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During November and December, UnitedHealthcare will hold an open enrollment under railroad plans GA-23111.

During this open enrollment period, any individual eligible for coverage under one of the GA-23111 plans may enroll and be accepted for coverage without medical underwriting or requirement of good health.

There are no limitations for pre-existing conditions.

Enrollment in November and December is for coverage effective Jan. 1, 2011.

Only those applicants who mail their completed enrollment forms in November or December will be considered for open enrollment.

The next opportunity to enroll during an open enrollment period will not be until November 2012, consistent with the plan’s two-year open enrollment cycle.

This open enrollment is:

  • For those covered under any railroad health plan and represented by a railroad labor union.
  • For those who are members in accordance with the constitution or bylaws of one of the participating railroad labor unions when coverage under the employer group health plan applying to them ends.

If you, or someone you know, meets the GA-23111 eligibility provisions, open enrollment provides an opportunity to become covered.

You may also enroll your spouse or eligible children if they are not currently covered. In addition, enrollment under Plan F is available for your parent or parent-in-law. Anyone interested in enrolling should call one of the following phone numbers to obtain an enrollment form or additional information:

  • For persons eligible for Medicare, call (800) 809-0453.
  • For persons NOT eligible for Medicare, call (800) 842-5252.  Note: Enrollment during November and December of the open enrollment period provides for coverage effective the following calendar year, Jan. 1 through Dec. 31. Each June 1 of that calendar year, and only at that time, adjustments to the premium for all plans under GA-23111 may occur. Additionally, if you are enrolled in either Plan A, B or C under GA-23111, and a change in the premium amount you pay does occur, you will be allowed, at that time, to switch your plan to a different plan (A, B, or C) with a lower premium, if available.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Surface Transportation Board says it will hold a hearing Dec. 9 to review certain exemptions from economic regulation afforded railroads – specifically, commodity exemptions, boxcar exemptions and intermodal trailer and container exemptions.

The exemptions from STB rate and service oversight were first imposed in 1976, and modified in 1980 following substantial deregulation of the rail industry by the Staggers Rail Act.

Creating those exemptions, said the STB, “fundamentally changed the economic regulation of the railroad industry. Prior to 1976, [the STB’s predecessor, the Interstate Commerce Commission] heavily regulated the industry. The ICC focused its regulation on ensuring equal treatment of shippers, which in some instances, led to railroad pricing decisions based on factors other than market considerations.

“These agency exemption decisions were instrumental in the U.S. rail system’s transition from a heavily regulated, financially weak component of the economy into a mature, relatively healthy industry that operates with only minimal oversight,” said the STB in announcing the hearing.

“The transition, however, was not without challenges, sometimes because an exemption … excuses carriers from virtually all aspects of regulation, even though the STB’s continuing jurisdiction over exempted movements also extinguishes any common law cause of action regarding common carrier duties,” said the STB.

“In recent years, the STB has received informal inquiries questioning the relevance and/or necessity of some of the existing commodity exemptions, given the changes in the competitive landscape and the railroad industry that have occurred over the past few decades,” said the STB.

“The STB will, therefore, hold a hearing to explore the continuing utility of and the issues surrounding the categorical exemptions.”

The Journal of Commerce reported Oct. 21 that the decision to hold the hearing followed a September promise to the Senate Commerce Committee by STB Chairman Dan Elliott that the STB would begin an examination of past regulatory practices.

Rail freight loadings continue to show improvement, reports the AAR in releasing carloading data for the week ending Oct. 16.

Total U.S. carloadings increased by more than 10 percent over the same week in 2009.

Intermodal loadings were up by more than 15 percent over the comparable week in 2009.

Fourteen of the 19 carload commodity groups increased from the comparable week in 2009.

For the first 41 weeks of 2010, U.S. railroads carloadings are up more than 7 percent over the first 41 weeks in 2009; and intermodal loadings are up almost 15 percent.

Amtrak reported Oct. 21 that Chief Operating Officer Bill Crosbie is leaving Amtrak immediately, and the position of chief operating officer is being abolished.

 Amtrak President Joseph Boardman, in an employee advisory, said the vice presidents of the operating departments will begin reporting directly to him.

“Bill has made important contributions to Amtrak in the seven years he’s been here, and his oversight of the many facets of the operation has supported Amtrak through a period of strong ridership and demand for our services,” Boardman said in the employee advisory.

Take note of the CORRECT toll-free telephone number for the Railroad Retirement Board’s Information Line:

(877) 772-5772

This number replaces a previous toll-free number to reach the Railroad Retirement Board.

The old number no longer reaches the Railroad Retirement Board’s information line. That number was reassigned by the phone company.

In fact, some callers report they have called that number and reached a recording seeking payment from them.

Older copies of RRB publications still carry the old and no longer valid toll free phone number for the Railroad Retirement Board, and some UTU members may be in possession of those publications.

Again, the ONLY valid toll-free telephone number for the Railroad Retirement Board’s Information Line – toll free from all areas of the United States – is:

(877) 772-5772

Union Pacific earnings for the third quarter 2010 soared by 51 percent from the third quarter 2009, the railroad told investors Oct. 21.

