January 25, 2024 | 2-man Crews, Legislation, News, Railroad Safety
From left: BLET Nebraska SLB Chairman Pat Pfeifer meets with FRA Administrator Amit Bose. Photo from the North Platte Bulletin ____________________ BLET Nebraska State Legislative Board Chairman Pat Pfeifer reports that a rail safety bill is currently making its way...
January 24, 2024 | Headlines, Legislation, Railroad Safety, Train Length
(Source: KRDO.com, January 22, 2024) A new train safety bill in the Colorado legislature, if passed, would require railroads to be equipped with more safety features, limit the length and weight of trains carrying hazardous materials and will also limit the time that...
January 24, 2024 | East Palestine-NS, Headlines, Railroad Safety, TTD
(Source: America’s Workforce Union Podcast, January 22, 2024) President of the Transportation Trades Department, Greg Regan, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to talk about the first anniversary of the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, and what...
January 22, 2024 | News, Railroad Safety
Senator Sherrod Brown: “It’s long past time Congress stood up to the rail lobbyists and passed the bipartisan Railway Safety Act, to ensure a disaster like what happened in East Palestine does not happen again.” ____________________ News organizations are reporting...
January 22, 2024 | Congressional Hearing, Headlines, PSR, Railroad Safety
(Source: Eno Center for Transportation, January 19, 2024) The U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials met on January 18 to discuss the oversight of railroad grade crossing elimination and safety...
January 5, 2024 | Education and Training, Health & Welfare, Legislation, News, Paid Sick Leave, Railroad Safety, Regional Meetings, Tentative Contract
Happy New Year! As we move forward into 2024, let’s examine the biggest achievements of the BLET’s five major departments in 2023: Protective, Legislative, Education & Training, Organizing, and Public Relations. Please enjoy our Year in Review!...
January 4, 2024 | 2-man Crews, FRA, Headlines, Railroad Safety
(Source: Freight Waves, January 3, 2024) The Federal Railroad Administration has submitted its final rule on train crew staffing to the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review, with the final rule potentially being released in March, according to OMB’s...
January 4, 2024 | 2-man Crews, Contract Negotiations, Headlines, Railroad Safety, Shippers, STB
(Source: Freight Waves, January 4, 2024) Railroads, shippers and unions are tracking hot topics ranging from service improvement to government oversight to safety regulations in 2024. Two of the items are federal action on rail safety and labor contract negotiations....
January 3, 2024 | East Palestine-NS, Headlines, Legislation, NTSB, Railroad Safety
(Source: Freight Waves, January 1, 2024) The passage of any rail safety legislation in Congress next year is likely to be influenced by two things, industry observers told FreightWaves: the 2024 presidential election and the release of a report by the National...
December 28, 2023 | East Palestine-NS, Headlines, Paid Sick Leave, Railroad Safety
(Source: Freight Waves, December 21, 2023) The year 2023 seemed to kick off quietly for U.S. freight railroads: The industry had seen the resolution of the labor contract impasse between craft unions and U.S. Class I railroads in December 2022, while rail service was...
