Commenting on Rule of 2 a call to action for our members, allies

Most topics divide our organization to varying degrees. It’s a healthy debate that assists SMART to formulate majority-based positions on the many issues for which they advocate on our membership’s behalf. The belief that there should be a minimum of two persons on a train crew is not one of those topics. Overwhelmingly, the most-common […]

FRA NPRM: The truth behind the need for two-person crews

It’s a shame, really, that the safety of my members, the public and the infrastructure are nothing more than political pawns in the railroads’ game of never-ending greed. And it’s a shame, frankly, that the railroads manipulate woefully inept individuals – having never meaningfully walked the ballast or performed the myriad tasks of a conductor […]

TD President Ferguson to testify before House rail subcommittee

SMART Transportation Division President Jeremy R. Ferguson is scheduled to be a featured witness testifying next week in a hearing before the U.S. House Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee. The hearing on freight rail safety is scheduled 10 a.m. June 14 at the 2167 Rayburn House Office Building in Washington D.C. “I have great […]

STB requires additional service reporting from railroads

The federal Surface Transportation Board issued the following statement on Friday, May 6: The Surface Transportation Board today announced that it will require certain railroads to submit service recovery plans as well as provide additional data and regular progress reports on rail service, operations, and employment.  These measures are meant to inform the Board’s assessment […]

House Transportation leaders urge FRA to act on fatigue, attendance policies

CLEVELAND (April 6) — Leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure are asking the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to take action on a 2008 Congressional mandate to address rail worker fatigue at Class I carriers, with a specific reference to attendance policies such as those imposed at CSX, Union Pacific, […]

Rail members’ input sought by FRA for fatigue survey

The Federal Railroad Administration is asking T&E rail members of the SMART Transportation Division to participate in a wide-reaching survey of T&E personnel on the topic of fatigue. Participants working in T&E roles in either passenger or freight service are highly encouraged to help FRA’s Office of Research, Development & Technology: Human Factors Division gather […]

TD leadership applauds confirmation of Amit Bose to lead FRA

Amit Bose, who has been serving the Biden administration as acting administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) since February 2021, was confirmed Jan. 12 by the U.S. Senate to become full administrator. This was a bipartisan vote, 68-29. Bose’s nomination by President Joe Biden had been put on hold by Republican U.S. Sen. Rick […]

The INVEST in America Act and how it protects TD members

A surface transportation reauthorization bill introduced June 4 by chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) has a wide-reaching positive impact for members of the SMART Transportation Division. Mostly mirroring the identically named INVEST in America Act that passed the U.S. House of Representatives last summer but died in the […]

FRA grants unions’ request for longer-term extension to file certification petitions

CLEVELAND, Ohio, February 12 — In response to a series of joint petitions by the SMART Transportation Division (SMART-TD) and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) on February 11 granted a longer-term waiver, providing a 60-day extension to time limits in which certain petitions for review must be […]