B.C.D. 109

EMPLOYER STATUS DETERMINATION

Unified Services, Inc.

FEB 2 2 2010

This is the decision of the Railroad Retirement Board regarding the continued

status of Unified Services, Inc. (USI) (B.A. No. 9360) as an employer under the

Railroad Retirement Act (45 U.S.C. § 231, et seg.) (RRA) and the Railroad

Unemployment Insurance Act (45 U.S.C. § 351. et sea.) (RUIA).

In Board Coverage Decision (B.C.D. 05-16) we found USI to be an employer

under the Acts as of August 1, 2004, the first day of the month in which it

commenced operations. According to information provided at the time, the

majority shareholder in USI was CSX Transportation, Inc. (B.A. No. 1524), which

also owns The Indiana RailRoad Company, itself a covered employer under the

Acts (B.A. No. 2341). USI performs marketing services, with 20-30% of its total

business time spent providing services for The Indiana RailRoad Company, and

20-30% of its revenue being derived from that company. USI began operations

in August 2004 and had one employee.

In B.C.D. 05-16 we found that the evidence of record showed that CSX

Transportation, Inc. is the majority shareholder in both Unified Services and The

Indiana Railroad Company. Unified Services was thus found to be controlled by 

a covered employer and under common control with a covered carrier 

employer. As USI was performing a substantial percentage of its business for its

rail affiliate and received approximately 20-30% of its gross revenue from its rail

affiliate, we found that USI fell within the "affiliate" definition of an employer set

out in section 1(a)(1)(H) of the Railroad Retirement Act, and it was determined

that USI is an employer within the meaning of section 1 (a)(1)(i) of the Railroad

Retirement Act (45 U.S.C. §231 (a) (1)(i)) and the corresponding provision of the 

Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act as of August 1, 2004, the first day of the 

month in which it commenced operations'-

Review of the documentation in file indicates that USI's Form BA-3, Annual 

Report of Creditable Compensation, was outstanding for 2008. In response to a

delinquency notice, the agency was advised that the railroad had been closed 

some years ago. In response to further inquiries made to Indiana RailRoad, USI's

rail affiliate, Indiana RailRoad indicated that it had closed several entities over 

the past years, including USI.

In response to a letter date April 3, 2009, from the agency’s Audit and

Compliance Division, Ms. Jacklyn Hardy, the Director of Human Resources for

1 We note that on May 1, 2006, a request for reconsideration of this decision was filed by Midland United

Corporation, as the sole shareholder of USI. That request was subsequently withdrawn on August 1,2006.

BA # 9360
2

Indiana RailRoad stated that USI ceased operations and last compensated

employees on December 31, 2005. Ms. Hardy also stated that USI had no 

assets, there was no relationship between USI and the railroad industry, and USI

was providing no services.

The file also contains information obtained from the State of Indiana

Department of Revenue. This documentation indicates that the close of

business request filed by UCI has been processed and all business activities must

have ended no later than March 31, 2009. Furthermore, USI's retail sales

account has been closed, and its taxpayer identification number is no longer

valid. Finally, USI's registration for withholding tax has been closed. By closing a

withholding account, USI has notified Indiana's Department of Revenue that it

no longer has employees for which it is withholding taxes.

The evidence of record establishes that USI no longer possesses the 

characteristics of a railroad employer. The Board therefore finds that effective

December 31, 2005, the date it ceased operations and last compensated

employees, Unified Services Inc. ceased being a covered employer under the

Railroad Retirement and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Acts.

Michael S. Schwartz

erome F. Kever