PHILADELPHIA – More Americans used buses, trains and subways in 2013 than in any year since 1956 as service improved, local economies grew and travelers increasingly sought alternatives to the automobile for trips within metropolitan areas, the American Public Transportation Association said in a report released on Monday.
The trade group said in its annual report that 10.65 billion passenger trips were taken on transit systems during the year, surpassing the post-1950s peak of 10.59 billion in 2008, when gas prices rose to $4 to $5 a gallon.
A push by Warren Buffett’s railroad to boost oil-shipment safety is meeting resistance from Hess Corp. and other companies that say the plan would mean a surge in costs and force them to scrap thousands of tank cars.
A series of accidents including a Quebec crash that killed 47 spurred Buffett’s BNSF Railway Co. along with Union Pacific Corp. to back new standards requiring older cars to be modified or junked. Shippers and railcar lessors balk at the potential cost of more than $5 billion and say carriers’ operating errors are to blame for fiery derailments like BNSF’s in December.
CHICAGO – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has found Grand Trunk Western Railway Co. and Union Pacific Railroad Co. in violation of the Federal Railroad Safety Act for suspending and/or disciplining five workers following the reporting of workplace injuries or illnesses.
“When employees are disciplined for reporting workplace injuries, safety concerns or illnesses, worker safety and health are clearly not the company’s priority,” said Nick Walters, OSHA’s regional administrator in Chicago. “More than 60 percent of the FRSA complaints filed with OSHA against railroad companies involve an allegation that a railroad worker has been retaliated against for reporting an on-the-job injury. This is unacceptable and a culture that must be changed.”
The department has ordered the companies to pay back wages, along with interest, punitive and compensatory damages, and attorney’s fees. The companies will also be required to remove disciplinary information from the employees’ personnel records and must provide whistleblower rights information to workers.
OSHA has ordered Grand Trunk Western Railway Co., a subsidiary of the Canadian National Railway, to pay four workers a total of $85,580.
A building and bridge carpenter will receive $29,671 in lost wages, less employment taxes, $2,119 in lost vacation pay and $10,000 in punitive and compensatory damages. OSHA’s investigation upheld his allegations that he was suspended for 20 days after reporting a workplace injury that occurred in South Bend, Ind., in December 2011.
A conductor will receive $29,671 in lost wages, less employment taxes, $2,119 in lost vacation pay and $10,000 in punitive and compensatory damages. He received a 60-day suspension from work after reporting a workplace injury that occurred in Lansing, Mich., in November 2011.
Another conductor working in Pontiac, Mich., can expect $1,500 in punitive and compensatory damages and no loss of wages after the employee was issued a 45-day suspension, which has not been served, for taking unauthorized leave in June and July 2012 for ongoing medical treatment. OSHA’s finding upheld that the medical treatment should have been an excused absence. Additionally, a conductor working in Battle Creek, Mich., will receive $500 in punitive damages and one day’s lost wages after he was issued a one-day suspension for reporting a workplace injury in February 2013.
Union Pacific Railroad Co. has been ordered to pay a brakeman $1,289.68 in lost wages, less employment taxes, and $10,000 in punitive and compensatory damages, along with interest and attorney’s fees. OSHA’s investigation upheld the brakeman’s allegation that the railway issued him a one-day suspension and required him to attend remedial simulator training after he was injured by battery acid fumes when investigating a possible fire in the engine room of a train in the Dupo Illinois Yard.
Either party in these cases can file an appeal with the department’s Office of Administrative Law Judges.
OSHA enforces the whistleblower provisions of the FRSA and 21 other statutes protecting employees who report violations of various airline, commercial motor carrier, consumer product, environmental, financial reform, food safety, health care reform, nuclear, pipeline, worker safety, public transportation agency, maritime and securities laws.
Employers are prohibited from retaliating against employees who raise various protected concerns or provide protected information to the employer or to the government. Employees who believe that they have been retaliated against for engaging in protected conduct may file a complaint with the secretary of labor to request an investigation by OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Program. Detailed information on employee whistleblower rights, including fact sheets, is available at http://www.whistleblowers.gov.
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to ensure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.
Like a train engineer blessed with good weather and clear tracks, Union Pacific has arrived ahead of schedule.
The railroad company’s $400 million intermodal facility in Santa Teresa broke ground in 2011, expecting to be operational in 2015. Instead the Omaha, Neb.-based company announced that it will have a grand opening ceremony on May 28, a year ahead of schedule.
