UTU News Digest - Tuesday, March 23, 1999

UTU Daily News Digest

Information of interest to operating railroad and transportation employees

Tuesday, March 23, 1999

ILLINOIS: Freight trains crash today near Amtrak crash site

MOMENCE, Ill. -- A Conrail freight train crashed into the side of a Union Pacific freight train at an intersection of track early today, and some cars derailed. There was no immediate word on injuries. The site only a few miles from the place where an Amtrak passenger train crash killed 11 people last week.

A spokesman for Philadelphia-based Conrail said one of his company's eastbound freight trains hit a southbound Union Pacific train on a track about 50 miles south of Chicago. He had no details on the severity of the crash, injuries or how many cars have derailed.

Momence firefighter Terry Zimmerman said firefighters from throughout the area responded to a call at about 7 a.m. But footage from news helicopters about an hour later showed no obvious signs of fire. The crash happened about 11 miles east of Bourbonnais, site of last week's Amtrak crash, but on a different track, officials said.

JOURNAL OF COMMERCE: Unions, carriers reach new work, rest rules

WASHINGTON -- Tens of thousands of train crew workers soon will have more frequent rest periods and more predictable hours in a move that is designed to reduce fatigue, enhance safety and improve employees' quality of life.

The new work and rest guidelines were announced late last week by the United Transportation Union, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and the National Carriers' Conference Committee (NCCC), which negotiates national labor contracts.

Labor and management representatives who crafted the private-sector deal called the agreement a landmark because it addressed fatigue problems that are considered a primary cause of rail accidents. Committees that will develop individual rules are to be in place at each participating railroad by May 2. Specific proposals are due by Sept. 18 and implementation by Dec. 18.

Each rail employee can work a maximum of 12 consecutive hours before being relieved, but that time is extended when delays block workers from reaching their planned destination. In those situations, employees can spend several hours waiting for transportation to the terminal that their train was supposed to reach. Workers can be recalled to duty eight hours after their previous shift expired, unless an employee has a scheduled assignment.

The guidelines, which do not reduce hours worked, include:

-- Assigned workdays and days off. Most crewmembers don't have them today.

-- Eight hours of undisturbed rest. Currently, actual rest is reduced because most workers receive new assignments by telephone two hours before the new shift begins.

-- Workers who are off for more than three days cannot start a new job before 7 a.m. on their first day back.

-- Railroads promised "diligent efforts" to improve transportation to relieve workers whose shifts expire en route.

-- Minimum standards will be set for lodging when workers are away from their home terminals.

-- More accurate information for line-ups that are supposed to give workers an idea of how close they are to being recalled to duty.

"In taking a hard look at fatigue and stress management, we have taken a big step toward improving rail safety and the quality of life, UTU President Charles Little said.

BLE President Clarence Monin also applauded the guidelines. "Fatigue has been recognized as the No. 1 killer on the nation's rails. Our ability to sit down with the carriers and work this out is a byproduct of our two unions being able to work together," he said.

The two unions, which had been rivals for decades, agreed in principle last year to a merger.

Edward Hamberger, president of the Association of American Railroads, said, "The agreement affirms the desire of the railroads and their employees to work together to resolve critical issues."

The agreement, reached outside the regulatory process, could eliminate the need for the federal government to change current hours-of-service rules, Mr. Hamberger said.

Robert Allen, who chairs the NCCC, said, "This agreement gives the opportunity for the employees and the labor organizations to work with management on improving safety and efficiency of the operation in a meaningful way. It will be a real challenge to put these things into practice without increasing costs."

The guidelines cover Union Pacific Railroad, Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern Railway and Kansas City Southern Railway. Conrail workers also will be covered, whether they wind up as employees of Norfolk Southern, CSX or the surviving Conrail that will run trains in some metropolitan areas. Conrail, acquired last year by NS and CSX, will be divided between those two railroads in June.

The precise number of workers covered by the guidelines was unavailable. Because most freight assignments are unscheduled, the guidelines should cover a substantial majority of approximately 60,000 train crew workers on those carriers.

The agreement resulted from a labor-management mechanism called a "wage-and-rules panel" that was created during the last round of national contract negotiations.

Illinois Central Railroad and the U.S. operations of Canadian Pacific Railway and Canadian National Railroad are excluded because they are not covered by the national contract.

