Class Is employed 152,426 people in the United States as of mid-June, down 11.55 percent year over year and 0.20 percent compared with mid-May, according to theSurface Transportation Board.
It’ll never be as it once was, say 100 years ago, when it was hard to find a family, extended or otherwise, who DIDN’T have a member who worked for a railroad.
Those days are gone.
Is this a reflection of the slow economy?
The downturn in traffic that we’ve discussed elshewhere means you don’t need as many people. Also why equipment is stored and MOW work is cut back. Throw in the push to cut their way to prosperity, and lower the Operating Ratio, and any job they think they can cut is gone. Result is less people.
Last I heard, UP has around 2500 TE&Y furloughed. BNSF was around 5000. CSX and NS also have many furloughed, but I don’t know their numbers. UP and BNSF has recalled some here and there, including where I work and out in the coal fields. I don’t know the number of furloughs in other crafts.
Jeff
What CSX hasn’t realized is that you cannot solve your manpower shortage by furloughing more manpower. But they seem to be doing just that. Atlanta and Jacksonville keep cutting and the local superintendents and train masters are left scratching their heads hoping to have a crew available at some point to move these trains.
But there’s never a shortage of new trainmasters.
Somewhere in a CSX management suite, there’s probably a plaque or poster on the wall saying, “We’ve been doing so much with so little for so long that we are now able to do anything with nothing…”
Apparently, they believe it.
Surprisingly, when you need one to respond to an incident one can never be found that isn’t 200 miles and 4 hours away from the happening.
2 million employees when U.S. population was 106 million (1920) would equal 6 million employees today, if same percent of the population.
But if you happen to do something wrong…
I believe theyre rather enjoying furloughing right now. They’ve even had so much fun with it, that they have brought guys back just to get rid of them a few months later.
http://www.statista.com/statistics/245271/railroad-employment-in-the-us/
216K in 2020 and 235K in 2014 - I am going to guess that in 2016 it will be much, much closer to 200K.