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Lance Fritz, president and chief executive officer of the Union Pacific Railroad, is on his way out the door after announcing in late February that he will vacate his office by the end of 2023. Though there is no publicly announced date for his departure, his hand is on the ripcord and he’s preparing to deploy that golden parachute.

That being said, SMART Transportation Division Colorado State Legislative Director Carl Smith didn’t want Fritz to go without a little something to remember his legislative committee by. But rather than going with the cliché of getting Fritz a ritzy timepiece and a handshake, he rented a digital billboard truck to track Fritz around Colorado for four days in early April.

As Fritz took the executive business car around Smith’s state, he was escorted by the billboard truck that showed rotating signs that featured several messages regarding Colorado’s rejection of Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR), such as “Our Mile-High State Doesn’t Need 3 mile-long trains!” and, “It can happen here too!” with pictures of the derailment and hazmat spill in East Palestine, Ohio. Messages on the truck’s rolling billboards included a QR code that could be scanned by anyone who saw it and took people directly to the SMART Legislative Action Center, where people could support national rail safety legislation.

In these photos courtesy SMART-TD Local 202, an advertising truck appears in various locations in Colorado showing messages concerning rail safety.

The truck made several stops mirroring Fritz’s Mile High State tour. First, the truck went to the Rocky Mountain Train Show at the National Western Complex in Denver. Per the train show’s website, this event averages 11,000 attendees as the largest train show west of the Mississippi River. SLD Smith had the truck there both days of the show and prompted many discussions among the train enthusiasts in attendance.

The truck stayed in Denver over the weekend but did not only target the good people attending the show. It also made its way to three governmental functions. On Saturday, the truck and its messages could be seen circling Colorado’s statehouse as legislators were holding a rare weekend session. Additionally, the truck’s presence was felt at the Colorado Democratic Assembly meeting in Denver. On Saturday evening there was a large gathering of legislators and dignitaries at what is called the Colorado Obama Gala which features the former president and all the press that naturally follows him. As you might have guessed, Smith made sure SMART-TD’s anti-PSR message crashed that, too.

On April 3, Fritz and his entourage took UP’s business train to LaSalle, Colo., for a meeting. If they thought not being in Denver would spare them the presence of Smith’s billboard truck, they were undoubtedly disappointed that it had made the 50-mile journey north to greet them in LaSalle.

On April 4, Fritz held a legislative breakfast meeting on the business train. Brother Smith and his truck made sure they made their presence felt their too. UP’s attempt to get these legislators’ undivided attention was disrupted by the Smith’s inconvenient reminder that there are real-world consequences attached to the empty rhetoric of the rail carriers and their lobbyists try to sell.

The graphics for the signs were put together in house by SMART-TD’s PR staff, and the cost for the truck was shared between the Colorado State Legislative committee, Local 202 out of Denver and other local boards of adjustment.

This effort on the part of the Colorado Legislative Committee was not all about making departing CEO Fritz and co. aware of SMART-TD’s objections to the way they run a railroad, and the public awareness the truck created throughout the state has an additional purpose.

Brother Smith has a three-pronged bill to be introduced in the halls of Colorado’s Legislature. His bill looks to directly undo some of the basic problems our faces in the era of PSR. The legislation has not been assigned a bill number yet, but seeks to limit train lengths, regulate the use of hot box defect detectors in the state and bring about penalties for the carriers to discourage blocked crossings.

Getting his box truck in front of as many Colorado voters, and news cameras as possible was a unique and creative kickoff to Smith’s campaign to get this important legislation the momentum it needs.

SMART-TD wants to thank Brother Smith, Local 202, and all the men and women who made this possible. We look forward to reporting on the progress of your bill as it makes its way through the process of becoming the law of the land in the great state of Colorado, and we hope you never stop fighting for our members!

Tags Colorado State Legislative Director Carl Smith, Lance Fritz, precision scheduled railroading, Union Pacific

“From the Ballast” is an open column for SMART Transportation Division rail members to state their perspective on issues related to the railroad industry. Members of the union are encouraged to submit content by emailing to news_TD@smart-union.org. Columns are published at the union’s discretion and may be published in the SMART TD newspaper.

The term “getting railroaded” has its origins in the 1800s. Landowners would use it when the rail companies stole land in order to lay down new track. It has evolved these days to describe generally being cheated or bullied. Unfortunately, the originators of the term who perfected the practice are still bullying, but now it is focused on their own employees.

Today’s corporate railroads may not be stealing land, but they are stealing our jobs, our time and our safety. With Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR), the number of railroad jobs has dropped 30%. Thousands of jobs were done away with even as we kept our country going through a pandemic. More were eliminated as the carrier executives chased an operating ratio that enriched the shareholders and railroad owners.

As headcount diminished, time was stolen as those still employed were forced to work more hours with new attendance policies that leave little time for family or rest. This led to a worker exodus that even further decreased employees and time.

