How America Works (2021) s03e01 Episode Script
Cargo
1
- Before it became
your property,
every single thing in
your house was cargo,
from the sofa you're sitting on
to the dishes in your sink
to the TV you're
watching right now.
None of it would be
in your possession,
but for vast network
of trucks and trains
and ships and planes.
I'm no different.
This desk, that "How
America Works" poster,
that cool American
flag, this Emmy award
that absolutely
nobody cares about,
this Mike Rowe
Works trailer hitch,
my grandfather's whiskey,
my mom's latest,
best-selling book,
and this one-legged
Mike Rowe action figure,
none of it would've come to me
but for a working supply chain.
This episode is a shout-out
to the two million Americans
who make that supply chain work,
hardworking men and
women who labor 24/7
to make sure all of our stuff,
from the sublime
to the ridiculous,
makes it from
point A to point B.
They know, better than most
I think, how America works,
(energetic rock music)
Whether it's imports or exports,
commodities or
shipping containers,
nobody can move cargo
like these United States,
which is why we're also the
world's largest trading nation,
shipping more than $5
trillion worth of cargo
each and every year.
So, with that said,
what's with all the
shortages here of late?
Where'd all the canned goods go?
And when did buying
a refrigerator
become barely easier than
catching a leprechaun?
(ominous music)
Well, in a word, or
an acronym: COVID,
which, through
widespread shutdowns,
bucked America's
supply chains so hard,
they're still reeling.
(ominous music continues)
(bright orchestral music)
But that doesn't
mean the 500+ ports
and shipping hubs of our nation
are throwing in the towel.
In fact, they're just
starting to catch up.
Take the Port of
Houston for example,
one of the largest and
busiest in the world,
where it's up to
companies like Watco
to keep all that
traffic in motion.
Back before the pandemic,
this 800-acre facility
would happily move about
40,000 tons of cargo every day.
But as manufacturers race
to make up for lost ground,
they're now charged
with moving 70,000 tons,
be it by truck, train, or barge.
And heading up the
ladder of those methods
are crew leaders
like Johnny Rankin.
- I am over 13 years
here with Watco,
seven years here on this dock,
been playing with
heavy equipment
for the majority of my life.
(Johnny grunts)
I love what I do. That's
why I'm here every day.
(dramatic music)
- [Mike] But to
hit today's quota,
Johnny and his fellow staff
will have their work
cut out for them,
because, among other tasks,
that means moving some 250
truckloads worth of product,
200 tons worth of
industrial windmills,
500 rail cars, and,
in Johnny's case
- We have a barge with
somewhere in the neighborhood
of 1,700 tons of
high carbon chrome,
which is a steel alloy
that we're gonna unload
and get it to our storage
pile inside our warehouse
in the center of the park.
- [Mike From there, this
particular load of Chrome
will be headed to Arkansas,
where it'll be used to create
a variety of essential items
from stainless steel
to brick molds.
But before he can
start offloading,
Johnny will first need
to remove the lids
from the 30-by-200-foot barge.
And for that, he'll be working
with one of his
favorite heavy haulers.
(hauler beeping)
(dramatic music)
- [Johnny] During this
operation, I will be in Fiona,
our material handler.
She's big, she's green,
and she's pretty.
Fiona serves the same
purpose as a crane,
only it's easier to
work with than a crane,
as I can control the bucket.
And you see my finger
twitching right here?
That's what's
spinning the bucket
so I can set things down
just as they need to be set.
- [Mike] And with the last of
the lids carefully laid aside,
it's time to start
moving material
from the barge to a hopper,
which will then
dispense it into trucks.
(tense music)
But on eyeing over
said hopper
- [Johnny] Hold
on just a minute.
- [Mike] There seems to
be something missing.
- Where y'all
hiding a compressor?
I need an air compressor.
(radio chirps)
There's supposed to be a
compressor down here somewhere.
- [Mike] As usual,
Johnny's right,
because without
an air compressor,
the doors on this hopper
can't be opened or closed.
- [Johnny] So right now,
it's basically a
(censored) paperweight.
(upbeat music)
- [Mike] It takes
a lot of machinery
to keep our cargo moving,
and here at Watco, that
comes to about 400 of them,
from cranes to forklifts
to trucks to trains.
And if any of those
machines should fail,
it could cause delays
that would ripple
down the entire supply chain.
So to keep that from happening,
there are guys like
heavy equipment
manager Anthony Rogers,
who will inspect, fix,
or otherwise service
up to seven units per day.
- There's really no
sense of normalcy
on what we're gonna do
from one day to the next.
It varies from changing a
wire, changing a filter,
to rebuilding engines.
They throw anything
at us, we attack it.
- [Mike] To start.
Anthony's attacking
what's known as a skid steer
which will be needed to
finish Johnny's chrome offload
in just a few short hours.
First though, Anthony
will need to conduct
some critical maintenance
on its business end.
- We are gonna be
changing the blade.
This is the blade down
here. These are the bolts.
We're gonna try with
impact to get 'em off.
I highly doubt
it's gonna happen.
(upbeat music)
- [Mike] Anthony
knows from experience
that bolts like
these are notorious
for wearing down so much
(wrench rattling)
no wrench can grip them.
Still
- Hey! (laughing)
- You got it.
- [Mike] It's nice to
be wrong sometimes
(wrench clunking)
even if it's not all the time.
- That one don't wanna come off.
If you look real
close right here,
product has eaten the bolt
up, so there's no thread,
so it's just hanging
up right there.
- [Mike] For the
more stubborn bolts,
Anthony will have to
use a cutting torch,
but first he'll need to see
just how many he's up against.
- So, we got all of
'em except three out.
So it looks like
we're gonna wind up
having to get the
torch out on these.
- [Mike] While Anthony
heads for the nearest torch,
back outside
(dramatic music)
(train whistle blows)
another of Watco's departments
is already hard at work,
because a full 50% of the cargo
that moves through this
facility does so via rail car,
and keeping those cars moving
is the job of rail
conductor Troy Vacala.
- We haul it all
on the railroad,
and we keep this country going,
we provide what it needs,
and it's a long
time-honored tradition.
I'm really proud
to be a part of it.
