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A bill introduced by leaders in the U.S. House on Aug. 2 and endorsed by the SMART Transportation Division seeks to address complaints levied against the Class I rail carriers brought by customers and echoed by rail unions in hearings in the spring before the Surface Transportation Board (STB).

See a recap of that testimony here.

The Freight Rail Shipping Fair Market Act (H.R. 8649) reauthorizes the STB, the federal agency that oversees the economic regulation of freight rail in the country.

Among the bill’s purposes, according to a release from the U.S. House Transportation Committee: 

  • Strengthening STB’s authority to address rail service emergencies;
  • Requiring rail contracts to include service delivery standards and remedies, while leaving details to be privately negotiated between parties;
  • Providing STB with clear direction to resolve common carrier obligation complaints;
  • Creating financial incentives for both railroads and their customers to efficiently move railcars;
  • Supporting freight railroad efforts to identify where freight is located on their systems while in transit; and
  • Adequately funding STB to allow for quicker dispute resolution when petitioned. 

“I am proud to introduce the Freight Rail Shipping Fair Market Act with Chair DeFazio, Chair Scott, and Chair Costa to improve rail shipping nationwide,” Rail, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee Chair Donald M. Payne Jr. said. “The freight rail companies have focused on profits instead of performance and it has led to delays and problems in how we transport commodities to farms, factories, and stores across the country. My bill gives the Surface Transportation Board the power to prohibit rail rate increases during a rail emergency and resolve rail emergencies when they occur. This bill will improve the speed and reliability of rail service and guarantee that freight rail shipping continues to improve in the future without unnecessary regulations.” 

On the heels of his testimony before the STB in April, SMART-TD President Jeremy Ferguson testified in June before Payne’s subcommittee discussing labor’s concerns with rail operating tactics under Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR).

U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio of Oregon, chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, who was critical of the railroads’ PSR tactics in a May appearance before the rail subcommittee, lent his support to the legislation.

“I am pleased to join Chair Payne on the Freight Rail Shipping Fair Market Act, which will hold the freight rail industry accountable for their appalling service to shippers and ultimately help American families burdened by the increased price of goods,” DeFazio said. “It is imperative that our rail network is reliable, and yet consolidation and Wall Street pressures on railroads to cut costs and increase profits have made that near impossible. This bill will level the playing field and provide railroad customers—many of which are transporting key food and energy products—the service they deserve. This bill will also provide the tools and guidance the Surface Transportation Board needs to fulfill its mandate and better regulate disputes among Class I railroads and their customers, weed out unfair practices, and incentivize efficient operations. I look forward to putting these policies into action, empowering the Board, and boosting competition in the freight rail industry.” 
 
“Whether carrying inputs to our farmers or moving their products to market, rail is a vital tool in the American agriculture industry. This fact has become increasingly apparent as rail service issues have created challenges for our farmers, grain elevators, and ethanol producers and resulted in increased costs for producers and consumers alike,” Agriculture Chair David Scott said. “I want to thank Chair DeFazio and Chair Payne for their work on this legislation, particularly their work with the agriculture community to address their concerns. I am proud to join as an original cosponsor of the Freight Rail Shipping Fair Market Act.”
 
“The pandemic has wreaked havoc on every segment of our economy. It has disrupted our supply chain, both in terms of imports and exports and has put our agricultural community at great risk. The time is now to sit down with rail carriers to fix this broken supply chain system. I support this legislation to improve freight rail service, reduce inflation, and ensure our shippers and suppliers are confident in the ability of our nation’s rail system to efficiently move goods and services. This is the only way to give consumers confidence in fair pricing and consistent access to products in grocery stores and on shelves,” House Subcommittee on Livestock and Foreign Agriculture Chair Jim Costa said.
 
To better understand why rail service delivery problems persist, the Railroad Subcommittee held hearings in March and in May 2022, and the Surface Transportation Board held a hearing on urgent issues in freight rail service in late April 2022. All three hearings documented serious problems in the freight rail industry stemming from years of Wall Street focus on increasing railroad operating profits to allow for stock buybacks and dividends, rather than investing those profits in expanding critical freight rail service to more places and serving more industries. Despite these hearings and actions undertaken by the Surface Transportation Board, severe service issues continue to hamstring rail shipments across the country. This bill seeks to stem that tide.

