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NTSB_logoBased on the NTSB’s investigation of two recent airline flights that landed at wrong airports because of confusion with other near-by airports, the agency today issued two recommendations to the FAA intended to help avoid those situations. The recommendations ask the FAA to clarify air traffic controller landing clearances when multiple airports are in the vicinity and to modify air traffic control software which warns air traffic controllers when aircraft have descended below a minimum safe altitude.  

This software is intended to alert controllers when an aircraft gets too close to terrain or objects in the aircraft’s flight path. The NTSB last year issued warnings to airline pilots on maintaining vigilance to avoid wrong airport landings, giving pilots specific recommendations of what they could do.  Today’s recommendations are addressed to the FAA as the agency responsible for air traffic control.

Read more from Forbes.

BNSF_Color_LogoBurlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. is extending its operating improvement plans as the railroad seeks to recover from “significant service-related challenges” that the carrier and its customers have struggled with over the past year.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc., the railroad’s parent, said BNSF has seen its network operate more smoothly lately as it has boosted capacity by expanding lines, adding locomotives and bringing in new hires. “We plan to continue our capital expansion and operational improvement initiatives in 2015 in order to meet customer demand and improve and maintain service levels,” the Berkshire said in its first-quarter 10-Q filing late Friday.

Read more from The Wall Street Journal.

 

CSX_logoRALEIGH, N.C. — A lawsuit filed Friday, May 1 by Amtrak and CSX alleges that a trucking company caused a March train derailment that injured 55 people by failing to take safety precautions or warn that the track was blocked.

The lawsuit in a Raleigh federal court blames Guy M. Turner Inc. of Greensboro for the March 9 crash in which an Amtrak passenger train collided with an oversized tractor-trailer.  

The lawsuit says the driver blocked the crossing in disregard of safety signs and failed to notify CSX, which owns the track, or Amtrak that the railway was blocked. It also says that the trucking company’s Turner Transfer division failed to take reasonable safety precautions.

Read more from the Winston-Salem Journal.

laptopThe SMART Transportation Division is conducting a second local treasurers’ workshop at its headquarters in North Olmsted, Ohio, May 12-14.

Attendance is limited to 25 registrants.

Those interested in attending the workshop should contact the office of the SMART Transportation Division Updating/Auditing Department. Call (216) 228-9400, or email Karen Cashin at kcashin@smart-union.org.

While all treasurers will likely benefit from this workshop, newly elected treasurers are strongly encouraged to attend.

The three-day session will include all training and materials at no cost to local treasurers. However, the local is responsible for all other costs associated with the treasurer’s attendance at the workshop. Lost time or salary, travel, hotel and meal expenses connected with attendance may be reimbursed if pre-approved at a local meeting as an allowable expense of the local.

The workshop will provide local treasurers with hands-on training on the responsibilities and reporting duties pertaining to their office, including direct receipts and Winstabs. It will also focus on completion of mandatory filings for LM reports and Form 990 and Department of Labor requirements.

The workshop will be held at the Transportation Division headquarters at 24950 Country Club Blvd., Ste. 340, in North Olmsted, Ohio. Corporate room rates of $78 per night, plus tax, are available at the Radisson Hotel Cleveland Airport, 25070 Country Club Blvd. in North Olmsted, which is conveniently located adjacent to the parking lot of the Transportation Division offices. The deadline for room reservations is April 30.

Reservations can be made by calling Radisson Hotel Cleveland Airport directly at (440) 734-5060. Provide advise the hotel representative that you are with the “SMART Transportation Division” group when making reservations. Radisson Hotel Cleveland Airport provides a complimentary shuttle service to and from the airport and a complimentary breakfast.

Training sessions will be conducted by SMART Transportation Division Field Auditors Bobby Brantley and Mike Araujo. Space is limited and attendees will be accepted in order of registration. It is recommended that those attending make their hotel reservations at the time of registration.

If one-on-one assistance is need by a treasurer, arrangements should be made in advance of the workshop by contacting Brantley at (216) 502-7225 or bbrantley@smart-union.org, or Araujo at (210) 710-4213 or maraujo@smart-union.org.

Attendees should bring a notebook computer and USB flash drive.

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Josephine Stem

Josephine Mae Catlette Stem, 106, the mother of retired former National Legislative Director James Stem, died April 27. Stem said his mother was at peace and not in pain at the time of her death.

Mrs. Stem was born Oct. 18, 1908, in the Brassfield Parish of Granville County, North Carolina. After graduating from Wilton High School, she earned her teaching degree from East Carolina Teachers College. Following the Great Depression, she taught third grade students for eight years at Wilton School. She married James Stem Sr. in 1944.