"This will help safety, which will help service and will make the industry more secure for everybody," said Byron Boyd, the UTU's assistant president. "The most important fact was that this was done through the collective-bargaining process. Management and labor came to the same conclusions that they need to address their own problems rather than going outside."

ILLINOIS: Amtrak probe narrows to exactly when lights flashed

CHICAGO -- Federal authorities investigating last week's deadly collision between a train and a truck said Sunday that they are leaning toward a theory that the truck driver began to cross the tracks after warning lights started flashing but before crossing gates came down, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Although National Transportation Safety Board officials cautioned it will take weeks or months to determine a cause for last week’s deadly accident, the theory that investigative sources told the Tribune they currently favor is consistent with statements made by at least two witnesses.

The investigation continued as thousands of Bourbonnais residents came together Sunday for memorial observances that showed last week's train wreck, in which 11 people traveling on an Amtrak Superliner were killed, is now part of the village's identity. Three services brought together citizens ranging from law enforcement officials to medical workers to people who became heroes for a night.

Despite the new accounts gleaned from witnesses, some physical evidence still suggests that trucker John R. Stokes snaked his truck around the gates -- and officials said they are trying to reconcile the apparently contradictory information. And while investigators have said that the warning system worked properly after the accident, they nevertheless continued re-testing it Sunday.

An attorney for Stokes, Leonard Sacks, said Sunday that "common sense" dictates the accident was caused by a mechanical malfunction of the warning system. Sacks said his client did not zig-zag around downed crossing gates.

Stokes himself told the NTSB that the warning systems did not activate until after he started across the tracks, investigators said. He saw the lights begin to flash when his truck already was on the tracks.

"Common sense tells me there is something wrong with that system of how those gates come down," Sacks said. "There is no reason for him to go around them. It doesn't make any sense. And now we have more eyewitnesses and more corroboration of that."

Three witnesses interviewed last week told the NTSB that the crossing gates were in an upright position when Stokes began to cross the tracks. At least two of them said the warning lights were blinking, NTSB sources said.

Investigators privately are speculating that Stokes drove the truck, loaded with steel from a nearby plant, onto the tracks under the belief that the warning lights were activated by a slow-moving freight train rather than by a much faster passenger train.

The warning system is designed to activate when a train trips sensors 3,400 feet from the crossing, and a second sensor that measures the speed of the train controls when the gates actually come down; for a passenger train at this crossing, there is a 26-second span between the time the train trips the system and crosses the intersection. Only four passenger trains run through Bourbonnais each day -- and Stokes told a local police officer several hours after the crash: "It had to be the fast one," according to an NTSB source.

The lights should begin blinking three to four seconds before the gates come down, according to the Illinois Central railroad. The IC maintains the system at the crossing.

"Numerous" eyewitnesses have come forward, including other motorists who were sitting behind the truck along McKnight Road, a source said Sunday. Investigators have remained in Illinois to interview the witnesses, but all physical-evidence teams returned to Washington over the weekend.

The third eyewitness, a restaurant worker from Chicago who was driving a car two vehicles behind the truck, told investigators that the truck pulled onto the tracks with the gates upright and signal off, although the whistle on the City of New Orleans could be heard for some time. But investigators are still trying to analyze his statements, given through a Spanish-speaking interpreter with the Illinois State Police.

Sacks said Sunday his client's vision along the tracks was impaired by two freight cars parked along the tracks. His client has expressed "deep sympathy" for the victims and their families, Sacks said.

"He really is saddened by the fact that 11 people are dead," Sacks said. "He has been made out to be a bad guy, and that isn't true. He's as broken up about this as anyone, and he's as much a victim as anyone."

Meanwhile on Sunday -- left with the thoughts of an exhausting week of tragedies and heroism -- residents in the small community gathered at the College Church of the Nazarene to take a deep breath and finally set aside a day for rest. At three services, they came to mourn the dead and honor the rescuers.

Meeting collectively for the first time since the accident, state legislators and steelworkers mingled with dozens of law enforcement officials and hundreds of rescuers.

"The people who died in this crash, especially the children who lost their lives in this tragedy, they are now ours, they are a part of us," said Bourbonnais Mayor Grover Brooks, announcing plans for a memorial to be built at the town center. "This tragedy is now a part of our history. The people on that train will always be a part of us."

So Brooks, Rev. Dan Boone, head pastor at Church College, and other village leaders were left to shepherd the congregation through the difficult, complex emotions of the last week.