- [Mike] This morning,
Troy and his partner, Jose,
will be working on what's
known as an inbound manifest,
which is just a
fancy way of saying
a string of 63 rail cars
that need to be sorted.
- We have animal tallow;
it's basically fat.
We have pipe, we have
steel, we have lumber.
And we're gonna have
to separate that
between all these tracks.
- [Mike] It's a lot to
wrap one's head around,
so here are the broad strokes.
(intense rock music)
First, Troy will identify
a group of rail cars
that need to be
separated from the train.
Then, he'll pull the train
over what's called the switch
and disconnect them
group by group.
That's what's known in the
industry as making a switch.
From there, it's just a
matter of rinse and repeat
until every last
car is squared away.
Sounds simple enough,
but in a place where
one missed deadline
can derail dozens
of other schedules,
Troy will also need to keep
sharp eye on the clock.
- All these trains are
designated to be at locations
well, well in advance to
when they leave this yard,
so if one train is behind,
it could cause delays
for multiple trains.
- [Mike] Not if
Troy can help it.
(energetic music)
And with Jose now in position
(Train whistle blows)
it's time to switch some cars.
(radio chirps)
- Hi there, 101.
Start dragging on.
About 17 cars,
one-seven, on a stud.
(energetic rock music)
(radio chirps)
And that will do.
(train car clanking)
So I'm gonna tie three brakes
on this rear portion
that we're leaving
(brake ratcheting)
make sure there's no
undesired movement.
And then, this black tank car
I'll cut away from
this gray hopper,
and I'm gonna drag it
up over the switch,
and I'm gonna bring
it back down here
to this freight
track where it goes.
I'm gonna put it away.
(energetic rock music)
101, three step is clear.
When you can, drag it out.
(train car clanking)
(air blasts)
Communication out here
is extremely important.
My job as a conductor
on the ground
is to paint the picture
for that engineer up there
so he knows exactly what he's
doing and where he's going.
And that'll do.
- [Mike] When he's
not giving directions.
Troy's also in charge
of throwing the switch,
which will divert these
cars to their proper track;
that is, if done properly.
(tense music)
(rail clacking)
- Make sure it's locked,
and also, very important,
make sure it's tight.
If it wasn't tight and
there was a gap in there,
one car could
possibly go this way,
another car could possibly go
that way and cause a derail.
Got one more switch to get.
(tense music)
(switch clacking)
(Troy grunting)
- Somethin' up with this one.
(tense music)
(lever clacking)
(upbeat music)
- [Mike] Supply
chain issues or not,
there's no denying that
the U.S. still moves
an impressive amount of cargo.
Take our railroads alone.
In a typical year,
just those will haul a combined
1.7 billion tons of freight,
or enough to fill a train
that would wrap around
the Earth six times.
That's the kind of
tonnage it takes
to keep the American
machine in motion.
And as the manufacturers
of our country
race to catch up with
post-COVID demand,
so, too, is the cargo industry
cranking like never before.
(intense rock music)
Take Watco's facility
in the Port of Houston,
one of the largest and
busiest of its kind,
where the mission today is
to move a full 70,000 tons
of product before quitting time.
But down at the rail yard,
conductor Troy Vacala
is having trouble
moving a single switch,
something he'll
need to figure out
if he's gonna get his
string of cars sorted.
- You can't halfway
close the switch.
It needs to be tight. It needs
to be perfect every time.
You can't reach down in there,
either. It's a big no-no.
Let me grab something here.
(rocks scraping)
I don't have a whole lot of
time to mess around here.
We got people that are
expecting all their product.
(rail clacks)
Looks good to me.
Cap looks tight. I think
we're ready to roll.
- [Mike] With everything
back on track, so to speak,
Troy can finally get these
17 cars where they're going.
(radio chirps)
- Three, two, one.
And that'll do.
(train cars clanking)
(bright music)
Being able to do my job
out here in the elements,
to adapt and overcome,
and that's one of the big
jobs of being a railroader.
- [Mike] Speaking of adapting
- [Mike] It seems that's
just what Troy's supervisor
has in mind at the moment.
(radio chirps)
- All right, yeah, let
me tie these motors down,
and we'll head that way.
- [Supervisor] Copy that.
- [Troy] I guess
we got a fuel train
that needs to get
outta here ASAP,
so I gotta kinda stop
what I'm doing here
and head on over
to the West yard
and start putting that
fuel train together.
It's pretty normal
for us out here.
It's a fluid operation, and
we gotta go with the flow,
and that's where the flow is.
(intense music)
- [Mike] Back on the docks,
crew leader Johnny Rankin
has also decided to
go with the flow,
because, with 1,700 tons
of chrome to offload
before the next barge arrives,
and an air compressor
needed for that still MIA,
All he can do now is
move as much product
as he can without it.
(energetic rock music)
- [Johnny] Until we can get
the rest of our equipment
for the hopper, I'll run
'em directly through.
for the time being, this
will get us at least started.
(energetic rock music)
- [Mike] It's a way
to keep moving chrome,
albeit a slower one,
but Johnny's accustomed
to doing what he can
with what he's got.
- All right, James,
one more coming in.
This is number four.
- [Driver On Radio]
I'm still good.
(energetic rock music)
I had the driver on the phone.
He has gauges in his truck
so we know how much weight
we're putting on him
and where to put it.
- [Driver] Yeah. That
looks about right there.
- Gotcha. Thank you.
- [Mike] Fortunately for Johnny,
it seems that just the one truck
is all he'll have to
load the hard way.
(energetic rock music)
- Our compressor just showed up.
We're gonna hook the hopper up.
Now, while I'm waiting
for a truck to back in,
gonna keep loading the hopper,
keep digging the barge,
get the barge emptied out.
The only time I'll have
to stop using the hopper
is when the hopper fills up,
and that's the only time we'll
be stopping from here on out.
- [Mike] That's the hope anyway.
But to complete this job,
Johnny's still going
to need a skid steer
to scoop up the
last of the chrome.
(energetic music)
And down at the machine shop,
that particular
piece of equipment is
still out of service
until Anthony Rogers here
can rotate its blade.
Unfortunately for him, he's
come up against three bolts
that refuse to budge.
But again, he doesn't
keep a cutting torch
around for nothing.
(energetic rock music)
(torch crackling)
- We gotta be very careful
not to cut into the bucket.
