Trucking warns of provide chain points if freight rail strike happens
With the specter of a strike by railroad staff looming, the trucking trade is asking the federal authorities to intervene.
The American Trucking Associations is asking on Congress to assist resolve ongoing labor negotiations within the freight rail trade ought to the events fail to succeed in a mutual settlement when the present cooling-off interval expires Friday, Sept. 16. In a letter despatched to Capitol Hill late final week, ATA warned of dire penalties for the U.S. provide chain if a strike had been to enter impact.
“Idling all 7,000 long-distance every day freight trains within the U.S. would require greater than 460,000 further long-haul vehicles every single day, which isn’t potential primarily based on tools availability and an current scarcity of 80,000 drivers,” mentioned ATA President and CEO Chris Spear within the letter. “As such, any rail service disruption will create havoc within the provide chain and gasoline inflationary pressures throughout the board.”
The letter urges Congress to assist implement a contract patterned on the suggestions outlined by the Presidential Emergency Board and cautions towards merely extending the negotiation timeline additional, which might push a possible strike deeper into the vacation season when the availability chain is already beneath added stress.
“Merely delaying a potential strike by congressional motion will merely exacerbate the considerations of shoppers and trade. A potential strike or lockout in October or November is arguably worse than one subsequent week—though any disruption will value the nation billions of {dollars} of misplaced productiveness,” Spear mentioned.
A duplicate of the letter is offered right here.
Administration of railroads, together with Union Pacific, Berkshire Hathaway’s BNSF, CSX, and Norfolk Southern, have till a minute after midnight Friday to succeed in tentative offers with unions representing about 60,000 staff. A strike may value the U.S. financial system as a lot as $2 billion a day.
The Biden administration as we speak urged railroads and unions to succeed in a deal to keep away from a shutdown, saying it could pose “an unacceptable end result” to the U.S. financial system.
