WASHINGTON — Railroad yardmasters, who supervise traffic moving through rail yards, would receive the same hours-of-service protections as other rail workers under legislation introduced this week.
U.S. Reps. Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.) and Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) reintroduced the Railroad Yardmaster Protection Act, a bill that places yardmasters under the same federal hours requirements that currently cover locomotive engineers, conductors, switchmen, dispatchers, and signal employees.
“Yardmasters are the traffic controllers of our country’s railroad network,” Carbajal said in a press release. “Like their counterparts in aviation, they play a vital role in ensuring the safety of everyone traveling by train. My bipartisan legislation will improve working conditions and support the professionals who keep America’s railroads running safely and efficiently.”
The bill ensures that a yardmaster is not allowed to remain on duty for more than a total of 12 hours, and then must receive a minimum of 10 hours off duty.
Lawler said the legislation “closes a long-overdue gap” in rail safety.
“Yardmasters are essential to the safe and smooth operation of our freight rail system, and it’s only right that they receive the same duty hour protections as other rail employees,” Lawler said. “This legislation is about protecting workers, improving safety, and ensuring our rail network continues to serve communities and commerce across the country effectively.”
The union that represents yardmasters endorses the bill, as it did when the legislation was first introduced in 2019 and reintroduced in 2024 [see “New bill would place rail yardmasters under hours-of-service law,” Trains News Wire, Oct. 9, 2024]. Last year, the bill failed to advance out of the House Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials. The 2019 bill was passed by the House but failed to advance in the Senate.
“For far too long, our yardmaster members have been left without the basic protections afforded to other safety-sensitive rail employees,” the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers-Transportation Division (SMART-TD) said in the legislators’ press release. “This bill finally addresses that gap by extending hours of service safeguards to these essential workers.”
— This article originally appeared at FreightWaves.com.
