Waverly, TN - On 10/9/12, the NRC joined GoRail, a grassroots organization that unites rail stakeholders with community leaders and the public in support of rail transportation, for an event with U.S. Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-7) at Central Sales and Service (CSS) in Waverly, Tennessee.

Congresswoman Blackburn toured the CSS facility which manufactures rubber products for locomotives as well as passenger and freight cars. David Armstrong of NRC member Commercial Insurance Associates participated in the event along with other rail industry representatives and shared with Congresswoman Blackburn the importance of the rail industry, our legislative goals in Congress, and explained how railroads are vital to the employment of millions of Americans like those at Central Sales and Service.

The economic story of railroads in Tennessee starts with companies like CSS and their 39 employees, but does not end there. More than 4,000 Tennesseans work in the rail industry with combined salary and benefits totaling more than $400m. The Department of Commerce has found that every freight rail job supports 4.5 jobs in the wider economy (like the 39 employees at CSS).