WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s pick to head the Federal Railroad Administration affirmed to lawmakers that he would uphold a rule requiring two-person train crews that is being targeted for repeal by the big U.S. railroads.
At his nomination hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee on Tuesday, David Fink, the FRA nominee, assured Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., that he would stand by the regulation, which the FRA finalized in April 2024, aligning himself with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who also pledged to maintain the rule.
That seems to put both at odds with the Class I railroads, which are asking the Department of Transportation, through their lobbying group the Association of American Railroads, to scrap the rule as “an unsubstantiated mandate that conflicts with the Trump administration’s policy goals of regulatory reform, technological advancement, and data-driven rule-making.”
The major railroads have campaigned for allowing single-person crews they say have been successfully implemented by smaller railroads.
Fink was less committal when asked by Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., if he would help push through the Senate a stalled rail safety bill, a significant safety overhaul drawn up in the wake of the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment and chemical spill.
“As far as legislation, my job [if confirmed as FRA administrator] is the person that executes the laws that you pass,” Fink responded. “So if you pass the law, we’re going to make sure the law is carried out.”
Fink, who began his career with General Motors in the 1980s, in 2006 became president of Pan Am Railways, a major regional railroad, after serving as its executive vice president in 1998. He remained president through Pan Am Railways’ acquisition by CSX Transportation, a deal announced in 2020 and approved in April 2022.
As the potential top official overseeing U.S. rail safety, Fink was confronted at the hearing regarding his own safety record while leading Pan Am Railways.
Several lawmakers cited a 2022 FRA audit calling out the company for “significant safety issues” that “are not receiving the serious and thoughtful consideration by railroad leadership that Pan Am’s employees, and the public, deserve.”
Fink told Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., that he disagreed with some of the audit’s findings. “When they said we didn’t have a safety culture, I disagree and that’s just not true,” Fink said.
“I also worked very closely with organized labor 14 times per year, going out into the field meeting with the people, and finding out what the issues were … and we would correct those things to try to make things safer. Safety is the first importance in the discharge of duty, and I will not waiver from that as an administrator.”
Tackling cargo theft
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., sought a commitment from Fink to address cargo theft, which has been on the rise and is one of the costliest problems facing both railroads and trucking. Blackburn said businesses in her state describe the intermodal railyards in Memphis as a “war zone” due to the significance of the problem there.
“As administrator, I’d like to know how you’re going to work with communities like Memphis and how you’re going to address what is a growing problem nationwide,” she told Fink.
“I’ve not heard of the issues in Memphis,” Fink said. “I’ve seen over the years, particularly in Southern California, where the trains were broken into while they were moving.
“It’s an issue we need to sit down and talk about with the security folks from the railroads, our folks at FRA, to find out what’s going on and talk with the local communities. You have my word that if confirmed I will work on that.”
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