NRC continues focus on safety, training

	At NRC's annual equipment auction on April 15, 2008, dozens of consigners sold more than 200 pieces of equipment to more than 75 registered bidders. (Photo by John Zuspan).

	In January 2008, NRC staged another successful conference, including a sold-out trade show.

	Manny Ramirez addresses his first NRC annual banquet as chairman during the 2008 NRC Conference and Exhibition in Palm Springs, Calif., this past January.

RT&S asked NRC Chairman Manny Ramirez and President Chuck Baker about the past year and what they believe the future holds for the NRC.

RT&S: Manny, you are in your first year as chairman of the NRC. How do you feel about the progress the organization is making?

Ramirez: I can proudly report that The National Railroad Construction & Maintenance Association is currently stronger than it has ever been. Former Chairmen Jon M. McGrath, Rick Ebersold, Larry Laurello and Scott Brace have left the organization in great shape, and I have been building on that foundation. Our core events such as the annual conference and Railroad Day on Capitol Hill get better every year. We continue to develop attractive new services such as our recent NRC Railroad Contracting Equipment Auction. Also, the NRC continues to be active on Capitol Hill. The next transportation reauthorization bill is approaching, and we are looking towards a much stronger focus on rail infrastructure in that legislation.

I am simply humbled to be the NRC chairman and look forward to representing our membership in the challenges that impact our work in the industry. I look back at my career of 36 years, growing up as a signalman for a Class 1 and then moving to the contracting world, and I would never have believed that I would become involved in such an endeavor.

It is also extremely gratifying that the NRC is an organization made up of contractors who are competitors, but who also realize the importance of unifying to support each other to ensure the best results for our industry.

I am impressed by each Board member’s participation and realization of the importance of their role as an NRC Board Member. The organization is made-up of companies that work on tracks, signal systems, bridges and rail facilities, encompassing every aspect of the railroad infrastructure. We compete with each other, but we do it honorably and we know when the time is right to work together.

RT&S: What are your goals for the NRC?

Ramirez: I have a few very important goals for the NRC. First and foremost, safety is at the very top of my agenda. Safety is the key to everything we do, and it will absolutely be my Number One focus until the day I leave my position as chairman of the NRC.

Most of our contractors are already doing an excellent job on the safety front, and we will work to get the word out to the rest of the industry. When our railroad, transit and industrial track customers hire us, they must know that safety is our Number One priority.

Internally, we are going to continue to ramp up our focus on safety. We will highlight and enhance the annual Safe Contractor of the Year award contest. We’re expanding the usefulness of the safety section of the NRC Website (www.nrcma.org) and we’re increasing our involvement with the Federal Railroad Administration through the Railroad Safety Advisory Committee. Currently, the NRC has Safety Committee members working on the Medical Standards and Bridge Safety Task Force Committees.

I also intend to continue and improve our services to our members. One of our most important member services is the Roadway Worker Protection training that we offer. We have spent a lot of time and money getting this program off the ground and we are continuing to work hard on it. For the RWP program, the training and test is now available at no charge to our members via CD-ROM, in addition to being available over the Web as it has traditionally been offered.

My goal is to make sure this valuable service is used fully by our members as it will make our industry both safer and more efficient.

Additionally, we are producing a series of instructional safety DVDs for distribution to our members. We have already released the first four DVDs, dealing with hand tool safety, power tool safety, safety on the track and safety around rail maintenance equipment. And we are currently in the planning stages for the next two, which we expect to release in late 2008. We are very excited about these products and, just like the RWP CD-ROM, we are distributing them at no cost to our members.

Finally, I am also focused on maintaining our wonderful tradition of educational and timely conferences and exhibitions. The next one is January 7-10, 2009, at the Sanibel Harbour Resort & Spa in Fort Myers, Fla. We’ll be renewing our exhibition partnership with REMSA there, but we can talk about that in more detail later.

RT&S: Chuck, what can you tell us about your recent legislative activities?

