Category: Washington
NTSB member displeased FRA omitted fatigue in risk-reduction rule
Jennifer Homendy, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), said that the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) final rule for Class I railroads and certain smaller railroads to establish risk-reduction safety plans issued Feb. 18 falls well short of the in [...]
Former NLRB head talks about lasting damage to labor from admin’s policy rollbacks
Wilma Liebman, a former chief of the National Labor Relations Board for three terms and a member of the board for more than a decade, described what she termed “a stacked deck” against American workers that has been assembled by the current presidential administration in an o [...]
DOT clarifies marijuana testing rule
The U.S. Department of Transportation clarified what is classified as marijuana for testing purposes in a release dated Feb. 18, 2020. Below is the release from DOT. DOT OFFICE OF DRUG AND ALCOHOL POLICY AND COMPLIANCE NOTICE The Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018, Pub. L. [...]Trump budget proposal cuts Amtrak, FRA and shorts RRB
If approved as-is, a federal budget proposal for the 2021 fiscal year released Monday, Feb. 10, by President Donald Trump would reduce funding for Amtrak, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and underfund the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB). Amtrak, the national passeng [...]
SMART-TD files suit challenging NMB’s decision regarding crew consist
On January 23, 2020, SMART Transportation Division and nearly two dozen General Committees brought suit against the National Mediation Board (NMB) challenging its 2-1 decision which granted a National Railway Labor Conference (NRLC) request to appoint an arbitration board mem [...]Federal agencies announce random testing rates for 2020
Federal agencies have announced their random drug testing rates for the new calendar year. In December, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced a test rate increase from 25 percent to 50 percent of the average number of driver positions because of an [...]
FRA’s own report blows hole in arguments against two-person freight crews
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) in a 41-page report released Jan. 13th by its Office of Research, Development and Technology said what railroaders already know. Researchers at the Volpe Center over a period of years performed cognitive task analyses (CTAs) that exam [...]
Texas TD member runs for Congress on his own terms
His hands are rough. His boots are dirty. He has the resume to prove it. Vance Snider is a SMART Transportation Division member out of Local 1313 in Amarillo, Texas, a veteran of the U.S. Army, a father of two and a BNSF conductor. He’s also running for Congress to represent [...]