Transportation News

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Agencies set public meeting on rail hazmat

The Federal Railroad Administration and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) will host a public meeting Aug. 27-28 in Washington, D.C., about the transportation of hazardous materials by rail. The two DOT agencies want to hear from stakeholders b [...]

Canadian Pacific Railway cutting Minn. jobs

Canadian Pacific Railway has furloughed approximately 30 workers in recent months from its operation in Thief River Falls, Minn., according to union officials. The job cuts are among roughly 90 furloughs at CP sites across Minn. that the United Transportation Union has counte [...]

Great Lakes faces shortage of pilots

CHEYENNE, Wyo. – A new law upping the number of hours a person has to fly before they can be hired as an airline pilot is causing headaches for Great Lakes Airlines. A spokeswoman for the Cheyenne-based regional airline said the new law, which went into effect Aug. 1, has mad [...]

Bus drivers plead for protection from assaults

Fare increases. Route cuts. General frustration over life. In New York City, there is no shortage of reasons why bus drivers are targeted for assault – an average of 88 attacks every year in the nation’s largest bus system. Jose Rondon’s 27-year career as a driver [...]

FMCSA announces driver fatigue management tool

WASHINGTON – Anne S. Ferro, Administrator of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and Lisa Raitt, Minister of Transport, in July announced the launch of the North American Fatigue Management Program (NAFMP), a website tha [...]

Likely Labor regs would aid vets, disabled, unions

WASHINGTON – With Thomas Perez now confirmed as head of the Labor Department, the agency is expected to unleash a flurry of new regulations that have been bottled up for months – a prospect that has business leaders worried and labor advocates cheering. Some long-awaite [...]

N.D. oil boom seen adding costs for rail safety

Crude oil shipped by railroad from North Dakota is drawing fresh scrutiny from regulators concerned that the cargo is adding environmental and safety hazards, something that analysts say could raise costs. The U.S. Federal Railroad Administration is investigating whether chem [...]

Canada suspends license of Montreal, Maine & Atlantic

Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway Ltd., whose runaway oil train exploded and killed 47 people in a Quebec town last month, had its operating certificate suspended by Canada’s transportation regulator. The Canadian Transportation Agency said the carrier lacked sufficient [...]

All five NLRB members confirmed by Senate

WASHINGTON, D.C. — This week marked the first time in a decade in which all five National Labor Relations Board members were confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Aug. 21, 2003, was the last time the board was fully staffed, according to a NLRB news release. But perhaps the mos [...]

Wash. SLD: Stop obstructing our port work

The state of Washington has an opportunity to expand our ports and to secure the region’s position as a global trade leader for decades. Private industry, using private capital, is ready right now to put people to work expanding our export facilities to allow us to export mor [...]