Baker: The NRC wants to continue playing an active role in pushing a legislative agenda that is good for the railroad industry. We are doing everything we can to promote the extension of the shortline rehabilitation tax credit, which expired at the end of 2007. This turned out to be a very important piece of legislation that helped maximize rehabilitation spending in the shortline industry. The Railway Tie Association estimates that railroad tie purchases increased by at least 500,000 per year over the three-year life of the credit. At a time when Congress is trying to stimulate the U.S. economy, this kind of tax incentive is very useful. It helps maximize shortline capital investment. It has leveraged additional capital spending by railroad customers who are more willing to make additional investments in their own railroad infrastructure so as to accommodate the longer and heavier trains made possible by shortline track rehabilitation. Perhaps most important of all, this additional investment is being spent on track materials that are made almost exclusively in America and that are being installed by NRC contractors.

The NRC has also actively supported the Class 1 railroad effort to avoid reregulation. Reregulating the railroads is a sure way to reduce capital investment in the national railroad network. Railroads need to be increasing capacity and reregulation runs completely counter to that need.

Finally, the NRC has been an aggressive and, hopefully, constructive actor in the debate on the pending federal rail safety bill. As Manny indicated, maintaining the safest working environment possible is our top priority and there are many portions of the pending legislation that work toward that goal.

There are, however, some provisions that I believe have more to do with politics than with safety and that is a disappointment. The most obvious is the provision placing signal contractors under the Hours of Service Act. That is not going to contribute anything to safety, and instead is just going to contribute to increased costs. And the fact is that those increased costs mean less investment in track repairs, which is what contributes the most to improved safety.

Ramirez: “Kudos” must be given to Keith Hartwell of Chambers, Conlon & Hartwell and to our Past President Ray Chambers, who was a mentor to our current NRC President Chuck Baker. CC&H, our government affairs firm in Washington, had the vision of the NRC as a major force in D.C., and has guided the NRC to another level. In his tenure so far, Chuck has proven to be an effective conference manager and representative of the NRC in D.C.

Together, they have made the NRC a recognizable organization, in both the political world and the rail, commuter and transit industries. This is evidenced by the 600-plus people in attendance at our conference in January and the willingness of high-level industry leader speakers from throughout the field to speak at the conference. Another indication that the NRC has arrived is the growing number of invitations received from politicians and federal agencies to participate in their Congressional hearings and advisory committees.

RT&S: What is the status of the Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing program?

Baker: RRIF, the Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing program, is a valuable infrastructure program that is underutilized by the railroads. RRIF provides low interest, 25-year money for railroad rehabilitation and construction. The FRA has approved 20 RRIF loans for a combined total of $743 million.

One of the reasons the program is underutilized is the unnecessary length of time it takes to process an application, due to institutional opposition to the program in the OMB. The OMB should not oppose a successful program that would increase rail capacity and investment into track infrastructure. The RRIF program was enacted in 1998 and no railroad has ever missed a single RRIF loan payment. The OMB should be treating RRIF as the poster child for federal loan programs, not prolonging the time it takes to secure one. The program should be expanded and improved.

RT&S: How about future plans for your legislative program?

Baker: It is my personal goal to make NRC a leading voice in Washington on all issues relating to federal funding for rail infrastructure through a new generation of public-private partnerships. We are making progress. We did pretty well in SAFETEA-LU, but it wasn’t nearly enough.

There will be an explosion of freight movement over the next 20 years. The growth cannot and will not be matched by an expansion in highway capacity. The bottom line is that, I believe, there is going to be a continuing boom in the freight railroad and transit construction market in the next decade.

Much of this investment in rail infrastructure will be done by the private sector, but we absolutely need the support of the federal government in the same way that the highway and air modes get support.

The next transportation reauthorization bill, the successor to SAETEA-LU, is approaching in 2009. Various transportation interests are beginning to gear up for that debate, and we will be working with many of them to get a bill that does a much better job of guiding federal investment into rail infrastructure. We plan to work closely with the AAR, ASLRRA, APTA, AASHTO, AGC, ARTBA, RTA and many others.

