News Archive
Railroad Retirement Board releases actuarial report
Chicago – The railroad retirement system will experience no cash-flow problems during the next 32 years; barring a sudden, unanticipated, large drop in railroad employment or substantial investment losses, according to the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) in its report to [...]AAR opposed to heavy truck amendment in U.S. House
WASHINGTON – A congressional proposal that would see much heavier trucks on the nation’s highways will cost taxpayers billions of dollars in damaged roads and bridges while further straining already depleted federal coffers, one of the nation’s top transportation [...]U.S. DOT awards $500 million in rail grants
The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) last week unveiled its decisions in awarding the seventh round of Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant program. The agency announced it had awarded a total $500 million in grants to 39 projects in 3 [...]Two New Members Elected By General Executive Council
Brothers Rick Werner and Chris Griffey were both unanimously elected to the SMART General Executive Council starting November 1, 2015. They replace Bruce Word (Local 104 – Northern California) and Norm Whiteman (Local 68 – Dallas, TX) who both retired in late summer after lon [...]Operation RedBlock Director Bobby Bonds dies
Robert “Bobby” Bonds, 61, long-time Amtrak Operation RedBlock director and a 39-year Amtrak employee, died Oct. 29, 2015. Bonds had committed his life to Operation RedBlock, a labor-developed, management-adopted drug-and alcohol-prevention/intervention program begun more than [...]
AAR safety alert: blade found in chock
The Association of American Railroads (AAR) reports that a homemade knife was found in a chock in the storage bin (pictured below), with the blade facing in toward the railcar at a Subaru facility in Vancouver, Wash. The knife was found when a rail loader went to remove a cho [...]Tenn. railroads turn to chemicals as coal declines
Thousands of rail tank cars roll through the cities, suburbs and rural areas of East Tennessee day and night, moving chemicals and energy products desperately needed by a variety of industries that provide thousands of jobs throughout the region. The commodities these tank ca [...]U.S. leader in light rail transport
Take a wild guess: Since the turn of the century, what nation has opened more new light rail and streetcar systems than any other on earth? Germany? Nein. Italy? No. China? 否. France? Non. Russia? Нет. Japan? いいえ. The Netherlands? Nr. It’s actually (drumroll please) . . . [...]