May 11, 2022 | 2-man Crews, News, Take Action
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio, May 11 — The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) is mobilizing its members in the State of New York to lobby in favor of a statewide two-person crew bill. Earlier this month, S3953B was introduced in the State Senate and a...
May 11, 2022 | 2-man Crews, BNSF, Headlines, Positive Train Control
(Source: Trains Magazine, May 11, 2022) KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Service and labor issues are generally the defining issues for current public appearances by railroad officials, and so it was Tuesday when BNSF Railway CEO Katie Farmer spoke to the North American Rail...
March 30, 2022 | 2-man Crews, Headlines, Technology
(Source: Trains Magazine analysis by Bill Stephens, March 28, 2022) WASHINGTON, D.C. — There’s no question that autonomous trucks pose a threat to the railroad industry. They’re not here quite yet, but TuSimple is proving the concept with driverless rigs that are...
March 23, 2022 | 2-man Crews, News, PSR
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio, March 23 — A video of BLET President Dennis Pierce’s recent testimony before the House Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous materials is now available. The 13-minute video is a condensed version of the entire hearing, which shows...
March 16, 2022 | 2-man Crews, Contract Negotiations, Headlines, SMART-TD
(Source: SMART Transportation Division press release, March 15, 2022) CLEVELAND, Ohio — Class I railroad carriers BNSF and NS declared an impasse this week in the mandatory bargaining over crew size under Section 6 of the Railway Labor Act (RLA). In declaring an...
March 4, 2022 | 2-man Crews, News, SMART-TD
The Fight for Two-Person Crews The following is an advance copy of a message from Dennis Pierce, BLET National President that will be included in the upcoming BLET Journal publication: I recently attended a Town Hall meeting with the membership of Division 28 in...
December 14, 2021 | 2-man Crews, Headlines, Legislation
(Source: Freight Waves, December 13, 2021) CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Two Democratic state lawmakers in Michigan have introduced legislation that would require freight trains to have at least two individuals operating them. State Rep. Tim Sneller introduced H.B.5596 and...
December 13, 2021 | 2-man Crews, Legislation, News
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio, December 10 — On December 2, 2021, a railroad safety bill requiring qualified two-person train crews was introduced in the state of Michigan’s House of Representatives and Senate. House Bill 5596 and Senate Bill 767 read in part: “…a railroad...
September 28, 2021 | 2-man Crews, FRA, Headlines, PSR
(Source: Railway Age, September 24, 2021) WASHINGTON, D.C. — Amit Bose, Deputy Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration, took on questions about automated track inspection, crew sizes, hazardous materials transportation, and port congestion, among other...
July 29, 2021 | 2-man Crews, Headlines
(Source: WyoFile, July 28, 2021) CHEYENNE, Wyo. — The Wyoming Legislature has long wrestled with the question of whether to mandate two-person crews on the freight trains that traverse Wyoming’s more than 1,800 miles of track. Full story:...
