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WASHINGTON — Truckers won’t be happy when the new Congress, with John Mica (R-Fla.) chairing the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, looks at raising the federal motor fuels tax.

Mica told the Florida Times-Union that he supports raising the federal tax on gasoline and diesel fuel by 15 cents per gallon — from the current 18.4 cents per gallon to 33.4 cents. States also impose a tax on motor fuels.

Any increase in the motor fuels tax makes rail intermodal (trailers and containers atop flat cars) more competitive as railroads are significantly more fuel efficient than truck transportation. And as railroads buy fuel in bulk quantities and store their diesel fuel — plus buy forward contracts locking in future prices — they realize additional savings over most truckers.

A BNSF official told the Journal of Commerce that while BNSF and Union Pacific are moving 4 million intermodal loads annually, there remain up to 7 million truck movements for which the two railroads are competing. During this recession, intermodal has been the only line of rail traffic that has grown, BNSF told the Journal of Commerce.

The federal motor fuels tax is the primary source of funding for constructing and reconstructing federal-aid highways, including the Interstate highway system — but it has fallen short in recent years.

In 2011, Congress — beginning with the T&I Committee — will reauthorize the HIghway Trust Fund, which includes setting the motor fuels tax rate.

Also to be considered will be a proposal to establish a percentage tax — rather than a specific cents-per-gallon tax — that would generate more revenue as the pump price of motor fuel increases.

According to Dow-Jones newswire, some state departments of transportation are pushing for an 8.4 percent tax on gasoline and a 10.6 percent tax on diesel. Mica told Dow-Jones he is opposed to percentage taxes.

Norfolk Southern CEO Wick Moorman has been named Railroader of the Year by Railway Age magazine.

“In addition to performing solidly, controlling costs, improving productivity and continuing to invest in growth capital in a recessionary economy, Norfolk Southern has excelled in technological innovation and development of public-private partnerships,” says the magazine in its award.

“Among the many examples of these accomplishments are the railroad’s building and testing of an all-electric, battery-powered yard locomotive and opening the Heartland Corridor, a major intermodal artery developed in partnership with several states,” says Railway Age. “Norfolk Southern is strongly positioned for growth and is an example of why railroads are increasingly the mode of choice for the nation’s transportation needs.”

In 1972, Modern Railroads magazine (later acquired by Railway Age) named former UTU President Charles Luna as its Railroader of the Year. In 2000, Railway Age named The Railroad Worker as Railroader of the Century.

STOUGHTON, Mass. — An alert and ever vigilant Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad crew — that recognized the difference between a bag of clothes between the tracks and a human being — saved a life in this Boston suburb last week.

The MBCR crew, with engineer Chris Holm at the throttle and conductor John Gibbs (UTU Local 898) in charge, brought the six-car train to a halt after the locomotive’s headlight pierced the dark and illuminated what turned out to be an intoxicated man who had stumbled.

“He wasn’t coherent,” Gibbs told the Boston Herald. “He told me he wanted to rest. I said, ‘This isn’t the place to do it.’

“We’re trained to do this,” said Gibbs, age 54 and with 17 years of service as a conductor. “It’s good to know when it happens you can snap right to it.”

An MBCR spokesperson told the Herald, “It’s hardworking, quick-thinking men like Chris Holm and John Gibbs that show what an excellent job the men and women on the commuter rail do every day.”

BUFFALO — UTU-member and Buffalo school bus driver Yolanda Luciano (Local 1908) is being hailed as a hero — likely saving the lives of one or more of the eight elementary-school students aboard her First Student bus by engaging in a split-second emergency defensive driving maneuver on a snowy street the afternoon of Dec. 8.
An automobile, its driver allegedly fleeing police — and perhaps traveling 100 mph before the crash, according to Buffalo television news reports — appeared in Luciano’s windshield, coming directly at her bus.
Luciano abruptly steered the bus from a direct head-on impact with the blue Chevrolet Impala, but it was still a head-on crash.
“Everything went up in smoke and flames, just horrible,” an eyewitness told WGRZ television news. Luciano helped evacuate the children from the bus.
“She really handled the situation well,” said General Chairperson Dale McClain. “She saved lives.”
Only one student — a six-year-old — was injured seriously enough to be hospitalized with non life-threatening injuries. The driver of the auto also was hospitalized with unspecified injuries.
UTU Local 1908 represents some 600 First Student drivers and mechanics in Buffalo.

