Bridget Dean

3 weeks ago | progressiverailroading.com | Bridget Dean

By Bridget Dean, Associate Editor  The first two months of the second Trump administration have been rife with unpredictability as tariffs have been threatened, implemented or postponed. For most industries, “it’s better for government policies to be predictably good than sporadically great,” says Mike Steenhoek, executive director of the Soy Transportation Coalition (STC), which represents 14 state soybean boards, the American Soybean Association and the United Soybean Board.

3 weeks ago | progressiverailroading.com | Bridget Dean

By Bridget Dean, Associate Editor President Donald Trump yesterday announced global reciprocal tariffs on U.S. trading partners to take effect on April 9, as well as baseline global 10% tariffs on imports, with select exceptions, beginning April 5. Canada and Mexico will remain subject to the tariffs Trump ordered on March 4, according to a fact sheet released by the White House.

1 month ago | progressiverailroading.com | Bridget Dean

By Bridget Dean, Associate Editor Second-generation railroader Michele Malski has been around railroads all her life, and she knows the struggle it can be for smaller railroads and suppliers to attract non-generational employees. She’s confident her new nonprofit, Hands-on Education from Railroad Employers (HERE), will help lessen the struggle for recruiters by sparking students’ interest in railroading.

2 months ago | progressiverailroading.com | Bridget Dean

By Bridget Dean, Associate Editor  Like companies in many industries, railroads are seeking younger employees to backfill an aging and retiring workforce. Yet for job seekers, it can be difficult to find an “in” to the world of rail without having personal connections to it or any knowledge of how rail works.

Jan 13, 2025 | progressiverailroading.com | Bridget Dean

By Bridget Dean, Associate Editor  After overlapping complications led to a massive cargo backlog in summer of 2013, officials at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) were reminded how important effective communication with operational partners is.   More than a decade later, a council created by current Port Director Bethann Rooney to facilitate communication continues to keep the port and its partners in critical information loops.