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BNSF_loco_K.D.McLaughlinWith thick smoke impeding visibility and foiling aircraft operations over the past couple of days, BNSF Railway trains have been shuttling fire crews and heavy equipment into the Sheep Fire at the southern edge of Glacier National Park.

There firefighters have been working to build containment lines during a lull in fire activity.

Fire management team spokesman Greg Dinetto said Wednesday that three feller bunchers and a skidder have been railed in to help created a shaded fuel break downwind of the fire.

Read more from Daily Inter Lake.com.

BNSF_loco_K.D.McLaughlinNine years ago, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Company embarked on a campaign to improve its freight service in and out of the coal-rich Powder River Basin of Montana and Wyoming.

Times were good, the coal industry was booming and BNSF was getting political pressure to beef up its Powder River Basin infrastructure to help meet the nation’s seemingly endless appetite for fossil-fuel energy.

“The administration and Capitol Hill strongly believed that our investment in our coal network was insufficient and that much more investment was needed if we were to meet the forecast of demand going forward,” Matthew K. Rose, the BNSF executive chairman, recalled the other day at the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s annual conference in Washington. “We invested heavily, and now the capacity and the operations of the Powder River Basin lines are very, very impressive.”

Read more from Missoula Independent.

Minnesota_mapIn light of the recent furloughs by BNSF and Union Pacific railroads, and since many locals are experiencing difficulty reaching the members who have been furloughed and dislocated, the SMART TD Minnesota State Legislative Board is hosting, in conjunction with the Minnesota Department of Education and Economic Development (MN DEED) a free informational meeting to assist those furloughed workers on Monday, August 17, 2015 at 7:00 p.m. in the Minneapolis United Labor Center, Room 218 (located at 312 Central Avenue, S. E., Room 218, Minneapolis, MN 55414). Parking is free.

MN DEED will be offering many free services at the meeting including: emergency assistance (mortgage help) for those who need it, job training, job counseling, help with updating your computer skills and much more.

The Minneapolis Labor Center is also the location of your SMART TD Minn. Legislative Board. The board has activated the Brakemen’s Register with the names of SMART TD members who are looking for work. If you have been impacted by these furloughs, it is highly recommended that you consider attending this meeting.

FRA_logo_wordsThe Federal Railroad Administration said Wednesday that train companies must continue reporting crude oil routes and volumes to state authorities concerned about derailments and fires. The interim regulation requiring notification will become permanent.

Oil-hauling railroads include Omaha-based Union Pacific and Berkshire Hathaway-owned BNSF Railway.

Read more from Omaha.com.

osha-logo_webSEATTLE, Wash. – North America’s second-largest freight railroad, Burlington Northern Santa Fe LLC, must reinstate a train conductor and pay the man $536,063 in back pay, damages and attorney’s fees after a federal investigation found the rail operator retaliated against its employee after reporting a knee injury.

BNSF filed disciplinary charges against the conductor after he reported the injury, which occurred in November 2010 while en route from Vancouver to Pasco. The employee filed a Federal Railroad Safety Act anti-discrimination complaint with OSHA in February 2011. Company officials fired him in August 2011 despite knowing that his injury report was protected by law.

U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigators determined the railroad violated federal laws protecting whistleblowers. After an investigation, OSHA ordered the reinstatement and financial compensation.

“Disciplining an employee for reporting an injury is illegal,” said Ken Atha, regional administrator for OSHA’s Seattle office. “Those who do so face negative repercussions. Retaliatory actions can discourage other workers from speaking up, which may result in an unsafe work environment.”

In addition to paying punitive and compensatory damages, OSHA ordered BNSF to rehire the employee and expunge his record of all charges and disciplinary action. The company must also conduct training for supervisors and managers on employee whistleblower rights and post a notice to employees of their whistleblower rights.

Both the employee and the railroad have 30 days from receipt of OSHA’s findings to file objections and request a hearing before the department’s Office of Administrative Law Judges.