First it was Union Pacific wanting to have its trains inspected in Mexico.

Now BNSF is making the same plea to the FRA — and as the UTU and other rail unions did in the case of UP — the FRA is being advised to, “just say no.”

Putting safety first cannot co-exist with farming out crucial safety inspections to the lowest bidder, the UTU and the other labor organizations told the FRA in the case of both UP (in October) and BNSF (in December).

To begin with, the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 established standards to be met when railroads seek safety waivers, such as wanting trains inspected south of the border.

The UTU, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen, the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes and the American Train Dispatchers Association contend that neither UP nor BNSF have demonstrated that the inspections in Mexico will meet minimum FRA standards.

In fact, neither UP nor BNSF has shown that the FRA will have the uninhibited authority to examine the Mexican facilities where the safety inspections would be made.

Furthermore, said the UTU and other labor organizations, moving the inspections south of the border would be in direct conflict with congressional policy — and eminent common sense — to preserve employment in the U.S. during this lengthy and stalled recession.

The labor organizations told the FRA that “it is common” for cars from Mexico to enter the U.S. “with handbrakes applied, retaining valves set, angle cocks closed and bad order cars located within the train.

“Not to be overlooked is the fact that these trains also frequently are transporting hazardous materials cars,” the UTU and other labor organizations told the FRA.

“Historically, the FRA has denied requests for waivers of air brake and mechanical safety inspections on trains entering the U.S. if the request involves movement of the trains past a point where the inspections can be performed,” said the labor organizations.

WASHINGTON — Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis (TRRA) faces a fine from the FRA for alleged failure to report an injury and for underreporting of days lost by an injured employee and failure to maintain complete and timely records of injuries to other employees, says the FRA.

“These latest findings from the FRA confirm a disturbing trend that began to emerge more than a year ago,” said UTU Illinois Legislative Director Robert W. Guy. “They suggest a deteriorating safety atmosphere at TRRA. The railroad has now been cited for safety violations four times within a year, including this latest citation.”

Guy advised TRRA employees to stay alert for safety hazards and to report to the local immediately any effort by TRRA management to subvert the operating rules or FRA-mandated safety practices. “The key is to report what you see to your local and let the Illinois Legislative Board follow up with the appropriate enforcement agencies,” Guy said. “Do not be insubordinate or refuse to carry out orders.

“Once you have carried out your orders, however, do your best to remember the time, date and location of any unsafe practices that you witnessed or participated in, and be sure to provide the local with the name of the supervisor who directed you to work in an unsafe manner or permitted a violation of the federal reporting laws. The union will take it from there, and as the FRA’s latest letter proves, when our members act, the union gets results.”