Representatives of the SMART Transportation Division’s Switching Operations Fatality Analysis Working Group (SOFA) urge railroad operating employees in northern states to exercise a heightened level of caution while working in late winter weather conditions.
Minnesota State Legislative Director Phillip Qualy and Kansas State Legislative Director Ty Dragoo remind all train crews to be aware of freezing and thawing of snowpack and muddy conditions within the coming weeks.
With a significant snowpack, the increasing angle of sunlight rays and evening hours that remain well below freezing temperatures, the risk of derailment is significant due to ice build-up in rail flange ways.
“Switchrod channels that do not drain or are not cleared of ice pose a risk for overexertion and injury. Light overnight snows can obstruct hazards and create unsafe walking conditions,” Qualy said.
“Train operating crews must not ride cars into permanent or temporary close-clearance areas under any circumstance. As an additional reminder, hooded winter clothing can affect hearing and block peripheral vision.”
“Federal Railroad Administration Chief Administrator Szabo recently recognized the accomplishments of SOFA,” Qualy said. “However, all credit goes out to each and every railroad worker in North America. It is astounding that we have not suffered a single SOFA fatality in more than one year. Our mission remains the same – zero fatalities.”
It is recommended that all SMART TD members review the SOFA working group’s Safety Posting for the first quarter of 2014 found here.
As always, in an effort to reduce injuries and fatalities, the SOFA Working Group asks that railroad employees practice the following five life-saving measures:
Secure all equipment before action is taken.
Protect employees against moving equipment.
Discuss safety at the beginning of a job or when work changes.
Communicate before action is taken.
Mentor less experienced employees to perform service safely.
“As we approach the end of one of our worst winters in decades, we expect the railroads to clear hard crust snowpack from our yards, pick out switch-channels and sand walkways. We must anticipate and plan for the worst” said Qualy. “As train crews and members of the SMART TD, continue to be your brother and sister’s keeper for safety.”
By John Previsich, SMART Transportation Division President –
2014 is shaping up to be a remarkable year in the history of our union. The SMART constitution is now finalized and we are moving forward with the ongoing effort to merge our two organizations into one.
For those who have not yet viewed the arbitration decision or the new SMART Constitution, they can be found on the Transportation Division’s website at www.utu.org by selecting merger under the Updates tab, or on the SMART website at smart-union.org by using the search term “constitution.”
In addition to the integration, a number of other issues will demand our attention throughout the year. To begin, we will have two conventions this year – one for the SMART Transportation Division (formerly UTU) from June 30 – July 2, 2014 and another for the SMART organization from Aug. 11 – 15, 2014.
As advised in my Jan. 24 letter to all SMART TD officers, general chairpersons, state legislative boards and local unions, proposed amendments to the SMART Constitution’s Article 21B may be submitted by any subordinate body of the Transportation Division no later than March 2, 2014.
Both conventions are equally important. Delegates at the Transportation Division convention will elect officers to serve the Division in the upcoming term starting Oct. 1, 2014. In addition, delegates will debate constitutional amendments that are submitted to the Transportation Division for consideration and will make recommendations on whether such amendments should be adopted or rejected by the delegates to the SMART convention.
Delegates to the Transportation Division convention are also delegates to the SMART convention and it is very important that our delegates attend both conventions to convey the wishes of their members to the governing body. If your local does not have a duly elected delegate and alternate delegate in place at this time, your local president or secretary should contact my office immediately at (216) 228-9400.
The Transportation Division staff stands ready to assist your local in ensuring your delegate or alternate will be seated at these conventions. In addition, Transportation Division locals may be entitled to have more than one delegate attend the SMART convention in August. Details on how to determine the number of delegates to which your local may be entitled and procedures for electing additional delegates will be published soon.
Another item of business in the coming year is the commencement of negotiations for a national rail contract. We will soon begin the process of formulating the Section 6 notices to be served on the carriers.
The process starts with input from our members in the field on what is important for a new contract, and that input is essential to the preparation of Section 6 notices that reflect the needs and desires of our membership.
Other issues of interest are implementation of the Affordable Care Act and its impact on the many health care plans that cover our members, mid-term congressional elections, our organizing efforts that have produced great results in both our short line and bus departments and our continued legislative success in fending off attacks on Railroad Retirement and Amtrak.
Overall, we look forward to the challenges that lie ahead and to the successes that we will continue to achieve on behalf of our members.
