The entire supply chain is under great financial stress as the spot price of WTI crude oil rose steadily to over US$110 per barrel, on March 13th of 2008 — a record-setting price.

While the price for WTI crude oil is expected to average near $100 per barrel through the rest of this year, transport companies and everybody else getting their supply through their services are bracing for the effects of higher fuel prices during the summer season, defined as the period from April 1st to September 30th.

Pricewise, let’s start with the regular grade gasoline retail prices, which averaged $2.93 per gallon last summer (of 2007) and are projected to average $3.54 per gallon during the current driving season.

The trucking business is going to be hit even harder as diesel fuel prices, which averaged $2.85 per gallon last summer, are projected to average $3.73 this summer.

In fact, the monthly average gasoline price at the pump is projected to peak at just over $3.60 per gallon in June while the monthly average diesel price is expected to peak at just over $3.90 per gallon in April.

These rather scary retail price projections reflect higher prices for the refiners’ average acquisition cost of crude oil, projected to average close to $97 per barrel, up from about $67 per barrel last summer which account for a hefty $30 price hike, per barrel. Furthermore, strong world distillate demand growth, especially in Europe and Asia, will do nothing to help the situation domestically, in America.

It is important to note, however, that even if the US national average monthly gasoline price comes to peak around $3.60 per gallon this summer, it’s entirely possible that prices, at some point, will cross the $4 per gallon threshold, severely hurting the transport industry and those who depend on it.

Countless consumers may be forced to reconsider driving their cars at all and the same kind of dilemma may happen for transport operators of all sizes as well as petroleum-based product manufacturers.

Transportation and logistics companies, especially in America, need to plan (and provision lots of “emergency money”) right now for this summer’s potential fuel price explosion.

Tags: gas, fuel, wti crude oil, oil, diesel, petroleum, pump, america, usa, transport, logistics, summer

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has granted, on March 21st, 2007, a waiver to allow for the testing of electronically controlled pneumatic (ECP) brakes on BNSF and NS locomotives and rail cars.

This new tested braking technology could significantly enhance rail safety and efficiency. It offers major benefits in freight train handling, car maintenance, fuel savings and network capacity.

With the current braking system, developed back in the 1870’s, freight train cars brake individually, at the speed of the air pressure moving from car to car, along trains that are often well over a mile in length.

This conventional braking contributes to excessive in-train forces, challenges in train handling, longer stopping distances, and safety risks of prematurely depleting air brake reservoirs. These problems are greatly reduced in the ECP brake mode of operation,
during which all cars brake simultaneously, driven by an electronic signal.

ECP systems simultaneouslyapply and release freight car airbrakes:

• Through a hard-wired electronic pathway down the length of the train;
• No delay, and no run-in of slack from the rear of the train.

Joseph Boardman, FRA’s administrator, said he believes the technology can prevent accidents, in part because ECP brakes allow the engineer to “back off” braking effort to match track grade and curvature, without completely releasing the brakes — with these significant added benefits:

• Saves fuel and reduces emissions;
• Reduces wear / stress on wheels and brake shoes;
• Reduces chance of run-away from overheating of the brake shoe / wheel interface.

Futhermore, ECP brakes provide a tool to manage in-train forces and reduce train handling derailments as well as reduce chances of runaway trains.

The FRA said the brakes are designed to allow trains to travel up to 3,500 miles without inspections which is more than double the distance normally allowed by the government.

The agency adds that the waiver allows it to gather data to be used in developing a proposed rulemaking on ECP brakes.

Several conditions were placed by the FRA on the waiver approval, including requirements that the railroads (1) clearly define a process for handling brake problems discovered en route, (2) ensure that qualified individuals perform ECP brake inspections and that (3) they provide appropriate training to crew members.

Tags: ecp, ecp braking, pneumatic brakes, train brakes, braking system, fra, bnsf, ns

Rail carriers keeping crews on duty for over 12 hours while also responsible for wild fluctuations in start time contribute to the aggravation of the limbo time side effects, especially on the rail workers’ family life.

Workers in the rail industry are familiar with the harsh reality of limbo time where time on duty is seldom paid for and not counted towards the total hours of service. Limbo time is a carrier’s bean counter dream but the side effects can’t be overlooked.

In typical two-earner families with children, the combination of limbo time and carrier policies make it nearly impossible, for the spouse, to get a regular job. Worse, countless divorces are a direct result of the work demands imposed by the railroad carriers, in the first place. This has a profound effect on the quality of life for rail workers and their loved ones.

