Rail workers urge two-person crew law, hot-box detectors and restrictions on third-party transport for employees

Daniel Cadigan, legislative board chair for the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (Teamsters Rail Conference), testified in favor of multiple rail-safety bills, including a two-person crew requirement (S2341), mandates for hot-box detectors (S2340), and measures to regulate transportation vendors used to move railroad employees (S2342). Cadigan said a one-person freight crew represents an unnecessary public-safety risk given the size and weight of modern freight trains; he asked the committee to adopt a two-person standard as several other states have done. "Reducing to the size of an operating crew to a sole person is simply put a public safety hazard," he said.

Cadigan described hot-box detectors (trackside sensors that detect abnormal heat from axle journals) as a tool that sends audible alerts to locomotive crews when a bearing or wheel develops a dangerous condition, allowing trains to stop and be inspected. He said recent fatigue failures on commuter rolling stock produced wheel separations found near passenger lines and delivered photographs and written testimony to the committee.

Cadigan also raised safety concerns about the railroads' use of third-party ride providers (Uber-like services) to transport employees, citing incidents in which drivers were arrested or involved in accidents and describing difficulties employees had pursuing compensation when third-party vendors were used. Cadigan referenced the Lac-Mégantic disaster in Quebec as an example of catastrophic consequences from inadequate crew oversight: "This accident was a mere 12 years ago... It left 42 souls confirmed dead," he said.

The committee accepted written testimony and did not issue votes during the hearing.