We don't want to
damage the bucket.
We just want to
cut the nuts off.
Now we've got it cut off,
we need to clean up
the slag around it.
(chisel scraping)
Cleaned right up.
So we'll be able to get
the other bolt in there.
(energetic rock music)
(torch crackling)
(chisel hammering)
- [Mike] With the last
of the bolts cut free,
Anthony can finally get
down to rotating the blade.
(energetic rock music)
- We're gonna take this blade,
and we're gonna flop it around.
(blade scraping)
- [Mike] But since that blade
weighs about 150 pounds
- Hey, Steve! Got a second?
- [Mike] He's gonna need a hand.
- Come on, we're gonna put
this blade on real quick.
- [Steve] Uh-huh.
- [Anthony] Let's do it!
(blade clanking)
(wrench whirring)
- [Mike] And after
a little tag teaming
with an impact wrench
(skid steer creaking)
this skid steer should
be back in business.
- All right, man, take it out.
- [Mike] And just in time too.
(dramatic music)
(phone ringing)
- [Anthony] Hey. Ooh.
- [Mike] Because it seems
another of Watco's machines
is in need of some TLC.
- Can you get it
over here for us?
All right, thanks.
All right, buh-bye.
Pssh. No breaks at
all man, no break.
(dramatic music)
(upbeat music)
- [Mike] It takes a
lot of moving parts
to keep cargo flowing
across the country.
And people, too.
Nearly two million of them
working docks, rail yards,
and trucking hubs
from coast to coast.
These are the men
and women to thank
for the many necessities
and indulgences
that we as Americans have
come to take for granted.
And in the wake of COVID-19,
those items are
just now starting
to catch back up with demand,
leaving the cargo
workers of our country
in a race to keep up,
workers like the
500+ men and women
of Watco's port
in Houston, Texas,
whose mission today is to move
an uncanny 70,000 tons of cargo
before the night shift starts.
But to make that deadline,
crew leader Johnny Rankin here
will need to scoop
another 700 tons of chrome
from this barge before the
next inbound ship arrives.
And to do that, he'll
require one skid steer
fresh from the shop,
and one brave soul
by the name of Gomez.
- [Johnny] Everything
that I couldn't reach,
our final clean up on that end,
he will push it down here
into the main piles here,
and I will keep digging.
- [Mike] First though,
Johnny will need to get Gomez
and the skid steer
into position.
And for that he turns once
again to his trustee Fiona.
- So I have a man basket,
Gomez will get in,
and I will set him
down in the man basket.
(tense music)
When I come back out, they
will unhook the man basket,
hook up the skid steer,
and then it will go
in down with Gomez.
(tense music)
12,500-pound machine,
and Fiona does it like
it's nothing touchdown.
(tense music)
Touchdown!
- [Mike] With Gomez
working the skid steer,
Johnny can now set
about the business
of finishing this offload
with no chrome left behind.
- Instead of me being down here
picking up little by little
half buckets or quarter buckets,
he rolls it all down
here into the big piles
where I can grab full
buckets each time,
and it will save
us time in the end.
(dramatic music)
Everything's going good
right now, going smooth.
- [Mike] But as Johnny's
about to find out
- [Mike] His troubles with
the hopper aren't over yet.
(dramatic music)
- Go ahead.
- [Johnny] You're
kiddin', right?
(dramatic music)
- [Mike] While Johnny deals
with his latest hopper issue,
back at the machine shop,
equipment manager Anthony Rogers
is kicking off yet another
time-sensitive project,
because, within the
hour, this heavy hauler
will be needed for offloading
some windmill components.
But at the moment it's
not exactly in top form.
- As you can see the
check engine light is on.
We're gonna raise the cab,
we're gonna go do a once over
and see what's wrong with it.
(light music)
All the hoses look pretty good.
Connections on the wiring
harness look pretty good.
I don't see no leaks on a
control valve in the back.
All that looks good.
- [Mike] But
- [Anthony] Oh no.
- [Mike] It appears
there's one component
that doesn't look so good.
- This is a cab lock cylinder.
Pin is not even in there,
so this is not a good
scenario for a driver,
'cause it could allow this cab
to go up a foot to two foot
if they hit a pothole,
and we have plenty of
potholes around here,
so we're gonna change it out.
If not, we got a problem.
(soft music)
- [Mike] Fortunately
for his colleagues,
Anthony keeps just about
every spare part imaginable
under the shop's roof,
including cab lock cylinders.
- Now if you'll take
a look right here,
you can see this one's
missing this pin.
This is why where
we replacing this,
'cause this is what locks it.
So let's get busy on
taking this apart.
(tools whirring)
(energetic rock music)
- [Mike] With over 30
years of experience,
Anthony makes short work of
removing the faulty cylinder,
but installing the new one,
that's a little trickier.
- This is the hard
part of this job,
getting these bolts to go in
the hole with my fat fingers.
(tense music)
And there we go.
(upbeat music)
(tool whirring)
Those are all tight.
(energetic music)
(tool whirring)
All right, let's give it a test.
When I hit the hydraulics
for it to go up,
you're gonna see this pin
pop out to about here,
and this is gonna open up.
So here we go.
(pin clicks)
All right, y'all see
how that popped out?
It's working like
it's supposed to.
So this truck is ready to go.
That's instant gratification.
It came in with a problem,
it went out perfect.
- [Mike] And just
in the nick of time,
because, back out
on the docks
(upbeat music)
another of Watco's team
will be needing this truck
for that aforementioned
windmill job,
which basically boils
down to offloading
all 18 of these blades
bound for North Dakota.
And the man in charge
of making that happen
will be Vessel
Superintendent Ruben Powell.
- The goal for today
by the end of our shift
is to have all 18
blades discharged.
We have a certain way that
we have to take 'em out,
the way that they overlap,
so you have to take 'em
off in order, in pairs.
(radio chirps)
Let's go ahead and bring
that first one off.
- [Mike] Offloading
a 150-foot-long blade
weighing 13 tons
requires two cranes
working in tandem
and a crew of 26 on the ground.
So Ruben's role
here will be mainly
keeping an eye on everything
and calling the shots.
(tense music)
(radio chirps)
- Nice and easy. Nice and easy.
We're not in a rush.
Do it the right
way. No shortcuts.
