General Information
Solving big safety problems with big data: FRA RISE
(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…
Read MoreWill Supreme Court ruling chill STB, FRA?
(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
Read MoreLetters citing rail service crisis continue to circulate at STB
(Source: Progressive Railroading 07/01/2022) Surface Transportation Board members and other federal officials continue to hear from rail shippers and other rail industry stakeholders about ongoing freight-rail service issues and the supply-chain crisis. This week, more than 50 Democratic and Republican members of Congress asked the STB to address the problems, particularly those disrupting U.S. food production.…
Read MoreIs the perfect storm brewing for railroad and port logistics failures?
(Source: Progressive Farmer, June 27, 2022) Rail and port workers in the U.S. and Canada are in the midst of contract negotiations, and a failure to come to an agreement could be a disaster for West Coast ports and railroads. Currently, there are three major transportation-related groups in contract talks with one already declaring a…
Read MoreRail traffic down for 18th week in a row
(Source: Railway Age, June 29, 2022) NEW YORK — For the week ending June 25, 2022 (Week 25), U.S. rail traffic was 493,374 carloads and intermodal units, down 4.4% from the prior-year period, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported June 29. Class I railroads hauled 229,857 carloads, down 3.1%, and 263,517 containers and trailers,…
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