U.S. Senator Jon Tester (D – Mont.) recently criticized the Trump administration for budget proposals that would cut funding for Amtrak rural services, especially the Montana Empire Builder line, and wrote Amtrak’s President Richard Anderson asking for accountability and answ [...]
Transportation Division Local 367 (Omaha, Neb.) has announced that the 10th annual SMART Day at the Races will be at 3 p.m. on Friday, April 26 at the Fonner Park Racetrack, 700 E. Stolley Park Road, Grand Island, NE 68801. This year the race will be in honor of the late Gene [...]
A private equity firm has completed its acquisition of Coach USA and its subsidiaries, it was announced on April 15. Both the bus carrier’s U.S. and Canadian operations was purchased for $271.4 million by Variant Equity from prior owner Stagecoach Group plc. Coach USA o [...]
Two-person crew legislation endorsed by our union progressed ahead in two state legislatures late last week. In Illinois, S.B. 24 was passed by the state Senate by a party-line 36-19 vote on Thursday. The state House of Representatives’ Rules Committee has received the [...]
Just after midnight on April 11, BNSF Railway LCA Secretary and Local Trustee Carlos Barela sustained life-threatening injuries while switching in the Belen Yard in New Mexico. Local 1168 Local Chairperson Tanner Griffitt and other local chairpersons have organized a GoFundMe [...]
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) will have some major shoes to fill with the April 13, 2019, retirement of Robert “Bob” Lauby, the agency’s chief safety officer. Lauby had served in that capacity for FRA since September 2013. He was a frequent presenter at SMART Tran [...]
Nevada State Legislative Director Jason Doering and his BLET counterpart Matthew Parker explain why two-person crews are necessary in an op-ed on the website of The Nevada Independent. In the article, Doering and Parker refute some of the carriers’ most common arguments [...]
An executive order signed by President Donald Trump on Wednesday, April 10, tasks the Federal Department of Transportation with creating a new rule in a little more than three months’ time that permits super-cooled liquid natural gas (LNG) to be transported by rail. [...]
Employers and employees covered by the Railroad Retirement Act pay higher retirement taxes than those covered by the Social Security Act, so that Railroad Retirement benefits remain higher than Social Security benefits, especially for “career” employees who have 30 or more ye [...]
Yesterday (April 10), H.B. 186 was referred to the House Transportation and Public Safety Committee. State Rep. Michael Sheehy, who introduced the bill, sits on the committee as the ranking member. Three other co-sponsors of the bill are also on the committee. SMART Transport [...]