It might take us a little
longer to do so, but so be it.
(dramatic music)
- [Mike] He's right, you know,
because, since each of these
blades is worth $400,000
and is incredibly fragile,
it pays to take one's time.
- Once you get the the
blades over on the side,
Lalo, my foreman there,
he flags the truck
back into position,
and once he's in position,
then we're lowered onto
the bed of the truck.
- [Ruben] What's wrong
Lalo? What's the problem?
(upbeat music)
- [Mike] We may not
put too much thought
into how our cargo moves in,
out, and around the country.
I mean it's kind
of an out-of-sight,
out-of-mind operation.
But if that system
were to stop working,
trust me, you'd feel it.
Because there is nothing
like a post-apocalyptic lack
of everyday essential items
to put a damper on one's day.
Seriously, almost all of
the items in your home
had to be barged, trained,
and/or trucked into
your community.
And without those
means of transit,
every American would
be in a bad way.
But not if the people at ports
like Watco in Houston, Texas
have anything to say about it.
Here, at one of the greatest
shipping hubs in the country,
they're working double time
to move a staggering 70,000
tons of cargo by day's end
in an attempt to keep
up with record demand.
But while offloading the
first of 18 windmill blades
- [Ruben] What's the problem?
- [Mike] Ruben Powell's team
seems to have hit
a bit of a snag.
(crew members chattering)
- Oh, okay.
(tense music)
Right now the issue is
the blade is about to touch
the bed of the trailer,
which we don't want, so
we're gonna have to readjust.
We need to get a
crosstie in there
to go up under the frame
so that the the blade
don't touch the bed.
(intense rock music)
- Being fiberglass, just
the weight of this blade
can cause cracks or dents
when resting on steel.
Wood, however, should be soft
enough to use as a cushion,
which is why Ruben
always keeps some handy.
- This is a
36,000-pound forklift.
We're gonna use it to
put these crossties
up under the frame of that blade
so that the blade itself
is not rubbing the trailer.
Good?
- [Mike] With the
crossties in place
(dramatic music)
- [Ruben] Watch your fingers.
- [Mike] Ruben and
the boys waste no time
loading their first
blade onto a semi.
But with 17 more still to go,
they'll need to pick up
the pace from here on out.
- Time is money, and we
need to get back on track
so we can finish
these blades ASAP.
- [Mike] While Ruben
puts some spurs
to the offloading effort,
not far away, another
of Watco's teams
is working with cargo
of a different kind;
actually, the most common
kind: container cargo.
And since all the containers
that come through Watco
look pretty much the same,
it's up to Vessel Supervisors
like Danielle Turner
to track what they are
and where they're going.
- Our job is to make sure
that all of this cargo
that's scheduled
to load the vessel
is gonna get loaded today
so it can go to Colombia.
Easy Peasy.
- [Mike] But before any of
these containers can be moved,
they'll first need the
sign off from Danielle,
which, when working
with 30 units total,
can take a little time.
- Very important to make sure
that we have all the
cargo accounted for,
all the marks are right.
So I'm gonna try to get through
this as quickly as possible,
but I still need to make sure
that all my work is accurate.
- [Mike] And with the
boat bound for Colombia
already pulling into port,
Danielle has just a
half hour to ensure
that all this cargo is
present, accounted for,
and free of any defects.
- We have to make sure
that all the cargo we
ship out is seaworthy,
seaworthy meaning it's intact,
the crating is intact, the
material inside is not exposed.
Then we just wanna make sure
that our customer's cargo
is secure and and in good shape.
- [Mike] But despite
Danielle's best efforts,
the occasional container
can still show up
in less than good shape.
(tense music)
- Who left this here?
This is obviously torn to
pieces, and no one said nothing?
This has to load
in like 30 minutes,
and it is not ready at all.
(tense music)
- [Mike] While Danielle
deals with the busted crate,
over on the docks, crew
leader Johnny Rankin's
come up against an
issue of his own;
specifically, an air compressor
that showed up late for work
and now has quit on the job.
Fortunately for his team, what
with 13 years of experience,
Johnny has grown accustomed
to fixing problems on the fly.
- There we go.
Just a rubber O-ring
had a little rip in it.
They call it a gladhand rubber,
just like on the
tractor trailers.
They have these in the air lines
between the truck
and the trailer.
It wasn't allowing
the air pressure
to get the cylinders on the
hopper to open the doors,
and rather than call a mechanic
that might take 30
minutes to get here,
I'm just gonna steal one
outta the other side.
That one looks good.
There we go.
New seal in, hook up, fire up.
(tense music)
(cargo rattling)
(truck horn honks)
All good. Go back to work.
(energetic music)
(truck horn honks)
- [Mike] And right on time,
because with his partner, Gomez,
rounding up the
last of the chrome,
Johnny has finally hit the
home stretch of this offload.
- What we're doing now, set
the bucket on the floor,
and Gomez is picking up the
last little bit of scoop,
and he'll dump it into my
bucket, and we'll be done.
All clear. Here we go.
(energetic music)
(soft music)
Final number was 1,638 tons.
All done. My team is safe.
It's been an amazing day.
Now that I'm done
here, I will go home
and get ready to start
my vacation tomorrow.
Truth be known,
it's my honeymoon.
Tomorrow starts my honeymoon.
- [Mike] We've already
talked about how much cargo
America moves by rail,
but since they ferry
about 80% of all goods,
how 'bout waterways?
Well, if you were to take
the 39 million containers
that move through our
sea ports each year
and stack them on
top of each other,
you could build a
wall 400 feet high
that would stretch from
sea to shining sea.
And mind you, that's just
the stuff in containers.
For the cargo workers
of our nation,
that's what I'd
call job security.
And with demand
reaching record highs
in the post-COVID climate,
those jobs are more secure
than they've ever been.
Take the employees
of Watco's port
in Houston, Texas for example,
who are grinding it out
to move a whopping 70,000 tons
of cargo by quitting time.
To pull it off, conductor
Troy Vacala here
will need to line out
another 10,000 or so tons
of what's called liquid bulk.
(dramatic music)
- And we've got about
110-car fuel train
that we're gonna go
outbound down to Mexico.
We gotta get that put together,
and kinda running short on time,
'cause I only got about
two hours left on my shift,
and that's gonna be
cutting it close.
