ASLRRA announces 2019 Jake safety award winners

Source: ASLRRA

The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) announced 295 winners (PDF) of the 2019 Jake Awards, which recognize the safety efforts of regionals and short lines.

To win a Jake Award, an ASLRRA member railroad must perform better than the Class II and III industry average for injury frequency rate, as reported by the Federal Railroad Administration during a calendar year.

Of the 295 honorees, 278 will receive a Jake Award with Distinction, which recognizes reportable injury-free performance in 2019.

For ASLRRA short line members, the incident rate decreased year over year by 12 percent, while the overall Class II and III industry rate fell by 8 percent, association officials said in a press release.

The awards are named for Lowell “Jake” Jacobson, Copper Basin Railway’s president and chief operating officer who established the honor in 1993 to recognize the safety accomplishments of Class II and III railroads. The ASLRRA’s safety committee adopted the Jake Awards program in 1999.