The railroads estimated that a rail strike would cost the economy $2 billion a day in a report issued earlier this fall.
Another recent report put together by a chemical industry trade group projected that if a strike drags on for a month some 700,000 jobs would be lost as manufacturers who rely on railroads shut down, prices of nearly everything would increase even more and the economy could be thrust into a recession.
The Association of American Railroads trade group estimated that 467,000 additional trucks a day would be needed to handle everything railroads deliver.
Chemical manufacturers and refineries will be some of the first businesses affected, because railroads will stop shipping hazardous chemicals about a week before the strike deadline to ensure that no tank cars filled with dangerous liquids wind up stranded.Jeff Sloan with the American Chemistry Council trade group said chemical plants could be close to shutting down by the time a rail strike actually begins because of that.Roughly half of all commuter rail systems rely at least in part on tracks that are owned by freight railroads, and nearly all of Amtrak’s long-distance trains run over the freight network.And major commuter rail services in Chicago, Minneapolis, Maryland and Washington state all warned then that some of their operations would be suspended in the event of a rail strike.Madrecki said big food companies don’t like to discuss the threat of a rail strike because of worries about product shortages can lead to panic buying.Much of that is moved by rail,” said Tom Super, a spokesman for the National Chicken Council, a trade group for the industry raising chickens for meat.
The National Grain and Feed Association said a rail strike now would hit pork and chicken producers in the southern U.S.And automakers may have a hard time keeping their plants running during a strike because some larger parts and raw materials are transported by rail
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