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The Canadian National Railroad (CN) has sent their crews rolling through communities without access to essential safety documents, ranging from operating rulebooks to their Emergency Response Guides (ERGs). The railroad’s electronic document system recently failed without a meaningful backup, placing everyone on or near their trains at risk.  

This situation raises serious safety concerns, especially as CN’s freight trains travel extensively across both the U.S. and Canada. 

Help SMART-TD track the impact of this problem. If you work for CN, fill out the safety condition report for every incident. The form is available on the SMART App and SMART-TD’s websites. 

CN railroader and Michigan’s Alternate State Safety and Legislative Director Eric Stanger told SMART News, “The idea that there is not an adequate contingency plan in place for this is mind blowing.” Brother Stanger went on to say, “In any other circumstance, CN would be handing out discipline for not having these documents, but because it’s on them, they are insisting the workforce violate their own operating rules.” 

App outage leads to risky business 

CN’s Comply365 app, which provides train crews with electronic access to rulebooks, timetables, federally mandated ERGs, track charts and other vital information, crashed this week. 

The app’s sudden loss stemmed from a systemwide software update gone wrong, leaving crews without critical resources as they navigate complex rail routes and handle hazardous materials from Canada to the Gulf Coast. 

Paper backups still needed, according to feds 

A recent ruling from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) acknowledge that electronic systems can fail.  

They ruled that readily available physical copies of hazardous materials paperwork are required. Their decision is grounded in common sense: computers crash, our trains should not.

CN got an exception that’s unsafe for our members 

PHMSA granted CN a special permit in 2020 allowing them to use an entirely paperless system to provide hazmat data to their crews. This permit required a “reliable and readily available backup plan.” The current scenario, with Comply365 being unavailable in some areas for over a week, proves that those requirements were not met by CN. They did NOT hold up its end of the agreement, and SMART-TD members are at risk.  

Many of our CN brothers and sisters have not been able to access the backup software, known as Content Locker. After long hold times with the IT desk, many of them have not been given any solutions to the problems with their devices.  

Safe operations are further hampered because, while trains run 24/7, CN technical support closes from midnight through 6 a.m. daily.  

Backup failure causes problems 

Even when it works, Content Locker is out of date. The version of the ERG available on Content Locker is from 2020. Under normal circumstances, this would be disqualifying for any Class I railroad.  

Providing printed copies of the 2024 ERG for their employees, at a whopping $0.05 per page, was considered by the railroad to be too costly an investment in employee safety.  

PHMSA waiver nears its end date 

This is not the best time for CN to highlight that the system they’ve taken on a trial run is down or to try to obtain thousands of printed ERGs. Their special permit from PHMSA is currently up for renewal! 

So, for now, CN has every crew on their system running with outdated emergency response guides as their only available resource. Of course, that’s WHEN they’re available.  

Workers run with old info, deal with tech crashes 

Many of the CN members of SMART-TD report that they are also working with outdated timetables, and some are running without their daily bulletins. These crews must rely on conversations with other crew members to learn about temporary speed restrictions, work authorities, and other critical information that keeps them safe and out of trouble while navigating their day-to-day activities.  

Content Locker occasionally freezes their “Zebra” tablets, the technology platform provided by the railroad. The conductor/engineer must reboot and reconfigure the program each time to regain access to timely safety information.  

For anyone who has ever been on a 15,000-foot mixed freight train going 50 mph, you need answers to help keep your train on the rails and in compliance. Every document is essential, formally required, and crews do not have time to leisurely shut down and restart troubled tech when they need the information they contain.  

A carrier without a plan 

As SMART News found out in conversations with CN members, this is not the first time CN has had a systemwide outage of Content365. In 2022, the system was down for approximately three days. Despite this prior outage, CN hasn’t come up with a better solution in two years. This is unacceptable for worker and public safety. 

It could have been worse 

SMART News was able to contact CN members in multiple general committees, and we are happy to report that not all of these territories have had the same level of complications from the outage.  

General Chairperson Kenneth Flashberger of GCA-987 (Wisconsin Central) reported that his crews reported very little disruption in their service. In his territory, the outage inconvenienced crews for less than a day. The workaround provided by CN was successful, and crews consistently have had access to the data they needed via Content Locker.  

The outage affects safe operations 

By prioritizing electronic solutions over reliable, physical copies of crucial documents, CN has put its train crews and the public at risk. The bottom line is that CN failed to plan, and now SMART-TD’s men and women are at risk because of it.  

Any corporation willing to skirt federally mandated, common-sense safety protocols to avoid the cost of printing backup copies of timetables, rulebooks, track charts, and ERGs is not worthy of claiming “safety is a core value.” 

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. 

