Category: Washington
CDL holders: Registration open for FMCSA Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse database
Voluntary registration with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Commercial Driver’s License Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse is open and available online. The Clearinghouse was created as part of new CDL employer background check requirements to take effect Jan. 6 [...]
Illinois SLD testifies at Amtrak hearing in U.S. House
SMART Transportation Division Illinois State Legislative Director Bob Guy testified Nov. 13 before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials regarding the future of Amtrak as members of Congress continue the reauthorization process for the n [...]
PTC update slated for RSAC meeting later this month
An update on the railroad industry’s implementation of positive train control (PTC) will be one of the major topics covered in the next meeting of the Rail Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC) scheduled 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Nov. 26, according to a notice published in the [...]
STB grants exemption for G&W acquisition
Disregarding comments by the SMART TD New York Legislative Board to the contrary, the Surface Transportation Board (STB) has granted an exemption to Brookfield Asset Management and DJP XX LLC that clears the way for their acquisition of short-line/regional railroad operator G [...]RRB announces cost-of-living increase for retirees in 2020
Most Railroad Retirement annuities, like Social Security benefits, will increase in January 2020 due to a rise in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) from the third quarter of 2018 to the corresponding period of the current year. Cost-of-living increases are calculated in both the [...]
RRB: Earnings limit for rail retirees is scheduled to increase in 2020
Railroad Retirement annuitants subject to earnings restrictions can earn more in 2020 without having their benefits reduced as a result of increases in earnings limits indexed to average national wage increases. Like Social Security benefits, some Railroad Retirement benefit [...]
SMART TD, TTD ask nation’s trade representative to protect U.S. rail jobs
A letter co-signed by SMART Transportation Division President Jeremy R. Ferguson and AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department (TTD) President Larry Willis asked the United States’ chief trade representative to re-examine policies that leave American rail workers at a di [...]When technology impedes your ability to do your job, we want to hear about it
For months now, your union has been collecting hundreds of reports from members of our and other rail unions that document instances when railroad technology doesn’t work as intended. While carriers might see technology as a stepping-stone to more money and the eventual repla [...]