Weekly Digest Number 46 - November 17, 2020 |
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Rail Industry ‘Ready to Work’ With President-Elect Biden |
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“On behalf of the entire industry, congratulations to President-Elect Biden on his victory,” said AAR President and CEO Ian Jefferies. “The President-Elect is no stranger to America’s railroads, and the freight rail industry looks forward to working with his new Administration to advance our shared goals, including getting Americans back to work, strengthening the economy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The challenges his new Administration and our nation face are great, but the freight railroads want to be—and must be—part of the solution.”
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CSX Wants Pan-Am. NS Says ‘Not So Fast’ |
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Shades of the battle between CSX and Norfolk Southern that occurred some 25 years ago over Conrail, but on a smaller scale: CSX is in negotiations to acquire Pan Am Railways, the 1,700-mile Class II previously known as the Guilford Rail System, itself the amalgamation of the Boston & Maine, Maine Central, Portland Terminal Company and Springfield Terminal Railway.
NS, in a Nov. 6 filing with the Surface Transportation Board, is opposing the transaction.
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BNSF 3Q20: Pandemic Drives Down Revenues, Pre-Tax Earnings
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BNSF’s third-quarter operating revenues and pre-tax earnings fell 14.1% and 8.4%, respectively, due to the COVID-19 pandemic’s continuing impact.
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Intermodal traffic turns a corner in Q3 |
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Third-quarter 2020 intermodal volumes rose 1.2% to 4,719,462 units compared with the same period a year ago, according to the Intermodal Association of North America's (IANA) Intermodal Quarterly report.
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Union Pacific Recognizes Agreement Professionals’ Critical Pandemic Role With $1,000 Bonus |
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"While many fellow citizens were sheltering in place, our craft professionals rolled up their sleeves and answered the nation's call during one of its greatest times of need," said Chairman, President and CEO Lance Fritz.
"The pivotal role these essential employees play delivering critical supplies and keeping the economy open cannot be emphasized enough. This recognition reflects how notable their efforts are and how much their great work is appreciated."
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Ground breaks on construction for new railroad |
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"Now one more railroad is actually on its way.
Contractors for the Kansas City Southern Railway Company began drilling into soil near the International Bridge.
KGNS caught video footage of the crews Thursday as they are in the initial engineering stages to add a parallel bridge to the existing International Bridge in Laredo.
KCS spokesperson Doniele Carlson says the project would "make existing train traffic safer, more secure, more fluid, reduce traffic congestion in downtown Laredo and allow for growth in the future.”
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Decatur & Eastern Illinois Employee Killed |
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This comes from the Facebook post of a local railroader:
Yesterday, our community lost a member in an on duty switching incident in Illinois on the Decatur & Eastern Illinois Railroad. Brandon was a proud railroader, a great photographer, and a professional mentor to many of my younger friends. Like a lot of us, he was a pretty brash dude with lots of opinions and didn't really care what you thought about them, but he got along with about anybody he came across. Our last exchange was back in June not all that far from where he drew his last breath, it was nice to briefly catch up with him.
Of course it hits hard when a railroader doesn't make it home, especially from the same craft. It's worse when that person is not only a fellow enthusiast but possesses an over and above respect for the equipment.
Keep your head in the game. Work safely. Most importantly, and perhaps hardest to do in a time like this: focus. His memory will live on through those that he encouraged over the years. Keep his family and friends in your thoughts as they attempt to process this heartbreaking news.
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FRA Releases Final Rule on Amtrak Performance Metrics |
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The final rule requires Amtrak and its host freight railroads to certify Amtrak schedules, and sets an on-time performance minimum standard of 80% for any two consecutive calendar quarters. It also defines the metrics of ridership, train delays, train delays per 10,000 train-miles, station performance and host running time.
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Organized Labor Helped Boost Biden In Critical Battlegrounds |
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Trece Andrews spent the last three months phone-banking and sometimes canvassing for Joe Biden in Michigan. The nursing home worker focused her efforts on Detroit residents and fellow members of the Service Employees International Union, telling them a Biden administration would protect their health care and do more to raise their wages.
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This Election Shows Labor's Ground Game Matters |
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UNITE HERE brought the discipline, ambition, and methodology of its stellar workplace organizing to the election canvass operation. The union sent 1,700 canvassers—many of them Black and Latino union members whose jobs and families were hit hard by COVID-19—to knock doors in Nevada, Arizona, Florida, and Pennsylvania.
Despite being smaller than many other unions, and with many members out of work and staff laid off, this was the largest canvassing operation in these states of any union during the election.
The union developed a contactless canvassing model with the guidance of epidemiologists that included intensive training, personal protective equipment, and safety protocols. This operation proved that door-to-door canvassing can be done effectively and safely during a pandemic—and, more importantly, that it must be done!
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American freight rail — one of the world’s most efficient and cost-effective transportation networks — is getting even better through strategic investments. Railroads are evolving, providing customers a competitive edge in the global economy of the future.
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