TTD in the news

U.S. labor unions called on railroad operators to halt all stock buybacks until they improve safety and abandon their lean operating model, which regulators and shippers say has led to deterioration in the quality of service. The unions have blamed Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR), a concept that encourages running longer trains on fixed schedule with…

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Amid reported difficulty recruiting employees who can pass drug tests, the American Waterways Operators (AWO) is one of the organizations hoping a new testing method gains approval for transportation workers. Oral fluid testing was approved as scientifically valid by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Science in 2019 and is under consideration by the…

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Reported by Ian Kullgren for Bloomberg Law. Several large US unions saw double-digit growth in 2022 at the same time employers were weathering a tight labor market and a wave of worker dissatisfaction, according to a Bloomberg Law analysis of new federal filings from the previous calendar year. Annual union disclosures to the US Department…

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America’s Workforce Podcast. Greg Regan, President of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO joined the America’s Work Force Union and provided updates following the Feb. 3 Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. He also discussed the impact the derailment is having on the entire rail industry and problems with the Federal Aviation Administration that…

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Reported by Alex Daugherty for Politico. The collapse of President Joe Biden’s effort to fill the top job at the Federal Aviation Administration leaves the administration starting from scratch with an agency that has lacked a Senate-confirmed leader for nearly a year. But a Republican lawmaker who helped sink Biden’s nominee says the president has…

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Reported by Dan Zukowski for SmartCitiesDive. To encourage the development of high-speed rail systems, the Federal Railroad Administration wants to establish a “streamlined process” for federal reviews of grant funding applications, according to a notice posted Wednesday in the Federal Register. The Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail Grant Program is making $4.6 billion available…

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Reported by Sarah Zimmerman for SmartCitiesDive. At an investor’s conference last December, Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw made a somewhat surprising announcement for the rail industry: The company would look beyond short-term profits to rebuild service and invest in customer relations. Following nearly three years of declining service and contentious negotiations with labor that nearly…

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Reported by Joanna Marsh for Freightwaves. Two congressional representatives from Ohio have introduced their own rail safety bill that excludes a train crew size requirement. The bill, Reducing Accidents in Locomotives Act, or RAIL Act, calls for the promulgation of new rules that are based off of the findings of the National Transportation Safety Board’s…

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Reported by Alex Daugherty for Politico Pro. The majority of House members from Ohio on Friday introduced a bill that aims to improve rail safety in the wake of last month’s derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, including provisions related to notification, first responders, rail inspections and more. The bill is being led by Democratic Rep.…

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A Norfolk Southern worker is dead after being struck by a dump truck Tuesday morning at a railroad crossing at a Cleveland steel plant. Norfolk Southern says conductor Louis Shuster was killed on the Cleveland-Cliffs Cleveland Works property in Cleveland. The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office says Shuster, 46, was from Broadview Heights.

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