ASLRRA announces Jake Safety Award winners

The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) yesterday announced a record number of member railroads (383) that qualified for a Jake Safety Award, as well as a record number of railroads (350) recognized "with distinction" for zero reportable injuries in 2022.

ASLRRA member railroads posting zero reportable injuries has increased by 130% to 350 from 152 railroads in 1999 when the “Jake with Distinction” award was first presented.

From these top safety performers, 20 member railroads will be further recognized as President’s Safety Award winners for the lowest injury frequency rate in a variety of per person-hour categories, ASLRRA officials said in a press release.

“The rail industry operates on a safety-first rule, and the Jake Awards are one measurement of the constant, daily focus the short-line industry applies to operations in order to bring everyone home safely, every night,” said ALSRRA President Chuck Baker.

Last year, the short-line industry average incident rate fell nearly 5% to a record low 2.01 reportable incidents per 200,000 person-hours worked, Baker said.

"In other words, the bar is higher than ever to achieve a Jake Award, yet ASLRRA members are exceeding that bar at a record rate, including more members than ever before with zero reportable incidents," he added.

To receive a Jake Award, an ASLRRA member must perform better than the industry average reportable injury frequency rate for railroads other than Class Is, commuter railroads and Amtrak as evidenced by Railroad Injury and Illness Summary Forms submitted to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) for each month in 2022.

Central Region Jake Award winners are: Watco Switching Services; Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis; Red River Falley & Western Railroad; Kyle Railroad Co.; and Rail Logix Ameriport.

Eastern Region winners are: Conrail; Cleveland Works Railway Co.; New England Central Railroad; and South Buffalo Railway.

Pacific Region winners are: Montana Rail Link; Pacific Harbor Line; Terminal Switching Services; Clarkdale Arizona Central Railroad; and Bighorn Divide & Wyoming Railroad.

And Southern Region winners are: Conrad Yelvington Distributors; Paducah & Louisville Railway; Terminal Railway Alabama State Docks; Aberdeen, Carolina & Western Railway; and Tyner Terminal Railway Co.

The President’s Awards will be presented at the 2023 ASLRRA regional meetings in fall.

The Jake Awards are named for the late Lowell "Jake" Jacobson, the fromer president and general manager of the Copper Basin Railway (CBRY) who died in July 2021. After achieving a perfect safety record for the CBRY in 1993, Jacobson realized there was no award to honor smaller railroads’ safety records, so he created one.

In 1999, the ASLRRA Safety Committee adopted what Jacobson dubbed the Jake Awards, and since then, has continued his legacy of rewarding and drawing attention to the high safety standards of the small railroad industry.