A tragic collision at a grade crossing in Pecos City, Texas took the lives of two Union Pacific train crew employees last week. The fatal accident occurred when their train struck a stalled semi-trailer that was blocking the track crossing in town. According to media reports, the truck had been stopped on the tracks for over forty-five minutes. Still, the railroad was allegedly never notified of its presence, even by local authorities. If these reports are correct, this disaster was completely avoidable.

Every active railway crossing in the United States features a large blue sign (one for each direction) with the toll-free emergency number of the controlling railroad and an alphanumeric code that identifies the crossing. If you are involved in or witness to a blocked crossing, or other emergency conditions on or near the railroad, please call the number on the sign right away. This will allow the railroad to quickly stop any trains approaching the area. Even a few minutes of early warning can help to save lives and prevent tragedies like this from occurring.

Here’s the past week’s regulatory news:

FRA

In a new final rule, the agency is FRA is amending the 49 CFR’s Freight Car Safety Standards (FCSS) to implement section 22425 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Act). The Act places certain restrictions on newly built freight cars placed into service in the United States (U.S.) including limiting content that originates from a country of concern (COC) or is sourced from a state-owned enterprise (SOE) and prohibiting sensitive technology that originates from a COC or is sourced from a SOE. The Act mandates that FRA issue a regulation to monitor and enforce industry’s compliance with the Act’s standards. The Final Rule is effective January 21, 2025. See it here.

FMCSA

The agency issued an ICR related to the administration of and record-keeping related to road tests for commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers. See this ICR here.

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