In fact, as we speak, Jim Daloisio of the Railroad Construction Company of South Jersey, who is a former chairman of the NRC, is preparing to testify to Congress on the issue of rail capacity. We will be urging Congress to expand their investment into rail infrastructure for the good of our economy, environment, safety and security. And we will be assuring them railroad contractors are able and prepared to do the work.

RT&S: Where does the NRC stand vis-à-vis Amtrak?

Baker: A few years ago we had an issue where Amtrak was competing with our private companies in the business of rail contracting. We took a public stand that this was unacceptable. Then there was a legislative effort to bring all construction and maintenance contractors under the Railway Labor Act and Railroad Retirement. The purpose was to kill the edge our private contractors had in competing against Amtrak.

This was all before David Gunn, David Hughes and now Alexander Kummant took over operations at Amtrak. With a lot of help from our unions, the Laborers, the Operating Engineers and the Carpenters, we won the issue of putting us under railway labor laws. That issue is dead in Congress.

For some time, Amtrak took themselves out of the third-party contracting business for track and signal construction and maintenance, while they stuck to their core business of running trains. However, there have been some noises lately that Amtrak is again exploring the possibility of competing directly against the private contracting sector to bid on these track and signal projects.

That would be unacceptable to the NRC and we would fight aggressively against this practice.

Other than that, the NRC has no conflict with Amtrak and we are supportive of a dramatically increased level of funding and government support for passenger rail.

We do believe that there should be policy reform that can spur a revival of intercity passenger rail in this country. There should be maximum participation by private companies in rail passenger operations. We believe the states should be given greater responsibility for operating corridors that are not part of the long-distance national system or the Northeast Corridor. We believe there should be a major capital program of track infrastructure upgrades and rolling stock acquisition that would be run through the states on an 80-20 match (similar to the highway program). Clearly, a new generation of public-private partnerships will be the key to a freight and passenger rail renaissance.

RT&S: Are there any other new developments in your safety training program besides the new pricing system and offering it on CD-ROM that you mentioned earlier?

Ramirez: Yes, there have been several major victories. As evidenced by the previously mentioned safety training DVDs, our goal is to become the premier source for safety training in the railroad construction industry. We invested a lot of money in a very aggressive and sophisticated user-friendly Web-based RWP safety training program. The courses were designed and are maintained by CANAC Inc. In addition, they were reviewed by the FRA to make sure they are in compliance with the agency’s regulatory safety standards. The overall program is state of the art in our industry. This program is available via the internet or via CD-ROM at no charge to our members, in both English and Spanish.

The first major victory that I mentioned is that the ASLRRA has agreed to endorse this training method and recommend to all of their 500-plus railroad members that they accept this training and not require any other duplicative training programs. This is a win-win situation for everybody involved, and will save both NRC and ASLRRA members time and money as we cut through red tape to get skilled contractors to work building and maintaining our nation’s vital rail infrastructure.

The second major victory is that several railroads and contractors, including Balfour Beatty Rail, BNSF, CN, Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern and Nordco, have generously donated dozens of pieces of rail equipment to the NRC Railroad Contracting Equipment Auctions over the past few years.

The proceeds from that equipment are dedicated to the NRC Safety & Education Training program, which will allow us to continually strengthen our efforts to make the industry safer for everyone. I congratulate these railroads and contractors for recognizing the value of this opportunity and making a true investment in railroad contractor safety.

Also, the NRC Safety Contest has developed into a major industry award. The contest is based on very strict parameters, and the awards are meaningful. Judges come from the insurance industry and the railroad engineering departments and they evaluate the safety programs of each participating company. Each year it gets tougher to pick the winners because of the increasingly-effective safety programs being developed by contractors. RWP, GCOR, right- of-way work rules, JHAs, safety work-plans, manuals, OSHA scores and training videos are just a few of the safety items that are generally included in the submittals.

The contest has become very competitive, and the results have become a tool that can be used by contractors when submitting bids for projects.

