September 18, 2023

The Chapter 11 insolvency/bankruptcy process is rolling along as it has finally

• The rolling stock Yellow owns — roughly 12,000 tractors and 35,000 trailers.
• Less-than-truckload carrier Estes Express Lines is currently the front-runner for Yellow’s portfolio of 170 terminals.

• All terminal infrastructure bids have to be submitted by Nov. 9.
• The deadline for bids on the rolling stock is Oct. 13. If needed, an auction would occur on Oct. 18.

The Transportation Communications Union (TCU/IAM) and Brotherhood of Railway Carmen (BRC) announced a fatality at a CSX yard that they suspect involves remote-controlled locomotives.

[TCU/IAM National President Artie] Maratea said the incident could have involved a remote-controlled locomotive. If so, this would be the third carman fatality involving the remote-controlled locomotives, according to Maratea. He didn’t specify when those other incidents occurred.

CSX experienced other fatalities this summer; those involved conductor trainees in two separate instances. CSX, safety regulators and others are looking into the circumstances surrounding those two accidents, which occurred within 60 days of each other.

(FW)

Remote-controlled locomotive (RCL) operations in the USA have expanded significantly over the previous decade with specific safety advisories over this expansion issued starting in the early 2000s.

Audits in 2003 examining safety of RCL showed that it increased safety of in yards compared with conventional means. However, skepticism continues around the way that RCL is implemented at different companies, in different yards, and different levels of training.

Regulators issued guidelines for railroads back then calling for precautions, including ensuring the trains don't operate at speeds above 15 mph, but there aren't detailed regulations on exactly how they can be used. (ClickOrlando)

Yards continue to be the major point of safety failure in the rail industry.

• Let's not forget the small and medium sized trucks in the delivery sector when we are looking to expand Canadian production of EVs.

The USA is driving expansion of EV small trucks and vans through legislative measures at the state level. Currently, the space is being occupied by start-ups trying to re-imagine how delivery service will look in an EV world. However, for this transition to be accomplished effectively, charging and local delivery vehicle companies will have to work with local distribution companies.

Given the size of these subsidies, these should be locally made and union.