Transportation News

Visit the digital archive of the SMART-TD News (PDFs)

FTA announces random drug and alcohol testing rates for 2024

The calendar year 2024 drug and alcohol random testing rates for specific recipients of Federal Transit Administration financial assistance were published in the Federal Register on Nov. 30, 2023. The minimum random drug testing rate will remain at 50 percent, and the random [...]

Your union needs your social media contributions

We need your help brothers and sisters! SMART Transportation Division members and retirees are always welcome and encouraged to contribute pictures, videos, stories and article leads, and with the ever-changing social media formats, we’re ready for them now more than ever. Ou [...]

ERMA lifetime maximum benefit to increase in 2024

The lifetime maximum benefit for the Railroad Employees National Early Retirement Major Medical Benefit (ERMA or GA-46000) Plan will increase from $188,000 to $195,100 beginning Jan. 1, 2024. At the end of 2001, labor and management had agreed on various procedures to adminis [...]

California High-Speed Rail Authority pledges to use unionized labor

CALIFORNIA – Today, the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CAHSRA), which oversees the largest high-speed rail project under construction in North America, announced a ground-breaking agreement with 13 rail unions to utilize rail workers covered by federal railroad labor l [...]

Recognizing our women railroaders

The railroad industry has a handful of trade magazines that do a very thorough job of covering what is going on in the world of government regulations as well as technology and industry trends. One thing that these magazines do with regularity is to put out lists they bill as [...]

Rail labor organizations urge Biden to renominate Bragg to RRB

The following letter was submitted by the Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO, of which the SMART Transportation Division and Mechanical Division are members, on behalf of SMART and a number of other labor unions to President Joe Biden earlier this week. November [...]