Transportation News

Visit the digital archive of the SMART-TD News (PDFs)

Trump administration renominates candidates to transportation positions

A number of candidates to transportation-related oversight posts in the federal government whose nominations were returned to President Donald Trump in early January have been renominated to those posts. Thelma Drake has been renominated to be the administrator of the DOT’s F [...]

TTD, SMART TD urge end to shutdown

SMART Transportation Division President John Previsich supports a rapid resolution to the partial federal government shutdown and fully endorses this message from AFL-CIO TTD President Larry Willis that was sent to U.S. representatives. January 10, 2019 End this Unnecessary a [...]

OSHA’s guide to working in cold weather

Winter weather presents hazards including slippery roads/surfaces, strong winds and environmental cold. Employers must prevent illnesses, injuries, or fatalities, by controlling these hazards in workplaces impacted by winter weather. OSHA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric [...]

New SLDs in Ore., Wis., set legislative priorities

Two assistant state legislative directors were elevated to lead their respective states’ legislative boards after a pair of retirements at the end of 2018. In Oregon, Glenn Carey, a member of Local 1841 and the state’s assistant SLD since March 2016, took over with the Jan. 1 [...]

Former N.J. Conrail/CSX local chairman dies

William Arthur McManus (Maxie), 74, of Dumont, N.J., died Jan. 5, 2019, at the James J. VA Medical Center in the Bronx, N.Y. Bill, a member of SMART Transportation Division Local 1447, joined the union in November 1977 and was a railroad conductor with CSX and Conrail for mor [...]

RRB nominees confirmed; Amtrak board choices go back to president

Six nominees to transportation-related agencies were confirmed by the U.S. Senate via unanimous consent Jan. 2, including three Railroad Retirement Board members. Johnathan Bragg, Thomas Jayne and Erhard R. Chorle were all confirmed to the RRB. Bragg, the labor member of the [...]

FRA publishes minimum drug and alcohol testing rates for 2019

On Dec. 28, 2018, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) published its determination of minimum random drug and alcohol testing rates for 2019 for covered service employees and Maintenance of Way (MOW) employees in the Federal Register. FRA determined that the minimum annu [...]

Local chairperson speaks at rail trespassing/crossing fatality summit

Your browser does not support the video tag. Tom Cahill, local chairperson of LCA-049 (CSXT – B&O) and vice president of SMART Transportation Division Local 631 (Brunswick, Md.), was among the presenters at the first Trespasser and Grade Crossing Fatality Prevention [...]

Local 495 member dies in train accident

Jeffrey Keith Hague, 34, died Sunday, Dec. 30, 2018, as the result of a railroad accident in Oakley, Kan. Hague was a conductor for Union Pacific and a member of Local 495 (Salina, Kan.) since 2012. Hague was the salutatorian of his 2002 graduating class. He went on from high [...]

S&T Making Cents newsletter: December 2018

Meet your Membership Representative teams SMART Transportation Division has restructured at its headquarters to help assist Local Treasurers with the implementation and use of TD Connect and the eBill system. As part of this process, a team of Membership Representatives has b [...]