- [Mike] And there is much
to do in those two hours,
because, in that time,
Troy will need to take
three separate groups of cars
from three different tracks
and link them all up into
a mile-long mega train.
(tense music)
Better get started.
- Easy, easy.
And then stop
(train cars clacking)
(radio chirps)
All right there, 101,
three step is all clear,
everybody's clear.
When you can, start
dragging it out
and get this party started.
(energetic rock music)
- [Mike] After his engineer
pulls the string of cars clear,
Troy once again mans the switch
needed to divert them
to the proper track.
- So right now we've got a
cut of 15 loaded fuel cars.
I'm gonna make a join
on this seven track,
which is another 15
loaded fuel cars.
(train cars clack)
And that'll be our train.
(radio chirps)
All right there, 101,
three step clear.
Let's drag it out.
(train rattling)
- [Mike] But midway
through the move,
Troy's engineer pipes
up with the one word
no conductor wants to hear.
(tense music)
(radio chirps)
- You all right? What was that?
(tense music)
(upbeat music)
- [Mike] Meanwhile,
back on the docks,
things are going a
little more smoothly
for Vessel Superintendent
Ruben Powell,
who, having moved 14
massive turbine blades
onto semi trucks, now
has just four left to go.
But for the last of them,
he and his team will need
to tweak their rigging.
- We're on the last
one, on the second tier,
We're gonna make an
adjustment to the chains
so that we can get
the last tiers off.
I'm gonna get in the man basket
and make an adjustment
to the chain.
Let me have that.
Come over here!
- [Mike] This being such
a time-sensitive offload,
you may be wondering why
Ruben would stop everything
to mess with the chains now.
He has his reasons.
- When the blades are
stacked three high or more,
then that's when we
shorten the chains.
But as we get
down, tier by tier,
we can let the
chains out as we go.
- [Mike] Translation: longer
chains means less time wasted
lifting and lowering.
And with ease let out
another four feet or so,
it's time to get back to it.
(radio chirps)
- Hey, come back, team.
Bennecourt, let's go
ahead and get it hooked up
so when the truck gets here,
we're ready to rock and roll.
(dramatic music)
- [Mike] Well, Ruben winds
down his turbine offload,
not far away, Vessel
Supervisor Danielle Turner
is just getting fired up,
because even though she
has just under a half hour
to ready a shipment to Colombia,
the state of this crate is
not something she can abide.
- Top's all took off.
The damages.
The markings are all torn.
We have to get it
fixed immediately,
because we need to
load this cargo.
So let me grab my tools.
- [Mike] While she's at it,
Danielle also grabs a
second set of hands,
a vessel checker by
the name of Tiarius.
- We wanna make sure
that all the cargo
that's inside of
the crate is intact,
so when it gets over
to the other side,
everything is good.
- Okay.
- [Danielle]
Seaworthy, ready to go.
- Ready to go.
- [Danielle] Ready to go.
(dramatic music)
(hammering)
- All right, we're
doing pretty good here.
Get this box patched
up just enough,
we can get it on the boat.
Seaworthy now. Ready
to load on the ship.
Thanks for your help.
- [Mike] Patch job complete,
all that remains is for
Danielle to move this crate
to its final staging point.
(dramatic music)
- [Danielle] We have shippers
waiting on their cargo.
We have customers waiting
on all their good packages.
So it just don't stop.
- And with the last of
her shipment in place,
Danielle's day is finally
over, the Watco part anyway.
- So here's the end of my shift.
I have a cute little
seven-year-old boy
who loves his mommy.
I'm gonna go pick him up.
We're gonna have Lunchables,
and we're gonna get juice
wasted and watch "Paw Patrol".
End of my day.
(bright music)
- It's been one heck of a day
for the men and women of Watco,
with 70,000 tons
of cargo to process
and hurdles to
clear at every turn.
But despite the setbacks,
they're finally starting
to close in on their quota.
(dramatic music)
Well, most of them anyway.
Because down at the rail yard
(radio chirps)
- What was that?
(dramatic music)
- [Mike] Conductor Troy
Vacala's fuel train
has stopped dead in its tracks.
- That's not supposed to happen.
If you look on these pistons,
all the brakes are now engaged,
and this train ain't moving
till we figure out
what's going on with it.
- [Mike] Mercifully for Troy,
it doesn't take long to
hone in on the issue.
(air hissing)
- Can you guys
hear that hissing?
I hear air hissing
out somewhere,
so there's a problem, and
it's gotta be right here.
(air hissing)
(dramatic music)
I don't know what's going on.
Maybe we're missing
a gasket or something
or a gasket's blown out.
(tense music)
Oh yeah.
Yeah, look at this
guy. He is ripped up.
This is a brand new
gasket right here.
This one right here
is obviously tore up,
and if you don't
have a tight seal,
you can't get any of the
airflow that you need
to properly operate
these brakes.
You could have a runaway
train on your hands.
So now this thing can
operate the way it should.
All the brakes
are gonna release,
and he'll have his pressure
that he needs up there
to properly drag this thing
out and finish this train off.
(radio chirps)
Hi, 101. When you can,
let's drag it out.
- [Mike] With the train
once again mobile
- [Troy] And that will do you.
- [Mike] Troy and his engineer
can finally finish
what they started.
- So that's our
110-car fuel train.
So right now, a
class one railroad
will jump on this bad boy.
That's it for us.
(bright music)
(energetic rock music)
- [Mike] Meanwhile,
down at the docks,
Vessel Superintendent
Ruben Powell and his team
still have two more
turbine blades to offload
before they can call it quits.
Unfortunately for them,
afternoons in Houston
usually means thunderstorms,
and already a stiff breeze
is starting to
hinder their efforts.
- The wind is an
issue right now.
I think they're at 20 to
25 mile an hour winds,
which could be a factor.
- [Mike] High winds always
make for difficult conditions,
especially when
hoisting something
that's specifically
designed to catch them.
But Ruben knows all too well
that these blades have to
come off the boat today.
- All we have to do is take
it easy, nice and slow,
safety first, and get her done.
Hey Bennecourt, I would
cheat up a little bit,
because on that last lift,
the wind took the blade
into the other blade.
So let's just take our time
and get it off safely, okay?
