B.C.D. 15-31

EMPLOYER STATUS DETERMINATION

TransDistribution Brookfield Railroad Company (TBRC)

December 22, 2015

This is a determination of the Railroad Retirement Board concerning the status of

TransDistribution Brookfield Railroad Company (TBRC) as an employer under the

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

Insurance Act (45 U.S.C. §351 et seq.). The status of TBRC under the Acts has not

previously been considered.

The counsel for TBRC, David C. Dillon, of Dillon & Nash, Ltd., provided information 

regarding the formation and start of operations for TBRC. TBRC is a subsidiary 

corporation of TransDistribution, Inc. and sister company to TransDistribution Ridgeland 

Railroad Company, LLC.1 TBRC is owned and controlled by TransDistribution, Inc. a

non-railroad employer under the Acts. Mr. Dillon stated that George Van Denand

currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of TBRC and TBRC began operations on

January 1, 2015. Mr. Dillon further states that there are currently two employees of

TBRC and they were first compensated in January of 2015. TBRC is a terminal switching 

carrier for inbound rail cars from Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railroad (B.A. No.

1621) of bulk sugar product for transloading. TBRC provides 100% of its services to

BNSF.

In Surface Transportation Board Finance Docket No. 35890, decided December 23, 2014,

TBRC filed a Verified Notice of Exemption to acquire from Sweetener Supply Company

(SSC), Inc., a noncarrier, and to operate, approximately 2,450 feet (0.46mile) of rail line

referred to as the Brookfield Transloading Facility trackage in Brookfield, Illinois. There

are no mileposts on the line. The filing also states that the line is currently owned by Spy

Glass Illinois, Inc. and that it leases the facility and trackage to SSC for the transloading 

of bulk sugar products. TBRC also indicates in the filing that the line is being used to

interchange with BNSF and certifies that its projected annual revenues will not exceed

those that would qualify it as a Class III rail carrier and will not exceed $5 million.

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 ofsubtitle IV of title 49, United States Code.

1 The determination as to whether TransDistribution Ridgeland Railroad Company, 

LLC is a covered employer under both Acts is currently pending before the Board.

BA # 5627
2

Section 1 ofthe RUIA (45 U.S.C. § 351) contains essentially the same definition, as does

section 3231 ofthe Railroad Retirement Tax Act (26 U.S.C. § 3231).

The evidence of record establishes that TBRC is a rail carrier operating in interstate

commerce. Accordingly, the Board finds that TransDistribution Brookfield Railroad

Company became an employer within the meaning of section 1(a)(1) of the Railroad

Retirement Act and Section 1 of the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act effective

January 1, 2015, the date on which TBRC began operations.

FOR THE BOARD

Martha P. Rico

Secretary to the Board