NTSB recommends better placement of buffer cars
NTSB gives three recommendations to trade groups and federal agencies governing rail movements of hazardous materials 549 3 minutes read NTSB issued several safety recommendations regarding the placement of buffer cars. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)
The freight rail industry needs to reconsider where it places buffer cars and tank cars on trains carrying hazardous materials in order to better protect train crew members and reduce the severity of a potential accident, according to recommendations from the National Transportation Safety Board concerning two accidents in April 2019 and February 2020.
NTSB’s safety recommendations come from its investigations into two incidents involving breached U.S. Department of Transportation-111 tank cars on high-hazard flammable trains.
Pacific Harbor Line (PHL) President Otis Cliatt II
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Pacific Harbor Line (PHL) President Otis Cliatt II to the Board of Trustees of Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University (FAMU) in Tallahassee.
Cliatt, a 1987 FAMU graduate, joined PHL in 2010 as Vice President, and was promoted to his current position in 2012. He has held senior management positions at Union Pacific and CANAC Railway Services, and served on the Boards of Directors of the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association and the California Short Line Railroad Association, as well as on GE Transportation’s Customer Advisory Board.
“We’re very proud of Otis and his latest achievement,” said Peter Gilbertson, Chairman and CEO of Anacostia Rail Holdings, parent company of PHL, which provides rail transportation, maintenance and dispatching services to the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. “For more than a decade at PHL, Otis has contributed his time and talent as
Industry groups hopeful transportation secretary nominee Mayor Buttigieg understands rural and urban needs.
President-elect Joe Biden nominated former mayor of South Bend, Ind., Pete Buttigieg, to be secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation, drawing hopeful optimism that if confirmed rural and urban interests can be heard under his watch.
Buttigieg served as the 32nd mayor of South Bend for eight years. He secured $200 million in private investment in downtown South Bend, sparking citywide job growth and facilitating innovative public-private partnerships to improve the city’s transportation. In addition to his service as mayor, Buttigieg was an intelligence officer in the United States Navy Reserve who was deployed to Afghanistan in 2014, eventually earning the rank of Lieutenant.
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Freight rail stakeholders are offering early congratulations to former presidential candidate and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg for his nomination to President-elect Joe Biden s Cabinet.
The stakeholders offer support amid hopes that the White House and Congress will agree upon transportation initiatives including a bipartisan infrastructure bill that would find support not only among rural and urban constituents but also among manufacturers.
The groups will also be watching how Buttigieg and the DOT respond to technological advances within transportation. Former-Mayor Buttigieg s forward-looking approach supported by data-driven decision making will serve him well as the next Secretary of Transportation, said Association of American Railroads (AAR) President Ian Jefferies. On behalf of AAR and the nation s rail industry, we look forward to working with Mr. Buttigieg to modernize the nation s surface transportation.
December 17, 2020
Railroad, Transit Groups Request Vaccine Priority Written by Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor
Freight rail and transit organizations are requesting that Congress and state governors, respectively, consider their members’ employees as the COVID-19 vaccine is distributed.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has proposed that essential workers, including transportation workers, be included in the second priority group (Phase 1b) of the vaccine rollout, after health care workers and others who are considered highest priority (Phase 1a).
The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) joined the Association of American Railroads (AAR) and nine other groups in submitting a letter Dec. 9 to senators on the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee and Transportation and Safety Subcommittee requesting “timely access” to the