This all resulted in workers’ safety being stolen. Pushing workers to the point of fatigue and making doctor’s appointments all but impossible to schedule have hurt workers’ health. Cutting inspection times and maintenance has led to more breakdowns and derailments. Growing train lengths have increased these dangers as well. In short, workers are all still getting railroaded.

SMART-TD on YouTube

SMART TD Ohio State Legislative Director Clyde Whitaker testified before the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee on March 22.

SMART-TD Member Testifies About Rail Safety Before Senate Committee

YouTube Video UExFekJDRUFvTFJZcTh5SnhrN0lMaUVLVzk4RjUzRFFKSS41NkI0NEY2RDEwNTU3Q0M2

During a hearing on rail safety, Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw refuses to commit to two-person crews on freight train, despite SMART-TD Ohio State Legislative Director Clyde Whitaker testifying that the East Palestine disaster would've been worse without a two-person crew. #Shorts

Norfolk Southern CEO REFUSES to commit to two-person crews on freight trains

YouTube Video UExFekJDRUFvTFJZcTh5SnhrN0lMaUVLVzk4RjUzRFFKSS4yODlGNEE0NkRGMEEzMEQy

In April 2022, SMART Transportation Division President Jeremy Ferguson joined other TD members, union railroaders, shippers and more to testify before the Surface Transportation Board (STB) on the devastating effects Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR) has had on customers, workers and the American public. "The unreliable service has an impact … on every piece of the supply chain, from the producer all the way to the consumer." Despite the devastating inflation that results from supply chain disruption, despite railroad workers leaving the workforce in record numbers, and despite testimony on carriers' poor service from more than 20 shippers or groups representing rail customers, the railroad carriers continue to champion PSR, and they refuse to reward railroad workers with a fair contract. Remember: PSR is not about precision, scheduling or railroading. It's not about safety. It's not about serving customers. It's not about workers. It's about profit, and profit alone. We will continue to fight against the carriers’ greed as we seek a fair contract and safe working conditions for our members. We urge all members of this union to contact their senators and representatives: Tell them to side with railroad workers.

Damning Testimony on Rail Carrier Policies

YouTube Video UExFekJDRUFvTFJZcTh5SnhrN0lMaUVLVzk4RjUzRFFKSS41MjE1MkI0OTQ2QzJGNzNG

SMART Transportation Division President Jeremy Ferguson talks about the negative effects large rail carriers' Precision Scheduled Railroading operating scheme has had on worker and public safety. This appearance took place on June 14, 2022, before the U.S. House of Representatives' Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials.

SMART-TD President Jeremy Ferguson testifies on rail safety 6-14-22 before U.S. House subcommittee

YouTube Video UExFekJDRUFvTFJZcTh5SnhrN0lMaUVLVzk4RjUzRFFKSS4wOTA3OTZBNzVEMTUzOTMy

SMART-TD, rail labor join Sen. Bernie Sanders for press conference on sick days

YouTube Video UExFekJDRUFvTFJZcTh5SnhrN0lMaUVLVzk4RjUzRFFKSS4xMkVGQjNCMUM1N0RFNEUx

So, what do we do about it?

Some have conceded that these companies and their lobbyists are too powerful. This mentality is understood, but we’ve seen challenges like these defeated before. Child labor, segregation and unsafe working conditions were all beaten back by unions. There’s no doubt that the odds seemed insurmountable at the time and yet they overcame them.

They did this because they had one big thing going for them. They were on the right side. Well, so are railroaders. In the last few years, we have seen customers, the public, news media and even politicians from both parties start talking about the dangers of PSR and one-person rail crews. Five years ago, it was ridiculous to think that major media outlets would have reports on these issues or even be concerned about, but they have and they are and progress is being made.

This happened because railroaders spoke out. They wrote emails, met with representatives and even used social media to spread the word. If all of us, together, made an effort to do the same, we could win this battle.

So, please use the resources that are available — take some time and write an email to your representative. Talk with leaders at a City Council meeting. Make some handouts and pin them on a board. Go to a union meeting and suggest something to inform your community. Do some philanthropy and talk about railroad issues. Put up an informative table at a festival. Do something to fight back. It’s hard to quiet 100,000 voices ringing. Every person who learns about this corporate greed and corruption is another crack in their armor. It’s easy to give up, but let’s stand strong together and let them know that the days of getting “railroaded” are now over.

This article was submitted by an active member of SMART Transportation Division Local 445 (Niota, Ill.) who works for BNSF and chose to remain anonymous. We thank him for his submission and his continued advocacy in union matters!

Tags From the Ballast, precision scheduled railroading, safety, solidarity, two-person crews

The brutal effects of Precision Scheduled Railroading, better known as PSR, on the lives of railroaders since 2017 have been well-documented. It’s been almost as bad for suppliers, who have seen delays in their products making it to market. It’s been bad for shippers, who have seen deliveries have to take circuitous routes so the carriers can game the metrics to show that a rail car isn’t dwelling somewhere, and it’s been bad for retailers and manufacturers, who have experienced difficulties getting products on their shelves and materials to their assembly lines.

