DULUTH, Minn. - Officially, Carney Lien is an employee of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Co., but the switchman who transfers coal from trains to ships didnt work a day last year, the Duluth News Tribune reports.
Officially, Carney Lien is an employee of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Co., but the switchman who transfers coal from trains to ships didnt work a day last year.
(Lien is a member of UTU Local 1175, Duluth.)
The 27-year-old Duluth man is one of an estimated 40 BNSF workers in Superior that have either been laid off or furloughed because of the decreased tonnage through the Duluth-Superior port in 2009.
Lien and BNSF are just one example of shipping-related businesses that took a hit during one of the worst tonnage seasons since the Great Depression.
From 2008 to 2009, coal tonnage fell 17 percent, iron ore plummeted 56 percent and total tonnage dropped 32 percent.
We havent seen numbers like that since 1932; it was very dramatic in terms of iron ore, said Adolph Ojard, executive director of the Duluth Seaway Port Authority.
In a typical year, BNSF would unload the equivalent of five coal trains per day, but in 2009, it was reduced to three trains, said BNSF terminal manager Stan Ujka. In iron ore, BNSF would typically handle about 8 million to 10 million tons per year, but last year they barely exceeded 2 million, Ujka said.
As a result of diminished demand for raw materials, Ujka said BNSF laid off or furloughed about 15 percent of its roughly 275 employees in Superior.
Im furloughed, which is their soft term for it, and it has been about a year, Lien said. The economy is the big thing. When the [Iron Range] mines shut down, that took away a few jobs. And obviously, if people arent buying things, there isnt anything to ship, and it trickles down to us.
Lien was hired two years ago Thursday, but has had to rely on a part-time job at Enger Park Golf Course and unemployment payments to make ends meet.
Experienced railroad workers foreshadowed Liens possible plight when he was hired.
They explained to us when we got hired that it was a seniority-based system, which we all understood that there is a chance of getting laid off, Lien said. I never thought it would be this bad or this long. The older guys told us horror stories about the railroad in the 1980s, people who were laid off for five, 10 years at a time. At the time, I was like, yeah, whatever. Im just glad to have this job. Now its sinking in.
Im not bitter, he said, I knew what I was getting myself into, but at the same time I would like to get back to work.
Lien might be able to get back to work rather soon, if Ojards example of January shipping activity carries over to the new season in March.
Ojard said not one ship visited the Duluth-Superior port in January 2009, and this month, nine ships came through the port.
This whole thing started the economic downturn in the October and November timeframe in 2008, Ojard said, What we noticed was a drop off in tonnage, but what we really noticed was that last January we had no maritime activity. This year we have had maritime activity. We were starting to see the recovery as we went into the fourth quarter and the end of the navigation season.
The depressed shipping season forced businesses to look at efficiencies and opportunities for new ventures, Ojard said. For the first time since the 1930s, the Duluth-Superior harbor shipped scrap metal by water and more quotes are being exchanged for wind turbine shipments.
As you get squeezed in business, and your profits are hemorrhaging and youre losing money, you have to look at everything, Ojard said. There is a lot of internal review to how product is moved and we hope that we [the port] can be a part of that in the future and provide lower costs.
Ojard said he is cautiously optimistic for the 2010 shipping season to return to tonnage totals around 40 million, which is still beneath its previous five-year average of 46 million.
The tide has turned, Ojard said. We are going to see increases and improvements in tonnage. I dont see it going back to what it was in the five-year average. Maybe by 11 it will.
Ojard, however, cautioned of a double dip, where the tonnage falls, rebounds temporarily only to fall again. For example, in 1932, tonnage fell to 10 million, recovered to 57 million in 1937 only to drop to 23 million in 1938.
Is this a recovery or are we going to have a recovery with a setback? Ojard asked. Most people will tell you that the unemployment numbers need to start improving because that is the consumer. We are not seeing the consumer.
Everyone is guarded about the year, he said, but there is far more optimism for the upcoming season. There was no optimism last year. It was a catastrophe.
(This item appeared Jan. 25, 2009, in the Tribune.)
