Board Coverage Decision 

2002-11

Transworks of Indiana 

Transworks Company

NS Crown Services, Inc.

NS Crown Services - Not covered

Transworks of Indiana, covered employer as of March 22, 2001

Transworks Company - Not covered

NS Crown Services and Transworks Company are not covered

employers. Transworks of Indiana is a covered employer as of

March 22, 2001.

No Form G-215 Available
B.C.D. 02-11

FEB 1 2 2002

EMPLOYER STATUS DETERMINATION

Transworks ofIndiana

Transworks Company

NS Crown Services, Inc.

This is the determination of the Railroad Retirement Board concerning

the status of Transworks of Indiana, Transworks Company, and NS

Crown Services, Inc., as employers under the Railroad Retirement Act

(45 U.S.C. § 231 et seq.) (RRA) and the Railroad Unemployment

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

NS Crown Services is an indirect subsidiary of the Norfolk Southern

Corporation, an employer under the Acts (B.A. No. 9408). NS Crown

Services owns Transworks of Indiana and Transworks Company.

Transworks of Indiana, which was formed March 22, 2001, provides

services to the Norfolk Southern Railway Company, a covered employer

under the Acts (B.A. No. 1533), and a subsidiary of Norfolk Southern

Corporation. These services include accounts payable management as

well as development and support of software applications related to 

intermodal transportation provided by the Norfolk Southern Railway.

Transworks Company, which was formed March 12, 2001, provides

services to non-railroad affiliates and railroads unrelated to Norfolk

Southern Railway. These services include application service provider

services which allow customers to track in-transit shipments; document

management; accounts receivable and accounts payable management;

cash management; asset management; accounting services; and tax

compliance and audit services.

NS Crown Services will provide holding company management services

to Transworks of Indiana and Transworks Company and make

available office space and equipment and furniture.
-2-

Section 1(a)(1) of the Railroad Retirement Act (45 U.S.C. § 231(a)(1)),

insofar as relevant here, defines a covered employer as:

(i) any carrier by railroad subject to the jurisdiction of

the Surface Transportation Board under Part A of subtitle

IV of title 49, United States Code;

(ii) any company which is directly or indirectly owned

or controlled by, or under common control with, one or more

employers as defined in paragraph (i) of this subdivision,

and which operates any equipment or facility or performs

any service (except trucking service, casual service, and the

casual operation of equipment or facilities) in connection

with the transportation of passengers or property by railroad

Sections 1(a) and 1(b) of the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (45

U.S.C. §§ 351(a) and (b)) contain substantially the same definition, as

does section 3231 of the Railroad Retirement Tax Act (26 U.S.C.

§ 3231). •

There is no evidence that any of the three companies is an employer

within the meaning of section l(a)(l)(i) of the Railroad Retirement Act.

Accordingly, we turn to section 1(a)(1)(h) in order to determine whether

they are employers within the meaning of that section. Under section

1(a)(1)(h), a company is a covered employer if it meets both of two

criteria: (1) if it provides "service in connection with" rail

transportation and (2) if it is owned by or under common control with a 

rail carrier employer. If it fails to meet either criterion, it is not a 

covered employer within section 1(a)(1)(h).

Transworks of Indiana

Transworks Company

NS Crown Services, Inc.
NS Crown Services is an indirect subsidiary of Norfolk Southern

Corporation. Since Norfolk Southern Corporation also owns the Norfolk

Southern Railway, NS Crown Services is under common control with a

rail carrier employer. However, a majority of the Board finds that NS

Crown Services provides no services to any railroad. The Labor

Member believes that NS Crown Services, Inc. does meet the definition

of covered employer since it provides service in connection with the

transportation of property by rail through its service for Transworks of

Indiana. A majority of the Board therefore finds that NS Crown

Services is not a covered employer under the RRA and the RUIA.

Transworks of Indiana is under common control with a carrier, since it

is indirectly controlled by the Norfolk Southern Corporation which also

controls the Norfolk Southern Railway Company, a covered rail carrier

employer. The sole enterprise of Transworks of Indiana is to provide

services to the Norfolk Southern Railway Company. Accordingly, we

find that Transworks of Indiana became an employer under Acts as of

the date of its formation, March 22, 2001.

Transworks Company is also under common control with the Norfolk

Southern Railway Company, but provides no services to its rail affiliate,

although it does provide services to unaffiliated railroads. See Board

Coverage Decision 93-79, In Re VMV Enterprises Incorporated. In that

case VMV performed only 3.2% of the car repair services for its rail

affiliate and derived only 2.5% of its revenues from that business. VMV 

did perform a substantial amount of its work, 55.7%, for the rail

industry other than its rail affiliate. Because of the small amount of

work performed by VMV for its affiliated railroad, a majority of the

Board found that VMV was not performing a service in connection with

railroad transportation. In this case, Transworks Company is providing

Transworks ofIndiana

Transworks Company

NS Crown Services, Inc.
no services to rail affiliates. Accordingly, a majority of the Board finds

that Transworks Company is not a covered employer under the Acts.

Transworks ofIndiana

Transworks Company

NS Crown Services, Inc.

in part)