Links to the Transportation Division’s workplace Safety Condition Report and the railroad Technology Event Report in the SMART app are again functional for Transportation Division members.

The links to the report submission forms should work upon opening the app and there is no need to refresh it or log out.

Members’ patience is appreciated as this technical challenge was solved. We look forward to again receiving your submissions via the union’s app. These reports help chart the proper course on to where to focus our efforts to best serve you.

Follow this link to download the SMART app on your device.

Please stay safe out there!

As a result of hardware upgrades that are currently ongoing, the Safety Condition, Railroad Technology Event, and Hours-of-Service report forms are temporarily unavailable via the SMART Union App. We are actively working to resolve this issue, but until otherwise notified, please use the SMART website to access and file these critical reports.  

You can follow these links directly to the Safety Condition Report, Technology Event Report and Railroad Hours of Service Violation Report on our website. Our local, state, and national legislative departments need these reports to keep the pressure on the carriers, and we cannot afford to lose any gained momentum.

SMART-TD thanks you for your continued support.

As kids all over the world know, railroaders tend to work “all the live-long day.” This is baked into the cake and explained at hiring sessions of all the major railroads, but the hours-of-service (HOS) laws in place say, in no uncertain terms, that 12 hours is the extent of how long rail workers are supposed to be on duty.  

The first time the federal government limited the consecutive hours at work on a train or asset(s) for a railroad transportation employee was in 1907 when they set the mark at 16 hours. It has since evolved into the 12 hours that all of us in railroading are familiar with today.  

Though the intention of the HOS laws is that a rail crew is supposed to be entirely relieved of duty by the 12-hour mark and on their way home or to away-from-home lodging, we all know that is not how it plays out. Often, crews stop their train at the 12-hour mark and spend additional hours waiting on a recrew or transport.  

The carriers expect their transportation employees to skirt these federal laws. When crew members mark off time tickets, there is a mechanism to report to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) that HOS have been exceeded. Unfortunately, self-reporting these violations to the carriers and FRA has not changed the reality on the ground.  

SMART-TD’s National Legislative Department is asking for all rail members to help us bring this quality-of-life issue into a better light. 

Today we are announcing that an Hours-of-Service Violation Report has been added to the SMART Union website. This new report can be accessed from the “Get Involved” menu on the home page of the website by clicking “Report a Worksite Issue.”  It is our intention and goal to use the data we collect from you to inform regulators, as well as congressional members, about the frequency and magnitude of these federal violations.  

SMART-TD’s leadership is very aware that after a criminally long day of work, no one looks forward to filling out long paperwork. We kept that in mind when we put together the form. It is short and won’t take longer than a minute or two to fill out. There is also a tutorial available that will hopefully answer any questions you might have. 

In the spirit of being user-friendly, the Technology Event and Safety Condition Reports that are available on the app have been streamlined as well. All three are pivotal to SMART-TD’s ability to represent you in the manner you deserve and they play a large role in our government affairs strategy.

The information we are trying to gather will only be effective if we consistently hear from our outlawed crews across all carriers about HOS violations. Please make your voice known and help us represent your interests in the halls of Congress and to hold carriers accountable now, and into the future.  

Information gathered on the SMART website and via any links on the SMART app is solely visible to SMART-TD and the details on the forms we receive (including the names of who reported) will not be given to carriers.  

PLEASE be a part of the solution to this problem. SMART-TD looks forward to working with you to help bring this abuse to an end. 

Class I carrier Union Pacific announced Monday that it has completed implementation of Positive Train Control (PTC) on all federally mandated freight and passenger routes requiring the collision avoidance technology.
The carrier still must achieve full interoperability, that is, its PTC system must be able to successfully interact with those systems used by other carriers.
The carrier reports that 16 of 25 railroads it hosts are compliant, encompassing 85% of Union Pacific’s interoperable PTC train miles, and says that full interoperability in conjunction with the other carriers is expected by mid-2020.
PTC is designed to prevent:

  • Train-to-train collisions;
  • Derailments caused by excessive speed;
  • Accidents that can occur if trains are routed down the incorrect track;
  • Unauthorized train movements on tracks undergoing maintenance

Regardless of implementation status, if a SMART Transportation Division member experiences an event in which PTC or other rail technology hinders the ability to perform his or her duties, he or she is encouraged to complete a Railroad Technology Event Report and submit it to SMART-TD.
Read the Union Pacific release.