Transportation News

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

FRA crew-size rule came from our collective power

Railroad history was made the first week of April 2024. The U.S. Department of Transportation issued a final rule stating that freight trains in this country cannot be safely run with fewer than two certified railroaders in a locomotive cab. History could not have been made w [...]

SMART-TD Union Demands Action in Wake of Los Angeles Bus Hijacking

Independence, Ohio (March 25, 2024) — The union representing the transit operator involved in the Los Angeles bus hijacking demands immediate measures to protect their men and women, and the people they transport, from violence. The LACMTA incident, which hospitalized a union [...]

Former Alt. VP, GC ‘Pate’ King passes away

Luther Peyton “Pate” King Jr., who served the SMART Transportation Division on the local, state and national levels for more than three decades, passed away Friday, March 22, 2024, at age 80. Brother King joined our union as a member of the Brotherhood of Railroad [...]

Rail workers join House roundtable to demand action on rail safety

SMART Rail, Mechanical and Engineering Department Director Peter Kennedy joined fellow rail workers and community witnesses to stand for rail safety during a roundtable hosted by Democratic members of the House Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials on W [...]

Youngkin vetos Virginia two-person freight crew bill

As the clock was running out for him to act Friday night, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin decided he was against public safety, common sense and protecting Virginia railroad workers’ jobs and pensions. He vetoed a bill backed by our union that required a minimum two-person crew on Virginia’s freight trains.

REEF Act passes in Senate committee

The SMART Transportation Division is one step closer to closing a federal loophole that has been taking money away from railroaders who are out of work due to furlough, sickness, or injury.