Industry News
Class I Employment Continues to Slide
June 30, 2009 | 12:25 p.m. CDT
U.S. Class I employment in May dropped to 151,536, down 1.77 percent from the previous month and down 8.33 percent from May 2008, reports Railway Age.
Operating crews, the biggest single category, again took the hardest hit. Transportation (train and engine) employment sank to 56,370, down 4.14 percent from April and 17.99 percent from May 2008.
The second biggest employment group, Maintenance of Way and structures, was up 0.18 percent from April to 35,442, but down 0.69 percent from May 2008.
Maintenance of equipment and stores employment, at 29,303, was off 1.05 percent from April and 3.75 percent below May 2008.
Professional and administrative employment was 13,411 in May, down 0.16 percent from April and 2.12 percent below May 2008.
The smallest group, transportation (other than train and engine), had 6,929 workers in May, off 0.9 percent from April but up 4.13 percent from May 2008.
The only category showing improvement from over both April 2009 and May 2008 were executives, officials, and staff assistants, which at 10,081 was up 0.40 percent from April and 0.11 percent from May last year.
BNSF, BLET Reach Tentative Accord
Nov. 6, 2009 | 01:15 p.m. CST
BNSF Railway Co. and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) reached a tentative agreement to settle wage and work rule matters concerning BNSF's locomotive engineers for the major round of collective bargaining that will begin Jan. 1, 2010. More...
Some Commodity Groups Show Increase
Nov. 6, 2009 | 01:00 p.m. CST
U.S. railroads reported originating 275,439 carloads for the week ended Oct. 31, down 13.7 percent compared with the same week in 2008 and down 18.2 percent from 2007. More...
Employee Helps Homeless Boost Computer Skills
Nov. 6, 2009 | 12:45 p.m. CST
Khaled Mabrouk has been volunteering two hours each Saturday morning since June 2008 in the Omaha Open Door Mission's learning center computer room. More...
Emergency Funds Aid Struggling Families
Nov. 6, 2009 | 11:25 a.m. CST
Emergency funds were scarce for a Salvation Army in Blair, Neb. Several weeks ago, the organization found itself unable to provide support to residents needing assistance with rent and utilities until its new fiscal year began on Oct. 1. More...
Railroads Post New Gains in Safety
Nov. 4, 2009 | 03:45 p.m. CST
According to the Federal Railroad Administration's Office of Safety, U.S. rail-related fatalities declined 12.4 percent to a total of 466 in the 12 months ended Aug. 31. More...
NMB Proposes Union Election Rule Changes
Nov. 4, 2009 | 03:25 p.m. CST
The board is proposing to change the threshold for a successful union election from a majority of eligible voters in a classification to a majority of voters who actually participate in an election. More...
Warren Buffett Buys BNSF
Nov. 3, 2009 | 09:20 a.m. CST
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. will pay $26 billion to buy out railroad Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. in what the billionaire investor called a bet on the U.S. economy. More...
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