The people benefiting from the ruthless implementation of PSR have been the rail company shareholders and execs, seeing their wallets fatten and profits blossom as profitability and share prices rise on the backs of the efforts of SMART Transportation Division members and all of rail labor.

It is a common quip on social media for railroaders to comment on articles about derailments — “But at least the shareholders are OK,” or some variant, meaning that the folks who write the accident off as the cost of doing business will be just fine so long as the money train keeps delivering.

Yet following Norfolk Southern’s Feb. 3 derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, the carrier and PSR have received even more public scrutiny than perhaps either can stand.

The story of PSR and what it means for industry safety has been exposed by the press coverage of the fiery wreckage in East Palestine. Confusion and anger about the business practice have been flowing out of the national media faster than vinyl chloride contaminating groundwater. Additional headlines are generated seemingly daily by increased coverage of derailments occurring across the continental U.S. In each, the specter of Norfolk Southern and the events in East Palestine are refreshed in one way or another.

It seems that Norfolk Southern’s extended nightmare has worsened. After a month and a half of consecutive losses in press cycles featuring the release of toxic materials in a region where thousands of people live, multiple derailments, an employee fatality, having their CEO lambasted by U.S. senators on live TV, and derailing another train 12 miles from the hometown of Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, it would be fair to ask how it could get worse.

An internal revolt can be added to the list. Their own shareholders have decided to bite the hand that feeds. A class-action lawsuit filed in mid-March against NS by a group of shareholders claims they were misled about the ramifications of PSR. The suit states that NS failed to disclose pertinent information about PSR, such as the involvement of longer/heavier trains and deep cuts to operational personnel. They go on to claim that Norfolk Southern’s embrace of PSR was part of a “CULTURE OF INCREASED RISK-TAKING AT THE EXPENSE OF REASONABLE SAFETY PRECAUTIONS.”

Ironically the people NS and all rail companies are using PSR to make richer aren’t comfortable with PSR anymore for the same reasons railroaders and their families have been uncomfortable with it since its inception. Now that political leaders and the media have taken the time to dig into the topic, the narrative is iron clad.

Essentially, the group of NS shareholders say that large-scale disasters were inevitable because of the practices of PSR. Due to that inevitability, they say that NS leadership was not acting as good corporate stewards of their investments. So even though the investors have benefited from record-breaking returns, seeing an Ohio village spoiled and the later economic consequences may have them now sensing the end of the road. These shareholders have become appalled at what PSR really meant on the ground level. It’s a classic case of losing your appetite when someone tells you how the sausage is actually made.

Under normal circumstances, it would be difficult to sympathize with the shareholders of NS and the other carriers. For seven years, rail labor has felt the weight of their finely polished wing-tipped shoe on our fingers as we try to keep the fraying supply chain together. The results have been a driving force in both our personal and professional lives — constant exhaustion, poor morale and the dread of wondering what else will go wrong.

That being said, there is a time-tested adage that, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” And if the railroad employees are revolting against PSR, the government regulators are pushing back against PSR, and now the mighty shareholders are joining in, we need to embrace it. This class-action suit by NS shareholders may turn out to be the loudest voice in the anti-hedge fund/PSR railroading chorus.

What we the people who move their freight every day say means absolutely nothing to carriers. What the FRA does to them is a nuisance that only means the carriers have to adjust the next quarter’s lobbying budget. But when the shareholders seize pitchforks and torches, we all know that is the only pressure that means anything to the hedge-fund operators leading our nation’s railroads.

We would encourage all our members to keep an eye on this lawsuit. If you are an NS employee or anyone with significant amounts of stock in their company, we would encourage you to follow the link provided to look into joining the suit.

SMART-TD will continue to keep you informed as we push back against PSR and fight now and into the future for your quality of life to be restored to what it was before Hunter Harrison’s legacy infected our industry.

Tags East Palestine, Norfolk Southern Corp., precision scheduled railroading

WATCH: SMART-TD Ohio State Legislative Director Clyde Whitaker testified about rail safety issues before a U.S. Senate committee in March 2023.

Last week’s much-anticipated hearing of the U.S. Senate’s Committee on Environment and Public Works featured a discussion of the Norfolk Southern derailment and the subsequent release of chemicals in East Palestine, Ohio. The spectacle of seeing NS CEO Alan Shaw fend off questions from the senators was clearly the main event of the day; however the undercard of the hearing was well worth the price of the ticket.

The hearing’s opening panel featured a robust discussion of the new bipartisan legislation being considered in the Senate known as the Railway Safety Act of 2023. Three out of the four title sponsors of the bill were in the hearing and testified about the goals they seek to achieve through the Safety Act.

Testimony started off with U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, a Pennsylvania Democrat. Last December, Casey not only voted for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ legislation to guarantee seven paid sick days for railroad employees, but he also spoke at the SMART Transportation Division-led rally Dec. 13 outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C. in support of ending Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR).

