Here’s a scary picture for you.
There’s a stretch of railroad track in, say, Nebraska. And it’s buried under floodwater. Just yesterday, it was a steel highway where a hundred trains a day went.
Today, it’s nothing more than a muddy canal. And somewhere along that line, stuck on a siding, is a train with cargo. It’s chlorine that’s supposed to keep the drinking water in your city safe. Behind it, there are boxcars full of baby formula, new cars, grain, phones… Everything we take for granted and everything we think just magically appears.
Does anybody even think about rails until they break? Probably not. But how do you think your new laptop came to your door? Or the fuel that keeps your home warm? It’s all rolling on steel wheels. So, you see, a shutdown isn’t just a logistics nightmare but a full-blown disaster. It has an impact on your pantry, your gas tank, and your paycheck.
And what happens with the cargo that the trains are transporting? Does the baby formula spoil?
The answer is pretty dramatic, so let’s get into it.
Cargo Stuck on the Ground
When something happens to the rail, the first and most obvious problem is the cargo that ends up sitting in place instead of getting to its destination.
Trains that are already on the line become metal parking lots that stretch for miles, and with them, everything they’re carrying is stranded, too. This immediately creates the most insane traffic jam that spreads backward like a blocked artery.
Things aren’t great at the port, either. Ships can’t unload because there are no trains to carry the containers inland. The boxes start to pile up and, before you know it, the docks are makeshift parking lots.
If you own a business, this is a scary time for you because there’s a mountain of fees waiting for you, like demurrage and detention.
Every day the cargo is stuck, the fees only get higher. And if the cargo is perishable goods like fresh produce or medicine, the situation is even worse because you could lose everything before the delay is over.
When something like this happens, companies will start to frantically look for trucks and barges that are available, which can make shipping costs skyrocket literally overnight.
How Cargo Gets Moved Away
So, how do you untangle this huge mess?
Usually, the first answer is trucks, but can you imagine trying to empty a swimming pool with a few garden hoses? There are not enough drivers and rigs to handle the amount of cargo that even a single train carries.
If the cargo is heavy bulk like grain or coal, barges are usually the next best thing, but that’s only if the waterway is close by.
Otherwise, it’s not convenient. You’re probably thinking, Why not just use planes? Isn’t that the fastest way?
And you’re right, it is the fastest way, but it’s so expensive nobody even thinks about it unless they’re out of all the other options. Air freight is used exclusively for the most urgent and valuable items, like a key part of a machine that could shut down an entire factory. If there’s nothing that can move cargo fast enough, the only other option is a warehouse.
Unfortunately, that makes distribution centers burst at the seams with stranded goods, but sometimes, there’s nothing else to be done.
The Aftermath
Multiply your worst hangover by about 100, and you’ll get the idea of how things are after the tracks get fixed.
You’d think the problem was solved and the whole thing was over, but in fact, the headache is just starting.
The first thing that happens is that people start to look for someone to blame. Who will cover the cost of spoiled goods and missed deadlines? This part ultimately comes down to insurance and contracts, and after a big disruption, insurance bills go up for everyone involved.
The stakes in these types of situations can be enormous.
For instance, Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers won a multimillion-dollar train accident claim in Chicago, so when it comes to numbers, at the moment we’re talking about seven figures.
For businesses on the ground, this whole ordeal is brutal.
A factory that had run out of parts had to send its workers home, and a store that had nothing on the shelves lost reputation and customers.
This pain, however, is the only thing that can force changes. Big disruptions will leave governments no other choice but to interfere and come up with new safety laws. For companies, this is a lesson that the time has come for everyone to stop counting on a single, fragile ribbon of steel.
Of course, that’s easier said than done.
Conclusion
So, what happens to the cargo? The answer is – all kinds of stuff.
Some of it eventually gets to where it was headed, but it’s late and a lot more expensive in the end. Some of it, like perishable goods, gets written off as a total loss because there was no way to save it.
But the real cargo here was the lesson, and a terrifying one at that. A rail going down is an absolutely brutal disruption that shows how terribly fragile the supply chain is. Yes, it’s efficient, there’s no arguing with that.
But it’s still not nearly as resilient as it should be. Perhaps tracks aren’t the only thing that needs fixing here.