Captured freight rail customers who stand to benefit from provisions in H.R. 8649 have signed on to support the Freight Rail Shipping Fair Market Act. They include: 

  • Agribusiness Association of Iowa
  • Agribusiness Council of Indiana
  • Agricultural Council of Arkansas
  • Agricultural Retailers Association
  • AgTC — Agriculture Transportation Coalition
  • Amcot
  • American Agri-Women
  • American Bakers Association
  • American Chemistry Council (ACC): 
  • American Cotton Producers
  • American Cotton Shippers Association
  • American Farm Bureau Federation
  • American Feed Industry Association
  • American Sheep Industry Association
  • American Soybean Association
  • American Sugar Cane League
  • Arkansas Rice Federation
  • Association of California Egg Farmers
  • California Association of Wheat Growers
  • California Cattlemen’s Association
  • California Grain and Feed Association
  • California Pork Producers Association
  • California Poultry Federation
  • Consumer Brands Association
  • Corn Refiners Association
  • Cottonseed and Feed Association
  • Freight Rail Customer Alliance
  • Georgia Agribusiness Council
  • Grain and Feed Association of Illinois
  • Growth Energy
  • International Dairy Foods Association
  • International Fresh Produce Association
  • Iowa Institute for Cooperatives
  • Kansas Association of Wheat Growers
  • Kansas Grain and Feed Association
  • Kansas Agribusiness Retailers Association
  • Laughlin Cartrell Inc.
  • Midsouth Grain Association
  • Minnesota Crop Production Retailers
  • Minnesota Grain and Feed Association
  • Minnesota Wheat Research & Promotion Council
  • Mississippi Feed and Grain Association
  • Montana Agricultural Business Association
  • Montana Grain Elevators Association
  • National Aquaculture Association
  • National Association of State Departments of Agriculture
  • National Association of Wheat Growers
  • National Cattlemen’s Beef Association
  • National Corn Growers Association
  • National Cotton Council of America
  • National Cotton Ginners Association
  • National Cottonseed Products Association
  • National Council of Farmer Cooperatives
  • National Grain and Feed Association
  • National Grange
  • National Industrial Transportation League
  • National Milk Producers Federation
  • National Oilseed Processors Association
  • National Sorghum Producers
  • Nebraska Agri-Business Association
  • Nebraska Cooperative Council
  • Nebraska Dry Pea and Lentil Commission
  • Nebraska Wheat Board
  • Nebraska Wheat Growers Association
  • New York State Agribusiness Association
  • North American Meat Institute
  • North American Millers’ Association
  • North Carolina Agribusiness Council
  • North Dakota Grain Dealers Association
  • Northeast Agribusiness and Feed Alliance
  • Northwest Chicken Council
  • Ohio AgriBusiness Association
  • Oklahoma Grain & Feed Association
  • Oklahoma Wheat Growers Association
  • Oregon Feed & Grain Association
  • Oregon Wheat Growers League
  • Pacific Egg & Poultry Association
  • Pacific Northwest Grain & Feed Association
  • Pet Food Institute
  • Plains Cotton Growers, Inc.
  • Portland Cement Association
  • Private Railcar Food and Beverage Association
  • Roquette
  • South Dakota Agri-Business Association (SDABA)
  • Soy Transportation Coalition
  • Specialty Soya and Grains Alliance
  • Tennessee Feed and Grain Association
  • Texas Ag Industries Association
  • Texas Grain and Feed Association
  • Texas Wheat Producers Association
  • The Fertilizer Institute
  • USA Rice
  • Wisconsin Agri-Business Association
  • Wyoming Wheat Marketing Commission

The full bill text and a fact sheet are available by following the links.

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, and BNSF.

In an April 6 joint letter to FRA Administrator Amit Bose, Rep. Peter A. DeFazio (D-OR), Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, along with Rep. Donald M. Payne Jr. (D-NJ), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials, remind the FRA Administrator of the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (RSIA), which established a law requiring railroads to implement fatigue management and reduction plans.

U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio

“The Congressional mandate to mitigate fatigue among crewmembers and other safety-related workers is now a decade late,” Rep. DeFazio and Rep. Payne wrote. “Crewmembers and other craft workers have raised their concerns about being excessively exhausted at work, which is worsened by PSR. These workers cannot wait any longer, and neither can the communities through which trains travel. To mitigate attendance policies that contribute to fatigue and help ensure all safety-related workers are rested and prepared to do the job safely, we respectfully urge your agency to issue the fatigue risk management program final rule without delay, require its swift implementation, and meaningfully enforce it to ensure that the 2008 bipartisan Congressional mandate is met.”

U.S. Rep. Donald Payne Jr.

In the letter, Rep. DeFazio and Rep. Payne lay the cause of fatigue at the feet of the nation’s Class I railroads. The industry’s self-inflicted problems, such as inaccurate train lineups and the implementation of harsh attendance policies, contribute greatly to rail worker fatigue.

“We believe that attendance policies that not only contribute to fatigue but also penalize workers for taking off when fatigued or ill simply cannot co-exist with any serious fatigue risk management program,” the Representatives wrote. “Rather, these policies could incentivize employees to show up to work fatigued in order to avoid reprimand or termination. They also ignore the unfortunate reality that crewmembers already have unpredictable and unreliable schedules, which makes this line of work difficult for many, even before policies that further restrict their lives and abilities to obtain proper rest.”

Rep. DeFazio and Rep. Payne are also highly critical of the industry’s implementation of the so-called precision scheduled railroading (PSR) business operating model.

