FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION Rail industry is on track to hire more workers

Rail workers earn $62,000 a year on average, but the work is tough.
BALTIMORE SUN
Thousands more people may soon be working on the railroad.
With the economy picking up and an increasing demand for freight transportation, rail businesses plan to hire more than 80,000 workers over the next six years, according to the Association of American Railroads. But finding enough qualified people for the positions could be challenging, experts said, because the work is physically demanding.
"Railroads are experiencing, for the first time in modern history, significant shifts from the highway to the rails because of highway congestion, higher fuel prices and difficulty among trucking companies to attract and retain drivers," said Frank Wilner, a spokesman for the United Transportation Union, which represents about 50,000 rail workers.
"We're seeing some very positive growth in the rail freight business, and obviously when you have growth, you need people to move it and to fix the equipment and tracks," said Rudy Husband, director of public relations for Norfolk Southern. Norfolk Southern will add about 2,000 workers a year for the next four or five years to its work force across 22 states, Husband said.
Once a booming American industry with 1.8 million employees during World War I, railroad employment peaked in 1920 and then began to dwindle as competition from other forms of transportation grew. Also, government regulations on the industry became more stringent.
Employment was down to about 174,000 by last year, the most recent figures available from the Association of American Railroads. The worker increase expected this year will be only the second significant jump in a decade, the association said.
Growth
In addition to an uptick in both the economy and the demand for freight transportation, experts said the railroad industry expansion comes in part because of a growth in international trade, where railroads can be used to move goods to and from the ports. Also, legislation during recent years lowered the retirement age of railroad workers to 60 from 62, which means an already-mature industry will have more openings even sooner than planned.
But recruiting workers to fill those openings may not be easy. Though average pay for rail workers is about $62,000 plus benefits, the jobs can be trying. It's around-the-clock work, experts said, and there are strict requirements, including random drug tests.
"It can be a physically demanding job," Husband said. "We move the freight 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year -- through hot days, rainy days, snowy days. So people are going to be outside working in the elements, and there are times that people are going to be working at night, weekends and holidays."