With the Feb. 3 Norfolk Southern derailment and subsequent aftermath unfolding mere feet from Sen. Casey’s state, it makes sense that he would be among the group of legislators trying to rein in the effects PSR is having on our industry.

In discussing the Railway Safety Act of 2023, Casey said, “The future has to be about passing the Railway Safety Act that Senator Brown, Senator Vance, Senator Fetterman and I and others are leading. It’s bipartisan. That never happens around here on big bills, or rarely, I should say. It would be a good start by Norfolk Southern to tell us here today in addition to what more they are going to do for the people of Ohio and Pennsylvania, to tell us today that they support the bill! That would help.” Casey continued, “That’s what the people of both states deserve.”

Following Sen. Casey’s testimony, the spotlight went to the two Ohio senators. Sherrod Brown and JD Vance are on very different ends of the political spectrum, but they both did solid work discussing the strengths of and the need for the legislation.

“Lobbyists for the railroad companies have spent years fighting every effort to strengthen rules to make our trains and our rail lines safer. Now Ohioans are paying the price.”
– Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown

In discussing Norfolk Southern’s large derailment in Ohio on March 4^th, Sen. Brown said, “Another NS train derailed in Springfield, Ohio. This time the cars that derailed weren’t carrying hazardous chemicals, but other cars on that 200-plus-car train were. The only thing that saved Ohioans from another disaster was luck. But we need more than that. That is why Senator Vance and I have come together to introduce our bipartisan Railway Safety Act.”

He went on to say that “lobbyists for the railroad companies have spent years fighting every effort to strengthen rules to make our trains and our rail lines safer. Now Ohioans are paying the price.”

Sen. Vance came out swinging pretty hard at the railroads, especially considering he is just months into his first term in Congress. For his part, Vance pointed out that, “This is an industry that enjoys special subsidies that almost no industry enjoys. This is an industry that enjoys special carveouts that almost no industry enjoys. This is an industry that just three months ago had the federal government come in and save them from a labor dispute. It was effectively a bailout. And now they’re claiming before the Senate and House that our reasonable legislation is somehow a violation of the free market? Well pot, meet the kettle, because that doesn’t make an ounce of sense. You cannot claim special government privileges, you cannot ask the government to bail you out and then resist basic public safety.”

In reference to his colleagues in Congress, Vance offered this: “We have a choice. Are we for big business and big government, or are we for the people of East Palestine? It’s a time for choosing. Let’s make the right one.”

It’s hard to put a finer point on it than that. SMART-TD is happy to have the combination of these three legislators along with Sens. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), pushing this bill in Washington. We applaud their interest in safeguarding the rail industry and look forward to helping them as we get the Railway Safety Act of 2023 over the finish line.

Tags Norfolk Southern Corp., precision scheduled railroading, Railway Safety Act of 2023, U.S. Sen John Fetterman, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, U.S. Sen. JD Vance, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown

Most of us with any amount of time on the railroad have the shared experience of feeling the hot seat that comes with a company discipline hearing. These kangaroo courts are not set up to be fair and impartial fact-finding missions. As we all know, they are an exercise in intimidation meant to make us feel as uncomfortable as possible. If they can add the bonus of humiliation on top of the penalty they’re threatening to impose, it makes the experience so much better.

The U.S. Senate’s Committee on Environment and Public Works’ hearing March 9 put Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw in our shoes for once (and not that pair of work boots he acquired to look like a relatable guy when the cameras were filming him in East Palestine, Ohio). For once, the so-called “big boss” got to experience the discomfort and frustration of when people in authority demand an explanation and accountability. It was very reminiscent of how we feel in similar situations when we’re getting grilled by railroad managers like Shaw.

It was hard to feel any sympathy. Yet while every senator seemed poised to force Shaw’s hand, each stopped just short of going in for the kill. Those who did ask hard questions were given lukewarm half-answers — snippets from the well-rehearsed lines that he has been using since the derailment happened. He appeared like he was simply spinning his greatest hits album of the soundbites that scored highest in a focus group.

Based on the fact that the hearing went for over a third of the time a rail crew has off between shifts these days, most members likely didn’t have the opportunity to watch. In an effort to put a bow on it, the hearing broke down like this:

CEO Shaw was asked about as many questions as you could fit into the 3-hour, 19-minute hearing but somehow managed to answer every one of them with one of the following responses on a loop.

I have only been the CEO since May 2022.
I am personally determined to make this right for the community of East Palestine.
Norfolk Southern will be in East Palestine tomorrow, next month, next year, and ten years from now.
We created a new website in response to the disaster.

After seeing his performance, (and that was exactly what it was) I would offer Mr. Shaw some advice. First, he should hire a new acting coach to help him get through these situations. His entitled angry Wall Street CEO reality leaked through the repentant empathetic “Mother Teresa” persona that he was trying to adopt before the panel as penance for the misery that’s occurred in East Palestine.

