News Archive
Szabo: Proposed rules on hazmat need your input
The following message was sent to the SMART Transportation Division National Legislative Office from Federal Railroad Administrator Joe Szabo. Friends: Last week, the U.S. Department of Transportation released two companion rulemaking proposals to improve the safe transportat [...]Group seeks donations to bring NP caboose home
In the sleepy and quaint town of Vermilion, Ohio, along the shores of Lake Erie, where boats are docked and buoyed along the water’s edge and early 20th century Victorian architecture still abounds, there will be a homecoming. Nickel Plate Caboose #1155 is coming home! Howeve [...]Time to act on two-person rail crews is now!
Members of the SMART Transportation Division and all of rail labor are reminded that they have the opportunity to make it federal law to have two qualified persons working on all freight trains operating in the United States a reality. Now is the time to contact your legislat [...]FMCSA, OSHA strengthening worker protections
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen the coordination and cooper [...]NS sues to block disclosure of crude oil shipments
WASHINGTON – A major hauler of crude oil by rail has sued the state of Maryland to stop the public release of information about the shipments, according to court documents. The suit was filed Wednesday, the same day the U.S. Department of Transportation announced proposed rul [...]Seattle City Council seeks DOT emergency order
SEATTLE – City Councilmember Mike O’Brien and all eight of his council colleagues signed a letter calling for the U.S. Secretary of Transportation to issue an emergency order prohibiting the shipment of Bakken crude oil in legacy DOT-111 tank train cars. Bakken is highl [...]BNSF loses freight to Union Pacific amid rail delays
DALLAS – BNSF Railway Co., the only U.S. railroad ordered by the regulator (Surface Transportation Board) to provide weekly service updates, is losing market share to Union Pacific Corp., its main competitor, as train speeds slow and on-time deliveries drop. The shift in mark [...]