The National Transportation Safety Board will hold a two-day public forum next month on the safety of moving crude oil and ethanol by rail, the agency said Thursday.
The NTSB has been warning for years that a common type of railroad tank car, known as the DOT-111, was not suitable for transporting flammable liquids and cited its tendency to puncture or rupture easily in derailments.
TORONTO — The crude oil that exploded during a fatal derailment in Quebec last year that killed 47 people had characteristics similar to that of unleaded gasoline, a highly flammable liquid, Canada’s transportation safety agency said Thursday.
The Transportation Safety Board said in a newly released report that the crude tested by Canada’s transportation agency had a low flash point, which refers to the temperature at which the crude gives off enough vapor to ignite in air.
The SMART Transportation Division Transportation Safety Team (TST) is comprised of 21 members of the SMART TD, each of whom is on call 24 hours a day to assist in determining the facts in rail-related accidents.
The team members are selected by the SMART Transportation Division president based upon their knowledge of operating rules and understanding of general railroad operations, train movements and dispatching. Each member receives extensive training from the National Transportation Safety Board.
When a major rail accident occurs, the TST coordinator immediately assigns one or more TST members, who immediately depart for the scene. The coordinator also notifies the SMART TD general chairpersons in the region and the respective state legislative director, as well the NTSB. TST members assist the NTSB in ascertaining factual data relating to the accident.
Transportation Safety Team members also assist NTSB investigators in locating crew members and others familiar with the territory where the accident occurred, as well as operating rules in force, the motive power, equipment and signal systems in use, and characteristics of track and rail operation.
When a serious rail accident occurs, and the NTSB launches an investigation, the team’s chairperson/coordinator assigns one or more TST members, who immediately depart for the scene. The chairperson/coordinator also notifies SMART TD general chairpersons in the region and the respective state legislative director.
The NTSB is a congressionally created fact-finding body, with no regulatory authority. SMART TD Transportation Safety Team members walk a very narrow line. Their role is to assist NTSB investigators as requested. Two of their toughest responsibilities are never to speculate and always to keep their lips sealed.
From experience, NTSB investigators and safety team members know first-hand that with facts, the devil is in the details. Initial eyewitness reports often are incomplete or even incorrect. Even after the NTSB conducts exhaustive interviews with those involved and those who may have witnessed an accident, facts often are cloudy. Evidence must be collected and laboratory tests conducted.
It can be weeks and even months before the NTSB has enough evidence to reach a determination as to cause. When the NTSB does reach a determination as to the probable cause of an accident, it generally makes recommendations for new safety regulations and laws. In fact, 85 percent of NTSB recommendations result in new federal guidelines, regulations and laws.
The Transportation Safety Team also performs another important service of direct benefit to SMART members. A SMART member involved in an accident can demand that a safety team member or union officer be present during questioning to serve as a witness to what was said.
Transportation Safety Team members can also assist SMART members in ensuring that a SMART TD officer is present should railroad officials seek to question a SMART TD member – and that railroad officials not violate terms of the UTU/SMART TD contract with that carrier.
The Transportation Safety Team should not be confused with the three-person SMART TD Transportation Safety Task Force, which is chaired by Georgia State Legislative Director Matt Campbell. Its role is to craft, in conjunction with the FRA, an action plan to reduce rail-employee risk while on the job.
Last month, President Obama announced an initiative to improve the fuel efficiency of trucks. That’s a lofty goal, but here’s an even better idea: Let’s make an effort to move more freight by rail and less by road. Trains are far more energy-efficient than trucks – and they always will be.
Trains have a significant friction advantage over trucks. The degree of “stickiness” between two surfaces is expressed mathematically as the coefficient of friction. For a steel wheel rolling over a steel rail, its value is approximately 0.001. For a rubber tire rolling over pavement, the coefficient is between 0.006 and 0.010, or roughly an order of magnitude greater. Some friction is good – it stops the vehicle when a person runs out in front of it. But too much friction means less energy driving the vehicle forward.
A push by Warren Buffett’s railroad to boost oil-shipment safety is meeting resistance from Hess Corp. and other companies that say the plan would mean a surge in costs and force them to scrap thousands of tank cars.
CHICAGO – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has found Grand Trunk Western Railway Co. and Union Pacific Railroad Co. in violation of the 
Like a train engineer blessed with good weather and clear tracks, Union Pacific has arrived ahead of schedule.