Transportation News

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

SMART TD members ratify National Rail Agreement

By a margin of nearly four to one, SMART Transportation Division members have voted to APPROVE the new National Rail Contract. The voting was conducted by BallotPoint Election Services, who certified the following results for each craft eligible to vote: CRAFT ACCEPT REJECT C [...]

Future member recovering after UTV accident

A ride on a UTV in September nearly turned fatal for Shane Leach when he severed an artery in his arm and nearly bled to death in the desert. While out with a friend, Leach’s vehicle tipped on a turn. It rolled onto his arm, pinning it between the UTV and the ground. About a [...]

Happy Thanksgiving 2017

It’s that time of year again. Americans across the country will get ready for the time-honored tradition of gathering with family and friends to give thanks. But first, they will agonize – possibly panic – over how to get where they’re going on the busiest travel day of the y [...]

ERMA maximum benefit increase announced for 2018

The lifetime maximum benefit for the Railroad Employees National Early Retirement Major Medical Benefit (ERMA or GA-46000) Plan will increase from $157,800 to $162,500 beginning Jan. 1, 2018. At the end of 2001, Labor and Management had agreed on various procedures to adminis [...]

DOT final rule: Workplace drug and alcohol testing procedures

On Nov. 13, 2017, the Department of Transportation (DOT) published a final rule that, among other items, expands DOT’s current drug testing panel to include certain semi-synthetic opioids (i.e., hydrocodone, oxycodone, hydromorphone, oxymorphone). Testing for methylened [...]

Veterans Day 2017: We honor those who served

Click here for military discounts available on Veterans Day. World War I – known at the time as “The Great War” – officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, in the Palace of Versailles outside the town of Versailles, France. However, fig [...]

NATIONAL CONTRACT UPDATE: Ballots are on their way to members

Members of SMART TD eligible to vote on the tentative National Rail Agreement will be receiving packets in the coming days, triggering the 21-day balloting period. Balloting packets left a production facility in Michigan on Friday, which caps off a process that began Oct. 6 w [...]