She was a charter member of Temple Baptist Church in Raleigh, N.C., and a teacher in the four-year-olds’ Sunday School program there for 40 years. In the 1960s, she taught kindergarten at Temple Baptist Church Day School. She joined the First Baptist Church in Raleigh in 1994, where she was an active participant in the Livingston Johnson Bible Class. After moving to Winston-Salem in 2001, Mrs. Stem was warmly embraced by the members of West Side Baptist Church and First Baptist Church.

Throughout her life she was devoted to her family and friends. She enjoyed watching Atlanta Braves baseball games and University of North Carolina Tar Heels basketball games. She was an active member of the Auxiliary of the UTU until entering a retirement home in 2001.

She was preceded in death by her husband, James Stem Sr.; her brothers, James L. Catlette and Garland L. Catlette and his wife, Carol; her sister, Mary Kathleen Catlette Nethery and her husband Marion; her granddaughter, Dr. Michelle Stem Cook; and her nephew and niece, James L. Catlette Jr. and Elaine Catlette Key.

Surviving her are her two children, Mary Nell Stem Harris and her husband Arnett, and James A. Stem, Jr. and his wife Bonnie, four grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, and many other beloved family members and friends.

A memorial service will be conducted at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 2, led by Dr. Roger Nix in the sanctuary at First Baptist Church in Raleigh. After the service, the family will receive friends and loved ones in the church parlor.

Arrangements are by Bryan-Lee Funeral Home at 831 Wake Forest Rd. in Raleigh.

Memorials may be made to First Baptist Church, 99 N. Salisbury St., Raleigh, NC 27603, to First Baptist Church Television Ministry, 501 W. Fifth St., Winston-Salem, N.C. 27101, to Hospice Care Center, 101 Hospice Ln., Winston-Salem, NC 27103, or to a favorite charity of one’s choice.

 

The Republican-led House Appropriations Committee released its fiscal-year 2016 budget proposals for transportation, housing and urban development, which call for cuts to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) discretionary spending, as well as reductions in the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) and Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) budgets.

The bill proposes $17.2 billion in discretionary appropriations for the USDOT, which is $1 billion less than the fiscal-year 2015 level and $6.8 billion below President Obama’s request for the department.

Read the complete story at Progressive Railroading.

pa_outlinePennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration is hiring a railroad engineering expert for three months to advise on ways to prevent oil-train accidents.

Allan M. Zarembski, a University of Delaware research professor and director of the university’s railroad engineering and safety program, will study oil-train risk factors and make recommendations to improve operations in Pennsylvania, said Jeff Sheridan, spokesman for Wolf.

Read the complete story at The Inquirer.

A freight train struck another train head-on early Tuesday in southeastern New Mexico, killing one crew member on the moving train and injuring a second, a railroad official said.

The accident occurred about 6:20 a.m. on a siding — a short section of tracks alongside the main tracks — about 10 miles southeast of Roswell.

Read the complete story at ABC News.

433381_52386145_webThe SMART Transportation Division is making it easier for its members to make their voices heard in the nation’s capital.

Our Legislative Action Center enables members to learn about issues and legislation that directly impact their jobs and livelihoods and provides them easy access to contact their representatives to let them know their views.

Members can also see how their representatives voted on legislation, learn about upcoming elections in their state and even write a letter to the editor of their local newspapers.

Visit the Legislative Action Center

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Perez

WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez today issued the following statement on Workers’ Memorial Day:

“Each year, Workers’ Memorial Day gives us an opportunity to remember those who have lost their lives in the course of a day’s work, and to recommit to keeping workers safe on the job. In 2015, as we mark the five-year anniversaries of three tragedies – the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, in which 11 workers lost their lives, the Upper Big Branch mine disaster which took the lives of 29 miners, and the Tesoro refinery explosion which killed seven workers – we are reminded that while we have made great strides in worker safety, we must do more.

In 2013, 4,585 workers were killed on the job. That number has fallen dramatically since the Occupational Safety and Health Act passed in 1970, but it’s still 4,585 too many. It’s 4,585 too many men and women who lost their lives trying to earn a paycheck. It’s 4,585 too many workers – mothers and fathers, daughters and sons, sisters and brothers – who went to work but never came home.

Every worker has a right to a safe and healthy workplace – and a right to speak up when they believe something is unsafe. Every employer has a responsibility to ensure the safety of their workers, and forward-looking businesses know that compromising the safety of workers to improve the bottom line is a false choice.

As we mourn the lives lost on the job, we must make sure workers know their rights and employers know their responsibilities. In doing so, we can prevent tragic loss and ensure every worker goes home safely at the end of every workday.”