Brothers and Sisters,

It’s no secret that Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR) has devastated this industry. And it’s no secret that safety and service have suffered, but now the most vulnerable among us are being threatened. In the carriers’ pursuit to remove themselves from the limelight of regulatory authorities and neglected shippers, they are now blindly rushing new-hire trainees through unilaterally expedited training courses that have slashed educational curriculums in the hopes of being able to reflect an inflated headcount to remove the proverbial wolves from off their backs.

Today, in far too many Class I training courses, newly hired employees are receiving less than half of the standard training times that existed little more than a year ago. Without so much as an improved educational mechanism, the railroads are falsely claiming the ability to train in less time with less on-the-job experience. The material has not changed. The way in which the education is delivered has not changed. The only thing different is the abbreviated time frame, which is unacceptable and a danger to us all.

Exacerbating this issue is the fact that the railroads are not adequately staffed for on-the-job training. Currently, a concerning number of complaints have been received by our National Legislative Office pertaining to trainees being trained by newly promoted conductors. This practice is reckless, irresponsible, and a violation of the applicable regulations. A carrier should never task a recently promoted conductor with the training of another new hire employee unless it has received explicit approval from the union, and only in very limited circumstances. Permitting an employee with less than 12 months of service to train a new hire employee is not only a violation of the regulations, but it has resulted in injuries and fatalities in the past and we cannot allow it to continue.

Additionally, accidents and incidents involving newly promoted conductors (those which have graduated from these shortened training programs) are occurring. It is critical that we be made aware of these mishaps so that we can follow-up with the employee to offer assistance, where needed, and to ascertain that the carriers are reporting in compliance with the regulations and/or their internal operating rules and procedures. As you are aware, the FRA relies on the carriers to self-report or self-police, so it is vitally important that we can verify their compliance in order to ensure proper accountability.

Lastly, we are asking you to please be on the lookout for your new brothers and sisters. Keep a watchful eye over them, but also encourage them to report the concerns and shortcomings they have experienced both in the classroom and in the field to the Unsafe Condition Report on our website or the SMART-TD app. Let them know that it is OK to bring these issues to us, and that their reports will be kept confidential. If you see a wrongdoing, please let us know. For example, if they are assigned to an employee with less than 12 months of service, or if they are involved in an incident that could serve as an indicator for a lack of training, please report that to your local representative as soon as possible.

Local officers, if you receive a report of this nature, please promptly pass it up to your General Chairperson and State Legislative Director for further handling. We are all in this together, and we have to have each other’s back, but we also have to hold the carriers accountable and to ensure they meet their mandate to provide a safe working environment.

In solidarity,
Jeremy R. Ferguson
President, Transportation Division

Shortly after the launch of SMART Transportation Division’s online Safety Condition Report, numerous reports have been successfully submitted and passed along to union leadership for handling. This information will help to make our properties safer and bring any conditions that add risk to our members to light.
Keep in mind – if your state or local leadership already has a successfully functioning safety hazard report system in place, please continue to use that reporting system. This report, which has been developed and instituted by the International, is not to supplant those systems. Instead, it is intended to be available as a reporting mechanism for those that do not already have a system in place or as a supplemental reporting mechanism.
As with all new initiatives, there is a period of adjustment and union leadership wanted to answer a few questions that have been raised.
1. Does the Safety Condition Report replace the filing of a report with my employer, carrier or with my State Legislative Director?
No. If your employer or carrier has a reporting process regarding unsafe conditions, you should fill out their report. Similarly, if your State Legislative Director prefers to use a safety reporting system already implemented, then we encourage that reporting system to be utilized.
Note: It is strongly encouraged that the proper carrier officer receives notification of any unsafe hazard, even if they do not have a process for reporting, if at all possible. Equally it is important that your Local Legislative Representative and officers receive a copy of anything reported to the carrier
2. Should I fill out this form if I have already reported a safety concern to my SLD or my Local Legislative Representative?
No. There is no need to duplicate your effort if you have already reached out to them, but also take note that a report via this form is not a substitute for a report filed with a carrier.
3. By using this report form does my information remain confidential from the carrier?
Yes. As this is an internal reporting system, this information is only available to those union officers that receive the form. That being said, the aforementioned officers may request, in certain circumstances, that this information be shared in order to properly address the reported unsafe issue. However, in those situations, the union officer should receive the reporting member’s permission prior to doing so.
4. Does my Local Legislative Representative get a copy of these reports?
The reports currently go directly to State Legislative Directors for proper handling and dissemination. They are also copied to the General Chairpersons for additional assistance. We found that the turnover of local officers might impede the efficiency of the automated portion of the system, so LRs are not contacted directly via this report. State Directors will take the lead and decide how to proceed with your safety concern, including contacting your local officer(s).
5. I have evidence (photos, video) of a potential safety hazard. How can I share it?
Please be sure that you have checked the option that you request an officer to contact you, and you can then share any evidence you have accumulated directly with the officer handling your report. Future versions of this form may allow for the upload of evidence as we continue to enhance it.
6. I’ve scrolled through the selections and can’t find what I want to report…
If you cannot find your specific issue or concern – use the “other” option and fill in the blanks. It would be helpful to select that you want to have an officer reach out so you can be precise in the type of hazard you wish to report as well as the specific location and details.
7. When can I expect a response to a report that I have filed?
If one is requested, timely responses from a union officer will be given in the order the reports are received.
8. How can I suggest refinements to the report?
We will be continually examining the utility of the form and seeking potential improvements. If you have suggestions, please send them to Senior Communications Coordinator Ben Nagy at bnagy@smart-union.org.
Remember — these are in-union reports. Your union exists to protect its members and filing any safety concern through any union-endorsed medium is your right.
“Your union’s leadership wants to raise our safety standards. The carriers will no longer be allowed to dictate our level of personal safety … enough is enough,” SMART-TD Chief of Staff Jerry Gibson said. “Only when we, as a collective group, choose to properly address our issues and concerns can we expect others to comply with those demands. It is the charge of the carrier to provide us with the proper training, security and safe work environment while doing so … and we will hold them accountable.”
Rail members, please note: The Railroad Technology Event report remains as a separate reporting mechanism due to the amount of detail and complexities that topic requires.

