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WASHINGTON – The FRA has has strengthened its positive train control (PTC) team, naming Mark Hartong as senior scientific technical adviser for railroad electronic systems within the FRA’s Office of Safety.

Hartong’s primary responsibility, said the agency, “will be to ensure that electronic technology is applied in a manner that will support the safety and security of freight and passenger transportation on the national railroad system.”

In announcing the appointment, the FRA said Hartong has “in-depth understanding of the other critical systems, including the locomotive electronics, communications systems and back office dispatch systems that must interface with PTC.”

Hartong earned a Ph.D. in information technology from George Mason University and also earned two masters degrees in software engineering and computer science. Prior to joining the FRA in 2003, he worked with Lockheed-Martin Corporation in the Undersea Surveillance Division as senior engineer for all combat and communications systems for nuclear attack submarines as well as the Trident class ballistic missile submarines.

Hartong served for 14 years in the U.S. Navy, achieving the rank of lieutenant commander.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – UTU Missouri State Legislative Director Ken Menges is halfway toward a goal of creating a public rail commission to study means of expanding and financing improved multi-modal passenger transportation in his state and throughout the Midwest, with an emphasis on creating a track network capable of supporting 150-mph rail passenger service.

In a show of bi-partisan support, the Missouri House of Representatives has voted 134-2 to create a 15-member commission to recommend best practices to “design, build, operate, maintain and finance an improved rail system for Missouri and the Midwest, including “specific recommendations for legislation, regulations, funding sources and way to integrate the improved rail system into existing and planned Amtrak expansions, airports and public transportation systems.”

The House bill is specific that the improved rail system be designed for 150-mph rail passenger service.

The focus now shifts to the state senate.

Menges said he has been working with representatives of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes, as well as Missouri railroads and the state DOT, to gather bi-partisan legislative support.

Small can be big – especially when “small” is small lifestyle changes, such as weight loss, more exercise, a reduction in alcohol consumption, and kicking a tobacco habit.

Such lifestyle changes, say health care experts, may lead to “big” health improvements and a happier you.

Americans spend more on health care than in any other industrialized nation, according to statistics, and those costs are reflected in steadily growing premiums for health care insurance. Notwithstanding this spending, Americans are not the healthiest.

Consider:

* Our nation’s population is largely sedentary

* Obesity and diabetes are reaching monumental proportions

* Tobacco and alcohol use are popular

* Stress is epidemic

Health care experts say that with small lifestyle changes, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancers could be reduced significantly.

By completing a health risk assessment, you can start down a path toward a healthier and happier you.

To complete a health risk assessment, click on your health care provider’s website and register or create an account (see links below). You must register or create an account at the website before being provided the option of completing a health risk assessment.

Below are the websites and toll-free phone numbers (should you have difficulty at the website):

Aetna: www.aetna.com (register or create an account and then follow the steps provided) (866-213-0153).

Highmark Blue Cross/Blue Shield: www.highmarkbcbs.com (register or create an account and then select “Your Health” tab and then, “Improve Your Health) (866-267-3320).

UnitedHealthcare: www.myuhc.com (register or create an account and then click on “Health and Wellness) (877-201-4840).

Once the health risk assessment is completed, a personalized action plan will be provided to help guide you in your quest of live a healthier life. The plan will include verbal and online wellness coaching, smoking cessation assistance and information on healthy meal choices and recipes.

By UTU International President Mike Futhey – 

Railroaders should not lose sleep over a rumor that Congress will cut Railroad Retirement benefits.

The rumor began after language was inserted in a budget report by conservative Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) suggesting the federal deficit could be cut by eliminating certain Railroad Retirement benefits. He did not understand how Railroad Retirement is funded.

The UTU, SMWIA and other rail union legislative departments, along with carriers and the Railroad Retirement Board, immediately contacted congressional offices to remind lawmakers there are no federal funds used to pay Railroad Retirement Tier I benefits. Every penny of Railroad Retirement Tier I benefits is funded by payroll taxes on railroads and their workers.

Thus, there can be no savings to the federal government by tinkering with Railroad Retirement. As National Legislative Director James Stem said, “We are all confident that Rep. Ryan’s unfortunate draft language will disappear from consideration in Congress.”

