--- title: What a railroad strike would mean - The Hustle description: A railroad strike would cause shortages, shutdowns, and high prices. It’d also cost the US economy $2B per day. image: https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1117066663-HS-News-Brief_2022-09-12T223946.177Z.webp --- # What a railroad strike would mean ![Juliet Bennett Rylah](https://53.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/53/assets/hubspot.com/web-team/WBZ/HubSpot%20Media/Blog%202021/Images/Nav/Optimized/TheHustle_Icon_Dark.svg) [Juliet Bennett Rylah](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/author/juliet-bennett-rylah) [Juliet Bennett Rylah Twitter profile ](https://twitter.com/JBRylah) Published: September 13, 2022 Updated: October 11, 2023 About 40% of long-distance shipping in the US is by train. Which is why a railroad strike that could begin as soon as Friday could have serious consequences across the country. ![What a railroad strike would mean](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hs-fs/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1117066663-HS-News-Brief_2022-09-12T223946.177Z.webp?width=595&height=400&name=1117066663-HS-News-Brief_2022-09-12T223946.177Z.webp) As of Monday, neither the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) nor the SMART Transportation Division (SMART TD), had reached an agreement with carriers, [per](https://www.cnbc.com/2022/09/12/large-rail-labor-unions-move-closer-to-a-strike.html) *CNBC*. They represent about half of railroad union workers. #### **What do they want?** What everyone wants: time off. - Some railroads use a points-based attendance system that labor reps say puts workers on call for 12 hours a day and penalizes them for sick or vacation days. Railroad reps argue the system is necessary to combat staffing shortages, but labor reps counter that carriers have laid off workers to cut costs. The US Surface Transportation Board [notes](https://www.stb.gov/news-communications/latest-news/pr-22-21/) that the largest carriers by revenue have reduced staff by 29% over the last six years. #### **What would happen?** A strike would: - Shut down ~7k daily trains - Cause shortages, shutdowns, and price hikes across sectors. That includes food: railroads transport[ 20%](https://thehill.com/policy/3636564-how-a-railroad-strike-could-send-food-prices-soaring/) of all grain and half of fertilizer. - Cost the economy ~$2B per day Trucks can’t help. It’d take an extra [460k+](https://www.ccjdigital.com/regulations/article/15296571/not-enough-trucks-to-mitigate-effects-of-rail-strike) of them a day, which the American Trucking Associations says is “not possible” — that industry is short ~80k drivers. #### **Federal officials…** … are holding emergency meetings to prepare, [per](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/12/railroad-strike-deadline/) *The Washington Post*, and there is precedence for government intervention. Back in [1992](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_United_States_railroad_strike), Congress passed a bill to end a railroad strike after just two days. 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