The result signals continued discontent over compensation, working conditions and sick-leave policies among some of the more than 100,000 union-represented workers of U.S. freight railroads.
Truckers are coping with choked-up freight facilities and troublesome equipment shortages, as bottlenecks at U.S. seaports and warehouses ripple across distribution channels to Chicago.
Drought has depleted river water levels so much that in some spots barges are getting stuck, and low water levels are causing severe impacts to navigation not seen since 1988.
Shippers are worried about the railways’ ability to haul grain, as Canadian farmers harvest the nation’s third-biggest wheat crop on record and 42% more canola than a year ago.
For some supply chain managers, the upheavals of recent years have justified their entrenched approach of relying on excess inventory as an insurance policy. They’ve learned the hard way that old methods don’t cut it anymore.