The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way – Employes Division is continuing to express its disappointment over planned furloughs at Union Pacific. But UP insists that it will call back furloughed employees as the railway pursues rail service and safety goals.
Two regulations proposed by the Federal Railroad Administration call for freight railroads to create programs to certify train dispatchers and signal employees.
Norfolk Southern plans to pursue other measures than furloughs to get through market downturns, and two activist investors press NS and Union Pacific to address paid sick leave.
Total employment among the U.S. operations of the Class I railroads fell nearly 14% year-over-year amid the railroads’ continued deployment of precision scheduled railroading.
The Eastern U.S. railroad attributed its decision to furlough employees to changing market conditions.
An increase in U.S. rail traffic pulled headcount higher in July.
Pandemic-induced rail volume declines, operational changes among reasons for falling employment figures
A final rule that goes into effect in June calls for freight rail carriers involved in higher-risk operations to provide employee training to safeguard against terrorism-related incidents.
Slumping rail volumes and the Class I railroads’ operational efficiency efforts contribute to the headcount decline.
The Eastern U.S. rail company cites declining coal volumes and fewer utilized locomotives as contributing factors for the closure.
Employment levels at the U.S. operations of the Class I railroads hit their lowest point in years, according to data from the Surface Transportation Board.
The notice of proposed rulemaking pertains to training for Class II and Class III rail employees.
The Class I railroads furlough workers in times of lower volumes but unions think the cuts have been too deep as a result of precision scheduled railroading.
Ben Thrower writes about the positive and negative aspects of precision scheduled railroading in this commentary article.
The number of employees working for the U.S. operations of the Class I railroads slumps to its lowest level in years.
Headcount continues to fall at U.S. rail operations as the railroads implement precision scheduled railroading.
Some members of Congress remain determined to address the question of whether having more crew members on a train makes that train safer.
Should the Class I railroads see U.S. rail volumes sustainably increase, furloughed workers could be called back to meet network capacity needs, resulting in a bump up of headcount levels. But another factor that could affect headcount levels in the long-term is the deployment of automation technologies.
The transition to e-commerce and anticipated advances in automated trucking are forcing the freight railroads to adapt to supply chains that require railroads to be more responsive and nimble. One way that the railroads are seeking to address this challenge is by hiring executives outside of the railroading community, in the hopes that placing a non-rail executive in a leadership role will help the railroad weather systemic changes within the supply chain.
Nevada joins Colorado in requiring freight trains to have at least two crew members on board. Meanwhile, preliminary data from the Surface Transportation Board shows April rail headcount level to be the lowest so far in 2019 and since January 2017.
