The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) on May 27 reported its annual Jake Safety Award recipients, recognizing 394 member railroads—out of some 600 small roads nationwide—for their above-industry-average safety performance in 2024; this includes a “record” 357 awardees of “Distinction” for zero reportable injuries, and 19 awardees that ASLRRA also chose for the President’s Award, for having the lowest injury frequency rate in a variety of regions and person-hours worked categories. Meanwhile, the Short Line Safety Institute (SLSI) has released the annual Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) research results paper.
To earn a Jake Award, ASLRRA said that a member railroad must perform better than the industry average reportable injury frequency rate per 200,000 person-hours worked for railroads other than Class I’s, commuter railroads, and Amtrak, as evidenced by Railroad Injury and Illness Summary Forms submitted to the FRA for each of the 12 months of 2024. In 2024, a Jake Award honoree must have had an injury frequency rate lower than the industry average of 2.31, a reduction from the prior year’s rate of 2.38.
The Jake Awards are named for the late Lowell S. “Jake” Jacobson, President and General Manager of the Copper Basin Railway (CBRY), who was Railway Age’s 1994 Railroader of the Year. “After achieving a perfect safety record for the CBRY in 1993, Jake realized that there was no award that recognized smaller railroads’ safety records,” according to the ASLRRA. “In 1999, the ASLRRA Safety Committee adopted the Jake Awards, and since then, has continued Mr. Jacobson’s legacy of rewarding and drawing attention to the high safety standards of the small railroad industry.” Jacobson, who passed away in 2021, was included in the Short Line Railroad Hall of Fame in 2024.
The Jake Award program since its 1995 inception has distributed nearly 7,800 Jake and Jake with Distinction Awards to America’s small railroad community. For the 2023 period, 385 member roads were honored with Jake awards; for the 2022 period, there were 383.
The following ASLRRA members are President’s Award honorees. They will receive their awards at the 2025 ASLRRA Regional Meetings to be held this fall in Charlotte, N.C., Sept. 9-11 for the Eastern and Southern regions, and in New Orleans, La., Nov. 3-5 for the Central and Pacific regions.
Central Region Honorees:
- Belt Railway Company of Chicago: Lowest Frequency Rate: more than 500,000 person-hours.
- Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis: Lowest Frequency Rate: 250,000 – 500,000 person-hours.
- South Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad: Lowest Frequency Rate: 150,000 – 250,000 person-hours.
- Burlington Junction Railway: Lowest Frequency Rate: 50,000 – 150,000 person-hours.
- Arkansas-Oklahoma Railroad, Inc.: Lowest Frequency Rate: less than 50,000 person-hours.
Eastern Region Honorees:
- Consolidated Rail Corporation: Lowest Frequency Rate: more than 500,000 person-hours.
- Union Railroad Company, LLC: Lowest Frequency Rate: 250,000 – 500,000 person-hours.
- Indiana & Ohio Railway Company: Lowest Frequency Rate: 150,000 – 250,000 person-hours.
- SMS Rail Service Inc.: Lowest Frequency Rate: 50,000 – 150,000 person-hours.
- Rochester & Southern Railroad, Inc.: Lowest Frequency Rate: less than 50,000 person-hours.
Pacific Region Honorees:
- Portland & Western Railroad: Lowest Frequency Rate: 250,000 – 500,000 person-hours.
- Clarkdale Arizona Central Railroad, LC: Lowest Frequency Rate: 150,000 – 250,000 person-hours.
- Great Northwest Railroad: Lowest Frequency Rate: 50,000 – 150,000 person-hours.
- Southwestern Railroad, Inc.: Lowest Frequency Rate: less than 50,000 person-hours.
Southern Region Honorees:
- Conrad Yelvington Distributors: Lowest Frequency Rate: more than 500,000 person-hours.
- Paducah & Louisville Railway: Lowest Frequency Rate: 250,000 – 500,000 person-hours.
- Alabama & Gulf Coast Railway: Lowest Lowest Frequency Rate: 150,000 – 250,000 person-hours.