Keith Fitzhugh is a conductor trainee on Norfolk Southern’s Atlanta North District.
He could be playing football with the New York Jets.
If you think trading a National Football League playbook for an operating employee’s rulebook is something akin to carrying the ball toward your own goal line, think again.
The 24-year-old Fitzhugh — who has made application for UTU membership when he completes his probationary period in January — knows the value of steady work and regular paychecks in an economy thrown for a loss. “You can have a fine living working for the railroad,” Fitzhugh said.
Cut by the Jets pre-season, Fitzhugh responded to an early December invitation to return as a defensive back with a polite, “thanks, but no thanks.”
Fitzhugh began conductor training with NS in September, established seniority in November, and looks forward to membership in UTU Local 511 in Atlanta. He was raised in nearby Hampton, Ga.
“For me, having job security is important,” said Fitzhugh, who is helping to support his disabled father, a former truck driver. “I was released three times [twice by the Jets, once by the Baltimore Ravens]. There is no job security [in the National Football League]. Why risk losing a good job with Norfolk Southern? I have buddies with two degrees who can’t find a job.
“Working for Norfolk Southern is one of the best prestigious jobs you can have,” Fitzhugh said. “I don’t want to give up what I have now, go back to playing football a couple of weeks and then be released again. I have to look out for what’s best for me and my family.”
“To sacrifice what he did for his family is the most unselfish thing I’ve heard by a player in sports,” Fitzhugh’s agent told the Associated Press.
“I think riding on a locomotive is one of the coolest things,” Fitzhugh said. “I talked with my parents about it. They have always thought highly of Norfolk Southern, where it’s safety first.”
Fitzhugh, a standout safety at Mississippi State University, was signed by the Jets in 2009. He was named by USA Today as one of the top 200 college football players in the nation, and played as a senior in the East-West Shrine Bowl. At Mississippi State, he earned a degree in communications, with a minor in marketing.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                               Fitzhugh

WASHINGTON — House Republicans selected their committee leaders Dec. 7.

As expected, John Mica (R-Fla.) was elected to chair the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee for 2011-2012. Most legislation affecting air, bus and rail members originates in this committee.

Here is the full list of Republican chairs for the upcoming Congress:

Agriculture: Frank Lucas of Oklahoma

Appropriations: Hal Rogers of Kentucky

Armed Services: Howard “Buck” McKeon of California

Budget: Paul Ryan of Wisconsin

Education and Labor: John Kline of Minnesota

Energy and Commerce: Fred Upton of Michigan

Financial Services: Spencer Bachus of Alabama

Foreign Affairs: Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida

Homeland Security: Peter King of New York

Judiciary: Lamar Smith of Texas

Natural Resources: Doc Hastings of Washington

Oversight and Government Reform: Darrell Issa of California

Science and Technology: Ralph Hall of Texas

Small Business: Sam Graves of Missouri

Transportation and Infrastructure: John Mica of Florida

Veterans’ Affairs: Jeff Miller of Florida

Ways and Means: David Camp of Michigan

WASHINGTON — Random drug and alcohol tests administered by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Federal Railroad Administration and the Federal Transit Administration to air, bus and rail workers in safety sensitive positions will remain at 2010 levels, says the U.S. Department of Transportation.

 For 2011:

  • For bus drivers, the random drug testing rate will be 50 percent; and the random alcohol testing rate will be 10 percent.
  • For airline workers, the random drug testing rate will be 25 percent; and the random alcohol testing rate will be 10 percent.
  • For rail workers, the random drug testing rate will be 25 percent; and the random alcohol testing rate will be 10 percent.
  • For transit workers, the random drug testing rate will be 25 percent; and the random alcohol testing rate will be 10 percent.

A 65-mile route through California’s Central Valley and Fresno has been selected by state officials as the starting point for a high-speed rail passenger line intended initially to connect Los Angeles and San Francisco, reports The New York Times.

That segment would make use of $4.5 billion in federal stimulus funds allocated by to California as seed money for a HSR project that might eventually link Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego.

The estimated total cost of the project could reach $60 billion. California voters in 2008 voted to authorize the selling of almost $10 billion in bonds to help finance the project, with hopes of attracting additional federal funds, plus private sector funds. Were the bonds sold, the combination of bond funds and the existing federal grant would total less than $15 billion — about 25 percent of the total cost.

The California HSR project is described by The New York Times as “the largest public works project in the United States … [but] “it is unclear how the Republican-controlled House and a tighter Senate will view the project in the next Congress.”

Some Republicans have indicated they will seek to reclaim the $4.5 billion DOT grant as it was awarded without congressional input.