CSX is telling its conductor trainees to return to their home terminals for additional training following the recent deaths of two trainees, including one that occurred Monday at a rail yard in Cumberland, Maryland.
The half-day, intensive training will focus on critical rules and riding equipment. This training will affect roughly 350 people, CSX (NASDAQ: CSX) told FreightWaves.
On Monday, CSX employee Travis Bradley was fatally injured while working in Cumberland. The National Transportation Safety Board tweeted afterwards that it would be sending investigators to look into the incident. CSX said it would work with officials to determine what happened.
And in June, CSX conductor trainee Derek Little died while working at a rail terminal in Baltimore. He was weeks away from becoming a father, according to the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers — Transportation Division (SMART-TD).
CSX recently said it is working with SMART-TD to enhance the conductor trainee program at CSX by adding an extra week to the program. Extending the program from four weeks to five will provide additional hands-on experience by having trainees focus on performing tasks in a field setting to increase their exposure to rail car switching scenarios, radio communication, securement of equipment, brake tests and other fundamentals of the conductor’s role, the railroad and the union said.
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