Jessica Towhey
It sounds like the setup to a bad joke: How many people does it take to crew a freight train?
But with the federal government wading into the debate, no one thinks itâs funny.
In 2019, the Federal Railroad Administration under former President Donald Trump issued a rule revoking a 2016 proposed regulation and enabling railroads and labor unions to determine staffing through collective bargaining. California, Nevada, and Washington states sued, claiming the rule would undermine rail safety. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in February upheld a lower courtâs order requiring two people in the cab, opining that the Trump rule was arbitrary.