Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen Group Return

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237381451
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Independence, OH, USA
Phone
2162412630
Rating
65
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$58,703,688
Expenses
$57,607,186
Assets
$24,111,603
Liabilities
$601,227

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

134 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • EDWARD HALL (NATIONAL PRE): $395,261 total reported compensation
  • KYLE BAGBY (GENERAL CHAI): $298,104 total reported compensation
  • MARK WALLACE (NATIONAL PRE): $291,455 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The mission of the brotherhood of locomotive engineers and trainmen (blet) is to promote and protect the rights, interests, and safety of its members through solidarity, aggressive representation, and education. This mission has remained consistent since the organization's founding in 1863, reflecting its longstanding commitment to advocating for the welfare of locomotive engineers and trainmen across the united states.

What it reported doing in 2025

Blet actively supported the railroad safety enhancement act of 2025, a bipartisan legislative effort aimed at improving rail safety. The act proposed several measures, including: required wayside hotbox detectors ~every 15 miles to prevent bearing- related derailments mandated two-person freight crews (conductor + engineer) under safe freight act required advance notice to state responders and stricter rules for hazardous materials trains increased civil penalties for rail safety violations strengthened maintenance standards, phased out unsafe tank cars, and ended rushed inspections expanded grants for fire departments and reimbursed costs for major incident responses

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 94% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 98% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 60
  • Accountability: 63
  • Sustainability: 34
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 87.2%; rating input score 87
  • Program expense ratio: 90.8%; rating input score 91
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Limited
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 1.9%; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.42; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 17.1%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -1.2% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.2% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3% per year; rating input score 100; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 87.2% of revenue deployed · 90.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 485 of 485 board members independent · 1 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $52.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $395K · 134 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 125 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 42/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 12/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 2/100.