Richard Timmons serves as President of the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA), representing over 550 short line and regional railroads, which operate over 50,000 miles of track, employ nearly 20,000 people and support local economies by providing competitive rates and fuel efficient shipping to businesses around the country. Timmons represents the interests of these railroads before Congress, Federal, and State regulatory agencies and on the policy and technical committees of the U.S. railroad industry.
Prior to joining ASLRRA, Timmons was employed with Norfolk Southern Railroad as the chief political liaison to the states of Pennsylvania and New York, representing the corporation's interests in legislative and regulatory policy. In addition, Timmons served for 32 years in the United States Army, retiring as a Lieutenant General. His career included a range of operational, political and staff assignments, including Commander of the Eighth Army in Korea, Chief of Staff of the United Nations Command in Korea, Commander 7th Infantry Division, Executive Officer to the Secretary of the Army and Army liaison officer to the U.S. Senate.
Timmons is a graduate of the U.S. Army War College and holds a bachelor's degree in history from Virginia Military Institute, a master's in personnel administration from Central Michigan University and a master's in journalism from the University of Alabama.
Timmons was named 2006 Railroader of the Year by Railway Age.
The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association represents over 550 small freight railroads that operate over 50,000 miles of track throughout the national railroad system. These railroads could be considered the most vulnerable part of the nation’s rail network because they serve tens of thousands of small towns and local businesses who would otherwise lose their connection to the main line railroad network and thus, access to global markets. Short lines must invest heavily in repairing and maintaining track. They reinvest nearly 30% of their annual revenues in their infrastructure, a higher percentage than any other industry in the country. It… Read more
The statements in the President’s transportation “Funding Highlights” document are encouraging. While spending on highways will always dominate federal transportation spending, it is worth noting that word “highway” appears only twice (both times in the same sentence), and the word “road” appears just once (as in “road pricing”). In an apparent break from the past, rail, transit and air dominate this document and could well signal a new approach to modal equity; such equity is vital because the country needs strong freight transportation across modes. Operating roughly one third of the nation's freight rail network, America’s small railroads are a critical part of our national freight system. Short lines are… Read more
As America moves forward in an effort to establish an environmentally responsible transportation sector, we must not allow a perfect emissions goal to become the enemy of an excellent emissions reality. In the U.S. today 550 small freight railroad companies operate one third of the nation's freight rail network, and move one out of every four rail cars. Freight railroad transportation has a more beneficial emissions profile in terms of CO2 than any other mode of transportation. Small railroads have preserved rail service for over 13,000 railroad customers that would otherwise be forced to use transportation modes that generate more greenhouse gasses. The 550 "small" railroads, as… Read more
Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} During my time as the commanding officer of the United States Eighth Army in Korea I witnessed firsthand the economic dynamo of the Pacific Rim. The U.S. enjoys a phenomenal transportation network seldom rivaled. However, our system is still not as robust as future demand will require, and developing countries are rapidly increasing their… Read more
Mr. Yarossi of HNTB makes a great point that bears reiteration – using the total capacity of the public AND private sector is critical. The Recovery and Reinvestment Bill handsomely addresses public rail such as Amtrak and transit. The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association supports these efforts, but the package overlooks the critical role played by private freight railroads in our economy, and the potential economic benefit of investment in freight upgrades. The 550 small freight railroads (“short line railroads”) are the first and last mile of rail transportation for over 13,000 businesses in America that employ over… Read more
Related Link: http://www.aslrra.org
