CSX Asks to keep Safety Reports out of the Crew Rooms, Injuries are Up, Fatalities Continue, and Transparency is Down

 CSX Transportation has requested that the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) allow it to continue hiding behind its five-year waiver that relieved it of the requirement to physically post workplace injury and illness reports in crew rooms.  

This waiver was granted in 2020 on the condition that CSX would ensure equal access to this information. They didn’t. They haven’t. And they had five years to get it right.  

Instead, they want to keep injury reports buried in an electronic system that, as every railroader already knows, most crew members cannot easily access while on duty. SMART-TD told the FRA the real story. 

Visible, Posted Safety Reports are Important  

Before CSX won their 2020 waiver, those injury and illness postings hung on the same bulletin boards as job briefings, safety alerts, and the rest of the information crews rely on as part of their daily rhythm. Those postings served a significant purpose:  

• They sparked conversations.  

• They created impromptu safety huddles.  

• Crews shared best practices to avoid repeating the same mistakes.  

• They served as real-time reminders of what was happening across the system.  

Those postings were living safety tools. They provided peer-to-peer education and accountability that stared everyone (including management) in the face.  

Jared Cassity, SMART-TD’s National Director of Safety and Legislative Affairs, spent 14 years as both a conductor and locomotive engineer with CSX. He has seen firsthand how CSX corporate culture views safety. 

“I hired out on CSX. I know the difference between a safety tool and a corporate smokescreen. Removing those postings didn’t ‘modernize’ a thing. It silenced conversations, buried accountability, and put every railroader at greater risk. CSX didn’t fail to meet the waiver conditions by accident. They failed because transparency was never their goal to begin with.” 

And now they want another five years? That is not how this works.  

CSX Broke the Deal. You Called Them Out.  

When CSX asked to extend the waiver, they had already missed the FRA’s filing deadline by 3 months and 26 days. If one of our members missed a federal rule by a fraction of that, discipline would be swift and severe. CSX shrugged it off as a typo in their paperwork.  

SMART-TD did not shrug. We called it out with hard data gathered directly from the men and women living and working under this waiver.  

In less than a week, SMART-TD surveyed over 1,000 CSX members across the system to ensure the FRA heard the voices from the ground louder than the corporate spin from CSX’s Jacksonville headquarters.  

Survey Says: CSX Failed  

The survey results confirmed that CSX did not uphold the conditions of the waiver.  

• They did not ensure access to the monthly on-duty injury/illness information.  

• They did not train employees on how to obtain it.  

• They did not consistently post the required instructions on where to find it.  

The numbers in the survey data are disgraceful for a carrier that claims safety is its “#1 priority,” (Funny how they always say that after someone is injured).  

Safety Waiver had Terrible Consequences.

Since CSX forced workers into this “electronic-only” shell game, the FRA’s own safety data shows an increase in CSX’s accidents and injuries while the rest of the Class I railroads trended down. If CSX thought hiding injury information would hide their safety problem, they were wrong. 

Injuries are up. Fatalities continue. Transparency is down.  

SMART-TD’s Message to FRA: Do the Right Thing 

As a union, we told the FRA exactly what needed to be said:  

A waiver that is not honored cannot be extended.  

If the FRA allows CSX to continue down this road after five years of broken promises, then the message to every Class I is clear: Waiver conditions don’t matter. Safety transparency doesn’t matter. Workers’ access to critical information doesn’t matter. Promise the government regulators whatever they need to hear, then do whatever you want!  

We refuse to accept that, and we trust the FRA won’t either.  

“If FRA rubber-stamps this extension, they’re telling every railroad in America that safety rules are optional and honesty is negotiable.” Cassity warned. “CSX is daring the FRA to prove that it actually prioritizes safety and not carrier convenience. For the sake of every railroader in this country, the FRA better not blink.” 

To Our Members: You Are the Power Behind This Fight 

To every CSX SMART-TD member who spoke up, who took that survey, and who continues to report violations: thank you! You are the reason we remain a relevant and significant voice in rail safety.  

This is how we win: together.  
By sharing what’s happening on the ground.  
By refusing to be silenced or sidelined.  
By demanding the safety and transparency you deserve.  

This union will continue to defend you unapologetically, aggressively, without hesitation, and in the language railroaders know best: straightforward, honest, and unfiltered.  

Because when it comes to safety, we aren’t negotiating with corporate PR teams, lawyers, and lobbyists. We are fighting for your safety and well-being.  

SMART-TD will always stand on the side of the men and women who do the work.  

Stay vigilant. Stay vocal. Stay united.