Everyone has a voice. Some of us sing with it, some of us yell with it, others use the written word to be heard. Our country was founded on the principle that everyone has a voice, and you can use that voice to communicate with the people we have chosen to run it. Right now people is the time for you to use your voice to be heard in Washington.There are two axioms that describe where the railroad industry is right now in Washington, D.C., and they are “Money Talks”, and “Knowledge is Power”. Before you go making assumptions, let me explain.The short line industry, through its voice, has been successful in gaining an important tax credit that allows small railroads to better invest in their own infrastructure. Maintaining a railroad is not cheap, and the funds that 45G tax credit put back in the hands of these companies makes a big difference. Need an example? Look at these before and after pictures.
I think you can see where the money has spoken here. How does this happen? Well, first you need a bunch of people in Washington that agree that your money is well spent on this. And, to get them agreeing with you, they have to have the knowledge. And where do they get that knowledge? If you want them to have the knowledge that you think they need to have,
you better be the person giving it to them (or their staff, in all reality). That is where your power lies.Railroad Day on Capitol Hill is June 4, and if you are not planning on being there, you are not only missing the point of everything I have said and have been saying over the last seven years, but you are missing what has become the most important table-setter for the year in our industry. And while the 45G tax credit is our primary discussion point, as you have seen in the news recently, it is not our only discussion point. You have to make the personal connection with our representatives in Washington and their staff, so, if there is an issue, they know who to talk to. Believe me, the opposition is talking to them right now, and there are more of them than there are on our side.Now is the time to make your plans to be in D.C. next week. Your industry needs you, and your only investment is transportation and lodging. Actually, your only cash investment is transportation and lodging. Your other investment is your time. And that is the most important investment of all.
---By Steve Friedland
Steve Friedland is a child of the railroad industry. Following summers and vacations working on the track gang for the family-owned Morristown & Erie Railway, a 42-mile New Jersey short line, he started full-time in 1994. He has worked in all areas of the railroad, including track, mechanical, signals, and operations, and currently is a member of the management team for the company as director of operations in Morristown, N.J. In 1999, he founded Short Line Data Systems, a provider of railroad EDI and dispatching software, AEI hardware, and management consulting to the short line industry. He currently serves as the ASLRRA representative to the AAR's Wireless Communications Committee and is chairman of the joint AAR-ASLRRA Short Line Information Improvement Committee. He also is a member of the ASLRRA's board of directors.
I think you can see where the money has spoken here. How does this happen? Well, first you need a bunch of people in Washington that agree that your money is well spent on this. And, to get them agreeing with you, they have to have the knowledge. And where do they get that knowledge? If you want them to have the knowledge that you think they need to have,
you better be the person giving it to them (or their staff, in all reality). That is where your power lies.Railroad Day on Capitol Hill is June 4, and if you are not planning on being there, you are not only missing the point of everything I have said and have been saying over the last seven years, but you are missing what has become the most important table-setter for the year in our industry. And while the 45G tax credit is our primary discussion point, as you have seen in the news recently, it is not our only discussion point. You have to make the personal connection with our representatives in Washington and their staff, so, if there is an issue, they know who to talk to. Believe me, the opposition is talking to them right now, and there are more of them than there are on our side.Now is the time to make your plans to be in D.C. next week. Your industry needs you, and your only investment is transportation and lodging. Actually, your only cash investment is transportation and lodging. Your other investment is your time. And that is the most important investment of all.
---By Steve Friedland
Steve Friedland is a child of the railroad industry. Following summers and vacations working on the track gang for the family-owned Morristown & Erie Railway, a 42-mile New Jersey short line, he started full-time in 1994. He has worked in all areas of the railroad, including track, mechanical, signals, and operations, and currently is a member of the management team for the company as director of operations in Morristown, N.J. In 1999, he founded Short Line Data Systems, a provider of railroad EDI and dispatching software, AEI hardware, and management consulting to the short line industry. He currently serves as the ASLRRA representative to the AAR's Wireless Communications Committee and is chairman of the joint AAR-ASLRRA Short Line Information Improvement Committee. He also is a member of the ASLRRA's board of directors.