Now hiring: BNSF adds dozens of new employees

All aboard — freight trains could be a ticket out of the unemployment line. While the jobless rate in Flathead County stays high, one major employer is bucking the trend.

BNSF Railway has been on a hiring spree this past year, adding as many as 415 employees in Montana. Locally, 41 new employees have been hired in Whitefish. The BNSF office near Depot Park has become so busy they recently reclaimed a public parking lot to accommodate the new employees.

BNSF shuttles a diverse array of goods through Whitefish. Train cars are filled with everything from natural resources and grain, to TVs and tennis shoes. The company is currently running more than 30 trains a day across the Hi-Line route, which travels through Whitefish and Glacier Park. The route is BNSFs busiest in Montana.

Up until the economic downturn, BNSF was moving record amounts of freight through Montana. The recession hit hard with weekly shipments dropping 30 percent company wide in 2009. Thousands of workers were laid off or furloughed.

Railway spokesperson Gus Melonas says they have yet to restore peak shipment numbers, but they’re optimistic about a recovery. BNSF executives expect total transportation volumes to slowly climb back to pre-recession levels by 2013. Volume is currently at about 90 percent of the peak.

Melonas says the Montana hiring spree can be attributed to both attrition — replacing jobs left vacant  — as well as planning for future demands. In the past year, BNSF has hired in Montana train yard workers, engineers, track maintenance crews and mechanics.

“They are some of the highest paying union jobs in the state,” Melonas said.

According to BNSF’s website, a diesel mechanic starts at $25 an hour. The company is currently advertising for career opportunities locally.

“There will be a demand for more hiring next year, as well.” Melonas said.

Other BNSF hubs in Montana that brought on new workers include Billings with 23 new employees, Glasgow with 28, Havre with 98 and Great Falls with 68.

Many of the company’s new employees have chosen to live in Whitefish, Melonas said.

“Whitefish is a crew-change point,” he explained. “It plays a key role in our future.”

The closest crew-change point to the east is in Havre, and Spokane, Wash., in the west.

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Anticipating an uptick in business, BNSF is investing millions of dollar this year in Montana infrastructure as part of a company wide $3.8 billion capital improvement project. The company spent $2.7 billion in capital improvements in 2010.

About 155,000 new railroad ties were installed this year in Montana. Extensive surface work is taking place on the Hi-Line, including replacing rail in Glacier Park, and many bridges are being replaced, too. The company also bought 227 new General Electric locomotives at a cost of about $450 million.

“Those locomotives are visible all across the Hi-Line,” Melonas said. “They’re all U.S.-made, high horsepower and more efficient.

“We’re investing for tomorrow. These improvement are beneficial to our shippers in Montana.”

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The company’s recovery is vibrantly evident in their 2011 third quarter report.

Total revenues from the quarter are up 13 percent compared to 2010. Their net income year-to-date is more than $2 billion. Net income in 2010, the most profitable year in the company’s history, was $2.5 billion.

In short, the company is poised for another good year.

Montana’s natural resources are a large part of BNSF’s recovery and recent hiring, and they have factored into BNSF’s track improvement plans, Melonas said.

The transportation of coal contributed about 27 percent of freight revenues in 2010, with more than 90 percent of all BNSF’s coal originating from the Powder River Basin of Wyoming and Montana. The PRB accounts for about 40 percent of the nation’s total coal production.

BNSF hauls about 51 trains per day from the area. Coal movement for the company is actually down in 2011, partially due to the impact of severe flooding this past spring.

The oil boom in the Dakotas and eastern Montana is also feeding BNSF’s business. The Bakken Shale is estimated to have about 4 billion barrels of oil. The output is exceeding pipeline capacity and new pipelines aren’t expected be on line until 2013. This opens a window of opportunity for movement by rail. BNSF train routes go through 16 of the top oil-producing counties in North Dakota.

The train company is also transporting drilling equipment and frac sand to the oil fields. BNSF has discussed using unit trains to keep a steady supply of frac sand on site.

Green energy opportunities haven’t evaded the railroad company either. BNSF regularly ships oversized wind energy components, including towers, blades, generators and hubs, through Montana. Strategically placed transload centers, including one on the Hi-Line in Shelby and another to the south in Judith Gap, are within major wind resource zones. These centers allowed BNSF to transport the components from major ports such as Seattle or Portland, Ore., to within 100-150 miles of a wind farm.