By Julie Sneider, Senior Associate Editor
The first time Peter Mills talked about the coronavirus with fellow railroaders was on March 6, 2020, when short-line industry representatives met in Washington, D.C., for the annual Railroad Day on Capitol Hill.
“That was about the time when we were starting to become aware that we might have a problem,” says Mills, the president and chief executive officer of Indiana Rail Road Co. “Really, there were no precautions taken on that trip — it was still early in the pandemic. We were still shaking hands with each other.”
It wasn’t long after his return home to Indiana that Mills and his staff began developing and implementing the protocols necessary to keep INRD’s 130 employees as safe as possible from getting or passing on the coronavirus while on the job.
Headquartered in Indianapolis, INRD serves central and southwest Indiana and central Illinois, and operates a 250-mile rail network. Major operating facilities are located in Indianapolis, Jasonville and Terre Haute, Indiana, and Palestine, Illinois.
“We are somewhat lucky in that our folks generally are working outside, not indoors close to other people,” Mills says. “We have minimal interaction from an operating perspective with our customers. We go and do our thing, and switch cars, and don’t really come in frequent interaction with other people.”
One exception addressed immediately was the railroad’s primary dispatching center, a smaller facility where workers worked indoors in close quarters. In addition to stepping up sanitizing of the office, the railroad created a separate space where a dispatcher can work if a quarantine is necessary.
Deep cleaning, mask-wearing, shift turnover and other protocols were implemented early on to help limit face-to-face exposure between employees. Also, the company has closed its lunch room, required administrative staff to work from home, and employees to wear masks and practice social distancing.
The railroad has approached the pandemic as it would any other safety issue, Mills says.
“The thing we talk about first and foremost is health, and protecting the health of you [the employee], your family and coworkers,” he says. “We treated the protocols like they were other safety rules: If you’re observed not wearing a mask, you will be coached. If you continue to violate the protocol, there could be disciplinary actions.”
The railroad did take a hit in volume during second-quarter 2020, when stay-at-home orders were implemented that impacted some shippers. But traffic steadily returned in the second half, amounting to some year-over-year growth, Mills says. The INRD has a diverse business mix, with its biggest segments being chemicals, coal and intermodal.
Peter Mills, president and CEO, Indiana Rail Road“We don’t have the exposure to some of the businesses that were most affected by COVID,” he says.
Mills has been impressed with how his employees have responded to the health crisis.
“As time went on and the seriousness of the pandemic became more clear, they really stepped up their game,” he says. “Almost from the beginning, managers doubled down on cleaning and scrambled to find masks and wipes for disinfecting. We’re a small company, so managers take responsibility for their remote workplace. Everyone stepped up.”
That said, Mills also acknowledged the railroad has had a small number of confirmed positive cases of coronavirus that required employees to miss work. And more employees have had to quarantine after being exposed to people outside the company who had COVID-19.
“There were times where we had some crew shortages, and we had to work with our customers on that,” Mills says. “That was for a very short time period and ultimately we caught up. So, thankfully, we did not have a material impact on our operations related to COVID so far — but this is an ongoing issue.”
What’s been the most challenging part of operating a short line during a pandemic?
“For me, No. 1: Just dealing with the virus and making sure we protect our people and their families so that we can have enough team to operate,” says Mills. “Second is making business decisions during uncertain times and in an unprecedented market. I may be old, but I’m not old enough to have lived through something like this before.”
Mills’ message to his team: Continue following the COVID safety protocols.
“We’ve done great, but we can’t take our eye off the things we need to do to achieve results,” he says. “The vaccines are being implemented, but we’re not there yet.”
