Category: Front Page — TD
Transportation-oriented posts to appear on the front page of the main site and in news feeds.
Alaska’s most-popular shore excursion RR authorizes strike
SKAGWAY, Alaska (July 6, 2023) — SMART Transportation Division (SMART-TD) Local 1626, which represents operating personnel for the White Pass & Yukon Route (WPYR), authorized a strike late last week. The labor union and railroad have negotiated for nearly six years and ha [...]
SMART General President Mike Coleman joins retired General President Joseph Sellers to discuss megaprojects, rail safety and much more
Ahead of former SMART General President Sellers’ retirement, he sat down with General President Coleman to discuss Sellers’ career, his proudest accomplishments, Coleman’s priorities as general president and the future of SMART. “It’s been a grea [...]
SMART-TD takes action to defend transit worker safety
June 26, 2023, was the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) deadline for the public to respond to their Notice of Public Rule Making (NPRM) on forming new Public Transportation Agency Safety Plans (PTASPs.) FTA requested public comments on how to keep bus operators safe on [...]
Lesson 1 from Day 1 of NTSB hearing: East Palestine response shows there’s room for improvement
During the first day of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) hearing on Norfolk Southern’s East Palestine, Ohio, derailment that happened Feb. 3, the importance of sharing information and communications in the wake of a rail disaster was brought into clear focus. F [...]
STB decision orders BNSF to haul Powder River coal
By a 3-2 majority June 23, the Surface Transportation Board (STB) ruled in favor of Navajo Transitional Energy Co. (NTEC), ordering BNSF to fulfill its common-carrier obligation to serve the Powder River Basin energy producer and transport 4.2 million tons of coal. NTEC filed [...]
From the ballast: On-the-job incidents can bring about PTSD
If you find yourself in a crisis situation, the SMART Members Assistance Program (MAP) is available to help. Please call 877-884-6227 for free and confidential assistance. Your employer also may have an in-house employee assistance program (EAP) available. Tuesday, June 27, 2 [...]
Open enrollment has begun for SMART-TD bus, rail VLTD plans
The SMART Transportation Division is excited to announce the first open enrollment period has begun for SMART-TD’s Voluntary Long-Term Disability (VLTD) and Voluntary Group Life (VLIFE) plans for bus and railroad members. For railroad members, the plans are designed to [...]
FRA deems NS’s new hire training program ‘unacceptable,’ mandates fix in 45 days
Norfolk Southern is and has been hiring new freight conductors at a noteworthy rate in 2023. As the labor organization that represents newly hired conductors, that is great news to the SMART Transportation Division. But like most pieces of good news that come from the railroa [...]