Maersk Line Limited reaches settlement in whistleblower case

As part of a settlement with the U.S. Department of Labor in a whistleblower case, Maersk’s U.S.-flag subsidiary, Maersk Line Limited is to change its safety reporting policies and compensate a seaman that it terminated after he reported safety concerns to the U.S. Coast Guard without first notifying the company.

The Department of Labor says that these actions follow a three-day hearing in June 2024 in which Maersk challenged the findings of a whistleblower investigation by the department’s...

https://www.marinelog.com/legal/maersk-line-limited-reaches-settlement-in-whistleblower-case/

El auge de los robots en centros de distribución impulsa la eficiencia, pero abre interrogantes sobre la seguridad

El ritmo de la automatización de la cadena de suministro se está acelerando en estos momentos, en Amazon y en los almacenes de todo el mundo. Es un espacio que infunde asombro entre los ejecutivos centrados en la cuenta de resultados que buscan reducir los costos.

https://logistica360.pe/el-auge-de-los-robots-en-centros-de-distribucion-impulsa-la-eficiencia-pero-abre-interrogantes-sobre-la-seguridad/

FRA, OSHA call on Norfolk Southern to review safety practices

Improving communication and training as well as fostering trust between the company and its workers are some of the areas where Norfolk Southern could do better, according to a Wednesday report from the Federal Railroad Administration assessing the eastern U.S. Class I railroad’s safety culture.

FRA’s report comes on the heels of an unrelated announcement Wednesday from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration describing a settlement among OSHA, NS and the Brotherhood of...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/fra-osha-call-on-norfolk-southern-to-review-safety-practices

OSHA fines W8 Shipping $380K for Georgia warehouse safety violations

The U.S. Department of Labor is preparing to impose nearly $380,000 in penalties on W8 Shipping LLC, an ocean freight wholesaler, for two dozen safety violations at the company’s warehouse adjacent to the Port of Savannah.

The Los Angeles-based shipping company, which specializes in exporting secondhand automobiles, boats and heavy machinery, “willfully” exposed 43 workers at the Garden City, Georgia, facility to potentially deadly hazards by allowing them to work with automobiles and...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/osha-fines-w8-shipping-380k-for-savannah-warehouse-safety-violations

OSHA proposes fines for CSX over Baltimore coal terminal explosion

A CSX locomotive pulls railcars down a railroad track.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is proposing CSX be fined $121,200 over citations related to a December 2021 explosion at the company’s coal terminal in Baltimore.

The explosion, which occurred at CSX’s Curtis Bay Coal Terminal, was felt from several miles away, according to local media reports and tweets from nearby residents. Following the blast, CSX said all employees were accounted for and there were no injuries.

The penalties CSX faces include nine serious and two...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/osha-proposes-fines-for-csx-over-baltimore-coal-terminal-explosion

Viewpoint: Supervisor’s willful violation does not absolve company from fine

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals (which oversees Texas, Mississippi, and Louisiana) recently affirmed a $35,000 fine against an employer whose foreman allowed his crew member to work while a violation continued, despite explicit instructions by a company manager to fix an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) rules violation.

Background

An employer’s construction crew was installing a concrete drainage pipe alongside a road. For the first two days of the project, the crew had...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/viewpoint-supervisors-willful-violation-does-not-absolve-company-from-fine

OSHA plans ‘enforcement discretion’ after court reinstates vax mandate

Trucking companies and other private businesses covered by the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine and testing mandate have been given a small amount of compliance breathing room by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) after a federal appeals court reinstated the rule.

In a decision issued late Friday, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit voted 2-1 to grant a motion by OSHA to lift a stay of the vaccine-or-test Emergency Temporary...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/osha-plans-enforcement-discretion-after-court-reinstates-vax-mandate

Idaho man sentenced after admitting to illegal repairs on fuel tankers

The owner of a tanker testing and repair business has been sentenced to a month in prison and ordered to pay a $15,000 fine for lying to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration about an illegal repair to a fuel tanker that resulted in a 2018 explosion that severely injured him and another worker.

Loren Kim Jacobson, 65, of Pocatello, Idaho, owner of KCCS Inc., also pleaded guilty in May to violating the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act, admitting he had conducted unsafe repairs...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/idaho-man-sentenced-after-admitting-to-illegal-repairs-on-fuel-tankers

Loaded and Rolling: Respect my FMCSA authoritah!!

FMCSA new authority approval at record high from spot rates and tight capacity 
Image credit: Comedy Central and South Park via Twitter

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is setting records. New motor carrier authority approvals are at an all-time high — around 10,000 each month. As of September, around 82,000 approvals for authority had been granted in 2021, compared with 59,500 for the entire year of 2020. 

Why it’s important: 

  • High Spot rates combined with a capacity crunch...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/loaded-and-rolling-respect-my-fmcsa-authoritah