This reminds us all to be ever vigilant in protecting Railroad Retirement, and the importance of participating in the UTU PAC.

Railroad Retirement, along with Social Security – which covers virtually all other private sector workers – originated with President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal during the Great Depression.

Railroad unions gained from Congress a guarantee that Railroad Retirement would never provide less in monthly benefits than Social Security. In fact, Railroad Retirement today pays considerably more than Social Security — the additional cost borne entirely by railroads and their workers.

For Railroad Retirement Tier I, the payroll taxes on employers and workers are the same as for Social Security, but Tier I allows railroaders with at least 30 years of service to retire at age 60 with full benefits for themselves and spouse. The cost of early retirement is funded by Tier II payroll taxes, which also fund additional Railroad Retirement benefits similar to private-sector pension plans where they still exist.

The average Railroad Retirement benefit paid current retirees is some $1,700 more monthly than paid to Social Security recipients, while the Railroad Retirement spouse benefit is some $500 more than paid spouses under Social Security.

Carriers pay the bulk of the additional Railroad Retirement taxes – 12.1 percent on payroll up to $81,900 per employee, while employees pay 3.9 percent on the same earnings. This significant pension benefit is what the railroads rely on to keep our professional workforce on the job until retirement.

For more information on Railroad Retirement, visit the Railroad Retirement Board website by clicking on the following link: https://secure.rrb.gov/

Many UTU members obtain their prescription drugs through Medco, which has been acquired by Express Scripts following Federal Trade Commission approval of the corporate combination.

Notwithstanding the acquisition by Express Scripts of Medco, UTU members receiving mail order prescriptions through Medco will continue ordering and receiving their medications as they have in the past, without any changes.

All packaging and labels will remain the same, as will addresses and phone numbers for pharmacy-related questions and other information. Nor will there be a need to change retail pharmacies or alter home delivery orders in any manner.

The combined Express Scripts and Medco, known as pharmacy-benefit managers (PBMs), now control 40 percent of that market, according to the Economist magazine. PBMs, reported the Economist, encourage consumers to fill their prescriptions through the mail instead of going to a more costly pharmacy. 

Express Scripts recently launched a program, ScreenRx, which utilizes software to sift through hundreds of factors that affect patients and forecast who is most likely to forget a refill or simply stop taking their drugs. The company then plans to contact those patients to help them stick with their doctor’s orders.

“Fatigue,” says the National Transportation Safety Board, was “the probable cause” of rear-end accident involving two BNSF freight trains near Red Oak, Iowa, April 17, 2011, that killed a UTU-member conductor and the train’s engineer.

The NTSB concluded that the crewmembers who perished in the locomotive of the train that hit the rear of the first train were asleep at the time of the accident, “which led to their failure to comply with the signal indication requiring them to operate at a restricted speed and stop short of the standing train.”

“Once again, this investigation draws attention to the dangers of human fatigue,” NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman said. “The human body is not designed to work irregular schedules, especially during the circadian trough, when our bodies are at their lowest alertness.

“Contributing to the accident was the absence of a positive train control (PTC) system that identifies the rear of a train and stops a following train if a safe braking profile is exceeded,” Hersman said. “Humans are fallible and make mistakes and operational accidents can be prevented with positive train control.”

The NTSB said that also contributing to the severity of collision damage was “the absence of crashworthiness standards for modular locomotive crew cabs.”

The fatal accident involved an eastbound BNSF coal train, which collided with the rear end of a standing BNSF maintenance-of-way equipment train on the Creston subdivision of the BNSF Nebraska Division.

Killed were conductor and UTU Local 199 Vice Local Chairperson Patricia Hyatt, and engineer Tom Anderson, both age 48.

BNSF reported a 15 percent increase in profit forf the first quarter 2012 versus first quarter 2011, citing improved pricing and higher fuel surcharges.

BNSF’s first quarter 2012 operating ratio of 74.4 percent was one percentage point lower than for the first quarter 2011. Operating ratio is a railroad’s operating expenses expressed as a percentage of operating revenue, and is considered by economists to be the basic measure of carrier profitability. The lower the operating ratio, the more efficient the railroad.

