192. Why the Trains Don’t Run on Time (ft. Justin Roczniak)

We are joined by Justin Roczniak—of the excellent engineering disasters podcast, Well There’s Your Problem—to talk about the potential freight rail strike that has been brewing for a long time and near-future scenarios for the supply chain. We discuss the horrid labor conditions in the industry and the scourge of Precision Scheduled Railroading, a system of management that has transformed the entire railroad sector so it serves one god: The Operating Ratio.

follow Justin: https://twitter.com/who_shot_jgr
Well There’s Your Problem: https://linktr.ee/wtyppod

Some stuff we reference:
••• SMART-TD, BLET joint statement on rail embargo https://smart-union.org/smart-td-blet-joint-statement-on-rail-embargo/
••• A Nationwide Freight Railroad Shutdown Could Cost $2 Billion a Day https://www.aar.org/economic-impact-of-railroad-shutdown#
••• ‘It’s Going to End Up Like Boeing’: How Freight Rail Is Courting Catastrophe https://www.vice.com/en/article/3angy3/freight-rail-train-disaster-avoidable-boeing
••• Rail Strike Threatens to Slow US Supply-Chain Recovery https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2022-09-12/supply-chain-latest-us-railroad-strike-threatens-supply-chain-recovery
••• Rail Unions Are Bargaining Over a Good Job Made Miserable https://www.labornotes.org/2022/02/rail-negotiations-are-about-good-job-made-miserable

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Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (www.twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (www.twitter.com/braunestahl)