Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Train conductor killed as Norfolk Southern reports third accident in a month

Train collides with dump truck at a steel factory in Cleveland as Congress, DOT pledge tighter safety rules.

norfolk Screen Shot 2023-03-07 at 3.51.52 PM.png

 

A Norfolk Southern Corp. train collided with a dump truck at a rail crossing today near Cleveland, killing its conductor and marking the company’s third serious accident in just over a month, all occurring in the state of Ohio, the company said.


The event came just a day after Atlanta-based Norfolk Southern released a six-point plan to improve safety conditions along its rail lines in order to prevent the recurrence of accidents such as the Feb. 3 derailment that spilled toxic chemicals in East Palestine, Ohio.

Congress is also acting to require stricter safety provisions for the rail industry, per the terms of a bipartisan bill introduced last month in the Senate.

And federal regulators are likewise tracking rail safety practices, with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) last week saying that “strong first steps from rail industry and Congress must be backed up with continued action.” In pursuit of those safety reforms, the DOT is calling for “an end to the rail industry’s ‘vigorous resistance’ to increased safety measures, which in the past has included lobbying and litigation to kill commonsense rail safety reforms.”

In a statement, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg repeated that call for stricter rail rules. “FRA, NTSB, and OSHA are investigating after a collision this morning killed a Norfolk Southern conductor in Cleveland. Our thoughts are with the family facing this preventable tragedy. Now more than ever, it is time for stronger freight railroad accountability and safety,” Buttigieg said in a release.

Norfolk Southern’s latest crash occurred early Tuesday morning at a facility operated by Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., a producer of flat-rolled steel and a supplier of iron ore pellets to the auto industry. “At this time, officials are reporting that the conductor was struck by a dump truck as a Norfolk Southern train was moving through a crossing at the facility,” Norfolk Southern said in a release. “Norfolk Southern has been in touch with the conductor's family and will do all it can to support them and his colleagues. We are grieving the loss of a colleague today. Our hearts go out to his loved ones during this extremely difficult time.”

The injured worker was 46-year-old Louis Shuster, a Broadview Heights, Ohio, resident who was an Army veteran and the father of a 16-year-old son, according to his union, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET).

In a statement, the union called for rail safety improvements, and said that an accident investigation was under way by both its own representatives and by the National Transportation Safety Board. “This was a tragic situation and it’s a devastating loss for the Shuster family as well as the members of this union,” BLET National President Eddie Hall said in a release. “All railroad accidents are avoidable. This collision underscores the need for significant improvements in rail safety for both workers and the public.”

 

 

The Latest

More Stories

photo of containers at port of montreal

Port of Montreal says activities are back to normal following 2024 strike

Container traffic is finally back to typical levels at the port of Montreal, two months after dockworkers returned to work following a strike, port officials said Thursday.

Canada’s federal government had mandated binding arbitration between workers and employers through the country’s Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) in November, following labor strikes on both coasts that shut down major facilities like the ports of Vancouver and Montreal.

Keep ReadingShow less

Featured

autonomous tugger vehicle
Lift Trucks, Personnel & Burden Carriers

Cyngn delivers autonomous tuggers to wheel maker COATS

photo of a cargo ship cruising

Project44 tallies supply chain impacts of a turbulent 2024

Following a year in which global logistics networks were buffeted by labor strikes, natural disasters, regional political violence, and economic turbulence, the supply chain visibility provider Project44 has compiled the impact of each of those events in a new study.

The “2024 Year in Review” report lists the various transportation delays, freight volume restrictions, and infrastructure repair costs of a long string of events. Those disruptions include labor strikes at Canadian ports and postal sites, the U.S. East and Gulf coast port strike; hurricanes Helene, Francine, and Milton; the Francis Scott key Bridge collapse in Baltimore Harbor; the CrowdStrike cyber attack; and Red Sea missile attacks on passing cargo ships.

Keep ReadingShow less
diagram of transportation modes

Shippeo gains $30 million backing for its transportation visibility platform

The French transportation visibility provider Shippeo today said it has raised $30 million in financial backing, saying the money will support its accelerated expansion across North America and APAC, while driving enhancements to its “Real-Time Transportation Visibility Platform” product.

The funding round was led by Woven Capital, Toyota’s growth fund, with participation from existing investors: Battery Ventures, Partech, NGP Capital, Bpifrance Digital Venture, LFX Venture Partners, Shift4Good and Yamaha Motor Ventures. With this round, Shippeo’s total funding exceeds $140 million.

Keep ReadingShow less
Cover image for the white paper, "The threat of resiliency and sustainability in global supply chain management: expectations for 2025."

CSCMP releases new white paper looking at potential supply chain impact of incoming Trump administration

Donald Trump has been clear that he plans to hit the ground running after his inauguration on January 20, launching ambitious plans that could have significant repercussions for global supply chains.

With a new white paper—"The threat of resiliency and sustainability in global supply chain management: Expectations for 2025”—the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) seeks to provide some guidance on what companies can expect for the first year of the second Trump Administration.

Keep ReadingShow less
grocery supply chain workers

ReposiTrak and Upshop link platforms to enable food traceability

ReposiTrak, a global food traceability network operator, will partner with Upshop, a provider of store operations technology for food retailers, to create an end-to-end grocery traceability solution that reaches from the supply chain to the retail store, the firms said today.

The partnership creates a data connection between suppliers and the retail store. It works by integrating Salt Lake City-based ReposiTrak’s network of thousands of suppliers and their traceability shipment data with Austin, Texas-based Upshop’s network of more than 450 retailers and their retail stores.

Keep ReadingShow less