BNSF operates in 28 states and two Canadian provinces.

 

Canadian National reported a 16 percent increase in profit for the first quarter 2012 versus first quarter 2011, saying its bottom line was helped by a mild winter and improved economic conditions.

CN’s first quarter 2012 operating ratio of 66.2 percent was almost 3 percentage points better than its 69.0 operating ratio for the first quarter 2011. Operating ratio is a railroad’s operating expenses expressed as a percentage of operating revenue, and is considered by economists to be the basic measure of carrier profitability. The lower the operating ratio, the more efficient the railroad.

CN is primarily a Canadian railroad. Its U.S. holdings include what were formerly Detroit, Toledo & Ironton; Elgin, Joliet & Eastern; Grand Trunk Western; Illinois Central; and Wisconsin Central.

 

Canadian Pacific reported a 318 percent increase in profit for the first quarter 2012 versus first quarter 2011.

The key was a more than 10 percentage point improvement in CP’s operating ratio, which fell to 80.1 percent for the first quarter 2012 – down from 90.6 for the first quarter 2011. Operating ratio is a railroad’s operating expenses expressed as a percentage of operating revenue, and is considered by economists to be the basic measure of carrier profitability. The lower the operating ratio, the more efficient the railroad.

Canadian Pacific is primarily a Canadian railroad. Its U.S. holdings include Class I Soo Line and regional railroad Delaware & Hudson.

 

Even with sharply reduced coal loadings, CSX reported a 14 percent increase in profit for the first-quarter 2012 versus first-quarter 2011. CSX credited price hikes and increased shipments of automobiles, metals and intermodal (trailers and containers on flatcars) as the reason.

CSX said coal loadings for the quarter were down 14 percent, but automobile and auto-related traffic rose 18 percent.

The CSX first-quarter 2012 operating ratio of 71.1 percent was a record for the first quarter. Operating ratio is a railroad’s operating expenses expressed as a percentage of operating revenue, and is considered by economists to be the basic measure of carrier profitability. The lower the operating ratio, the more efficient the railroad.

CSX operates some 21,000 route miles in 23 states and the District of Columbia.

Kansas City Southern  reported a 17 percent improvement in profit for the first quarter 2012 versus first quarter 2011, with the railroad citing “robust” intermodal and automotive traffic along with “growing cross-border traffic with Mexico.”

KCS’s first quarter 2012 operating ratio of 71.2 was 2.6 percentage points improved from its operating ratio for the first quarter 2011. Operating ratio is a railroad’s operating expenses expressed as a percentage of operating revenue, and is considered by economists to be the basic measure of carrier profitability. The lower the operating ratio, the more efficient the railroad.

KCS operates some 3,500 route miles in 10 states in the Central and South-Central U.S., as well as Kansas City Southern de Mexico, a primary Mexican rail line.

 

Norfolk Southern reported a 26 percent improvement in profit for the first quarter 2012 versus first quarter 2011, citing pricing strength and an increase in intermodal traffic that offset a 6 percent reduction in coal traffic.

NS’s first quarter 2012 operating ratio of 73.3 was improved from the 74.9 percent operating ratio for first quarter 2011. Operating ratio is a railroad’s operating expenses expressed as a percentage of operating revenue, and is considered by economists to be the basic measure of carrier profitability. The lower the operating ratio, the more efficient the railroad.

Norfolk Southern operates some 20,000 route miles in 22 states and the District of Columbia.

 

Union Pacific reported a 35 percent improvement in profit for the first quarter 2012 versus first quarter 2011, with the railroad citing a 15 percent increase in shipments of automobiles and gains in the number of carloads of other industrial products that offset dampening demand for coal transport.

UP’s first quarter 2012 operating ratio of 70.5 was 4.2 percentage points better than for the first quarter 2011. Operating ratio is a railroad’s operating expenses expressed as a percentage of operating revenue, and is considered by economists to be the basic measure of carrier profitability. The lower the operating ratio, the more efficient the railroad.

Union Pacific operates some 32,000 route miles in 23 states in the western two-thirds of the U.S.