"Sometimes, we do not understand our world," Boone acknowledged in prayer. "But when you experience loss, when you mourn, when you grieve, you're blessed because God comes to comfort you."

The congregation then stood silent as the names, ages and hometowns of the 11 dead were displayed on overhead screens.

"Remember that these people have dreams, families, friends, hopes," Boone said. "Recognize the names, read them and become conscious."

The services were also an opportunity for village leaders to emphasize the efforts of an "entire community of heroes."

"God enters into the skin and bones of ordinary people," Boone said. "God does his work through ordinary people. It was the love of God poured willingly through you. What you did mattered, what you did was significant."

On the night of the accident, village resident Lori Grzelak said she noticed firefighters were slipping on frost. She rushed to a nearby store to grab giant bags of salt to help de-ice the crash site and then ran supplies back and forth from the road to the crash site.

"I'll never forget watching the firefighters faces, to see terror reflected on their faces," Grzelak said. "They had to swallow it and work through it."

Church pews were lined with firefighters, police officers and emergency medical workers from throughout the Kankakee River Valley -- many of them unpaid or on-call volunteers. Several wept openly during a video of the tragedy, produced by a church member and culled from news clips. Brooks said it was part of the healing process and offered it as an opportunity for reflection.

TRAFFIC WORLD: Senate bill targets rail monopolies

WASHINGTON -- The most aggressive, widely supported and optimistic assault on rail market power since Congress first placed railroads on a leash more than a century ago has been introduced in the Senate as the Railroad Competition and Service Improvement Act, Traffic World reported. A similar bill could surface in the House by April.

"The legislation will stimulate rail competition and level the playing field for grain, coal and other shippers," said co-sponsors Conrad Burns, R-Mont., Kent Conrad, D-N.D., Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., Pat Roberts, R-Kan., and Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., said he would introduce a House version emphasizing restoration of rail-to-rail competition to reverse the effects of mergers that carved the nation into exclusive domains for seven major rail systems that now collect some 95 percent of rail freight revenue.

While congressional passage is unlikely, House and Senate aides predict that if the shipper lobby recruits enough supporters to threaten for the second successive year reauthorization of the Surface Transportation Board, a legislative compromise could be forged that includes some of the shipper aims as part of the STB reauthorization. This is because the Republican leadership, which opposes tinkering with railroad market power, also is committed to a multiyear reauthorization of the STB whose initial three-year authorization expired last year. Congress funded the STB through Sept. 30 in expectation of reauthorization.

"We're seeing more action than anyone even imagined a month ago," said Diane Duff, executive director of the Alliance for Rail Competition. "The House remains somewhat uncharted territory, but I sense the momentum of the Senate is catching. Nobody ought to count rail shippers out of a victory."

Bob Szabo, executive director of Consumers United for Rail Equity, said the legislation responds to "a reduction in competitive options for rail customers" and a regulatory system that no longer works.

Szabo organized CURE in 1984 following shipper complaints of rate gouging by recently deregulated railroads. Remedial legislation introduced by Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-La., and Russell Long, D-La., failed by just one vote to be reported out of the House Commerce Committee in 1986 and the Senate Commerce Committee in 1987. "Nobody then foresaw the STB's bottleneck decision, railroad mergers and rail service meltdowns," said Szabo.

CURE now is joined by ARC and 13 other shipper associations representing a diverse mix of commodities. While the National Industrial Transportation League is pursuing an independent course, it too is seeking shipper protections.

More than 250 shipper officials - many NIT League members - gathered in Washington last week to hear details of the legislation and lobby Congress.

The Railroad Competition and Service Improvement Act instructs the STB to give greater weight to increasing competition among railroads and less to helping railroads improve their financial strength. It also would make seven other changes in current law.

1. Bottlenecks. When requested by a shipper, a railroad would be required to publish a rate and provide service between any two points on its system where traffic originates, terminates or may reasonably be interchanged. The STB would determine the reasonableness of those rates even if it is for only a part of a through movement. Thus a railroad with a bottleneck monopoly no longer could foreclose competitive routings to preserve its single-line haul.

2. Agricultural shipper relief. Rates for captive grain shippers of fewer than 4,000 carloads annually could not exceed 180 percent of the railroad's variable costs. A $1,000 ceiling would be imposed on STB rate-complaint filing fees and the grain shipper could request service from another railroad or file for damages when a railroad fails to provide requested railcars.

