Testifying at a June 10, 2015 Surface Transportation Board hearing on the shipment of grain by rail, representatives from the Association of American Railroads legal and economic policy departments said that calls to create new grain-specific regulations are “simply unjustified.”
Following the June 2, 2015 oversight hearing of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee on Amtrak’s May 12 fatal derailment of Northeast Regional Train 188 (which according to many observers had very little to do with discussing the accident itself and its possible cause—see David Schanoes’ blog), Association of American Railroads President and CEO Ed Hamberger commended Amtrak President and CEO Joe Boardman “for reinforcing his passenger railroad’s firm commitment to safety.”
In reporting weekly U.S. rail traffic, as well as volumes for May 2015 and the first five months of 2015, the Association of American Railroads revealed that U.S. carload traffic in May dropped nearly 10%, while intermodal continued to beat last year’s numbers, with a gain of nearly 4% for the month.
For the week ending May 23, 2015, U.S. rail traffic dipped nearly 3%, with a gain in intermodal only partially offsetting a sharp decline in carload traffic. The same held true for combined North American traffic for U.S., Canadian and Mexican carriers. U.S. traffic was relatively flat for the year’s first 19 weeks of 2015.
The Association of American Railroads (AAR) has announced the 2014 recipients of the Holden-Proefrock Award, Non-Accident Release (NAR) Grand Slam Award, and Perfect Game Award. In addition, TRANSCAER® (Transportation Community Awareness and Emergency Response) announced its National Achievement Awards. The awards were presented at the 28th Annual AAR/BOE (Bureau of Explosives) Hazmat Seminar in Addison, Tex.
U.S. Class I railroads originated 113,089 carloads of crude oil in the first quarter of 2015, down 17,982 carloads or 13.7% from the fourth quarter of 2014, the Association of American Railroads noted as it reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending May 16, 2015.
For the week ending May 9, 2015, North American freight rail traffic dipped by about 2.5% compared to the same period in 2104, the Association of American Railroads reported.
The Association of American Railroads has presented CSX Director of Advanced engineering Suneil Kuthiala with the John H. Chafee Environmental Excellence Award “for his outstanding environmental leadership, especially in the area of fuel efficiency.”
In reporting weekly U.S. rail traffic, as well as volumes for April 2015 and the first four months of 2015, the Association of American Railroads took note of how growth in intermodal traffic offsetting declines in several types of carload traffic. The net result is traffic that is relatively flat.
The final spec for the now-official DOT-117 (TC-117 in Canada) non-pressurized tank car adopts the most demanding of the technical requirements first offered for comment in the notice of rulemaking: jacketed and thermally insulated shells of 9/16-inch steel, full-height half-inch-thick head shields, sturdier, re-closeable pressure relief valves and rollover protection for top fittings.