Management Archives

March 05, 2015
C&S/IT

PTC relief on the way?

The U.S. railroad industry has been scrambling since 2008 to meet the requirements of an unfunded federal government mandate—namely, having Positive Train Control installed and fully operational by Dec. 31, 2015 on 60,000 miles of track where hazmat and passenger trains operate. Parallel to the PTC initiative has been a battle waged on Capitol Hill to extend the end-of-the-year deadline. That effort may be paying off, and the railroads may one day be grateful that they have a Thune on their side.

March 04, 2015
Class I

Supreme Court sends tax dispute back home to Alabama

In a case involving CSX Transportation, the United States Supreme Court ruled Wednesday, March 4, 2015 that the State of Alabama should be given the chance to justify a fuel sales tax it assesses on railroads but not on competitors in the trucking and barge industries.

March 02, 2015
M/W

Harsco acquires Protran Technology

Harsco Corp. announced Monday, March 2, 2015 that it has acquired Newton, N.J.-based Protran Technology, providing design and production of safety systems for transportation and industrial applications. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

February 20, 2015
Commuter/Regional

Bombardier makes fiscal, personnel moves

Bombardier said Thursday, Feb. 19, 2015 that it will raise C$750 million (about US$600 million) through the sale of 339.4 million subscription receipts to a syndicate of underwriters, in order to raise US$2.1 billion to stabilize its financial status.

February 20, 2015
Class I

Ottensmeyer appointed KCS president

Kansas City Southern Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Patrick J. Ottensmeyer has been appointed President, effective March 1, 2015, as part of the railroad’s succession planning process.

February 19, 2015
Class I

Unifor threatening to strike CN

Unifor, the largest union at CN, with more than 4,800 members (mechanics, clerical workers, excavator operators, locomotive engineers, and truck drivers) covered by six collective agreements, said on Feb. 19, 2015 that it will be commencing strike votes at CN as of early the week of Feb. 23 “after five months of futile negotiations.” The union’s current collective agreement expired on Dec. 31, 2014, and negotiations had been taking place since September.

February 18, 2015
Class I

CN to Unifor: We won’t fill your political trough

CN said on Feb. 18, 2015 that the Unifor union, which represents approximately 4,800 CN employees in mechanical, intermodal, clerical and other areas in Canada, “continues to reject a fair company offer to reach a new collective agreement in line with settlements it has negotiated with three other unions.”

February 17, 2015
Class I

CP endures short strike; arbitration set

Roughly 3,000 union train and operations employees returned to work on Monday, Feb. 16, 2015 following a 36-hour strike against Canadian Pacific Railway, after CP agreed to binding arbitration, thus pre-empting any back-to-work order from the Canadian federal government.

February 17, 2015
Class I

Unitrac Railroad Materials promotes Albanese

Unitrac Railroad Materials on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2015 announced Lizabeth Albanese has been promoted to national sales manager.

February 17, 2015
Class I

VHB acquires transport firm

VHB has announced its acquisition of GMB Engineers & Planners, Inc. (GMB), a transportation firm with offices in Orlando and Chipley, Fla., and in Atlanta.