RT&S: Your 2007 Annual Conference in Miami was conducted in conjunction with REMSA, and was a huge hit. In 2008, you had another hit in Palm Springs. What’s next?

Ramirez: We are all very pleased with how the last two conferences have turned out. Our speakers in Palm Springs included senior engineers and executives from Alameda Corridor East, BNSF, CN, CPR, CSXT, DM&E, FEC, FRA, LA Exposition Light Rail, LIUNA, NS, OmniTRAX, RailAmerica, UP and Watco.

We seem to be setting new attendance records every year and feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. As far as the NRC conferences goes, it ain’t broke so we’re not going to do much in the way of fixing it.

For January 2009, we’re going to the Sanibel Harbour Resort in Florida. We’ll be there from Wednssday, January 7 through the evening of Saturday, January 10.

Baker: We’re already well into the planning stages of 2009, and I’m confident it will be a great event for everybody who can make it.

The NRC will do what it has always done and put on a world-class conference. REMSA will step in and do what it does best by organizing a world-class exhibit program. We fully expect to trump our previous attendance records, and have a truly productive and enjoyable four days. We will have space for more than 60 exhibitors, and expect to sell out of that space and end up with a waiting list. Interested exhibitors should contact the NRC or REMSA as early as possible.

RT&S: How about any other new services for your members?

Ramirez: Absolutely. A big one is our new auction program. Just recently, on April 15 in Little Rock, Ark., the NRC sponsored our 5th annual Railroad Contracting Equipment Auction. More than $750,000 of goods changed hands before lunch.

Dozens of consignors sold more than 200 pieces of rail contracting equipment to more than 75 registered bidders in an auction run by Blackmon Auctions. Blackmon also provided NRC an ideal location for the auction just east of Little Rock.

There was everything up for bid from cranes to excavators, spike reclaimers, rotary scarifiers, tie removers/inserters, ballast regulators, brush cutters, Pettibone speed swings, double brooms, spike pullers, rotary dumps, car movers, skid steers, lowboy trailers, air compressors and even a Mark III Tamper.

The auction is now firmly entrenched as an annual NRC event, with locations varying throughout the country. If you’re not already a member and want access to this exclusive auction, call our office at 202-715-2920 and sign up.

The site for next year’s auction will most likely be the JER Overhaul facility in Arcola, Ill., which is located south of Champaign and east of Decatur. It’s not too early to start making plans to consign or donate equipment. Contact the NRC office or NRC Auction Committee member Danny Brown (FCM Rail, 810-397-3533, danny@fcmrail.com) for more information.

RT&S: Do you have any closing thoughts to share?

Ramirez: As I’m settling into my role as chairman of the NRC, I have come to really appreciate everything that goes into making this a truly world-class organization. It was organized in the 1970s as a vehicle for member companies to negotiate contracts with the signatory unions.

During the 1980s, as an organization, we expanded our mission to communication, safety oversight and risk management. We created a forum where our members could get to know each other, exchange ideas and resolve common problems.

In the 1990s, we moved our headquarters from Minneapolis to Washington, D.C. We launched a new aggressive program of regulatory and legislative advocacy.

Today the NRC represents more than 200 rail contractors, engineering firms, suppliers and professional associate firms. Between our small and large companies, our combined annual revenues are in the billions and growing. Our past has been very successful and, with Jim Perkins of Loram Maintenance of Way and Terry Benton of Colo Railroad Builders in line as the next two chairmen of the NRC, the future looks even better.

I’m honored to dedicate my time and energy to leading this fine organization. My personal goal is to continue to demonstrate to our nation’s leaders, railroad management and rail unions that contractors are an attractive option, and that our employees are safe, industry-smart and our workforce is highly trained.

In my world of signaling, more and more I am meeting people who have worked on railroads and bring an enormous amount of experience to their jobs as contractors. That experience was earned on the railroads, just as mine was.

Contractors are committed to our industry, and one of the ways that we can show that is by participating in organizations that support the rail industry, such as the NRC and our partners.

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