Transportation News

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

Senate confirms two to NTSB

The U.S. Senate confirmed two members to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on July 24. General aviation safety advocate Bruce Landsberg was confirmed as vice-chairman of the NTSB and transportation veteran Jennifer Homendy was confirmed to fill an empty board se [...]

VP Lesniewski retires; Leonard elevated to vice president position

John Lesniewski, vice president and successor president of the Transportation Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal Air, Rail and Transportation Workers, has retired, effective July 1, 2018. Lesniewski, a member of Chicago Local 1534, started his railroad c [...]

Second workers’ summit being held in Nebraska on Aug. 3

The success of an initial workers summit held in the spring is leading to a second meeting to be held Aug. 3, reports Terry Sigler, a retired legislative representative of SMART TD Local 286 in North Platte, Neb. Sigler said an April 6 meeting he organized drew about 100 memb [...]

FTA issues final rules on safety management, safety certification

A pair of final regulations were issued by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) in July that rounded out the National Public Transportation Safety Program’s regulatory framework. The Public Transportation Agency Safety Plan rule, taking effect July 19, 2019, requires tran [...]

Autumn brings round of elections for locals

SMART Transportation Division members are reminded elections are scheduled to be held this autumn, with nominations to be taken in October and elections conducted in November 2018. Locals must solicit for the nomination of candidates in October to run for the four-year Local [...]

Presentations from 2018 Seattle Regional Meeting archived

Many of the workshop presentations made at the Seattle Regional Meeting that took place July 2 to 4, 2018, are now available by following the links below. The presentations are in PDF form, so Adobe Acrobat Reader or a web browser plug-in that handles the format will be neces [...]

Tours announced for Hollywood, Fla., Regional Meeting

A pair of tours on August 5 and 6 for attendees of the 2018 SMART Transportation Division Regional Meeting in Hollywood, Fla. has been finalized. Day 1 (August 5): Florida Everglades excursion Attendees will be picked up from the Hilton Diplomat at 9 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 5, and [...]

Charity bike run organized by Local 60 happens July 28

NEWARK, N.J. — Jennifer “Cookie” Doyle reports that SMART Transportation Local 60 will hold a “Railmen for Children” charity bike run July 28. Registration begins at 10 a.m. and goes until 11 a.m., when motorcycle riders will start the run. The cost of this event is a d [...]

FRA hosting seminar on drug testing/rail safety

On Aug. 30 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., the Federal Railroad Administration will host a seminar on drug testing policy and rail safety in Kansas City, Mo. The seminar dives into 2017 drug testing amendments and a pair of amendments to safety rules created in November 2014 and Dece [...]