To address the growing safety concerns of our membership, we have implemented a universal Safety Condition Report that is now available on the SMART-TD website for all members to use.
This form will become the primary tool to report and collect data concerning unsafe working conditions, including COVID-19 issues, from all members. Organizational information such as Craft, Local, Carrier, State Legislative Director and General Committee are loaded based on a member’s selection using defined database values, ensuring an accurate submission so that the officers responsible for acting on the report are directly and timely informed.
Members are presented a default list of safety hazards (including COVID-19) to choose along with identifying the state and location of the unsafe condition. Additionally, the form will dynamically update based on the members’ input, creating a customized report. After submission, an automated email to the General Chairperson and State Legislative Director with jurisdiction is sent as an initial notification. Full details of the Safety Condition Report are then accessed by these officers via the TD Connect portal along with printing and exporting capabilities for further collaboration with Local officers so that the unsafe conditions can be addressed.
Rail members, please note: The Railroad Technology Event report remains as a separate reporting mechanism due to the amount of detail and complexities that topic requires.
It is important to note that the data collected by this Safety Condition Report and the information within are kept and used solely within our SMART Union computer system and are used by SMART-TD officers to assist in addressing the issues presented by members.
“Membership safety and well-being is a founding principal of this Union, but we cannot assist without being properly informed of the unsafe issues facing our fellow brothers and sisters.” SMART-TD President Jeremy Ferguson stated. “These reports are to enhance our safety efforts as many carriers lack proper and effective reporting mechanisms. Our SMART Constitution lists safety as our local legislative representatives’ primary mission, stating ‘They shall report to their Locals regarding the handling of all alleged unsafe or unsanitary working conditions found to exist, or reported to them, within their jurisdiction. They shall undertake to correct such conditions through appropriate measures consistent with the local and national policies of the Transportation Division.’ Therefore, we ask that you also forward this information as soon as possible to your local legislative representative or other SMART Union officer for proper handling. If you are unsure who they are or how to contact them, please contact our office.
“It is imperative that we all accept the personal responsibility to properly document known unsafe conditions, acts and security concerns. If more people would take the time to do this we could, over time, address most of the long-standing concerns we have. Without documentation, nothing will ever change — the issues and concerns will continue to remain and often grow until a very unfortunate situation such as an injury, accident or fatality brings to light what many knew was a problem long ago but failed to address.”
The union’s chief of staff hopes that the use of this form brings hazards that have been taken for granted or tolerated by workers to light.
“Sadly, we hear one particular scenario too often,” SMART-TD Chief of Staff Jerry Gibson said. “Someone says, ‘That has been an issue for a long time’ or ‘Everyone knows that is a problem’ at a particular property. Yet everyone assumes that someone else has written the unsafe condition up and unfortunately, no one has. The issue remains and the carriers use that against us by stating the very same thing — ‘That has been like that forever, and no one has said anything or taken issue with it.’
“This online reporting process is here to change that. Your union’s leadership wants to raise our safety standards. The carriers will no longer be allowed to dictate our level of personal safety … enough is enough. Only when we, as a collective group, choose to properly address our issues and concerns can we expect others to comply with those demands. It is the charge of the carrier to provide us with the proper training, security and safe work environment while doing so … and we will hold them accountable.”
The Safety Condition Report is accessible directly from the SMART-TD home page as both a banner and as a menu item — look for the blinking yellow caution signal.
“Please assist us with assisting you,” President Ferguson said. “All of our members deserve safe working conditions on the job and to return home safely. If there is an issue you want to report — report it.”