(The following story by Darrell Smith appeared on the Sacramento Bee website on June 10.)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — For an idea of the labor shortage in today’s railroad industry, click into the Union Pacific’s Web site. A plea is simple and direct: “We need good people and we need them now.”
From Arkansas to Oregon, Iowa to Wyoming and in Northern California cities such as Oakland and Roseville, freight railroads are hanging the “Help Wanted” sign to meet the growing demand for rail service and to fill the gap opened as an aging work force rides the rails to retirement.
“The railroad career is not for everyone. There’s traveling. You’re away from home,” said Kelly Donley, spokeswoman for the Association of American Railroads. “But there’s no better-paying, secure industry, and it’s not a job that’s going to be outsourced. The jobs are here in America.”
The trouble is, when young people think of railroads, they might think of shoveling coal and billowing steam. That sepia-toned image, however, has given way to a mix of computers, electronics and mechanics.
Wages currently average slightly more than $67,000 a year, according to the railroad association, which projects that 80,000 new rail technicians will be needed over the next five years even though technological advances will winnow the demand for labor.
Educational requirements vary widely, from a high school diploma or its equivalent in entry-level positions, to two-year technical degrees or more for diesel mechanics, to engineering or science degrees for operations managers.
Union Pacific, the nation’s largest railroad, looks for applicants with a journeyman’s card, military training or on-the-job experience in most cases but will provide on-the-job training for entry-level positions.
The railroad also recruits college graduates with majors in accounting, computer science, marketing, production management and other fields.
Finding the talent needed to meet the demand of a multibillion-dollar industry, however, has been difficult.
“While people are interested in railroads (as a career), we’re still searching for qualified employees,” said Union Pacific spokesman Mark Davis.
Railroading provides the type of secure, steady pay that allows a worker to “buy a house, start a family, pay taxes,” said Michael Halbern, a Sierra College professor teaching a new wave of tech-savvy railroaders at Sierra College’s Computer Integrated Electronics-Mechatronics Program.
Increasingly there are opportunities for women, who make up roughly 9 percent of the total industry work force, according to the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board, the Chicago-based pension authority for the nation’s railroaders.
While wages average $67,000 a year, compensation rises to more than $90,000 with benefits, according to the railroad association, based in Washington, D.C.
Oddly, that was part of the problem, say those in the rail industry. Workers enticed by the good pay and long-term job security grew gray in their jobs.
In 2001, employment law changed, allowing workers with 30 or more years of experience to retire at age 60. That triggered a wave of departures that the industry is still recovering from, said railroad officials.
When those workers retired, not only manpower disappeared but also years of experience on the tracks and in the locomotive.
The retirements were keenly felt because railroads had trimmed their labor forces as freight shipments moved to air carriers and trucks, said Dan Williams, a Sacramento branch manager at the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board.
Myriad other factors also contributed to boosting the demand for railroad workers: the growth in container shipping; limits on how many hours long-haul truckers could drive; soaring gas prices; the Wyoming coal boom; and the demand for Midwestern corn for ethanol development.
Although freight traffic nationwide was down in May, compared with the same time last year, the nation’s seven major freight railroads are hauling more freight than ever before and spending a record $9.4 billion to increase rail capacity, according to the railroad association.
Through the first 18 weeks of 2007, U.S. railroads hauled 5.8 million carloads and more than 4 million trailers or containers. In total, those cars took 588 billion tons of freight over as many miles.
While lower than the same 18 weeks in 2006, the numbers still speak to a robust $48 billion industry and to what has driven the demand for employees at Union Pacific and other railroads in recent years.
Still, the demanding, physical work, the long hours often miles from home and an outdated image of the industry discourage some prospects.
“The challenge has been getting young people to think about railroads as a career opportunity. When they think about railroads, they think about shoveling coal and steam engines,” Donley of the railroad association, said.
Today, however, technology permeates the industry from the locomotive’s cab to the way freight is handled and shipped.
“(The locomotive) is a rolling computer. … This is not just ‘grab a wrench and turn a nut,’ ” said Sierra College’s Halbern. “The railroads have the same needs as other companies. They are trying to find a place where they can attract employees to keep the infrastructure alive.”