Let’s consider the following limbo time effects on family life:

• Limbo time keeps train crews away from home for no valid reason and in turn, fractures families;
• Crew members can’t predict, after a 12 hour shift, how much longer limbo time will keep them on the train meaning they’re often unavailable for life’s common events, like making a doctor’s appointment, attending a religious service or tending to any other important personal business;
• Limbo time, combined with hours of service and time spent preparing for and traveling to an on-duty point often result in crews being awake 24 hours… or more;
• Limbo time, combined with the carriers’ availability policies, forces crew members to consume most 24 hour periods working, eating and sleeping with no time for family or other activities required for healthy physical and mental well-being;
• Sadly, limbo time also causes children to suffer from reduced parental supervision which can have an adverse impact on society when the child grows into his or her teens and then, adulthood;

The United Transportation Union has eloquently exposed the limbo time effects on the family life of its members but that hasn’t been enough for the US Congress to take decisive actions to fix this major labour, health, security and social problem.

People’s internal clocks (also called circadian rythms) can’t be tampered without risking accumulated fatigue, stress and health issues.

Things need to change, sooner than later.

Tags: limbo time, family life, divorce, health, security, children, rail workers

The mighty locomotives that haul hundreds of tons of material, all over the world’s railways, are usually powered by diesel engines.

Consequently, these locomotives emit toxic diesel exhaust which contains particles and gases that float in the air until they’re drawn into the lungs of anyone unfortunate enough to breath them in — namely those who work, on a daily basis, around trains.

No less than forty (40) sustances found in diesel exhaust are listed as hazardous material by the EPA. Yikes! Keep in mind that the microscopic particles in diesel exhaust are less than one-fifth the thickness of a human hair so they’re small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs where, predictably, they contribute to a range of health problems.

No less than forty (40) sustances found in diesel exhaust are listed as hazardous material by the EPA. Yikes! Keep in mind that the microscopic particles in diesel exhaust are less than one-fifth the thickness of a human hair so they’re small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs where, predictably, they contribute to a range of health problems. Workers in places with extremely bad conditions such as poisonous emitting gas should get life insurance along with their contracts.

The rail workers are the first to suffer from diesel exhaust since the health problems multiply and become more serious the longer it is inhaled. Longer-term exposure can lead to health problems like asthma, chronic bronchitis, heart attacks, permanent nervous-system disorders as well as cancers of the lungs and the bladder.

Even if some rail workers have become accustomed to diesel fumes, they shouldn’t be taken lightly. In fact, the State of California found that long-term exposure to diesel exhaust poses “the highest cancer risk of any toxic air contaminant”.

That’s not all, The New York Times also reported that workers with long-term exposure to diesel exhaust suffered lung cancer rates up to fifty 95) times higher than other workers.

You won’t hear about those “details” from the rail carriers when they hold their career days but nevertheless, it’s something any current -and- potential worker should think about.

Tags: diesel exhaust, diesel fumes, fuel, health problems, locomotives, trains

The United Transportation Union recently published a preoccupying report on limbo time.

For those unfamiliar with this rail industry-specific terminology, limbo time refers to the time on duty that is seldom paid for -and- not counted towards hours of service. Simply said, it’s that time when a worker is exhausted and therefore, more dangerous to himself, his colleagues and the public.

The US Congress is expected to look into this widespread problem, causing (among other things) more train collisions, caused by human factors, in 2006 than any other year in recent history. Until then, the limbo time issue continues to be a major security problem.

Obviously, limbo time or similarly named situations where workers work longer than expected to end up being a danger to themselves and others, is a problem in transportation, at large — not just in the rail industry.

While limbo time eats away at the quality of life of the employee and his loved ones, it’s the security issue that should command swift action to end this situation.

A train accident is already bad enough, per se. Learning that over 90 of them were directly caused by human errors (generally related to limbo time issues) in 2006 alone should prompt the US Congress to stop talking and start moving.

While carriers are unwilling to eliminate limbo time, mainly because they multiply their profits because of it, it’s up to the worker’s unions, the workers themselves and the general public to put some pressure on their elected leaders — it’s also very sad to see the carriers acting so carelessly about their employees’ and the public’s security.