Second, I would advise him to learn the value of direct answers. He was asked yes/no questions time and time again and offered answers that went on for minutes at a time and somehow did not include either of those two words to definitively answer what was asked.

Since the senators were allotted a limited amount of time for their questions, Shaw was successful in running out the clock by playing a version of corporate prevent defense. But where he succeeded in not being pinned down to anything that could be held up in court as a commitment, he failed to move the needle in the court of public opinion. His wishy-washy answers, devoid of authenticity, full of unwillingness to commit to substantive industry change away from Precision Scheduled Railroading, and the recurring theme of “we’ll consider throwing more money at the problem we created,” clearly angered the senators on the Committee of Environment and Public Works. We will see what effect they have on the all-important shareholders of Norfolk Southern. His appearance did nothing to inspire the confidence of SMART Transportation Division.

Among some of the questions from the senators that Shaw artfully dodged were:

What did NS learn from the 20th derailment that resulted in a chemical release since 2015 that it didn’t learn from the 5th, the 10th, or the 15th? — Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Michigan)

Will you lead the rail industry in getting away from the business model known as Precision Scheduled Railroading? — Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont)
Was the owner of the rail car in question who is responsible for its maintenance and contents involved in the decision to vent it and burn off the contents of it? — Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Oklahoma)

One last highlight came from Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island). It wasn’t posed as a question, but in Whitehouse’s comments, he stated that, “Mr. Shaw, the news is reporting that there has just been a significant derailment in Alabama of one of your trains. I certainly hope that all of your team and anyone in the vicinity is safe and well. You may need to look into that.”

Though the net result of the hearing was minimal, CEO Shaw came out of it looking highly frustrated, but less than trustworthy. He was clearly uncomfortable being held accountable for the unintended but inevitable consequences of his company’s embrace of PSR.

What left me with an uncomfortable feeling was that Shaw continually framed all the promises made to East Palestine and surrounding communities as “personal commitments.” As anyone on the rail can tell you, nothing is true or real in this industry until it is. There is no such thing as a guarantee. With all of the commitments coming from Shaw personally, it raises the question of what happens if NS fires him?

Likely, he’ll float away comfortably from East Palestine on his golden parachute, make a comfortable landing elsewhere — maybe as an industry lobbyist — and the Ohio village residents he testified to have such an affinity with would be left holding a bag full of empty promises, just like every one of us railroaders with wallets full of unfulfilled IOUs from Class I managers.

Daniel Banks is a Class I certified conductor and government affairs representative for the SMART Transportation Division.

Tags Alan Shaw, East Palestine, From the Ballast, Norfolk Southern Corp., precision scheduled railroading

For immediate release
March 1, 2023
Phone: (216) 228-9400 
Department email: news_td@smart-union.org  

“This legislation goes a long way toward protecting American families and communities while fortifying the rail industry to be sustainable and safe long into the future. The voices of SMART-TD’s brothers and sisters have been heard by these senators and are echoing through the halls of the United States Congress.”

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio (March 1, 2023) — Jeremy Ferguson, president of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers Transportation Division (SMART-TD), is calling for national support of The Railway Safety Act of 2023, a bipartisan bill that acknowledges the real-world conditions that shape the day-to-day safety concerns of the railroad workers who haul America’s freight.

U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Marco Rubio (R-Florida) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) have listened to the concerns of their constituents and put forward a comprehensive package in the Railway Safety Act that lives up to its billing — prioritizing the safety concerns expressed by the public and rail worker alike. In this bill, they give credence to the common-sense safety measures that our union and others in rail labor have advanced for years.

“The provisions in this act add up to the end of the era of Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR) and attempt to take back control of our nation’s supply chain from Wall Street’s ‘profit at any cost’ mentality. It offers a chance for the nation to make the giant rail corporations take rational measures to get the industry to do what it’s designed to do — move freight through our nation safely and efficiently and be an example for the rest of the world to model,” President Ferguson said. “SMART-TD is proud to support this bill and its efforts to bring about generational changes in this country and to take a major step to stop PSR. We will work tirelessly with this team of like-minded Senators to realize their vision for a safer and stronger rail industry.”

The safeguards offered in the bill include, but are not limited to:

A nationwide mandate for well-trained two-person crews on all freight trains;
Restrictions on train length and weight;
Regulations on the installation, frequency, upkeep, and response to wayside defect detectors;
Speed restrictions;
Drastically increased fines for rail companies and management employees who do not adhere to rail safety protocols;
Universalized track maintenance standards;
Universalized rail-car maintenance standards;
Higher standards for tank cars carrying hazardous material;
Emergency response plans for carriers and communities;
Phasing out of rail cars that do not meet strengthened safety requirements;
Annual government audits of rail carriers to validate compliance to new heightened safety standards.

