(The following article by Ken Sweet was posted on the Arizona Daily Star website on August 11.)
TUCSON, Ariz. — Union Pacific Railroad will hire 66 workers for its Tucson operations to help meet a sharp increase in demand for freight services and replenish a graying work force.
The new hires will include conductors, train mechanics, locomotive engineers and other train-service jobs, at a starting pay of $40,000.
Union Pacific is one of the largest employers in Tucson, at 900 full-time jobs. The company ranked 50th on this year’s Star 200 ranking of Southern Arizona’s major employers.
The local job increase is part of a hiring spree that will bring 1,750 new workers on board nationally by the end of the year, UP spokesman James Barnes said.
“We’re seeing an unprecedented demand for rail service,” Barnes said. “We hope to hire approximately 5,000-6,000 new employees in the next few years.”
The majority of Union Pacific’s workers are in their 40s, 50s, and 60s, Barnes said, and part of the hiring will be to replace the company’s aging and retiring work force.
“For the most part, our workers are eligible for full retirement benefits at 60 with 30 years worth of work,” Barnes said.
Increased imports have created a major boom for rail, Barnes said.
While trucks and rail are hurting from record-high gas prices, the lower per-ton transportation cost of rail has attracted the interest of importers in recent years.
“Our Pacific ports have been incredibly busy,” Barnes said.
Union Pacific’s decision to increase its presence in Tucson is the third expansion announcement by a major transportation company in six weeks.
JetBlue Airways recently announced a new nonstop flight to New York, and United Airlines announced new nonstop service to Washington, D.C.
“Anytime a transportation network expands their presence in a community, it shows an increase in transportation demand,” said Laura Shaw, spokeswoman with Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities Inc., or TREO.
Union Pacific’s expanding presence in recent years has had residual effects on suppliers and logistics companies that work with the railroad.
“I used to do one (steel) coil shipment a week to Hermosillo,” said Alan Levin, owner of the Port of Tucson. “Now I do 500 a month.”
Levin’s company, with its own rail spur on the Southeast Side, moves cargo from rail to truck and back. Union Pacific’s success correlates with how well his company does, he said.
“Union Pacific is a great company to work with,” Levin said. “Our volumes are way up. More services by them mean more customers for us.”