News

Reliable Rail Service bill reintroduced

Two U.S. Senators are making another attempt to bring reasonable rates and reliable service to America’s railroad customers.

Wisconsin Democrat Tammy Baldwin says she and Kansas Republican Roger Marshall have re-introduced the Reliable Rail Service Act. “Our farmers, our manufacturers, our producers, they’re paying sky-high prices for sub-par rail service to get their goods to market, and it’s really hurting consumers and our pocketbooks.”

Baldwin says vaguely written laws combined with “extreme” railroad consolidation and predatory Wall Street practices have allowed the rail industry to ignore many farmers and manufacturers that need them. “There’s this ambiguity, vagueness in the law that requires these same rail carriers to serve the wider shipping public, not just their own interests and their own hand-selected high-paying customers. They have a common carrier obligation.”

Baldwin says she’s optimistic the legislation will get more traction in Congress this time because of the timing. “We are going to be working on the Surface Transportation Reauthorization. That’s a bill that we have to reauthorize every so many years, and this is just the type of measure that would fit appropriately within that.”

Baldwin says the bill language is like the bill from last session and would clearly define the common carrier responsibilities of rail carriers.

The Reliable Rail Service Act is supported by Wisconsin Farm Bureau, the International Dairy Foods Association, the American Chemistry Council, the International Warehouse Logistics Association, the AFL-CIO, and the National Grain and Feed Association. It is also endorsed by the Agricultural Retailers Association, American Petroleum Institute, American Chemistry Council, American Forest & Paper Association, American Soybean Association, Consumer Brands Association, Essential Minerals Association, Freight Rail Customer Alliance, Glass Packaging Institute, Growth Energy, International Dairy Foods Association, International Warehouse Logistics Association, National Grain and Feed Association, National Industrial Transportation League, National Milk Producers Federation, National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association, North American Millers’ Association, Private Rail Car Food and Beverage Association, The National Grange, Western Coal Traffic League, American Cement Association, Recycled Materials Association, Alliance for Chemical Distribution (ACD), National Farmers Union, Great Lakes Timber Professionals, American Train Dispatchers Association (ATDA), Brotherhood Of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division (BMWED)-IBT, Brotherhood of Railway Carmen (BRC), Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen (BRS), International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers (IBB), International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Teamsters Rail Conference, National Conference of Firemen and Oilers, SEIU (NCFO), Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers-Mechanical Division (SMART-MD), Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers-Transportation Division (SMART-TD), Transportation Communications Union (TCU), Transport Workers Union of America (TWU), and Transportation Trades Department (TTD).

AUDIO: Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin discusses the Reliable Rail Act with Brownfield’s Larry Lee