General Information
AAR: U.S. rail traffic down for 14th week in a row
(Source: Railway Age, June 1, 2022) NEW YORK — Total U.S. weekly rail traffic for the week ending May 28, 2022 (Week 21) was 514,277 carloads and intermodal units, a 3% fall-off compared with the same week last year. This is the 14th consecutive week that total traffic has declined. (Total traffic gains were last seen in Week 7,…
Read MoreQ&A: Buyouts and Railroad Retirement benefits
(Source: Railroad Retirement Board press release, April 26, 2022) CHICAGO — Railroad employees frequently ask the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) how accepting a buyout from a railroad employer affects their future eligibility for benefits under the Railroad Retirement and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Acts. The following questions and answers provide information on this subject. 1. Would leaving…
Read MoreQ&A: Buyouts and Railroad Retirement benefits
(Source: Railroad Retirement Board press release, April 26, 2022) CHICAGO — Railroad employees frequently ask the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) how accepting a buyout from a railroad employer affects their future eligibility for benefits under the Railroad Retirement and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Acts. The following questions and answers provide information on this subject. 1. Would leaving…
Read MoreLeDure v. Union Pacific: Locomotive Inspection Act case law stays intact and “in use” for now
(Source: JD Supra, April 29, 2022) WASHINGTON, D.C. — Interpretation of the phrase “in use” as used in the Locomotive Inspection Act (LIA) continues to baffle courts across the country, including the Supreme Court of the United States. On April 28, 2022, the Supreme Court let stand a Seventh Circuit decision that held Union Pacific…
Read MoreBLET, SMART-TD members protest outside of BNSF shareholder meeting in Omaha
(Source: SMART Transportation Division press release, April 30, 2022) OMAHA, Neb. — While Berkshire Hathaway shareholders sat April 30 in comfort and national cable-news networks live-streamed and deified wealth hoarder Warren Buffett and his executive cronies at the company’s annual meeting, BNSF railroad workers, as always, were out in the elements doing the hard things…
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