By: Mike Ogborn
Since my election as the Chairman of the American Short Line & Regional Railroad Association, I have been doing a lot of thinking about my vision for and focus of ASLRRA over the next three years. In so doing, I am reminded by the newest member of the rail industry, Warren Buffet, of the importance of remembering the leadership and achievements of past leaders of our organization, when he said, "Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.
The ASLRRA has been blessed with leaders with wisdom and foresight like Rich Timmons and Tom Schlosser in recent years, as well as those late leaders who preceded them including Bill Loftus, Earl Durden, and Walter Rich, and countless others who have who have given so generously of their time and energy to help make ASLRRA the strong organization it is today.
Just as important, we have a talented and loyal staff in Washington, D.C., which continually performs above and beyond the call of duty.
The challenges and opportunities facing our industry are many and complex. I hope that in some small measure, I can emulate the leaders o75
f the past and build upon their achievements so that when I leave office in three years, ASLRRA is as strong and vibrant as when the members entrusted me with this job. I take to heart what Sir Isaac Newton stated about looking into the future: "If I have seen further, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants."
Today, ASLRRA provides its members with outstanding services in a myriad of areas, many of which our members do not utilize, or underutilize. Take a look at our website if you are not aware of all that is available.
For example, ASLRRA offers a program entitled "Project S.A.F.E." (Safety Assessment & Facilities Evaluation),
designed to encourage and facilitate improvements to safety and operating protocols on ASLRRA member railroads. Under this initiative, an ASLRRA representative will visit your railroad for a fee to perform a multi-day evaluation of safety procedures, operating practices, and property security.
A key aspect of the evaluation is an analysis of the company's safety culture as it relates to daily job performance for all employees, including management. This
is exactly the kind of service I want to foster and enlarge in the future.
In addition to member services, ASLRRA has labored long and hard in the legislative and regulatory vineyards in areas that affect every short line's bottom line. As chair of the Legislative Policy Committee, Ed McKechnie has scored some impressive victories, not the least of which is the 45G short line investment tax credit. Rich Timmons and his staff have likewise kept close watch over the Federal Railroad Administration, Homeland Security, Surface Transportation Board, and other agencies to "preserve and protect" our industry.
Those challenges include: changes to the existing regulatory regime; the extension of the short line investment tax credit this year and getting a long term replacement for it in the next year; the threat of increased truck size and weights; the expense burden of Positive Train Control; the National Mediation Board's newly minted rule concerning union organizing; and the plethora of new regulations emanating from the FRA.
My goal is to build upon these successes to provide and even better, stronger organization that is as responsive to the needs and obligations of its members as possible. I cannot do this without the help and support of all of our members and I hope I can depend on the members to answer the call because the challenges to our industry are huge.
Those challenges include: changes to the existing regulatory regime; the extension of the short line investment tax credit this year and getting a long term replacement for it in the next year; the threat of increased truck size and weights; the expense burden of Positive Train Control; the National Mediation Board's newly minted rule concerning union organizing; and the plethora of new regulations emanating from the FRA.
Anyone of these standing alone will take significant resources to address but taken together will require a lot of time and attention by all our members. You have stepped up before and will again. We have a staff that is fully engaged and active 011 all fronts on the regulatory side, our Legislative Policy Committee and committed legislative gurus at Chambers, Conlon & Hartwell are riding close herd on the many legislative challenges, and our volunteer committees are dedicated to providing expert advice and counsel in numerous areas.
As Chairman, I plan to take Theodore Roosevelt's advice: "In any moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing."
I can only promise I strive to do the right thing and refrain from doing nothing as the ASLRRA Chairman.
Mike Ogborn is the Managing Director of OmniTRAX, Inc., a transportation management company that provides management services to 17 short line railroads and other transportation companies in Canada and the United States.