(tense music)
- [Mike] It can be a
little nerve-wracking
to know that one
strong gust of wind
could cost your
company $400,000.
Even so, Ruben tries
to keep things upbeat.
(radio chirps)
- [Ruben] Bennecourt,
that's a beautiful lift.
That's the way to
do it. Thank you.
(bright music)
- [Mike] And with this blade
safely placed on a semi
- [Ruben] Cut it loose.
(energetic rock music)
- [Mike] Ruben and
his team are quick,
as they can be anyway,
to get the last
one off the boat.
(energetic rock music)
- All right team, she's loaded.
Go ahead and take her away.
We're gonna call it 15:30,
completion on the blades.
I'm really proud of the team,
the effort that they put
out to make this happen.
Everybody is in one
piece, nobody was hurt.
Job well done.
(upbeat music)
- And so, as the last of
the blades rolls away,
the day shift here at Watco
can finally punch out,
having moved an incredible
70,000 tons of cargo
in just 12 short hours.
And while it's
probably safe to assume
they won't be getting
any thank you cards
from final destinations,
their collective
efforts are no doubt
worth a pat on the
proverbial back.
After all, these are the people
who keep gas in our tanks,
roofs over our heads, and
just about anything else
an American could need
one shipment away.
So the next time you
come across someone
in our nation's cargo industry,
you might wanna thank 'em
for their essential service,
because they are
truly the literal hubs
of how America works.
(upbeat music)
So I did a little
research during that
last commercial break
and I learned that my Emmy award
that absolutely
nobody cares about
was, in fact,
shipped on a barge,
and my one of-a-kind,
one-legged Mike Rowe
Works action figure
was, in fact, delivered to my
office by a guy on a bicycle.
Point being, it's not
just trucks and trains
and ships and planes that
handle all of our cargo;
it's anything with wheels
or wings or rudders,
and a couple million people
who make it all work.
Companies like Watco
are hiring all the time.
Opportunities in the cargo
industry are exploding.
You can check 'em out
at mikeroweworks.org,
along with a few
million other great jobs
waiting to be filled.
That's mikeroweworks.org.
- Before it became
your property,
every single thing in
your house was cargo,
from the sofa you're sitting on
to the dishes in your sink
to the TV you're
watching right now.
None of it would be
in your possession,
but for vast network
of trucks and trains
and ships and planes.
I'm no different.
This desk, that "How
America Works" poster,
that cool American
flag, this Emmy award
that absolutely
nobody cares about,
this Mike Rowe
Works trailer hitch,
my grandfather's whiskey,
my mom's latest,
best-selling book,
and this one-legged
Mike Rowe action figure,
none of it would've come to me
but for a working supply chain.
This episode is a shout-out
to the two million Americans
who make that supply chain work,
hardworking men and
women who labor 24/7
to make sure all of our stuff,
from the sublime
to the ridiculous,
makes it from
point A to point B.
They know, better than most
I think, how America works,
(energetic rock music)
Whether it's imports or exports,
commodities or
shipping containers,
nobody can move cargo
like these United States,
which is why we're also the
world's largest trading nation,
shipping more than $5
trillion worth of cargo
each and every year.
So, with that said,
what's with all the
shortages here of late?
Where'd all the canned goods go?
And when did buying
a refrigerator
become barely easier than
catching a leprechaun?
(ominous music)
Well, in a word, or
an acronym: COVID,
which, through
widespread shutdowns,
bucked America's
supply chains so hard,
they're still reeling.
(ominous music continues)
(bright orchestral music)
But that doesn't
mean the 500+ ports
and shipping hubs of our nation
are throwing in the towel.
In fact, they're just
starting to catch up.
Take the Port of
Houston for example,
one of the largest and
busiest in the world,
where it's up to
companies like Watco
to keep all that
traffic in motion.
Back before the pandemic,
this 800-acre facility
would happily move about
40,000 tons of cargo every day.
But as manufacturers race
to make up for lost ground,
they're now charged
with moving 70,000 tons,
be it by truck, train, or barge.
And heading up the
ladder of those methods
are crew leaders
like Johnny Rankin.
- I am over 13 years
here with Watco,
seven years here on this dock,
been playing with
heavy equipment
for the majority of my life.
(Johnny grunts)
I love what I do. That's
why I'm here every day.
(dramatic music)
- [Mike] But to
hit today's quota,
Johnny and his fellow staff
will have their work
cut out for them,
because, among other tasks,
that means moving some 250
truckloads worth of product,
200 tons worth of
industrial windmills,
500 rail cars, and,
in Johnny's case
- We have a barge with
somewhere in the neighborhood
of 1,700 tons of
high carbon chrome,
which is a steel alloy
that we're gonna unload
and get it to our storage
pile inside our warehouse
in the center of the park.
- [Mike From there, this
particular load of Chrome
will be headed to Arkansas,
where it'll be used to create
a variety of essential items
from stainless steel
to brick molds.
But before he can
start offloading,
Johnny will first need
to remove the lids
from the 30-by-200-foot barge.
And for that, he'll be working
with one of his
favorite heavy haulers.
(hauler beeping)
(dramatic music)
- [Johnny] During this
operation, I will be in Fiona,
our material handler.
She's big, she's green,
and she's pretty.
Fiona serves the same
purpose as a crane,
only it's easier to
work with than a crane,
as I can control the bucket.
And you see my finger
twitching right here?
That's what's
spinning the bucket
so I can set things down
just as they need to be set.
- [Mike] And with the last of
the lids carefully laid aside,
it's time to start
moving material
from the barge to a hopper,
which will then
dispense it into trucks.
(tense music)
But on eyeing over
said hopper
- [Johnny] Hold
on just a minute.
- [Mike] There seems to
be something missing.
- Where y'all
hiding a compressor?
I need an air compressor.
(radio chirps)
There's supposed to be a
compressor down here somewhere.
- [Mike] As usual,
Johnny's right,
because without
an air compressor,
the doors on this hopper
can't be opened or closed.
- [Johnny] So right now,
it's basically a
(censored) paperweight.
(upbeat music)
- [Mike] It takes
a lot of machinery
to keep our cargo moving,
and here at Watco, that
comes to about 400 of them,
from cranes to forklifts
to trucks to trains.