Tags: limbo time, rail workers, rail industry, carriers, transport, utu, congress

In the wake of several recent accidents, the federal government today is launching a rail inspection project to check nearly 1,300 miles of track across New York State for flaws that might lead to a train derailment among other new measures designed to improve rail safety in the wake of several recent accidents, Joseph H. Boardman, the Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) announced during a visit to Albany.

“A safe railroad begins with safe track, but it doesn’t end there,” Administrator Boardman said. “Railroads needs to embrace a ‘culture of safety’ and find new ways to prevent the kind of accidents that have disrupted lives and commerce and shaken our confidence in the safety of tracks,” he stated before climbing aboard a federal track inspection vehicle called the T-16 to observe an inspection of track from Albany to Schenectady.

Boardman explained that during the next two days the T-16 will inspect the heavily used CSX tracks from Albany to Buffalo, including the lines to Niagara Falls and to Ripley at the Pennsylvania border. The itinerary will take the T-16 through Oneida, Rochester, and Cheektowaga where major derailments have occurred in recent days and months. The inspection will measure whether the two track rails are level and if the width between the rails is acceptable to avoid derailments.

The Administrator added that last month he directed another federal track inspection vehicle, known as the T-18, be used on CSX tracks in New York. The T-18 will inspect for weaknesses in the track structure such as bad crossties or poor connections between the rail and crosstie that could cause the rails to dangerously widen when a train rolls over that section of track.

And, in order to build a baseline for evaluating a railroad’s ‘culture of safety’, the FRA will begin a quality assessment of the CSX rail inspection program, starting in New York and then extending it to their entire network. Boardman said he is interested in learning what criteria CSX uses to determine how frequently the company inspects its own tracks beyond current federal requirements, if track improvement decisions are made differently when a line has hazardous material or passenger rail traffic, and how track problems are identified and resolved including the use of technology to find flaws. The results of this risk reduction approach will be used to guide similar FRA evaluations of other railroads, he added.

Boardman also said that he met with CSX senior executives to discuss the railroad’s recent safety record and the results of a focused inspection on CSX property conducted in January. In addition, FRA is performing a safety review of railroad bridges in western New York.

Tags: dot, fra, rail safety, railroads, trains, new york, albany, buffalo, oneida

American rail links are quite useful if you plan on boarding these extensive networks to save on fuel while circumventing the urban gridlocks.

There are other smaller rail networks but these are the most widely used, across the United States:

• Metrolink – Premier regional rail system, including commuter and other passenger services, linking the Greater Los Angeles Area communities to employment and activity centers.
• Coaster – North San Diego County transit authority.
• Sounder – Created by the Washington state legislature to build a mass transit system that connects regional employment and population centers in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties, in the Seattle and Bellevue areas.
• Virginia Railway Express (VRE) – Connecting major Northern Virgina cities like Fairfax to the bustling Washington DC downtown.
• Metra – Northeast Illinois’ commuter rail system connecting Chicago to most neighboring communities.
• Trinity Railway Express – Commuter rail service between Fort Worth and Dallas.
• Caltrain – Serving the San Francisco and San Jose areas.
• Alaska Railroad – Alaska’s unique railroad system which is also heavily geared towards tourism.
• Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD) – Vital commuter link between the growing city of Gary, Indiana and it’s huge neighbor, Chicago.
• West Coast Express – Providing service to the communities of the Northeast sector, this is Vancouver’s efficient commuter rail service.
• Altamont Commuter Express (ACE) – Californian rail transit authority serving many cities, namely Stockton, Fremont, Pleasanton, Livermore, San Jose and Santa Clara.

Millions of commuters use these train services daily but let’s not forget about the commercial transporters who will appreciate the fact that commuters aren’t the only ones appreciating the rail system. In fact, the intermodal offerings (truck loads easily transfered to train cargo and then back to truck loadable units) are constantly expanding to make a more diversified use of the rails.

Heavy loads aren’t really an issue when using the mighty rail so if you’re looking to move freight around the major US metro areas, you should your local train transit provider about the intermodal possibilities.

Tags: train, commuters, rail networks, transit authorities, us metro areas

Naturally similar to the monorail, the innovative FlyWay urban transit system can move people and cargo along fixed beamed aerial pathways.

While Siemens had perfected previous concepts, a Swedish company has taken interest in the idea and pushed the engineering of this alternative transport method to the next level.

It’s a new way to move small groups of people in all sorts of areas, including the different Olympic settings, in Torino.

This innovative unmanned transit system is called the MiniMetro.