- Aberdeen, Carolina & Western Rwy. Co.: Lowest Frequency Rate: 50,000 – 150,000 person-hours.
- Georgia Southwestern Railroad: Lowest Frequency Rate: Award Background Lowest Frequency Rate: Less than 50,000 person-hours.
“For short line railroads, there is nothing more important than operating safely,” ASLRRA President Chuck Baker said. “The Jake Award program is an industry bellwether of performance against that goal each year. It is particularly notable that the average industry injury frequency rate, based on FRA-reported performance in 2024, has dropped, making it more difficult to achieve a Jake Award. Yet, 394 of our member railroads have notched a frequency lower than industry average, and of these a record-breaking 357 railroads reported zero injuries. Zero is remarkable! These results are a testament to the short line industry’s dedication to ‘Safety First, Every Day,’ and our commitment to investing in technology, infrastructure, and continuous training for employees to be ever safer.”
SLSI
The SLSI’s has released its 2024 systematic review paper (download below) analyzing 20 Safety Culture Assessments (SCAs) conducted on short line, regional, historic, tourist, commuter and passenger railroads. The analysis notes five areas of “safety culture strength” across the industry and identifies five areas of “opportunity.” The annual systematic review informs SLSI of the industry’s needs as it continues to develop programs, resources and services.
An SCA is conducted onsite by a team of SLSI professionals and combines an online employee survey, onsite employee interviews, safety documents reviews, and field observations. At the SCA’s conclusion, railroad management receives an in-depth evaluation of performance, reviewed using the Ten Core Elements of a Strong Safety Culture, as adopted by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Safety Council. The SLSI team also provides resources and tools to address areas of opportunity. An SCA is voluntary, non-punitive, confidential, and free of charge to short line, regional, passenger, historic, tourist, and commuter railroads.
The following are the areas of strength, as found through the 2024 SCAs:
- “Provision of PPE: Railroads provide PPE to employees as needed and it is readily available.
- “Approaching Management with Safety Concerns: Employees feel comfortable communicating safety related issues/concerns.
- “Employee Empowerment: Employees feel empowered to work safely.
- “Accountability/Responsibility for Safety: Employees at all levels take personal responsibility for their safety, as well as the safety of their coworkers and the public.
- “Coaching/Mentoring/Modeling: Managers/supervisors are modeling safe behaviors while in the field and during interactions with employees.”
Opportunities for improvement, as found through the 2024 SCAs, include:
- “Safety Action Plan: Some railroads could create, make improvements to, or better communicate a safety action plan.
- “System for Reporting Safety Concerns/Resolutions: Some railroads could improve their systems for reporting and tracking employee concerns and resolutions to these concerns.
- “Housekeeping: The organization or maintenance of the property at some railroads could be improved.
- “Recognition of Safe Work Practices: Some employees express a desire for more recognition (beyond awards) and reinforcement in the field for engaging in safe work practices.
- “Efficiency/Operational Testing: Operational testing is conducted but feedback to employees could be improved.”
“Our process for measuring safety culture is the most comprehensive and robust in the railroad industry,” SLSI Director of Safety Culture Programs Sam Cotton said during the May 27 announcement. “The systematic review of SCAs conducted each year identifies positive safety culture trends across the industry, and most importantly, provides a roadmap for development of programs and resources to address areas of opportunity. This year’s results identified creating and implementing Safety Action Plans as the most often noted opportunity area for improving Safety Culture, and SLSI is actively working to address that opportunity in SCAs conducted in 2025.”
“Just as railroads seek to continuously improve their Safety Culture, SLSI seeks to continuously improve our service to the industry,” noted Tom Murta, Executive Director of SLSI. “From this year’s analysis, we are pleased to see 2024 industry strengths and improvements include areas that are addressed in successful programs such as our Leading Forward class. This year’s review will lead to several initiatives, including addressing Safety Action Plans and Housekeeping specifically during Close Out meetings with management, printed leave behinds that can serve as templates for creation of a Safety Action Plan, reporting and tracking of safety concerns and other resources, and the commitment to continued support provided via follow up meetings throughout the next year or two.”
