Canada moves ahead in phasing out old tank cars

WASHINGTON – In response to a deadly train derailment last summer, the Canadian government Wednesday ordered the country’s railroads to phase out tens of thousands of older, puncture-prone tank cars from crude oil transportation within three years. Though Transport Canada and [...]

SMART To Seek Two-Person Crew Laws By State

CLEVELAND – As part of an ongoing effort to secure a law mandating a minimum of two crew members in the cab of all locomotives, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) and the Transportation Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Ra [...]

Letter Carriers to Collect Donations On May 10, 2014

Last year, with the help of thousands of volunteers, letter carriers all across America collected more than 74.4 million pounds of non-perishable food—the second-highest amount since the drive began in 1992, bringing the grand total to just under 1.3 billion pounds. “It’s suc [...]

SMART TD, UTUIA offices closed

The offices of the SMART Transportation Division and the UTU Insurance Association are closed Friday, April 18, in observance of the Good Friday holiday. The offices will reopen on Monday, April 21.

Hazardous cargo rides rails in secret

Jodi Ross, town manager in Westford, Mass., did not expect she would be threatened with arrest after she and her fire chief went onto the railroad tracks to find out why a train carrying liquid petroleum gas derailed on a bridge in February. But as they reached the accident s [...]

Oil traffic may delay fertilizer shipments, farmers warn

Increasing use of railroads to ship crude oil could disrupt fertilizer cargo this spring as Midwest farmers prepare for planting, U.S. agriculture leaders warn, even as one railroad said on Monday (April 14) it will take steps to ensure timely deliveries. The planting season [...]

OSHA orders WC to pay $350,000 to conductor

CHICAGO – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has found Wisconsin Central Limited railway in violation of the Federal Railroad Safety Act for terminating a conductor following the reporting of a workplace injury that occurred in [...]