“Hedge fund management of rail companies and their PSR strategy have careened the United States rail industry into a dark and dangerous place in the last six years. This bill has the potential to put safe operations into its rightful place as the gold standard in railroading and not what the next quarterly report can bring. We owe it to the people of East Palestine, Ohio, and to all communities that have railroad tracks running through them to have members of Congress do the right thing — to support this bill and insist that it makes it to President Biden’s desk without being watered down by negotiations or the special interests that will seek to stop it and claim that it is too ‘burdensome’ for a highly profitable industry to implement,” Ferguson continued.

A recently released Ipsos-USA Today poll shows that 53% of Americans believe that strengthened rail industry safety regulations could have prevented the disaster in East Palestine, Ohio.

Read the text of the bill

Fact sheet about the bill

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SMART Transportation Division is comprised of approximately 125,000 active and retired members who work in a variety of different crafts in the transportation industry. These crafts include employees on every Class I railroad, Amtrak, many shortline railroads, bus and mass transit employees and airport personnel.

If you’re interested in speaking more about the Railway Safety Act of 2023, PSR, East Palestine, rail safety, and the next steps for the rail industry, we’d be happy to connect you with:

SMART Transportation Division President Jeremy Ferguson

President Jeremy Ferguson, a member of Local 313 in Grand Rapids, Mic., was elected president of SMART’s Transportation Division in 2019.President Ferguson, an Army veteran, started railroading in 1994 as a conductor on CSX at Grand Rapids, Mich., and was promoted to engineer in 1995. Ferguson headed the recent national rail negotiations for the union with the nation’s rail carriers.

SMART Transportation Division National Legislative Director Gregory Hynes

Greg Hynes is a fifth-generation railroader and was elected national legislative director in 2019. Hynes served on the SMART Transportation Division National Safety Team that assists the National Transportation Safety Board with accident investigations, from 2007-2014. In 2014, he was appointed to the Federal Railroad Administration’s Railroad Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC), which develops new railroad regulatory standards.

SMART Transportation Division Alternate National Legislative Director Jared Cassity

Jared Cassity was elected by his peers in 2019 and currently serves as the Alternate National Legislative Director. In addition to his elected roles, Cassity has also been appointed as the union’s chief of safety, serves as the director for the SMART-TD National Safety Team (which assists the NTSB in major rail-related accident investigations), is SMART-TD’s voting member on the Federal Railroad Administration’s C3RS Steering Committee, and is the first and only labor member to ever be appointed to the Transportation Security Administration’s Surface Transportation Safety Advisory Committee.

Tags Alt. National Legislative Director Jared Cassity, National Legislative Director Gregory Hynes, precision scheduled railroading, Railway Safety Act of 2023, SMART Transportation Division President Jeremy Ferguson, two-person crew

SMART Transportation Division President Jeremy Ferguson issued the following statement on Feb. 21:

“The greatest threat to the American railroad industry and the communities with which it intersects is Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR). The changes PSR has brought since its inception in 2017 have only served to make executives and Wall Street shareholders richer, while the risk to employees and the public has become greater.

“The derailment that occurred in East Palestine was predictable and preventable. Unfortunately, financially driven equations, like the operating ratio, have caused rail carriers to abandon fundamentally sound practices for haphazard, inherently dangerous, impetuous movements of freight and locomotives across America’s rail system — all in the pursuit of increasing the bottom line. This is neither responsible nor sustainable, and we are now seeing the reality of this fact coming into fruition.

“Because of PSR, we find ourselves in an era of exponential increases to train length, less consideration to train make-up or construction, the desire to reduce crew size and introduce automation, the reduction in frequency and quality of inspections to equipment and infrastructure, and the permissibility of railroads to self-report and self-police — none of which are consistent with safety.

“Now is not the time to introduce more technology but rather to focus on the fundamental changes needed to reverse railroading’s dangerous trajectory. Now is the time to put an end to PSR.

“While our hearts break for the people of East Palestine, Ohio, we are thankful that our calls for meaningful oversight are finally being heard. We look forward to working with President Biden and the Department of Transportation to get this right. The catastrophe in Ohio and Pennsylvania demands that we get this right.

“We stand willing and ready to do just that.”

Secretary Buttigieg’s letter is available here.

Tags Pete Buttigieg, precision scheduled railroading, rail safety, SMART Transportation Division President Jeremy Ferguson, U.S. Department of Transportation

The analysts and financial pundits seem to have already spoken, pronouncing that Class I Norfolk Southern (NS) and its shareholders are going to be just fine in the aftermath of the East Palestine, Ohio, derailment. The experts have let us all know that what could turn out to be the largest domestic environmental disaster of our young decade won’t actually be that big of a hit for the Class I carrier.

In an article published Feb. 14 by FreightWaves, the publication stated that it estimates NS will “only” end up spending $40 million to $50 million to cover its liabilities for the derailment. Though this number is substantial when viewed against the backdrop of East Palestine’s $46,436 median household income and $88,600 median property value, the estimated price tag only amounts to 1.7% of the railroad giant’s net profits in 2022.

Based on industry standards for such incidents (this isn’t the first time a railroad disaster has spoiled the environment of a town and surrounding areas), the article estimates that any financial setback to the company and investors as a result of the Feb. 3 disaster will be overcome by May.

