U.S. Chamber urges Presidential Emergency Board to resolve stalemate By John Gallagher for freightwaves.com The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is calling on President Joe Biden to help resolve a dispute between the country’s Class 1 railroads and 12 rail unions to avert a possible rail strike beginning July 18. In a letter sent to the […]
Reciprocal switching could help with system efficiency, Daniel Elliott says By Joanna Marsh for freightwaves.com Reciprocal switching occurs when a shipper has access to one freight railroad but wants access to a nearby competing freight railroad in order to cultivate a competitive pricing environment. President Joe Biden via a July executive ordercharged Surface Transportation Board Chairman […]
BY STEVE POCIASK, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR for thehill.com The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the view of The Hill Over the last four decades, the railroad industry’s productivity has increased 159 percent and real prices of ship goods have plummeted 44 percent. Why? In large part thanks to reforms passed by a […]
Reciprocal switching can be a win for both railroads and shippers. By wsj.com “Regulator Tackles Competition on Rails” (U.S. News, Sept. 3) provides a solid account of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board’s efforts to tackle freight-rail issues and employ a remedy called reciprocal switching. As a former chairman of the STB, I learned the depth […]
Canadian National’s prickly relationship with Amtrak could lead regulators to block its plan to acquire Kansas City Southern. By Brooke Sutherland for bloomberg.com Kansas City Southern investors are right to worry that the Biden administration’s tougher stance on antitrust enforcement may signal trouble for the company’s $34 billion plan to sell itself to Canadian National Railway Co. […]
By Ted O’Neil | The Center Square contributor for themercury.com (The Center Square) – An executive order signed by President Joe Biden that could force railroads to allow other operators to use their tracks could reduce competition and increase costs, according to industry experts. Biden’s order last week in part called on the independent Surface […]
Written by William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-Chief for railwayage.com The Biden Administration will shortly issue an Executive Order directing federal regulators to “confront consolidation and perceived anticompetitive pricing” in the railroad and ocean shipping and industries “as part of a broad effort to blunt the power of big business to dominate industries,” according to a July 8 Wall Street […]
President Biden rolled out his pro-union plan to rebuild the nation’s roads, bridges, water pipes, and expand broadband access during his first address to a joint session of Congress. President Biden also mentioned jobs more than 40 times during his address, touting not only the addition of 1.3 million jobs during his administration but the […]
President Biden’s American Rescue Plan Act provides 100 percent health COBRA coverage to employees and their family members. IAM members would qualify for COBRA coverage if they lost health insurance (including medical, dental, and vision plans) due to a reduction in hours being cut back, switch from full time to part-time, a temporary leave of absence, […]
By Benjamin Kail for masslive.com Veterans Affairs beneficiaries who’ve waited nearly a month for their $1,400 COVID-19 stimulus checks should see them by Wednesday, according to the Internal Revenue Service. Weeks of administrative holdups prevented retirees, Veterans Affairs beneficiaries and other low-income recipients of federal benefits from getting their checks as quickly as tens of millions of other Americans. Still, Social Security, […]