations.
On Dec. 8, 2014, BLET general chairmen and SMART–TD general chairpersons each served bargaining notices on their respective railroads, including identical notices related to health and welfare and related benefits.
“Today we build on the successes of joint bargaining during the past two national rounds,” said BLET National President Dennis R. Pierce. “Now more than ever before it is imperative that the unions representing railroad operating crafts sit side-by-side at the national table, and I am pleased that we have been able to accomplish that.”
“This is a landmark occasion for BLET members and SMART–TD members alike,” said SMART–TD President John Previsich. “Today’s announcement builds on several years of cooperation between our organizations on a variety of common issues, and is the logical next step for our great unions. Working together will allow rail labor to make the strongest possible effort to obtain for our members the wages and working conditions that they deserve.”
Also participating in the coordinated bargaining effort are the American Train Dispatchers Association (ATDA), the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen (BRS), the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers, and Helpers (IBB), and the National Conference of Firemen and Oilers/SEIU (NCFO).
Jointly, the participating unions represent more than 85,000 railroad workers covered by the various organizations’ national agreements, and comprise over 58% of the workforce who will be impacted by the negotiations.