“Class I carriers have substantially reduced the size of their workforces since implementing precision scheduled railroading (PSR) at the behest of Wall Street investors. Unions representing railroad workers and individual workers have sounded the alarm on rail worker fatigue, which they believe is worsened by the deployment of PSR and the resulting push to do more work with nearly one-third fewer people on the job.”

Leaders of the nation’s two largest railroad unions, which represent the nation’s train operating crews, applauded the April 6 letter.

“We want to make it clear that we are fighting attendance policies at all Class I carriers. Fatigue has long been a problem at CSX, UP, BNSF, NS and other rail carriers, but it has been made much worse because of extreme job cuts resulting from the implementation of PSR coupled with the industry’s determination to force harsh attendance policies upon the remaining workforce,” said SMART-TD President Jeremy Ferguson and BLET National President Dennis Pierce. “SMART-TD and the BLET have also put the issue on the table in our national negotiations, currently in mediation, demanding that all imposed attendance policies be rescinded with negotiated attendance contract rules to take their place. On behalf of our members, we thank Representative DeFazio and Representative Payne for shining a light on this pressing issue in our industry and being vocal leaders for rail worker safety.”

Read the representatives’ letter (PDF)

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The SMART Transportation Division is comprised of approximately 125,000 active and retired members of the former United Transportation Union, who work in a variety of crafts in the transportation industry.

The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen represents nearly 57,000 professional locomotive engineers and trainmen throughout the United States. The BLET is the founding member of the Rail Conference, International Brotherhood of Teamsters.


CLEVELAND, Ohio (July 1, 2021) — SMART Transportation Division leaders expressed their appreciation as the Investing in a New Vision for the Environment and Surface Transportation (INVEST) in America Act (H.R. 3684) successfully passed out of the U.S. House of Representatives, 221-201, on July 1 with two-person crew and other transportation safety provisions important to TD members remaining intact.
“This bill is a great step ahead for the country as it works to repair years of inattention given to the country’s infrastructure,” SMART Transportation Division President Jeremy R. Ferguson said. “The INVEST Act also pays heed to many safety concerns expressed by labor — the essential workers who helped move our nation through the COVID pandemic — bus operators, freight rail workers and transit workers. We thank Peter DeFazio, Donald Payne and all those in the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee who spurred H.R. 3684 to passage in the full House, and we now look ahead to consideration in the Senate and beyond.”
The INVEST Act is a surface transportation reauthorization bill that encompasses substantial investment in the nation’s infrastructure as well as in the safety of the people who keep the country moving. H.R. 3684’s components look to protect bus and transit workers from assault, improve school bus safety and maintain safe freight rail operations. It contains increased funding for Amtrak passenger rail service and protects the environment, the public and rail workers alike by putting into law the Rule of 2 — that, like a pilot and co-pilot in the air — a certified engineer and a certified conductor remain present in the cab of freight trains when operated through the nation’s communities.
“We’re very pleased that the House has wisely moved ahead today on the legislative path to ensuring that rail safety’s Rule of 2 is maintained with the INVEST in America Act, and that the bus safety provisions, Amtrak funding and other rail safety components stay in the bill,” SMART-TD National Legislative Director Greg Hynes said. “Now, similar to last year, the time has come to make it crystal clear to senators who might be on the fence that the safety aspects within this bill are not up for negotiation.”
“We truly thank and appreciate those legislators who supported the INVEST Act in its journey through the House and who listened to what we had to say,” Ferguson said. “There is more work to be done and a path to be cleared for this legislation in the Senate, and the members and officers of our union are ready to put in the time.”

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The SMART Transportation Division is comprised of approximately 125,000 active and retired members of the former United Transportation Union, who work in a variety of different crafts, including as bus and commuter rail operators, in the transportation industry.

DeFazio
WASHINGTON — The chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and the chair of the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials Donald M. Payne Jr. (D-NJ) are requesting the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) examine the impacts that the implementation of precision scheduled railroading (PSR) by Class I railroads are having on workers, safety, freight shippers, passenger railroads and long-term management of the nation’s railroads.
“PSR in practice means the bottom line drives the decisions,” said Chair DeFazio. “Longer trains, unhappy shippers and a workforce pushed to do more with less is not a model to chase after – unless you’re on Wall Street. But we can’t let hedge fund managers write the rules of railroading. Last Congress, my Committee heard from various stakeholders concerned for the immediate and long-term impacts of PSR. This study, passed by the House last year in my surface transportation reauthorization bill, the INVEST in America Act, will help us find ways to address the impacts this railroad management strategy has on workers, freight shippers, passenger railroads and rail safety.”
Payne

“Precision scheduled railroading is being used more and more throughout the rail industry,” said Rep. Donald M. Payne Jr. “But I am concerned that this strategy could come at the expense of worker safety and smart, long-term railroad management. We need more information about this practice to determine whether it is beneficial or harmful to our nation’s railroad system.”
Read their letter making the request to the GAO. (PDF)