Two Union Pacific Railroad employees were killed and two others were injured when two UP trains collided early Sunday (Aug. 17) morning in Hoxie, Ark.
SMART Transportation Division member and conductor Roderick A. Hayes, 31, and engineer Chance Gober, 40, were both killed on the southbound train, according to a report by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Injured on the northbound train were SMART Transportation Division member and conductor Aaron P. Jeffery and engineer Michael Zompakos.
Hayes and Jeffery both belonged to SMART Transportation Division 656 at North Little Rock, Ark.
Details on the conditions of Jeffery and Zompakos are not yet available.
The National Transportation Safety Board is now investigating and General Chairperson James Herndon and Georgia State Legislative Director Matt Campbell of the SMART Transportation Safety Team have been assigned to assist in the investigation.
The SMART Transportation Safety Team (TST) is comprised of 17 members of the SMART Transportation Division, each of whom is on call 24 hours a day to assist in determining the facts in rail-related accidents.
Hayes was a SMART member for 20 months and Jeffery has been a SMART member for approximately 10 years.
Related News
- RRB: Credit for military service under the Railroad Retirement Act
- 2022 Tentative Agreement ratification results and next steps
- Split decision: Unions for engineers and conductors take different routes in freight rail contract ratification vote
- Balloting closes TONIGHT for tentative national rail agreement
- SMART-TD, BLET town hall yields facts about tentative agreement
- A message to veterans from President Ferguson
- Important update for all SMART-TD and BLET members included in national negotiations
- BLET, SMART-TD to host Town Hall meeting on November 9
- Update on SMART-TD balloting for National Rail Tentative Agreement
- Rule of 2 comment period extended by FRA to Dec. 21