Railway Track & Structures - September 2008 - (Page 31)

NRCChairman’s Column Conference focus: productivity, safety Manny Ramirez Chairman life in 2009 and beyond. From high-stakes financial and boardroom disputes (CSXT and TCI) to a stunning rise in gas prices (up more than 80 percent from last year) to a dramatic increase in transit and passenger rail ridership throughout the country to the national economic slowdown to the impending shortfall in the Highway/Transit Trust Fund to the historic flooding in the Midwest to the unprecedented flurry of rail legislation in Congress (safety, tax credits for rehabilitation and expansion of infrastructure, reregulation, passenger rail, transit spending, energy, etc.), the NRC Conference will have speakers who can update you on the very latest in the industry and help you and your company plan to deal with the changed landscape. The bread and butter of the NRC Conference is, as always, the near term contracting and spending plans of the major freight railroad spenders in the country, including UP, BNSF, CSXT, CPR, CN, RailAmerica, G&W, Watco and OmniTRAX. As the federal government has been focusing heavily on safety lately, the Conference will also update you on the latest developments there. There is still a major piece of Safety Legislation in Congress. Just before the August recess, the Senate ‘hotlined’ (passed by Unanimous Consent) their version of the Rail Safety Bill (S.AMDT.5259, Railroad Safety Enhancement Act of 2008), setting up a Conference Committee with the House’s version of the Safety Bill (H.R.2095, Federal Railroad Safety Improvement Act of 2007). The NRC will continue to actively work to influence the outcome of this legislation. In addition, the FRA is trying to update the Roadway Worker Protection rules to specify on-track safety procedures to protect roadway work groups from the movement of trains or other on-track equipment on “adjacent track,” which would be defined as “any controlled track whose track center is 19 feet or less from the track center of the occupied track.” These updates were in a Notice of Proposed Rule Making on July 17 and then withdrawn on August 13 due to internal rail labor union concerns. In August the FRA launched the Risk Reduction Program, a risk-based approach to identifying and correcting safety issues. The initiative will develop methods to address train-accident and employee-injury risk factors. RRP encourages voluntary participation by railroads and workers on projects targeting specific risk categories such as confidential close-call reporting systems, peer-to-peer accident prevention strategies and fatigue risk management programs. Also, the program encourages railroads to adopt technology such as trackside train-monitoring equipment to identify potential safety problems. This type of a Changing At-Risk Behavior project has resulted in an 80percent reduction of “targeted behavior” in less than two years in one pilot project, says FRA. At my company, Kiewit/Mass Electric Construction Company, we are also implementing a CAB project to develop the optimum conditions, practices and leaders to achieve a perfect safety record. The NRC applauds Congress and the FRA for their ongoing safety efforts, and we pledge to continue to work with these institutions to improve safety in the industry. Of course, these efforts must be reasonably balanced, always keeping in mind that the rail transportation business is critical to the economy and that commerce must move as freely as possible. In general, the railroad contracting industry lives by the code found at the beginning of every Railroad General Code of Operating Rules: “1.0 General Responsibilities: Safety is the most important element in performing duties. Obeying the rules is essential to job safety and continued employment. In case of doubt or uncertainty, take the safe course.” It is everyone’s responsibility to ensure that every single one of our employees goes home to their loved ones safe and sound each day. Safety has been, and must continue to be, priority #1. In addition to the safety updates and the packed days of presentations at the Conference and a full exhibit hall, we’ll also leave you plenty of free time to enjoy your surroundings and spend time with customers and colleagues as you choose. There are receptions, a banquet dinner, a golf tournament and plenty of free evenings. It really is about the best way you could possibly start the new year. Go to the www.nrcma.org to register, or fill out the form in this magazine. I hope to see you all there. September 2008 31 The National Railroad Construction & Maintenance Association, Inc. 500 New Jersey Ave., N. W. Suite 400 Washington D. C. 20009 Tel: 202-715-2920 Fax: 202-318-0867 www.nrcma.org info@nrcma.org As the summer of 2008 winds down, the NRC is hard at work putting together our 2009 Annual Conference. The Conference/Exhibition begins on Wednesday, January 7, at 4 p.m., and will go through Saturday night, January 10, 2009. I’d like to personally invite all readers of this column to attend. If you’ve been before, you probably don’t need convincing. If you’ve never been, it really is a unique opportunity to meet and spend some real quality time with-hundreds of key players in the railroad construction, maintenance and supply industries. The environment (Southwest Florida in January at a luxury resort), the speakers, the attendees and the fun form a combination that can’t be beat. Now is the time to make your arrangements to attend. Every year, the exhibition, the golf tournament and the hotel room block all sell out, and we’re in a particularly nice venue this time around so a sell-out is almost guaranteed. The Conference will be held at The Sanibel Harbour Resort & Spa in Fort Myers, Fla. To register for the Conference and/or arrange an exhibit booth, go to www.nrcma.org. To book a room at the discounted group rate of $210/night, call the Sanibel Harbour Resort at 800-767-7777. 2008 has been an extraordinarily interesting year in the rail industry, and the NRC Conference will summarize that nicely and more importantly help you understand how the changes will affect your www.rtands.com Railway Track & Structures http://www.nrcma.org http://www.nrcma.org http://www.nrcma.org http://www.nrcma.org http://www.nrcma.org http://www.rtands.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Railway Track & Structures - September 2008

Railway Track & Structures - September 2008 Contents On Track Industry Today Supplier News AREMA News NRC News TTCI R&D Larry Etherton Rounds Out Successful Term as President of AREMA Remote Bridges Present Challenges New Mexico Rail Runner Express Making Tracks for Santa Fe Products and Literature People Calendar Sales Representatives Advertisers Index Website Directory Professional Directory Classified Advertising Chicago Perspective

Railway Track & Structures - September 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.