And if any of those
machines should fail,
it could cause delays
that would ripple
down the entire supply chain.
So to keep that from happening,
there are guys like
heavy equipment
manager Anthony Rogers,
who will inspect, fix,
or otherwise service
up to seven units per day.
- There's really no
sense of normalcy
on what we're gonna do
from one day to the next.
It varies from changing a
wire, changing a filter,
to rebuilding engines.
They throw anything
at us, we attack it.
- [Mike] To start.
Anthony's attacking
what's known as a skid steer
which will be needed to
finish Johnny's chrome offload
in just a few short hours.
First though, Anthony
will need to conduct
some critical maintenance
on its business end.
- We are gonna be
changing the blade.
This is the blade down
here. These are the bolts.
We're gonna try with
impact to get 'em off.
I highly doubt
it's gonna happen.
(upbeat music)
- [Mike] Anthony
knows from experience
that bolts like
these are notorious
for wearing down so much
(wrench rattling)
no wrench can grip them.
Still
- Hey! (laughing)
- You got it.
- [Mike] It's nice to
be wrong sometimes
(wrench clunking)
even if it's not all the time.
- That one don't wanna come off.
If you look real
close right here,
product has eaten the bolt
up, so there's no thread,
so it's just hanging
up right there.
- [Mike] For the
more stubborn bolts,
Anthony will have to
use a cutting torch,
but first he'll need to see
just how many he's up against.
- So, we got all of
'em except three out.
So it looks like
we're gonna wind up
having to get the
torch out on these.
- [Mike] While Anthony
heads for the nearest torch,
back outside
(dramatic music)
(train whistle blows)
another of Watco's departments
is already hard at work,
because a full 50% of the cargo
that moves through this
facility does so via rail car,
and keeping those cars moving
is the job of rail
conductor Troy Vacala.
- We haul it all
on the railroad,
and we keep this country going,
we provide what it needs,
and it's a long
time-honored tradition.
I'm really proud
to be a part of it.
- [Mike] This morning,
Troy and his partner, Jose,
will be working on what's
known as an inbound manifest,
which is just a
fancy way of saying
a string of 63 rail cars
that need to be sorted.
- We have animal tallow;
it's basically fat.
We have pipe, we have
steel, we have lumber.
And we're gonna have
to separate that
between all these tracks.
- [Mike] It's a lot to
wrap one's head around,
so here are the broad strokes.
(intense rock music)
First, Troy will identify
a group of rail cars
that need to be
separated from the train.
Then, he'll pull the train
over what's called the switch
and disconnect them
group by group.
That's what's known in the
industry as making a switch.
From there, it's just a
matter of rinse and repeat
until every last
car is squared away.
Sounds simple enough,
but in a place where
one missed deadline
can derail dozens
of other schedules,
Troy will also need to keep
sharp eye on the clock.
- All these trains are
designated to be at locations
well, well in advance to
when they leave this yard,
so if one train is behind,
it could cause delays
for multiple trains.
- [Mike] Not if
Troy can help it.
(energetic music)
And with Jose now in position
(Train whistle blows)
it's time to switch some cars.
(radio chirps)
- Hi there, 101.
Start dragging on.
About 17 cars,
one-seven, on a stud.
(energetic rock music)
(radio chirps)
And that will do.
(train car clanking)
So I'm gonna tie three brakes
on this rear portion
that we're leaving
(brake ratcheting)
make sure there's no
undesired movement.
And then, this black tank car
I'll cut away from
this gray hopper,
and I'm gonna drag it
up over the switch,
and I'm gonna bring
it back down here
to this freight
track where it goes.
I'm gonna put it away.
(energetic rock music)
101, three step is clear.
When you can, drag it out.
(train car clanking)
(air blasts)
Communication out here
is extremely important.
My job as a conductor
on the ground
is to paint the picture
for that engineer up there
so he knows exactly what he's
doing and where he's going.
And that'll do.
- [Mike] When he's
not giving directions.
Troy's also in charge
of throwing the switch,
which will divert these
cars to their proper track;
that is, if done properly.
(tense music)
(rail clacking)
- Make sure it's locked,
and also, very important,
make sure it's tight.
If it wasn't tight and
there was a gap in there,
one car could
possibly go this way,
another car could possibly go
that way and cause a derail.
Got one more switch to get.
(tense music)
(switch clacking)
(Troy grunting)
- Somethin' up with this one.
(tense music)
(lever clacking)
(upbeat music)
- [Mike] Supply
chain issues or not,
there's no denying that
the U.S. still moves
an impressive amount of cargo.
Take our railroads alone.
In a typical year,
just those will haul a combined
1.7 billion tons of freight,
or enough to fill a train
that would wrap around
the Earth six times.
That's the kind of
tonnage it takes
to keep the American
machine in motion.
And as the manufacturers
of our country
race to catch up with
post-COVID demand,
so, too, is the cargo industry
cranking like never before.
(intense rock music)
Take Watco's facility
in the Port of Houston,
one of the largest and
busiest of its kind,
where the mission today is
to move a full 70,000 tons
of product before quitting time.
But down at the rail yard,
conductor Troy Vacala
is having trouble
moving a single switch,
something he'll
need to figure out
if he's gonna get his
string of cars sorted.
- You can't halfway
close the switch.
It needs to be tight. It needs
to be perfect every time.
You can't reach down in there,
either. It's a big no-no.
Let me grab something here.
(rocks scraping)
I don't have a whole lot of
time to mess around here.
We got people that are
expecting all their product.
(rail clacks)
Looks good to me.
Cap looks tight. I think
we're ready to roll.
- [Mike] With everything
back on track, so to speak,
Troy can finally get these
17 cars where they're going.
(radio chirps)
- Three, two, one.
And that'll do.
(train cars clanking)
(bright music)
Being able to do my job
out here in the elements,
to adapt and overcome,
and that's one of the big
jobs of being a railroader.
- [Mike] Speaking of adapting
- [Mike] It seems that's
just what Troy's supervisor
has in mind at the moment.
(radio chirps)
- All right, yeah, let
me tie these motors down,
and we'll head that way.
- [Supervisor] Copy that.
- [Troy] I guess
we got a fuel train
that needs to get
outta here ASAP,
so I gotta kinda stop
what I'm doing here
and head on over
to the West yard
and start putting that
fuel train together.
