BLET News

(Source: Progressive Railroading, July 7, 2022) A growing list of businesses are letting President Joe Biden know they’re worried about the current stalemate in major freight railroads’ labor negotiations and the impact a potential rail strike would have on the economy. The National Retail Federation is the latest association to urge Biden to establish a Presidential Emergency…

Source: Progressive Railroading, July 6, 2022) A coalition of rail shippers is calling on President Joe Biden to establish a Presidential Emergency Board (PEB) to help the nation’s largest railroads and rail labor groups reach a contract settlement. Full story: Progressive Railroading

(Source: Railway Age, July 5, 2022) NEW YORK — We’re now in the second half of 2022, when the four major U.S. Class I’s have committed to turning their operations around, but the current state of play is not encouraging. Full story: Railway Age

(Source: Railway Age column by Dr. Starr Kidda, Human Factors Division Chief, FRA Office of Research, Development and Technology, July 5, 2022) NEW YORK — Despite tremendous progress in railroad safety over the past 40 years, some statistical measures of safety performance indicate that we have reached a plateau. For example, fatalities have plateaued since…

(Source: Railway Age, July 5, 2022) NEW YORK — Whether the Surface Transportation Board (STB) and Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) will suffer from a June 30 Supreme Court (SCOTUS) trimming of regulatory agency authority to interpret their own governing statutes and remedy ambiguities remains to be seen. Full story: Railway Age