In the works since the late 1990’s, the Veterans Affairs Hospital proposed for Aurora, Colorado is now $200 million over budget and unlikely to be open in the Spring of 2015 as hoped. After endless changes to the plans, construction ground was broken in 2009, yet construction did not begin until 2012. With progress again at a standstill, all parties involved are deflecting blame and shrugging off responsibility. . . Read more at We Party Patriots.
Author: paul
Much attention concerning the Quebec rail disaster has focused on the danger of transporting oil by rail. But pipelines come with hazards, too.
For example, a natural gas pipeline exploded in southeast New Mexico in 2000, killing 12. Earlier this year, an Exxon Mobil pipeline carrying Canadian crude ruptured in Arkansas, causing major environmental damage.
Read Jon Talton’s complete blog report at The Seattle Times.
Read Jon Talton’s complete blog report at The Seattle Times.
The train hauling millions of gallons of crude oil that slammed into a Canadian town got there with a crew of one – staffing permitted by law though opposed by labor leaders who’ve warned of the risks.
The union representing workers at Montreal Maine & Atlantic Railway Ltd. fought the company policy that allowed a solo operator to drive and park the train for the night and says the disaster points to the dangers of manpower cuts.
Read the complete story at Bloomberg News.
I just sat through a pretty boring hearing on rail financing. But I’m glad I stuck it out, because the fireworks came at the end, when Rep. John Mica picked a fight with the wrong man.
John Robert Smith is familiar face in transportation reform circles. The former Republican mayor of the town of Meridian, Miss., he now leads two of the most significant advocacy organizations in the field, Transportation for America and Reconnecting America. He also happens to be a former chair of Amtrak’s board of directors. All of those qualifications made him a natural choice to testify as a witness at this House Transportation Committee hearing.
Read Tanya Snyder’s complete blog report at DC.StreetsBlog.org.
Much attention concerning the Quebec rail disaster has focused on the danger of transporting oil by rail. But pipelines come with hazards, too.
For example, a natural gas pipeline exploded in southeast New Mexico in 2000, killing 12. Earlier this year, an Exxon Mobil pipeline carrying Canadian crude ruptured in Arkansas, causing major environmental damage.
Read Jon Talton’s complete blog report at The Seattle Times.
Railroad members covered under the provisions of the Sept. 16, 2011, national railroad agreement received a three percent general wage increase, effective July 1, 2013.
The links below show the national agreement pay rates for all classes of service and overtime tables for yard service employees.
These rate tables do not reflect adjustments to rates of pay applicable to individual assignments as a result of on-property agreements.
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) July 3 announced almost $1 million in new grants to help train veterans and military families for jobs in the transportation industry. The grants were awarded to six colleges across the country as part of the Commercial Motor Vehicle Operator Safety Training (CMVOST) grant program.
“The least we can do for the men and women who put their lives on the line for our country is to help ensure they can find good jobs when they leave the service,” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx. “The transportation industry provides a unique opportunity for military families and veterans to utilize skills they developed in the service, and we hope these grants will lead to more veterans joining the ranks of our country’s commercial vehicle drivers.”
The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists commercial trucking as a high-demand job, with more than 300,000 additional positions expected by 2020.
“These grants represent one of the many steps the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has taken to help veterans as they move from military to civilian life,” said FMCSA Administrator Anne S. Ferro. “From allowing states to consider military experience in their licensing tests to supporting industry job fairs, we are committed to helping our veterans transition into quality jobs.”
FMCSA awarded the following CMVOST grants, which could provide training for as many as 300 new students across the six colleges:
- Grays Harbor College in Aberdeen, Wash., $131,041
- Long Beach Community College District, in Long Beach, Calif., $211,733
- Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College in Orangeburg, S.C., $150,000
- Lone Star College in Woodlands, Texas, $184,260
- Century College in White Bear Lake, Minn., $120,000
- Joliet Junior College in Joliet, Ill., $176,427
In May 2011, the FMCSA finalized its commercial learner’s permit rule, which gives state driver licensing agencies the authority to waive the skills test portion of the commercial driver’s license test if the applicant demonstrates two years of safe driving experience in military equivalents of commercial motor vehicles. Visit http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/registration-licensing/cdl/Military-CDL-Waiver.aspx for more information.
To learn more about FMCSA’s commercial truck and bus safety grant programs and other safety initiatives, visit the FMCSA website at www.fmcsa.dot.gov.
To learn more about the U.S. Department of Transportation’s dedication to our nation’s veterans, visit http://www.dot.gov/veteranstransportationcareers.
LAC-MEGANTIC, Quebec – Quebec police are pursuing a painstaking, wide-ranging criminal investigation of the inferno ignited by the derailment of a runaway oil train that killed at least 15 people and left dozens missing in the burned-out ruins of a downtown district.
Quebec police inspector Michel Forget ruled out terrorism as a cause, but said July 9 that an array of other possibilities remain under investigation, including criminal negligence. Other officials have raised the possibility that the train was tampered with before the crash early Saturday, July 6.
Read the complete story at the Associated Press.
Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr. (D., Pa.) made a whistle-stop plea July 8 for Congress to block efforts to cut Amtrak funding 31 percent.
Casey said $350 million in cuts proposed by House Republicans would cost Amtrak workers their jobs and Amtrak passengers their rides.
Read the complete story at The Philadelphia Inquirer.
“You’re going to be a high school senior this fall. Any thoughts on a career? College?”
“Well, Dad, I think I might like to work for a railroad. It’s a pretty important business, and I hear that the pay and benefits are really good. And I’ve always been interested in trains.”
Read the complete story at Railway Age.