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Contact your Reps. about two-person crew legislation

June 24, 2016 By National Legislative Director John Risch Recently, Republican Congressman Louie Gohmert of Texas – one of the most conservative members of the U.S. House of Representatives – cosponsored our two-person crew legislation, H.R. 1763, the Safe Freight Act. This show of support [...]

Tags H.R. 1763, John Risch, The Safe Freight Act, two-person crews, two-person crews legislation

NTSB releases probable cause of Amtrak 188 crash

May 18, 2016 The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) held a board meeting (webcasted live) yesterday, detailing the probable cause of the May 2015 Amtrak train 188 derailment outside of Philadelphia. The derailment caused eight people to lose their lives and over 200 injuries. The [...]

Tags Amtrak, Amtrak 188 crash, derailment, FRA, NTSB, positive train control

Risch, Harrison testify at Sleep Apnea hearing

May 12, 2016 National Legislative Director John Risch and Local 759 (Newark, N.J.) Secretary and Treasurer Craig Harrison testified at a public hearing today before the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) about Obstructive Slee [...]

Tags Craig Harrison, FMCSA, FRA, John Risch, Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Sleep Apnea

DOT announces $10 million TIGER grant to extend Amtrak

May 6, 2016 Project includes new passenger platforms in Middlebury, Vergennes and Burlington, Vermont BURLINGTON, Vt. – U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and Federal Railroad Administrator Sarah E. Feinberg joined Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin, U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy and U. [...]

Tags Amtrak, Ethan Allen Express, TIGER Grant, U.S. DOT

TTD: Making America great again means rebuilding America

May 6, 2016 By Larry I. Willis, AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department Secretary-Treasurer Unfortunately, the anti-growth, anti-government movement is alive and well. Heck, we have extremists in the GOP who think House Speaker Paul Ryan is too moderate.I had the honor last week of spea [...]

Tags AFL-CIO, Donald Trump, TTD

FRA, FMCSA to host listening sessions on Obstructive Sleep Apnea

May 3, 2016 The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) will host three public listening sessions to solicit information on the prevalence of moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) among individuals occupying safety sens [...]

Tags FMCSA, FRA, Obstructive Sleep Apnea, OSA, Sleep Apnea

Republicans seek to protect union busters from transparency rule

May 2, 2016 The GOP has announced that it will fight a Department of Labor (DOL) rule requiring employers to report having hired third parties to draft and deliver anti-union messages to workers. The measure was announced by the DOL in the Federal Register March 24 and went into effect l [...]

Tags DOL, GOP, transparency rule

THUD allocates $56.5 billion to fund transportation

April 22, 2016 The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) passed $56.5 billion legislation to fund its programs for Fiscal Year (FY) 2017. The bill includes several positive allocations for rail: $1.7 billion for the Federal Railroad Admin [...]

Tags Amtrak, EAS, FAA, FRA, funding, TIGER grants

We need your comments on 2-person crews -Deadline extended to June 15

April 19, 2016 On March 15th, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) issued a long overdue proposed regulation requiring that most trains in America have a minimum of two crewmembers. While SMART TD supports the core requirements of the rule, we believe that it can be strengthened and im [...]

Tags FRA, Freight rail, passenger rail, two-person crews

TSA Fairness Act passes House, Great Lakes closer to service

April 18, 2016 The TSA Fairness Act (H.R. 4549) passed in the House of Representatives April 13. The bill requires the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to provide security services at smaller airports that are serviced commercially. This Act is significant because the TSA curren [...]

Tags Great Lakes Airlines, Transportation Security Administration, TSA, TSA Fairness Act