BLET News

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio, December 12 — The Rail Workers Hazardous Materials Training Program is hosting three in-person rail worker training sessions in early 2023. The dates are as follows: January 15-20, 2023; February 5-10, 2023; and March 5-10, 2023. These Rail Hazmat/Chemical Emergency Response training courses will run on a Sunday through Friday basis. All training…

(Source: Trains Magazine, January 4, 2023) Union Pacific, citing ongoing harsh winter weather, is continuing an embargo it placed last week on all traffic to and from Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. UP said in a Dec. 29 customer advisory that it expected the embargo to remain in effect for at least 14 days. Full story: Trains Magazine

(Source: Railway Age, January 4, 2022) Total U.S. carload traffic for the first 12 months of 2022 was down 0.3% from the same period last year; and intermodal units were down 4.9%; the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported Jan. 4. For the week ending Dec. 31 (Week 52), North American rail volume was down…

(Source: Trains Magazine, January 3, 2023) A Government Accountability Office report on Precision Scheduled Railroading says the impact of the low-cost operating model on safety and service is unclear. Rail worker complaints to the FRA regarding safety issues have increased sharply, however, rising from 200 in 2020 to 500 in 2021 and nearly 400 in…

Election Statement by Dennis R. Pierce December 16, 2022 The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, the founding member of the Teamsters Rail Conference, conducted the ballot count for the 2022 Election of BLET National Division Officers on Monday, December 12, 2022. BLET’s change from delegate elections in convention to rank and file elections of…