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Become Active in Go21
Retirees Speak Out Against Harmful Legislation
June 2, 2009 | 10:35 a.m. CDT
Letter writing wasn't enough – they wanted to be published.
A group of Union Pacific retirees has become active in Go21 – a grassroots organization that supports policies benefitting the rail industry and defends against harmful legislation. Employees and retirees who join Go21 stay informed on legislation affecting the industry and are encouraged to write their congressional representatives about balanced regulation.
"I joined Go21 last October, because I wanted to remain active on rail industry issues. We'd like to bolster the number of retirees involved in being heard on regulation and in supporting tax incentives to increase rail capacity."
– Woody Sutton, retired vice president-business development
The UP retiree group members have taken it a step further, by writing letters to newspaper editors. So far, two have been published: Greg Sheperd, retired car distribution manager, in the Omaha World-Herald, and Woody Sutton, retired vice president-business development, in the TC Palm.
"I joined Go21 last October, because I wanted to remain active on rail industry issues," Sutton said. "We'd like to bolster the number of retirees involved in being heard on regulation and in supporting tax incentives to increase rail capacity."
In addition to Sheperd and Sutton, the group includes Mike Bealle, Joe Fortner, Dick Jones, John Lambert, Mike O'Brien, Ken Ratcliff, Ab Rees, Raleigh Sheffield, Bob Thornton and Warren Wilson.
Sutton is eager for more to join. Contact him at wfsutton@comcast.net or Go21's Dan Gurley at dgurley@go21.org.
FRA: Freight Rail Fuel Efficiency Up
Nov. 20, 2009 | 03:05 p.m. CST
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Nov. 19 released a study showing vast improvements in freight rail fuel efficiency over the last two decades, approximately 22 percent between 1990 and 2006. More...
Freight Volume Down During Holiday Week
Nov. 20, 2009 | 02:55 p.m. CST
U.S. railroads reported originating 281,218 carloads for the Veterans Day holiday week ended Nov. 14, down 8.9 percent compared to the same week in 2008 and down 17 percent from from the same week in 2007, reports the Association of American Railroads. More...
New Jersey Transit Joins Safety Pilot Program
Nov. 20, 2009 | 02:40 p.m. CST
New Jersey Transit has started its participation in the Close Call Project, a safety pilot program designed to give rail employees the ability to voluntarily and anonymously report "close call" incidents that could have resulted in an accident but did not. More...
STB: Rails Cut More Jobs
Nov. 18, 2009 | 02:00 p.m. CST
The U.S. lines of the seven Class I railroads trimmed another 408 jobs as of mid-October from a month earlier, taking their total employment level down to a new low. More...
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