UP told Wall Street analysts it was the company’s most profitable quarter ever.

In reporting the record earnings, UP Chairman Jim Young told Wall Street analysts that the railroad had put some 1,100 furloughed employees back to work during the third quarter 2010, and that all furloughed workers likely would be back on the job in coming months.Young also told analysts that UP likely will hire additional employees in 2011, assuming the economy remains strong.

UP credited increased rail traffic (up 14 percent for the third quarter versus third quarter 2009), the ability to extract higher freight rates from shippers, and improved productivity as the reasons for the record profits.

Per share earnings for UP jumped from 1.01 in the third quarter 2009 to 1.56 per share in the third quarter 2010. This exceeded estimates of Wall Street firms.

UP reported a record operating ratio of 68.2 percent. Operating ratio is the railroad’s operating expenses expressed as a percentage of operating revenue, and is considered by economists as a basic measure of carrier profitability.

CSX earlier reported that its third quarter earnings soared by 43 percent.

Kansas City Southern reports third quarter earnings Oct. 26, and Norfolk Southern reports Oct. 27. As BNSF is now privately held, it does not report earnings separately.

As the recession takes its toll, an increased rail safety threat is emerging – the theft of rail spikes and tie plates from active railroad lines.

In Woodbine, N.J., last week, police arrested four men suspected of stealing spikes and tie plates from five miles of New Jersey Transit track — used by Cape May Seashore Lines for passenger and freight operations — and selling the metal for scrap, reports the Cape May Herald newspaper.

It’s just something else rail employees must be on the lookout for – an additional aspect of situational awareness that ensures train and engine crews go home to their families in one piece.

Train and engine employment continues to climb back toward pre-recession levels, with Class I railroads continuing to call back furloughed train crews.

The Surface Transportation Board posted data for September, showing train and engine employment on Class I railroads grew almost 9 percent in September, versus September 2009; and was almost 2 percent higher than in August 2010.

Train and engine service employment stood at 61,444 in September, while total Class I railroad employment was at 154,094.

UTU Michigan State Legislative Director Jerry Gibson knows the value of the UTU PAC in electing labor friendly lawmakers. He knows how to share those facts, also.

UTU Local 1075 Secretary-Treasurer John Purcell says he and other members of his Trenton, Mich., local had “no clue of what the UTU PAC was. No one had ever explained how it worked” until Gibson showed up at a union local meeting.

Purcell credits Gibson with educating the local’s members “on how PAC funds are used and the benefits the PAC provides. I started contributing myself immediately and began to encourage others to do the same,” Purcell said in a recent e-mail he sent Gibson.

“The value of the UTU PAC was further driven home after my attendance at the regional meetings where I learned what was being done in Washington D.C., and the impact of our PAC funds there,” Purcell said.

More recently, Purcell said the UTU’s get-out-the vote drive for the Nov. 2 elections was a success. Post cards sent members through a project of the National Legislative Office “reached the members’ homes and several contacted me and asked questions,” Purcell said.

“I provided information which included that the UTU PAC is not a partisan program and that it supports candidates that support us regardless of party affiliation,” Purcell said. “I used the information provided, which listed successful legislation that has improved safety and benefits.

“All of this resulted in 12 members either increasing their UTU PAC donation or becoming new donors all together,” Purcell said.

Purcell said he now writes a check to the UTU PAC in the amount of $265 per month, and 44 percent of Local 1075’s members now donate. He said his goal is to gain PAC contributions from 75 percent of Local 1075’s members.

Union Pacific is at it again — and the UTU and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen intend to stop it, again.

The “it” is a UP request to the Federal Railroad Administration that UP be allowed to bring trains from Mexico into the United States without proper mechanical safety inspections at the border crossing.

In a petition to the FRA, the UTU and the BLET asked the agency to deny UP’s latest waiver request that trains from Mexico be allowed enter the U.S. through El Paso, Texas, without first undergoing required mechanical safety inspections.

“Safety is the paramount reason that the [UP request] should be denied,” the UTU and the BLET told the FRA. “It is common” for cars from Mexico to enter the U.S. “with handbrakes applied, retaining valves set, angle cocks closed and bad order cars located within the train.

“The bad order cars from Mexico are sent into the U.S. so that UP can repair them. Not to be overlooked is the fact that these trains also frequently are transporting hazardous materials cars,” the UTU and the BLET told the FRA.

“There exists an adequate repair facility at UP’s River Yard located near the International Bridge which can accommodate these trains,” the FRA was told.

Furthermore, the UTU and the BLET told the FRA, “The granting of this kind of petition is not what Congress intended by its enactment of the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008.

“Congress made it clear that defective cars from Mexico should not enter the U.S. There is every indication that these trains did not receive proper mechanical and brake inspections in Mexico, and there has been no certification by the FRA that the Mexican trains have complied with the applicable U.S. standards.

“Historically, the FRA has denied requests for waiver of air brake and mechanical safety inspections on trains entering the U.S. if the request involves movement of the trains past a point where the inspections can be performed,” the UTU and the BLET told the FRA.

“We believe the FRA should stand fast with this policy and, consistent with earlier decisions of this type, deny the [UP waiver] request.”