Yes, pretty much. Not so much specifically inflation but the US economy as a whole. The numbers change depending on what source you use but roughly it was estimated that 1-2 billion would have been lost per day if the rails shut down. Rail transports ~%40 of the nations long distance freight and ~%30 of exports.

It’s a lose-lose situation tbh. Either the rail workers strike and rail conditions get better (could have potentially prevented this derailment) or the already poor economic situation gets worse for a lot of people. Regardless the consistent issue is the rail company that refuses to take real responsibility for any of it.

I saw someone else posted. But the Rail companies REFUSED to budge on some demands.

Rail Companies work on a random scheduling bases. Which means they don't move trains until they hit capacity. So train crews will often have to be on standby for 24/7 until they get a call. Which means they'll have to show up within the hour. Also note trains use to run on schedule and wouldn't leave at full capacity sometimes. Companies hated this so they changed it because 1 all scheduled trains would need crews and 2 they couldn't carry as much stuff if it was scheduled. So now they just say "these trains wont move unless we have them full of stuff"

The Rail workers were asking for UNPAID LEAVE APPROVAL FOR MEDICAL APPOINTMENTS. And this was denied because the rail workers staffing were stripped to skeleton crews. Literally the bare minimum to run the trains.

Biden stopped the strike for a multiple of reasons. One being the supply chain issue hasn't really solved itself just yet.

But also corporate interests demand that trains keep running in unsafe conditions. It's simple really, the rail lines should be nationalized and regulated by a government entity and ENFORCED. Also note it really grinds my gears because legally passenger rail has right of way for all rails. HOWEVER most of the time passenger rail has to heed to freight rail because rail is SO long that when they come by they usually block passenger rail physically. AND GUESS WHAT? THE FINES IF ANY ARE ALWAYS SO LOW THEY CONTINUE DOING IT.

It's really a companies don't want to "miss out on more profit" and the rail workers trying to get a semblance of basic necessity. And the Biden administration chose to side with the rail companies. The rail companies literally went on national tv and said "these rail workers are selfish and want to destroy the economy"

I have such a disdain for the current state of affairs of rail in America