The underlying strategies that strengthened railroads’ bottom lines have caused friction with customers, regulators and particularly workers — giving rise to a contract dispute that threatened a nationwide shutdown of the railway system.

The recently enacted Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 gave the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission stronger oversight of how ocean carriers and marine terminals treat shippers. Now, FMC is being called on to wield some of that power.

The deal announced before dawn on the morning of Sept. 15 came less than 24 hours before a deadline Sept. 16 that could have led to a shutdown of rail operations across the U.S.

The agreement now heads to union members for a ratification vote, which is a standard procedure in labor talks. While the vote is tallied, workers have agreed not to strike.

A strike — the first since 1992 — could cost the U.S. economy $2bn a day, according to a recently issued Association of American Railroads report, and workers say they will quit an industry already facing staff shortages.

The White House urged labor unions and freight-rail operators to come to an agreement in contract talks, with mounting concern that a strike as soon as Sept. 16 could damage the U.S. economy and Democrats’ midterm election prospects.

Some of the U.K.'s biggest strikes have been called off after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, and the U.K. Rail Delivery Group said train timetables would be normal now that strikes were not going ahead.

The port said the infrastructure investment, along with funds from the Jobs Act, will support rail-roadway separation to improve truck access and speed cargo flow through the area.

Negotiators from the two sides are slated to again meet with the Mediation Board Sept. 8 and Sept. 9, in an effort to avert a strike or lockout on Sept. 16, when the current 30-day cooling off period ends.

Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific have recently reopened several “hump yards,” where trains are broken down and reassembled for their next destinations.