You could say no great surprise to see Thomas at a train station, but on closer examination I was quite intrigued by the context of this appearanceā¦ UPS and its workers' union will start negotiating a new contract next year, raising the possibility of more transport turbulence in 2023.I was wandering across the concourse at Waterloo Station earlier this week when I caught sight of an electronic sign featuring Thomas the Tank Engine.Longer-term, there's also a slim possibility of a shipping knot on the nation's highways. What to watch: There's that looming Friday deadline. That's not something that's happened "during my time," says Knatz, now a professor of policy and engineering at USC. The White House in May appointed a "port czar" to keep an eye on the supply chain."The supply chain crisis put the ports and the railroads on the radar screen," says Geraldine Knatz, who was executive director of the Port of Los Angeles from 2006 to 2014.But the Biden administration is working differently in these disputes - and not just because this president has been so vocal about his support for unions. Zoom out: In the modern era, the White House typically stays out of labor negotiations - maybe just swooping in at the last moment to help sides reach a resolution. economy $11 billion at that time, the New York Times noted recently. Separately, an 11-day lockout at the ports back in 2002 cost the U.S.The American Trucking Associations, a trade group, is urging Congress to step in if negotiations fail, Reuters reported.75% of new cars are moved on the rails - at a time when the auto supply chain is just getting back on its wheels. For example, a single trailer on a freight train can contain 2,000 UPS packages, notes the trade group.If the rails grind to a halt, it would be left to the nation's trucking system to pick up the slack - that'd be costly and there isn't enough capacity to handle all the extra stuff.Zoom out: The freight railway "serves nearly every agricultural, industrial, wholesale, retail and resource-based sector of the economy," explains the industry's trade group in a paper. Meanwhile: Port workers on the West Coast have been in negotiations for a new contract the last one expired in June.They're racing to meet a Friday deadline, when a "cooling off period" runs out and workers could strike. Driving the news: Over the weekend negotiations continued between the country's largest freight railroad companies - including Berkshire Hathaway's BNSF, Union Pacific and CSX - and the majority of the unions representing around 115,000 workers.All parties need to stay at the table, resolve outstanding issues and come to an agreement." "A shutdown of our freight rail system is an unacceptable outcome for our economy and the American people," a White House official said in a statement to Axios over the weekend. "The Administration has been actively engaged, pushing for a resolution.Politically, any work stoppage would spell disaster for a pro-labor White House determined to keep inflation in check and avert bottlenecks. A shutdown of the nation's rail system could cost $2 billion a day, according to an industry estimate, and we've already seen what backed up ports do to the economy. Why it matters: The stakes are sky-high economically. And the White House is pushing to avert disaster, engaged at a level not seen in decades. Two huge labor disputes, in the railways and at the ports, threaten to re-tangle supply chains in the U.S.
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