Personal vehicles caught and passed rail travel as the primary mode of transportation for Americans in the 20th century.

And as cars became more affordable and more people bought them, developing the U.S. rail system became an afterthought to expanding the highway system.

Still, the U.S. has a robust rail network, with nearly 140,000 miles of track.

While the majority of Americans travel in personal vehicles, approximately 40% of the country’s long-distance freight is shipped by train.

U.S. railroads quick facts

  • Freight railroads privately invest more than $23 billion annually.
  • Between 1980 and 2024, U.S. freight railroads invested $1.4 trillion in infrastructure.
  • Rail generated $223 billion in total economic output in 2023.
  • Railroads are the most fuel-efficient way to move freight over land, with an average of nearly 500 miles per gallon of fuel required to move one ton of freight.
    Source: The Association of American Railroads

With hundreds of thousands of miles of track and tens of billions of dollars invested annually, the rail industry relies on workers to build and maintain its transportation network.

The rail industry directly employs 153,000 workers. When including supply chains and consumer spending, the total number increases to approximately 750,000, according to the Association of American Railroads.

That’s where companies like Railcrew Xpress come into play.

The 20-year-old company provides professional transportation services to rail workers.

Yet despite all of the money being invested in the industry, the company announced that it is making significant cuts to its workforce.

Railcrew Xpress is cutting jobs.

Photo by EThamPhoto on Getty Images

Railcrew Xpress to lay off nearly 20 percent of workforce

Kansas City, Missouri-based rail worker transportation service provider Railcrew Xpress will reduce its workforce significantly over the next few weeks.

Railcrew Xpress filed Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification notices in three states last month: Virginia, Georgia, and Florida.

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This week, a new WARN notice indicates that the company is laying off 87 employees in North Carolina as it closes locations in Bethel, Bostic, Charlotte, Fayetteville, Hamlet, Leland, Raleigh, and Rocky Mount.

Local Charlotte television news station WBTV 3 reported that a company spokesperson wrote in a notice that its contract had been canceled in several locations, which led to the closures and layoffs.

Railcrew Xpress was founded in 2005 and currently operates in 25 states, employing approximately 2,000 staff members. However, the company is reportedlyset to cut more than 400 of those positions in the coming weeks, Kansas City Business Journal reported.

Railcrew Xpress resorts to layoffs after losing CSX contract

On December 22, Railcrew Xpress sent a letter to the Florida Department of Commerce stating that Jacksonville-based freight rail company CSX would cancel its contract as of February 27.

CSX is one of the largest transcontinental freight operators in the country, but there has been some consolidation in the industry this year.

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Freight operators Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern announced an $85 billion merger in 2025, creating what would be the country’s first single-line transcontinental railroad.

Labor Unions have opposed the merger because it will inevitably lead to job cuts at the combined company. However, Union Pacific has stated that it will “protect all union jobs.”

The combined company will also offer free college tuition, free counseling and family-life services, company-supported employee assistance funds, and an employee stock purchase plan.

On the other hand, non-union employees and rail-adjacent companies, such as Railcrew Xpress, will inevitably feel the pinch.

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