“As a rail service is restored, rail shares have historically not seen a material impact from accidents on a three-month horizon.” Ken Hoexter of Bank of America was quoted in the article.

Incidents of the magnitude of what happened in Ohio have the ability to alter the lives of thousands of people who live in communities near rail tracks, yet here, again, we see that they do not serve as much more than a slight dip in the quarterly lap around the corporate speedway to more profits. This is a less than encouraging reality. It begs the question whether there’s any tangible motivator for Norfolk Southern or the other Class I freight railroads to do better than simply mouthing “safety is our top priority” when the financial hit is brushed away like a piece of lint. The residents of the affected area? Well, they have to cope with the stress of homes and property tainted by chemical fallout and the anxiety of not knowing whether there will be long-lasting ramifications to their general physical and mental health as a result of the disaster while the legal wrangling occurs.

As the article in FreightWaves points out, NS had a similar derailment in 2005 in Graniteville, S.C. There, the carrier was found to be liable for 550 people being admitted to hospitals with respiratory issues, and nine deaths due to the release of chlorine. NS paid out $39 million between expenses and penalties. This resulted in a mere 1.7 percent decrease in its operating ratio for a single quarter. The financials of the company, including its stock prices, had entirely recovered by the end of that year, the article said.

While the benefits reaped by carriers seeming “too big to fail” works out just fine for the shareholders, rail labor has to cope with job cuts and compensate at an operational level for the decisions of Class I management. It’s our members who know they are being pushed to operate questionable equipment subject to relaxed safety inspections. Our men and women have front-row seats to watch the hedge fund profit-first mentality that fuels Precision Scheduled Railroading as it rots out our industry. Many workers have had the thought or have said to a manager that cultural shifts away from proper inspections and maintenance were going to create disasters like we saw in East Palestine. It turns out that we were right, but so were they in thinking the PSR playbook is still profitable, even with the occasional disaster baked into the cake. Until these carriers are financially unable to recover so quickly from these catastrophes, they have no reason to increase staffing and get back to a safety-focused culture.

So if history holds, analysts suggest, the temporary price drop in NS stock should actually be viewed as a rebound opportunity. Savvy investors could buy into the company on the cheap now, then reap the rewards when it bounces back. It’s a dark and chilling commentary on an eventual return to business as usual within months of East Palestine’s nightmare. Yet the recovery for the village’s about 4,500 residents will take substantially longer.

Read the article from Freightwaves.com

Tags Norfolk Southern, precision scheduled railroading

Senator Bernie Sanders speaks during the Capitol Hill rail solidarity rally.

The SMART Transportation Division organized rallies in multiple locations Dec. 13 to bring attention to rail-related issues, including maintaining the current safe level of a minimum two-person crew in the cabs of locomotives, paid sick leave for workers and an end to the carriers’ Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR) scheme.

A solidarity rally took place at Capitol Hill days after the Dec. 2 federal imposition of a national rail contract on SMART-TD and three other unions, drawing support from the AFL-CIO’s Transportation Trades Department, multiple unions from inside and apart from the rail industry, a bipartisan contingent of U.S. representatives and senators and others.

Watch coverage of the Capitol Hill rail solidarity rally in episode four of SMART News.

“Every single day in this nation, a life is saved because of the actions of a two-person crew. When a train whistle is blown and a kid gets out of the way — that is a life that is saved in a moment. But you never hear about it because the railroads are not required to report it,” SMART-TD Alternate National Legislative Director Jared Cassity told the crowd of supporters in Washington, DC. “PSR is a deadly animal to this entire nation. Public safety is under threat because of cuts for profit that the railroads are trying to make. They want to keep cutting. They want to keep taking crew members off trains — they’re going to do whatever they can do to keep making another dollar. We have got to put an end to it, but the only way we do that is that we all fight together and keep going.

“Keep talking to your brothers and sisters. Let them know that the fight continues — the only way that we win this battle is if everybody is out, everybody is fighting and everybody is loud and everybody is doing their part to make sure our job, our union, our solidarity is being fought for. You’ve got to be the leader at home. You’ve got to let your people know that the time is here, the time is now. We’re all in this fight together.”

The rally at the Capitol was one of a series that took place in multiple states, including Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, Utah and Wyoming.

“These reforms aren’t going to happen on their own. We’re going to keep pushing to make them happen so we can deliver for railroad workers. At a minimum, every single railroad worker deserves paid sick leave and the guarantee of a two-person crew. These reforms will create a safer and better freight system for everyone,” said TTD President Greg Regan, who introduced a number of the speakers from Congress.

“When we leave here today, do not go home and think that you did your part. You have not done enough yet. We have not done enough yet. No one has done enough yet,” Cassity added. “We will get strong. We will get louder. We have got to continue.”

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is RAIL_don_bacon2-copy-1024x683.jpg — Rep. Ocasio-Cortez

While Congress stopped a nationwide rail strike by imposing a contract on workers in December, the devastating workplace conditions perpetuated by major rail corporations continue to prevail.

