PORTLAND, Maine — A Portland man who drove his car around the gates at a railroad crossing as an Amtrak train approached could face charges. Derso Mekonen, 56, drove his car around a line of vehicles stopped at a railroad crossing, Friday, Jan. 27, and collided with an [...]
President Donald J. Trump has appointed Ann Begeman to serve as Acting Chairman of the Surface Transportation Board (STB). Begeman is currently serving a second, five-year term as a Member of the Board following her recent nomination by President Barack Obama Dec. 7, 2016, an [...]
Dear members, On December 5, 2016, SMART Transportation Division issued a press release to announce that the unions participating in the Coordinated Bargaining Group (CBG) had requested that the National Mediation Board (NMB) mediate the group’s negotiations with the National [...]
Chuck Akers, lifelong train engineer, was forced to retire early after three physicians concurred that his numerous experiences with collisions that were caused by vehicles and people blocking the tracks (he was cleared of any wrongdoing in all incidents), had culminated into [...]
Commuter rail has been former Vice President Joe Biden’s method of transportation his entire career. During his 36-year run as U.S. Senator, Biden commuted daily from his home in Delaware to Washington D.C., then back home again – a three hour, roundtrip commute. [...]
CLEVELAND, Jan. 20—The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) and the Transportation Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Rail Air and Transportation Workers (SMART TD) are urging their respective memberships to contact members of the Hou [...]
Trains.com reported that the Bureau of Labor Statistics released a report showing that railroad jobs dropped by 3.8 percent in 2016 – reflecting the elimination of approximately 8,600 railroad jobs. In 2015, the drop in railroad jobs was reported at at sharper decline o [...]
On Monday, January 16, 2017, every member of the SMART union will stand with our entire nation in honor, solidarity and remembrance of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. King’s brilliance, vision, leadership and ultimate personal sacrifice shifted the cours [...]
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio, January 9 — Two railroad labor unions have jointly filed a lawsuit to overturn a punitive New Jersey law that prohibits New Jersey Transit locomotive engineers from operating trains if their personal motor vehicle driver’s license is suspended. The unions [...]
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has determined that the minimal annual random drug and alcohol testing rate will remain the same for 2017, as positive test rates have remained below the set threshold. The testing rates will continue to be 25 percent of covered servi [...]