The booming Port of Mobile’s container facility is on a record-setting pace, but a major freight rail strike that could be on the horizon threatens to impact operations.
The current contract extension is set to expire at midnight Thursday. If unions representing engineers and conductors do go on strike, it could slow down the movement of products from ships to factories and stores. Much would depend on how long the work stoppage lasts, according to Alabama Port Authority Director and Chief Executive Officer John Driscoll.
“Some of it won’t be able to move until the rails are back online,” he said. “So there’s only so much you can do from a contingency .” Rail traffic from the port was up 125 percent in August compared with last year. And refrigerated cargo was up almost 16 percent. August was the eighth straight month where intermodal rail volume doubled or tripled.
“I think we’ve outpaced some of the growth compared to some of the other locations on a percentage-term basis,” he said. “The Port of Mobile has been the fastest-growing port in the last five years.” Margaret Kidd, a professor and program director of supply chain and logistics technology at the University of Houston, said Mobile is one of a number of ports along the Gulf Coast and Eastern Seaboard that are luring business away from overcrowded ports on the West Coast. She said even before the COVID-19 pandemic, California ports were seeing a decline in business. That has accelerated, she said.Rearranging supply chains do not happen overnight, though.
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