Leadership at the industry’s two largest operating-craft unions, the SMART-Transportation Division and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, have petitioned the Federal Railroad Administration to issue an Emergency Order regarding “the safety of all passenger rail crews and passengers.” The unions have also petitioned the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to enact a “No-Ride List” on passenger railroads.
In the midst of a COVID-19-driven substantial economic slowdown that impacted North American 2020 freight rail traffic, Class II Reading & Northern Railroad (RBMN)—Railway Age’s four-time Regional Railroad of the Year (2002, 2011, 2015, 2020)—posted another banner year, breaking previous records for carloadings and freight revenue.
Loram Maintenance of Way, Inc. has acquired the railroad services divisions of Montana Hydraulics, LLC. The products and services acquired will be managed under Loram Technologies, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Loram.
Michelle A. Schultz was sworn in Jan. 11, 2021 as Surface Transportation Board member, bringing the number of commissioners to its full complement of five. The U.S. Senate confirmed Schultz on Nov. 18, 2021.
Norfolk Southern’s “digital transformation” initiatives now include rulebooks, bulletins, special instructions, and other “mission-critical documents” that the railroad’s more-than 8,000 T&E (Train and Engine) workers—conductors, engineers and other field operating personnel—are required to carry while on duty. NS has contracted with Cloud-hosted software provider Comply365 for rollout of a content management system and mobile application to “digitize operations, improve efficiency and enhance safety and compliance.”
BNSF Group Vice President Consumer Products Business Group Tom Williams has been elected Treasurer of the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA). He joins Port of Long Beach Deputy Executive Director Dr. Noel Hacegaba, elected Chair; and InTek Freight & Logistics Inc. President Shelli Austin, elected Vice Chair, on IANA’s 2021 Board of Directors and Officers.
RAILWAY AGE, JANUARY 2021 ISSUE: The 58th annual recipient of Railway Age’s Railroader of the Year Award is Canadian Pacific President and Chief Executive Officer Keith Creel. Creel has been instrumental in Canadian Pacific forging a leadership role in the industry, while acknowledging the railroad’s place in history and its role in driving the North American economy forward. He has helped renew Canadians’ and CP employees’ sense of pride in a company that connected a nation, and connected Canada to the rest of the world. Under his steady hand, and under very difficult circumstances this past year, CP has been a safe, efficient and productive railroad, enabling its customers to connect with domestic and global markets.
Railway Age’s 58th Railroader of the Year, Canadian Pacific President and CEO Keith Creel, talks with Editor-in-Chief William C. Vantuono about his career, and his mission at CP.
WSP USA has named David Pizzimenti, Ph.D, as Vice President and Alternate Delivery Leader for the firm’s Southeast Region. He will lead the selection of contractor and concessionaire partners and manage the relationship with those partners in a 12-state region that includes Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia, Virginia and Washington, D.C. He will be involved throughout the entire lifecycle of a project, including teaming and agreement/terms, addressing all matters necessary to achieve project completion.
In the wake of the Jan. 6 siege on the United States Capitol by a violent mob of Donald Trump supporters, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao has resigned. The wife of outgoing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is the first member of the defeated President’s Cabinet to quit in the wake of the insurrection fueled by Trump’s insistence that he actually won what he calls a “stolen” 2020 election “by a landslide.” Chao’s resignation is effective Jan. 11.