NRC Member Quality Track Equipment Hosts Congressman David Joyce For a Tour & Rail Policy Discussion
AUSTINBURG, OH - On Wednesday, August 15th, Congressman David Joyce (R-OH-14) joined the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association (NRC) and our NRC member company Quality Track Equipment for a tour and transportation public policy discussion at their Austinburg facility.
"Everyone at Quality Track Equipment and Delta Railroad Construction thanks Dave [Congressman Joyce] for his hard work and leadership on transportation issues in Washington and his continued support of railroads and the railroad industry," former NRC Chairman and President of Delta Railroad Construction Larry Laurello said after the event. We are proud that our companies create well-paying jobs in Ashtabula County and that we serve a long list of repeat customers here in Ohio, throughout the United States, and in Canada."
Quality Track Equipment, a division of Delta Railroad Construction, Inc., is a long standing leader in the industry and perfecting its craft since 1999. They are known for re-manufacturing maintenance of way equipment to "like new," or in some cases, "better than new" condition. Their primarily focuses on, but not limited to, production and chase tampers. They re-manufacture equipment that was produced in the 1980's or newer and incorporates the best of today's technologies and upgrades. Some of their upgrade examples include a Jupiter 2 operating systems, automatic tie finders that index the machine from tie to tie without input from the operator, emission friendly tier four final power plants, bus-can wiring, LED lighting, and many other options and features that are installed on machines built new today. Quality Track Equipment's method is a cost savings to their customers rather than the customers having to purchase new equipment.
Quality Track Equipment is an ISO9001:2015 company and an authorized Harsco Rail equipment re-manufacturing company. Located separately in a sole purpose, 60,000 + square foot facility in Austinburg, Ohio, they are positioned to serve the needs of the railroad industry today and into the future.
The attendees participated in a brief policy discussion about the importance of the Building Rail Access for Customers and the Economy (BRACE) Act. The participants called for maintaining the current federal limits for truck size and weight citing that at current weight and size limits, trucks already cause more damage than they pay for on our nation's highways. Maintaining the federal limits for truck size and weight were supported by Ashtabula County board members in attendance, as well.
"The short line railroad tax credit, which would be made permanent by the BRACE Act, is an essential piece of the economic puzzle, allowing short lines to invest more of their own capital in rail improvements and maintenance to provide ever-safer and more robust service capabilities for their customers," said Judy Petry, Chair of the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA). "ASLRRA thanks Congressman Joyce for his support on this important issue."
In addition, attendees discussed the need for private contractors, who use unionized labor, to be able to compete for more track maintenance work in some of the United States' legacy transit systems like NYC's MTA subway and Washington's WMATA Metrorail systems. Currently, these transit systems contract out less track maintenance than other transit systems and do not utilize taxpayer money efficiently with their in-house track employees. Contractors can perform the job faster, cheaper, and safer!
The tour was lead by Quality Track Equipment's general manager Steve Pratt. Also in attendance were Paul Laurello and employees of Quality Track Equipment; J.P. Durco, Ashtabula County Commissioner; Casey Kozlowski, Ashtabula County Commissioner; Will Resch, ASLRRA; and Kathryn Whittington, Ashtabula County Board President.
"Everyone at Quality Track Equipment and Delta Railroad Construction thanks Dave [Congressman Joyce] for his hard work and leadership on transportation issues in Washington and his continued support of railroads and the railroad industry," former NRC Chairman and President of Delta Railroad Construction Larry Laurello said after the event. We are proud that our companies create well-paying jobs in Ashtabula County and that we serve a long list of repeat customers here in Ohio, throughout the United States, and in Canada."
Quality Track Equipment, a division of Delta Railroad Construction, Inc., is a long standing leader in the industry and perfecting its craft since 1999. They are known for re-manufacturing maintenance of way equipment to "like new," or in some cases, "better than new" condition. Their primarily focuses on, but not limited to, production and chase tampers. They re-manufacture equipment that was produced in the 1980's or newer and incorporates the best of today's technologies and upgrades. Some of their upgrade examples include a Jupiter 2 operating systems, automatic tie finders that index the machine from tie to tie without input from the operator, emission friendly tier four final power plants, bus-can wiring, LED lighting, and many other options and features that are installed on machines built new today. Quality Track Equipment's method is a cost savings to their customers rather than the customers having to purchase new equipment.
Quality Track Equipment is an ISO9001:2015 company and an authorized Harsco Rail equipment re-manufacturing company. Located separately in a sole purpose, 60,000 + square foot facility in Austinburg, Ohio, they are positioned to serve the needs of the railroad industry today and into the future.
The attendees participated in a brief policy discussion about the importance of the Building Rail Access for Customers and the Economy (BRACE) Act. The participants called for maintaining the current federal limits for truck size and weight citing that at current weight and size limits, trucks already cause more damage than they pay for on our nation's highways. Maintaining the federal limits for truck size and weight were supported by Ashtabula County board members in attendance, as well.
"The short line railroad tax credit, which would be made permanent by the BRACE Act, is an essential piece of the economic puzzle, allowing short lines to invest more of their own capital in rail improvements and maintenance to provide ever-safer and more robust service capabilities for their customers," said Judy Petry, Chair of the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA). "ASLRRA thanks Congressman Joyce for his support on this important issue."
In addition, attendees discussed the need for private contractors, who use unionized labor, to be able to compete for more track maintenance work in some of the United States' legacy transit systems like NYC's MTA subway and Washington's WMATA Metrorail systems. Currently, these transit systems contract out less track maintenance than other transit systems and do not utilize taxpayer money efficiently with their in-house track employees. Contractors can perform the job faster, cheaper, and safer!
The tour was lead by Quality Track Equipment's general manager Steve Pratt. Also in attendance were Paul Laurello and employees of Quality Track Equipment; J.P. Durco, Ashtabula County Commissioner; Casey Kozlowski, Ashtabula County Commissioner; Will Resch, ASLRRA; and Kathryn Whittington, Ashtabula County Board President.