Even now, in a time of deregulation, the government interferes in the marketplace too much. There’s a mish-mash of independent D.C.-based agencies that lets bureaucrats force companies to make changes when they merge that Congress could never approve.
The role these agencies play in overseeing mergers should be limited to protecting national security interests and ensuring the consumer welfare standard is not violated. Anything more is overreaching.
Unfortunately, there’s no watchdog to watch the watchdogs. Congress seems reluctant to use its power to challenge agency determinations, even when doing so serves the interests of the economy and the American consumer.
One deal currently on the table is the proposed $71.5 billion merger of the Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern railroads. The size of the deal makes it an awesome symbol of America’s industrial resurgence. The new, combined company would create as many as 900 net new union jobs over the next three years if the federal Surface Transportation Board approves it.
The STB has the power to block the deal, as the International Brotherhood of Teamsters has asked it to, saying it threatens worker safety, job security, and competition. That’s a reach, considering the railroads have offered current employees a first-ever lifetime employment guarantee, “Jobs for Life,” that ensures workforce reductions would occur only through normal attrition and that there would be no layoffs.
The Teamsters have rejected the “jobs for life” proposal. It’s fair to ask if that’s because management prioritized the needs of its nearly 700 million members who work in trucking, parcel delivery, freight and warehouse operations – sectors that all compete with freight rail – over the needs of those who work in rail-related occupations?
This is not an insignificant question. The conflict between what's good for Teamsters who would benefit from the merger and those who might lose out because the increased efficiencies of the combined line would make it more competitive with long-haul trucking creates an apparent conflict of interest that the union’s management should be called on to explain.
Labor doesn’t speak with one voice on the merger. Major rail unions like SMART-TD, the industry's largest; the American Train Dispatchers Association; the National Conference of Firemen and Oilers; the Brotherhood of Railway Carmen; the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers; and the United Supervisors Council of America endorse both “Jobs for Life” and the merger. The Teamsters are the lone exception, and STB members should ask why.
A seamless, single-line, coast-to-coast rail service is an attractive option to moving freight by truck. It’s competition, but not as serious as what automation poses. Driverless freight is here now. Aurora Innovation launched the nation's first commercial driverless heavy-duty trucking service on public highways in 2025. Kodiak Robotics has delivered autonomous trucks to commercial customers in the Permian Basin. Gatik has operated fully driverless middle-mile deliveries for Walmart in Arkansas since 2021. Major manufacturers and technology companies are investing billions to commercialize autonomous trucking over the next several years.
Hundreds of thousands of long-haul driving jobs could eventually be affected or eliminated through automation. The Teamsters understand this, and their existing collective bargaining agreements reflect it. The 2023-2028 National Master Freight Agreement prohibits ABF Freight from deploying autonomous vehicles or trucks operated without bargaining-unit drivers, proof that the union recognizes automation as a genuine threat to its membership.
Some of the union's largest employers are investing in autonomous trucking technology. UPS has invested in autonomous trucking through UPS Ventures and expanded its partnership with Waymo Via. Penske Truck Leasing participates in Torc Robotics' Autonomous Advisory Council. The industry is preparing for broader deployment of Level 4 autonomous freight operations.
The workers that Teamsters are shielding from rail competition already face structural disruption through automation. The STB needs to keep this in mind. Organized labor’s loudest, lone objection is about preserving trucking's competitive position, not about protecting rail workers who are being offered lifetime job security. That shouldn’t be enough to derail the merger.