Railroad retirees and current rail workers should not be losing sleep over the much-hyped rumor that Congress is going to abolish Railroad Retirement, cut Railroad Retirement benefits or otherwise do harm to a system supported financially entirely by carriers and labor since its inception during the 1930s.

Recent language in a House Budget Committee report — “Conform Railroad Retirement Tier 1 benefits to Social Security benefits” — suggested an imminent congressional assault on Railroad Retirement by House Republicans.

But as the UTU and SMWIA legislative departments canvassed Capitol Hill, it became clear that the authors, who were drafting a roadmap for future federal spending cuts, did not understand how Railroad Retirement is funded.

UTU National Legislative Director James Stem, SMWIA Director of Government Affairs Jay Potesta, others in rail labor, carriers and the Railroad Retirement Board, began delivering the factual message to congressional offices:

“There are no public funds or general tax revenue used to pay the additional benefits provided by Tier 1 that exceed Social Security benefits. These additional benefits are fully funded by payroll taxes paid by rail labor and the carriers and are held in the Railroad Retirement account. Social Security does not reimburse Railroad Retirement for benefits that are not available under Social Security.”

Thus, there would be no savings to the federal government by tinkering with the Railroad Retirement system.

“Rail labor, carriers and the Railroad Retirement Board will continue delivering that message on Capitol Hill,” Stem said. “We are all confident that when the dust settles, this unfortunate draft language will disappear from consideration in Congress.”

Guy

Mention in Illinois the names of the anti-union governors of Indiana and Wisconsin – Scott Walker and Mitch Daniels – and, well, just start watching, listening and counting.

When the Wisconsin and Indiana governors separately ventured into Illinois April 17 and 19 for pre-arranged speaking engagements in Springfield (Walker to business leaders) and Champaign (Daniels to Republican leaders) almost 10,000 union members and supporters in total at both locations showed up to demonstrate their displeasure.
They unfurled union banners, set up 20-foot inflatable rats and displayed signs proclaiming, “union buster.”
Both demonstrations were organized, in part, by the UTU’s Illinois State Legislative Office, Illinois State Legislative Director Bob Guy and the UTU Collective Bargaining Defense Fund.
In Wisconsin, Walker was an architect of legislation to curtail collective bargaining rights and weaken the organizing abilities of labor unions. He also rejected federal funds to build high-speed rail in Wisconsin, which cost Wisconsin hundreds of jobs. Because of grass roots efforts in Wisconsin by organized labor and its friends – funded in part by the UTU Collective Bargaining Defense Fund — Walker faces a recall election in June.
In Indiana, Daniels supported the recent passage by the state legislature of right-to-work (for less) legislation.
“Illinois UTU members were thrilled about the opportunity to gather with our brothers and sisters of labor to protest the appearance of governors who care more about business interests than the working families,” Guy said. “We sent strong messages to the two anti-union governors, as well as our Illinois lawmakers, that attacks on collective bargaining rights won’t work in Illinois.”
The Champaign rally included a workshop on the negative impact of right-to-work (for less) legislation on collective bargaining, and guidance on how union members should communicate the issue to their communities and fellow workers.
 

SMART Transportation Division-member yardmaster nearing retirement wishing to maintain their current connection with Minnesota Life to retain a supplemental $2,000 life insurance benefit should contact the Yardmaster Department at the SMART Transportation Division Headquarters to obtain an enrollment form.
Please note, you must enroll within 60 days of your last day worked to receive this coverage.
Contact the SMART Transportation Division by calling (216) 228-9400, or by email to cmcginty@smart-union.org.
Along with the enrollment form, members must remit a one-time $20 charge to Minnesota Life to retain the coverage. The charge is required by Minnesota Life due to its contract with participating railroads.
To retain the coverage, send the form, along with a check made payable to “Minnesota Life Insurance” in the amount of $20 to: SMART Transportation Division, 24950 Country Club Blvd., Suite 340, North Olmsted, OH 44070-5333.
Upon receipt, SMART-TD will certify your continued coverage and forward the check to the insurance company with your enrollment information.
On the form, please include the name of the railroad, the last date worked, your date of birth, your Social Security number and the date you applied for your retirement annuity.