3. Small shipper relief. The bill would prohibit railroads from imposing minimum volume carload and intermodal trailer and container requirements.

4. Terminal access. The STB could no longer require a shipper to demonstrate a railroad is exploiting its monopoly position and rendering inadequate service before granting a second railroad terminal trackage rights or reciprocal switching.

5. Market dominance. The STB would be prohibited from requiring evidence of product or geographic competition when determining whether a shipper may challenge the reasonableness of a rail rate.

6. Revenue adequacy. The STB would be required to stop making an annual financial fitness determination for the rail industry.

7. Performance reports. Each major railroad would be required to make public each month its on-time performance, car availability, average train speed, average terminal dwell time and number of loaded cars on line.

In response to the Senate bill, CEOs of the major rail systems signed a letter to each member of the House and Senate urging they withhold support for any legislation "that would put the rail industry's access to capital at unnecessary risk." The rail CEOs promised over the next 20 years to invest "the equivalent of the cost of rebuilding our entire rail network twice."

COLORADO: High-speed train tests to begin

DENVER --Amtrak's newest generation of high-speed trains will begin testing near Pueblo by the end of the month for use in the Northeast by December. Called the "Acela," the 150-mph train is scheduled for testing through October. The test train is the first of 20 eight-car, electric trains intended to carry passengers between Washington and Boston.

"We're excited here because this is really the first U.S. venture into high-speed rail," said Roy Allen, president of Transport Technology Center Inc., the company that operates the government-owned test track 20 miles northeast of Pueblo.

The Acela is similar to high-speed trains that have operated for about 20 years in Europe and Japan, but is designed to tilt around curves so it can run on existing track. Overseas, many high-speed trains operate on specially built tracks that have few curves. "With the tilt technology, you'll know you're going around a curve. But it's a minor sensation, not a coffee-spilling sensation," Allen said.

In closed tests on a 13.5-mile loop, the sleek train will throttle up to 165 mph, take curves at 130 mph and top out at 150 mph in passenger service. The performance tests will be followed by endurance tests to simulate starting and stopping the train over 20,000 miles. "Our customers want to be able to do proprietary testing out of the eye of the public," Allen said.

He is confident the train will prove good enough to enter service by December because "most of the technology being used here is not brand new. It's already been used somewhere else in the world."

Each 304-passenger Acela train will consist of locomotives at the front and rear, with four coaches, a first-class car and a cafe car in the middle. Electrical outlets for personal computers and audio entertainment will be built into each seat, and more than 30 tables will be available so business travelers can spread out paperwork or hold impromptu meetings.

Amtrak created the name Acela as a combination of the words acceleration and excellence, said George Warrington, president of the passenger rail operator, when the first train was unveiled March 9 in New York. "'Acela' means high speed and high quality," Warrington said. "We will be changing the journey for every customer on every train with faster trip times, comfortable amenities and highly personalized service."

Amtrak said Acela may become its model for high-speed service on other heavily traveled corridors, such as between California cities, between Portland and Vancouver, B.C., in the Pacific Northwest and on Midwest routes emanating from Chicago.

Although high-speed train service has been proposed between Cheyenne and Pueblo along the Front Range, Amtrak does not regard the route as a high-priority corridor.

FLORIDA: Foundation formed to advance use of safety warning system

ENGLEWOOD, Fla. -- A new tax-exempt foundation, National Highway Traffic Safety Foundation, Inc. (NHTSF), has been formed to get Safety Warning System(R) Transmitters (SWS) into the hands of government agencies, emergency services, schools and other users to bolster traffic safety and provide tax deductions to those who contribute to the foundation.

This month, the NHTSF was granted section 509(a)(1) foundation status by the Internal Revenue Service, according to Safety Warning System, L.C., the umbrella group overseeing development of the revolutionary driver-messaging system. This status allows individuals, companies and other entities to take a tax credit for making contributions to NHTSF.

The foundation, in turn, will use these contributions to provide users with Safety Warning Transmitters free of charge or at minimal cost.

"We have had discussions with large retailers and similar entities that are always looking for ways to give something back to the community, and the new foundation helps them accomplish that by allowing them to help obtain Safety Warning Transmitters for local agencies who might not otherwise be able to afford them," explained Jason Richards, of SWS, L.C., in Englewood, Florida. "And it's a win-win situation because we can help reward their generosity with a tax credit."

