Railroad strike likely to have significant impact on Wyoming trucking companies

LOVELL – As a potential railroad strike lies on the horizon, local businesses are stating the strike would have a significant impact on their ability to transport, and therefore sell, products.
Last-minute negotiations by the Biden Administration in mid-September seemed to pacify the conflict between railroad union leaders and the railroad industry, when tens of thousands of unionized railroad workers stood ready to strike over working conditions that included long hours and punishing time off policies. That agreement included a pay raise, an extra day off, protected benefits and a guaranteed leave for medical care, with some restrictions.
But that agreement recently was deemed as not being enough by workers represented by the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers, as well as three smaller rail unions, resulting in the strike being put back on the table. A strike could begin as soon as Dec. 5.
“I have been sounding the alarm on this issue for several months now and working on potential solutions,” Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., said in an emailed statement to the Casper Star Tribune. “We rely on railroads to ship nearly 100% of the trona and coal we produce in Wyoming, and nearly all the commodities produced by our agricultural industry. That does not begin to cover all the goods we bring into our state via railroads. A strike would be devastating to the Wyoming economy.”
The Lovell Chronicle reached out to several businesses with a local presence that would potentially be impacted by the strike.
Representatives from Wyo-Ben and Georgia-Pacific responded to inquiries.
Rick Kimble, company spokesperson for Georgia-Pacific, said that there will be the ability for the company to switch over to trucking to transport products.
“I don’t know what the answer is, but typically we are fairly well protected, where we can convert more to trucking,” Kimble said. “If we lost the rail we would have to do that.”
Overall, though, Kimble said, the company remains optimistic that a resolution will be found and is unable to speculate on the specific impacts to Georgia-Pacific.
“It is our belief, and hope, due to the significant impact a rail strike would have on the overall national economy that things will get resolved before a stoppage occurs. Like a lot of our sites, rail is critical to our Lovell facility to help us get our products to market,” Kimble said. “However, due to the uncertainty of the current situation we are not willing to speculate on any effects a rail stoppage would have on our ability to transport goods.”
Jamey Tippetts, director of operations for Wyo-Ben, said that transitioning to trucking will happen if the strike occurs, but that it is unlikely the trucking resources available will be able to transport all of the product that Wyo-Ben produces.
“There is certainly a gap between what trucking can provide and what we usually produce,” he said.
Tippetts was unable to speculate on what specific difficulties transitioning their rail products to trucking would entail but did say that trucking services are currently used by the company and will be available.
He said that Wyo-Ben will do their best to ensure that employees are protected from any hardship the strike may have on the company.
“Local companies will do their best to make sure that the impact is not felt by their employees,” Tippetts said.
Ultimately, there is little companies can do to prepare from the impacts of the strike if it does occur.
“We’re ultimately at the mercy of the rail system. There’s not much we can do about it,” Tippetts said. “We are doing our very best to advocate for a resolution to this so that this strike does not occur.”
 
This story was published on Dec. 1, 2022.