More than a dozen members of Congress addressed the rally, including: U.S. Reps. Donald Payne (D-N.J.), Andy Levin (D-Mich.), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), Don Bacon (R-Neb.), Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), Jesús “Chuy” Garcia (D-Ill.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), John Garamendi (D-Calif.), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Cori Bush (D-Mo.), Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), as well as U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bob Casey (D-Pa.).

“What you have shown the country is how outrageous this level of corporate greed is and how we have it in the rail industry and in other industries across this country,” said Sanders. “Tell the people that own this country that we are going to put an end to their greed.”

Sanders railed at the carriers’ refusal to meet workers’ demands for paid sick leave in the industry during the contract negotiations that concluded with the federal government imposing a contract on a majority of rail workers.

“The truth of the matter is, that if we had any justice in this country, we wouldn’t have to make that demand because this country would do what virtually every other major country on Earth does and guarantee paid family and medical leave.”

He also told workers that PSR will be in Congress’s cross-hairs: “You guys now have to do more with less. That’s their ideology — how do we work people to the bone so we can make $20 million a year? And that is why we have to put an end to Precision Scheduled Railroading,” Sanders declared. “We’re going to bring not only the rail unions together, we’re going to bring the workers together to bring the justice that is long overdue.”

The rallies coincided with a hearing led by the Surface Transportation Board to examine Union Pacific’s service performance failures that have harmed the supply chain, and preceded the public hearing before the Federal Railroad Administration on the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding two-person freight crews.

Tags Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Bernie Sanders, Don Bacon, Jamaal Bowman, precision scheduled railroading, PSR, railroad, two-person crews

WASHINGTON – SMART Transportation Division organized rallies in multiple locations Dec. 13 to bring attention to rail-related issues, including maintaining the current safe level of a minimum two-person crew in the cabs of locomotives, paid sick leave for workers and an end to the carriers’ Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR) scheme.

A solidarity rally took place at Capitol Hill days after the Dec. 2 federal imposition of a national rail contract on the SMART-TD and three other unions, drawing support from the AFL-CIO’s Transportation Trades Department, multiple unions from inside and apart from the rail industry, a bipartisan contingent of U.S. representatives and senators and others.

“Every single day in this nation, a life is saved because of the actions of a two-person crew. When a train whistle is blown and a kid gets out of the way – that is a life that is saved in a moment. But you never hear about it because the railroads are not required to report it,” SMART-TD Alternate National Legislative Director Jared Cassity told the crowd of supporters at Capitol Hill. “PSR is a deadly animal to this entire nation. Public safety is under threat because of cuts for profit that the railroads are trying to make. They want to keep cutting. They want to keep taking crew members off trains — they’re going to do whatever they can do to keep making another dollar. We have got to put an end to it, but the only way we do that is that we all fight together and keep going.

“When we leave here today, do not go home and think that you did your part. You have not done enough yet. We have not done enough yet. No one has done enough yet,” Cassity said. “We will get strong. We will get louder. We have got to continue.”

The rally at the Capitol was one of a series that took place in multiple states, including Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, Utah and Wyoming.

While Congress stopped a nationwide rail strike by imposing a contract on workers earlier this month, the devastating workplace conditions perpetuated by major rail corporations continue to prevail.

More than a dozen members of Congress addressed the rally, including: U.S. Reps. Donald Payne (D-N.J., Dist.10), Andy Levin (D-Mich., Dist. 9), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa., Dist. 1), Don Bacon (R-Neb., Dist. 2), Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y., Dist. 16), Jesús “Chuy” Garcia (D-Ill., Dist. 4), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y., Dist. 14), John Garamendi (D-Calif., Dist. 3), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J., Dist. 12), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash., Dist. 7), Cori Bush (D-Mo., Dist. 1), Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif., Dist. 34), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich., Dist. 13) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn., Dist. 5) and U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Bob Casey (D-Pa.).

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders addresses the crowd at the Capitol Hill labor solidarity rally on Dec. 13.

He also told workers that PSR will be in Congress’s crosshairs:

“You guys now have to do more with less. That’s their ideology — how do we work people to the bone so we can make $20 million a year? And that is why we have to put an end to Precision Scheduled Railroading,” Sanders said. “We’re going to bring not only the rail unions together, we’re going to bring the workers together to bring the justice that is long overdue.”

The D.C. rally was streamed live by the Rails, Tails and Trails podcast.

The rallies coincided with a hearing led by the Surface Transportation Board to examine Union Pacific’s service performance failures that have harmed the supply chain and preceded the public hearing before the Federal Railroad Administration regarding the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding two-person freight crews.

Colorado

Union members mobilize before their rally.

Members hold a banner at their rally Dec. 13.

New Mexico

Ohio

Wyoming

K2 Radio

Tags Capitol Hill, Jared Cassity, precision scheduled railroading, Sen. Bernie Sanders, solidarity rally