SMART Transportation Division Michigan State Legislative Director Don Roach reports that two bills supported by the union have taken a step forward in the state Legislature after receiving a key committee endorsement. HB 4917 and HB 4918 seek to enhance protections for transp [...]
The SMART Transportation Division has formed a new committee to address the growing problem of assaults on bus and transit operators. The Bus and Transit Assault Prevention and Safety committee (BTAPS), was founded at the recent SMART Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C. [...]
As kids, the term “Hot Wheels” brought to mind good times playing with tricked-out toy cars and letting your imagination take it from there. As railroad professionals, this term goes from warm and fuzzy childhood memories to the gut-churning stuff of nightmares. Railroaders a [...]
“I’ve got two conductor trainees, both in the same state working for the same carrier whose lives have been cut short. The current condition of all railroad training programs is clearly in need of scrutiny. SMART-TD is not prepared to lose more of our men and women while we s [...]
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 [...]
On April 26, the Federal Transportation Agency (FTA) posted a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) regarding public transportation agency safety plans. The agency is seeking feedback and suggestions from bus employees and other interested parties on what changes federal over [...]
As kids all over the world know, railroaders tend to work “all the live-long day.” This is baked into the cake and explained at hiring sessions of all the major railroads, but the hours-of-service (HOS) laws in place say, in no uncertain terms, that 12 hours is the extent of [...]
The state of Michigan is a great microcosm of the United States as a whole. It has major metropolitan areas, heavy industry, expansive agriculture and a diverse transportation network. Train tracks crisscross “The Big Mitten,” moving people to and from the state a [...]
The Switching Operations Fatality Analysis (SOFA) Working Group issued a one-page information sheet last week regarding shove movements, reminding workers to take care during shove moves — “When in doubt, dismount!” According to the flyer, 27 of 34 fatalities anal [...]
In a letter sent Jan. 5, 2023, to the CEOs of the seven Class I railroads operating in the United States as well as to Association of American Railroads (AAR) President/CEO Ian Jeffries, Federal Railroad Administrator Amit Bose warned them that “incremental” chang [...]