Baltimore has new jobs coming down the tracks. On the heels of the release of seasonally adjusted numbers that saw the unemployment rate in Baltimore drop to 3.8 percent for January, CSX Transportation is looking to cut that number even further.
A Jacksonville, Fla.-based rail, container and intermodal shipper, CSX has come to the Baltimore area looking to hire train conductors.
“Any time a transportation industry has an increase in hiring, in particular CSX, who handles commercial transportation, it?s a signal of the strength of the economy because it?s a signal that goods need to be transported,” said Fronda Cohen, marketing and communications director for the Baltimore County Department of Economic Development. “It reaffirms the underlying strength of the economy.”
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Reasons for what the Association of America Railroads is calling a “rail renaissance” include the increased shipping and distribution of goods from ports across the country. The Maryland Port Administration reported earlier in the month that Baltimore?s Seagrit Marine Terminal was moving cargo and containers at record speeds, recording more than 40 moved in an hour. This is a substantial increase from the mid-20s to 30s that is the national average.
Throughout the United States, railroads originated 924,905 intermodal (shipping) units in February 2007. This figure represented an increase of 36,011 trailers and containers from the previous year, the Association of American Railroads reported.
Four of the 19 major categories of commodities also saw an increase in national carloads reported for the month.
“The railroad industry is a very big growth industry and there is hiring all across the nation,” said Kelly Donley, assistant vice president of communications for the Association of American Railroads. “We are also carrying record amounts of most materials, coal, grain, ethanol business.”
Expansion of transportation employment opportunities in Baltimore appears to be a positive growth. Rail employees who are Class 1 union members report an average salary of more than $62,000, and additional annual benefits totaling nearly $26,000.
Many conductors move on to become locomotive engineers.
