Workers at the former Baltimore & Ohio shop were informed on May 11. The Cumberland Times-News reported that 96 workers and four supervisors were laid off.
CSX would not confirm the number of employees affected, noting that some of them will be eligible to transfer to positions elsewhere on the railroad.
“CSX informed employees last Friday that some positions in Cumberland were being eliminated as part of an ongoing company-wide review of operations to improve efficiency and safety and to better serve customers,” a CSX representative says.
The downsizing of the shop is in line with the reduction in the number of active locomotives in the CSX fleet. At the end of March, CSX reported an active locomotive fleet of 2,900 units, down 863 units from the first-quarter average a year ago. The railroad has 600 units stored serviceable.
Cumberland’s location on the edge of coal-mining country likely didn’t help the shop’s prospects. While coal traffic is up this year, it remains 47 percent below the year-to-date volume of 2011.
Cumberland’s car shop is not affected by the layoffs.
Last year the yard hump was idled at Cumberland, one of eight classification yards systemwide that was converted to flat-switching as part of then-CEO E. Hunter Harrison’s sweeping operational changes.
CSX reduced its workforce 14 percent in 2017, including the elimination of 3,300 employees. The railroad expects to reduce its workforce by around 2,200 positions this year, bringing its headcount to 25,000 by year’s end.
The layoffs are a byproduct of operational efficiency gains at CSX, which is moving the same amount of tonnage on fewer, longer trains.
The strategy has enabled the railroad to use far fewer locomotives and freight cars – and therefore fewer train crews and mechanical forces, Chief Financial Officer Frank Lonegro said at an investor conference this week.
The railroad is halfway to its anticipated workforce reductions this year, Lonegro says.
James Foote is a marketing guy and very good at deception. All he is striving for is the operating ratio goal. Once he achieves that he will retire and CSX will disappear. The only winners are NS, CP & CN. Even the stockholders who don’t sell in time will lose. Mr. Foote should be putting his marketing skills to work finding new business and planning for growth. But alas, that is not the ESS way.
Maybe CSX ought to be doing something to solicit traffic to fill all of its empty rolling stock instead of trying to cut its way to profitability. Too many cuts leads to a terminal loss of blood.
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Maryland has The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation.
Skilled locomotive mechanics aren’t a dime a dozen. At a time of near full nominal employment, replacing them will be an expensive proposition if current downsizing proves to be too extreme. Western roads are reported to be offering large sign-on bonuses for such people. . Sandpatch has always been an operational challenge ddespite the “National Gateway ” project , and, because of the topography, always will be. The bean counters may be making operational decisions today, but they’ll be scarce tomorrow when the system underperforms, or is stressed by adverse circumstances. Judging by employee, both current and recent, comments about the character of their employment, the management has ignited a real firestorm of disgruntled operational people. No company is going to do well, long-term, with that avoidable albatross. When ideology, unsupported by proven methods, trumps technology, bad things await. A reckoning will come when insurors, both for workmen’s comp and physical damage, decide business practices a la Harrison and Foote are too frequent and expensive to deal with.
One wonders where the toothless STB is in all of this mess? Their lack of involvement has ruined the industry over the decades. It is a good thing we have an Interstate highway system because it is clear the suits running the industry today do not care about market share only to hollow out the respective railroads to line their collective pockets. Railroads are shrinking not gaining in the overall freight market.
“efficiency gains at CSX, which is moving the same amount of tonnage on fewer, longer trains.”
That’s a lie. Their volume is down and so is total revenue. They are already experiencing crew shortages and have offered to buy back vacation time during the summer. They have threatened the remaining employees with termination if they’re unavailable for work. EVERY class I RR is actively hiring except CSX. Their days are numbered……
Just like on Canadian National after E.H.H. left, such cuts on locomotives and shops will bite them in butt when traffic up-swings. Eventually, anything that is man-made DOES NEED to be serviced otherwise it will fail and then you are stuck up creek S.O.L’d. Oh well…precision railroading at its greatest (NOT!!)
I bet you CSX management is pissed that coal hasn’t continued to decline. They are anxious to dump the Mountain Sub and all of the deferred maintenance that has built up.
I bet if the Versa paper mill closes and coal starts a downward trend again, it’s sold the next day.
Dang, I knew this day was coming but kept my fingers crossed. One reason I made sure to photograph the exterior and the hump as best i could last Fall. I’m very fond of the Cumberland area and this will really hurt. I can’t figure out how the Huntington WV shop figures in the future, since it is in the middle of the former C&O, but an excellent large shop, while the Cumberland shop is in the busy parts of The Triangle.
Q: Has anyone thought of Illinois Central Gulf as the model for the current regime?
Precision railroading is a farce. The rail industry will pay for years on it’s stupidity. And you can fix stupid. Ask CN and CP how that precision railroading works.
CSX is a huge mess. Cutting infrastructure reduces service capability, destroys customer service and ultimately, will hurt revenue. Let the downward spiral started by Harrison continue.
CSX seems to be preparing for a business downturn by doing everything to cause one. Compare this report to CN’S above, to see how real railroaders operate!
That’s a great idea for costs savings……till the newer locomotives start needing work.
So what are they thinking, what about helpers for the Cumberlin line climb or are they shutting down the Cumberlin sub?
Fewer locomotives, less trackage, less employees, CSX selling point to investors …”once we get rid of this pesky railroad venture things are going take off!!”