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7/2/2024
Pacific Harbor Line (PHL) has received the President’s Award for safety in 2023 from the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA).
The railroad has been an ASLRRA safety award winner in nine of the past 11 years. The President’s Award is given to railroads that post the lowest reportable injury frequency rate per Federal Railroad Administration regulations as measured within industry per-hour categories. PHL had the best rate among Pacific region railroads with 250,000–500,000 annual hours worked, according to a PHL news release.
"We are proud of our proven culture of safety," said PHL President Otis Cliatt II.
In addition to its safety focus, the short line also stresses sustainability efforts, PHL officials said. It was the first railroad to upgrade its entire fleet to EPA Tier 3+ locomotives, and PHL has since added a Tier 4 locomotive. Last year, the short line placed into service a zero-exhaust emission EMD® Joule battery-electric locomotive produced by Progress Rail.
PHL was also in the spotlight June 17–18, when the company hosted a fact-finding tour of the global port complex for incoming Surface Transportation Board (STB) Chairman Robert Primus.
The tour was led by ARH VP and Chief Commercial Officer Eric Jakubowski, who also chairs the STB’s Railroad-Shipper Transportation Advisory Council.
"PHL’s role at the port complex that sustains the nation’s supply chain has made our railroad a place where industry leaders come to view and learn about rail service best practices," said Jakubowski.
Prior to the Primus visit, Federal Railroad Administrator Amit Bose honored PHL’s role in providing essential pandemic service and workforce development as well as for its cooperative relationship with labor and environmental leadership during a ceremony at the ports last year.