With 38,000 employees, BNSF operates more than 7,000 locomotives and 32,500 miles of track.

OSHA enforces the whistleblower provisions of the FRSA and 21 other statutes protecting employees who report violations of various airline, commercial motor carrier, consumer product, environmental, financial reform, food safety, health care reform, nuclear, pipeline, public transportation agency, maritime and securities laws.

Under laws enacted by Congress, employers are prohibited from retaliating against employees who raise various protected concerns or provide protected information to the employer or to the government. Employees who believe that they have been retaliated against for engaging in protected conduct may file a complaint with the secretary of labor for an investigation by OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Program. Detailed employee rights information is available online at http://www.whistleblowers.gov.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to ensure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

oil-train-railIf you want to carry crude oil in an older railroad car, it’s going to cost you.

Fort Worth-based BNSF Railway, the largest U.S. crude-by-rail carrier, is offering lower rates to lug oil in cars that meet the latest federal specifications issued in May. That means the vast majority of cars riding the rails today, known as DOT-111 and CPC-1232, will cost more to haul.

The new rates are part of a plan by the railroad, owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, to push older cars off the tracks as regulators scrutinize the industry over a series of high-profile derailments and explosions. To that end, BNSF published higher rates for older cars relative to more advanced models, such as the DOT-117, said spokesman Michael Trevino.

 Read more from Star-Telegram.  

BNSF_loco_K.D.McLaughlin_150pxGRAND FORKS — BNSF Railway Co., the largest railroad in North Dakota, is furloughing some employees across its network, including in Mandan and elsewhere in the region.

“Customers’ volumes in the near term have come down somewhat from their prior estimates; as a result we are having to adjust our workforce demand numbers down to match volume and the work required to move that volume,” BNSF spokeswoman Amy McBeth wrote in an email. “As part of that, we are reducing the hiring plans for the next several months and are, unfortunately, having to temporarily furlough some of our employees at different locations across our network.”

McBeth said BNSF expects to call the furloughed employees back “as soon as business needs require,” though she didn’t have any specific figures on affected employees by region.

Read more from The Bismarck Tribune.

BNSF_Color_LogoBNSF Railway is furloughing employees in Northwest Montana and across its 32,000-mile system as freight traffic on America’s rails declines.

According to the Association of American Railroads, the number of freight car loads moved during the first full-week of May was down 7.9 percent from the same week last year. Freight traffic on America’s railroads were also down 5.3 percent in April when compared to the same month last year.

In a statement to the Beacon, BNSF spokesperson Matt Jones said that the railroad has temporarily furloughed employees at its terminals across the country, including Whitefish, Shelby and Havre. However, Jones said the railroad plans on bringing back all of the furloughed workers as soon as business permits.

Read more from the Flathead Beacon.

oil-train-railBakken Shale crude oil shipments via train have resumed in North Dakota, but there remain unanswered questions about what caused 10 tanker cars to derail and ignite in Heimdal, ND, earlier this month.

A spokesperson for BNSF, the railroad involved in the derailment, told NGI‘s Shale Daily on Tuesday that the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) continues to investigate the May 6 accident, and the company is prevented from disclosing “any information that is germane” to the investigation.

In Washington, DC, an NTSB spokesperson said a final report, including identifying the cause of the incident, is likely to take up to a year, but some interim reports may be issued. NTSB’s Jim Southworth has been the investigator-in-charge.

Read more from NGI’s Shale Daily.

BNSF_Color_LogoBNSF Railway has reopened its tracks north of Fort Worth after multiple storm-related incidents during the weekend, the company’s executives say.

“Railroading is an outdoor sport, but we should also say these storms have over the last couple of weeks been really terrific in terms of damage,” said Matt Rose, BNSF executive chairman. “Certainly it’s a dangerous business. We’ve weathered it, so to speak, and we’ll get repaired and hopefully see sunnier skies.”

BNSF, which is based in Fort Worth, was hit by a triple-whammy of unfortunate events during the past several days.

Read more from the Star-Telegram.