Safety Warning Transmitters alert drivers as they approach road hazards ranging from railroad crossings to stopped school buses, utility crews, road construction and emergency vehicles. Existing radar detectors notify drivers with a visual and audible warning when encountering a transmitter. SWS receivers, meanwhile, respond with a special alert and display and announce one of over 60 permanently stored text messages telling exactly what sort of hazard is nearby. The system's flexibility, expandability and reasonable cost make it one of the most exciting Intelligent Transportation Systems available today.

The Safety Warning System(R) received formal approval recently to operate under Part 90 of the Federal Communications Commission's rules. Dozens of SWS transmitters have already been placed in more than 25 states in applications safeguarding school buses, emergency vehicles and road work zones (operating under an FCC experimental license). The technology also is in use in five foreign countries.

Additionally, a 1998 federal law allocates $2.1 million over the next three years to continue the research and development of the SWS. The funds, administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation, will help state and local governments purchase and evaluate Safety Warning Transmitters.

TEXAS: BNSF Receives Texas Safety Association Chairman's Award

FORT WORTH -- The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company received the Texas Safety Association Chairman's Award today at the opening session of the Texas Safety Association's 1999 Southwest Conference and Exposition in Houston.

BNSF was honored for having 15,298,254 man-hours in Texas in 1998 without a fatality and maintaining a frequency rate above average for the railroad industry.

Thad Baham, BNSF vice president, Safety/Rules & Technical Training and Buck Hord, BNSF vice president, Operations accepted the prestigious award today at the opening of the conference. Hord said, "Receiving this award is a great honor for BNSF. It demonstrates how committed BNSF employees are to creating a safe work environment for themselves and their co-workers."

Also in attendance were two of the Division Superintendents located in Texas, Marty Molitor and Jeff Norwood. Baham acknowledged those two individuals as being outstanding in the area of safety while accepting the award.

ALABAMA: Detour planned around Calera

CALERA, Ala. -- CSX Rail and Alabama's Transportation Department are joining together to create a detour around a deceptively dangerous railroad crossing in Calera. When the detour is built, the old crossing will be closed permanently. The last person to die there in a train-car accident was Larry Johnson in 1992.

ILLINOIS: Union Pacific estimates raised

CHICAGO -- Gruntal & Co. LLC analyst Steve Lewins said Monday he raised his first quarter earnings per share estimate for Union Pacific Corp., the nation's largest rail carrier, to $0.45 from $0.25 per share.

Union Pacific also maintained at strong buy. First quarter estimates were raised because the railroad was not severely affected by harsh weather, Lewins said in a research note.

1999 earnings per share estimate raised to $2.70 from $2.40, while 2000 estimate raised to $3.50 to $3.00 due to an accelerated recovery, the analyst said.

Lewins also raised his 12-month price target to $70 from $63. ``Now that Union Pacific has completed its recovery from the meltdown, it can focus on regaining customer confidence with good or improved service, recovering market share and restoring revenue and reducing failure costs,'' Lewins said.

WASHINGTON: Teamsters Swear in New Union President

WASHINGTON -- The Teamsters have sworn in James P. Hoffa as the union's new president.

Assuming a post once held by his late father, Hoffa took the oath of office Monday at the union's headquarters. He then administered it to other newly elected officers, most of whom were sworn in through a conference call, before holding an executive board meeting.

The new panel passed several resolutions, including one authorizing auditors to review the union's financial records. Hoffa has pledged to balance the Teamsters' budget during his first year in office.

The board also passed a resolution to create an internal ethics panel to help reshape the image of the union, which has been tainted by charges of ties to organized crime.

Hoffa, son of Jimmy Hoffa, defeated Tom Leedham in a rerun presidential election last December. A campaign finance scandal overturned President Ron Carey's 1996 re-election and barred him from trying to reclaim the office.

Election officer Michael Cherkasky certified the results of Hoffa's victory in January. However, he barred one of Hoffa's running mates from taking office and delayed certifying the election results for two vice presidential posts representing Canadian locals.

Leedham had argued that the election results should not be certified until investigations of other candidates on Hoffa's slate had been completed.

But last week, U.S. District Judge David Edelstein in New York affirmed Hoffa's victory and Cherkasky's decision that certification of the election results should not be delayed because of charges pending against some members of the Hoffa slate.