It's pretty normal
for us out here.
It's a fluid operation, and
we gotta go with the flow,
and that's where the flow is.
(intense music)
- [Mike] Back on the docks,
crew leader Johnny Rankin
has also decided to
go with the flow,
because, with 1,700 tons
of chrome to offload
before the next barge arrives,
and an air compressor
needed for that still MIA,
All he can do now is
move as much product
as he can without it.
(energetic rock music)
- [Johnny] Until we can get
the rest of our equipment
for the hopper, I'll run
'em directly through.
for the time being, this
will get us at least started.
(energetic rock music)
- [Mike] It's a way
to keep moving chrome,
albeit a slower one,
but Johnny's accustomed
to doing what he can
with what he's got.
- All right, James,
one more coming in.
This is number four.
- [Driver On Radio]
I'm still good.
(energetic rock music)
I had the driver on the phone.
He has gauges in his truck
so we know how much weight
we're putting on him
and where to put it.
- [Driver] Yeah. That
looks about right there.
- Gotcha. Thank you.
- [Mike] Fortunately for Johnny,
it seems that just the one truck
is all he'll have to
load the hard way.
(energetic rock music)
- Our compressor just showed up.
We're gonna hook the hopper up.
Now, while I'm waiting
for a truck to back in,
gonna keep loading the hopper,
keep digging the barge,
get the barge emptied out.
The only time I'll have
to stop using the hopper
is when the hopper fills up,
and that's the only time we'll
be stopping from here on out.
- [Mike] That's the hope anyway.
But to complete this job,
Johnny's still going
to need a skid steer
to scoop up the
last of the chrome.
(energetic music)
And down at the machine shop,
that particular
piece of equipment is
still out of service
until Anthony Rogers here
can rotate its blade.
Unfortunately for him, he's
come up against three bolts
that refuse to budge.
But again, he doesn't
keep a cutting torch
around for nothing.
(energetic rock music)
(torch crackling)
- We gotta be very careful
not to cut into the bucket.
We don't want to
damage the bucket.
We just want to
cut the nuts off.
Now we've got it cut off,
we need to clean up
the slag around it.
(chisel scraping)
Cleaned right up.
So we'll be able to get
the other bolt in there.
(energetic rock music)
(torch crackling)
(chisel hammering)
- [Mike] With the last
of the bolts cut free,
Anthony can finally get
down to rotating the blade.
(energetic rock music)
- We're gonna take this blade,
and we're gonna flop it around.
(blade scraping)
- [Mike] But since that blade
weighs about 150 pounds
- Hey, Steve! Got a second?
- [Mike] He's gonna need a hand.
- Come on, we're gonna put
this blade on real quick.
- [Steve] Uh-huh.
- [Anthony] Let's do it!
(blade clanking)
(wrench whirring)
- [Mike] And after
a little tag teaming
with an impact wrench
(skid steer creaking)
this skid steer should
be back in business.
- All right, man, take it out.
- [Mike] And just in time too.
(dramatic music)
(phone ringing)
- [Anthony] Hey. Ooh.
- [Mike] Because it seems
another of Watco's machines
is in need of some TLC.
- Can you get it
over here for us?
All right, thanks.
All right, buh-bye.
Pssh. No breaks at
all man, no break.
(dramatic music)
(upbeat music)
- [Mike] It takes a
lot of moving parts
to keep cargo flowing
across the country.
And people, too.
Nearly two million of them
working docks, rail yards,
and trucking hubs
from coast to coast.
These are the men
and women to thank
for the many necessities
and indulgences
that we as Americans have
come to take for granted.
And in the wake of COVID-19,
those items are
just now starting
to catch back up with demand,
leaving the cargo
workers of our country
in a race to keep up,
workers like the
500+ men and women
of Watco's port
in Houston, Texas,
whose mission today is to move
an uncanny 70,000 tons of cargo
before the night shift starts.
But to make that deadline,
crew leader Johnny Rankin here
will need to scoop
another 700 tons of chrome
from this barge before the
next inbound ship arrives.
And to do that, he'll
require one skid steer
fresh from the shop,
and one brave soul
by the name of Gomez.
- [Johnny] Everything
that I couldn't reach,
our final clean up on that end,
he will push it down here
into the main piles here,
and I will keep digging.
- [Mike] First though,
Johnny will need to get Gomez
and the skid steer
into position.
And for that he turns once
again to his trustee Fiona.
- So I have a man basket,
Gomez will get in,
and I will set him
down in the man basket.
(tense music)
When I come back out, they
will unhook the man basket,
hook up the skid steer,
and then it will go
in down with Gomez.
(tense music)
12,500-pound machine,
and Fiona does it like
it's nothing touchdown.
(tense music)
Touchdown!
- [Mike] With Gomez
working the skid steer,
Johnny can now set
about the business
of finishing this offload
with no chrome left behind.
- Instead of me being down here
picking up little by little
half buckets or quarter buckets,
he rolls it all down
here into the big piles
where I can grab full
buckets each time,
and it will save
us time in the end.
(dramatic music)
Everything's going good
right now, going smooth.
- [Mike] But as Johnny's
about to find out
- [Mike] His troubles with
the hopper aren't over yet.
(dramatic music)
- Go ahead.
- [Johnny] You're
kiddin', right?
(dramatic music)
- [Mike] While Johnny deals
with his latest hopper issue,
back at the machine shop,
equipment manager Anthony Rogers
is kicking off yet another
time-sensitive project,
because, within the
hour, this heavy hauler
will be needed for offloading
some windmill components.
But at the moment it's
not exactly in top form.
- As you can see the
check engine light is on.
We're gonna raise the cab,
we're gonna go do a once over
and see what's wrong with it.
(light music)
All the hoses look pretty good.
Connections on the wiring
harness look pretty good.
I don't see no leaks on a
control valve in the back.
All that looks good.
- [Mike] But
- [Anthony] Oh no.
- [Mike] It appears
there's one component
that doesn't look so good.
- This is a cab lock cylinder.
Pin is not even in there,
so this is not a good
scenario for a driver,
'cause it could allow this cab
to go up a foot to two foot
if they hit a pothole,
and we have plenty of
potholes around here,
so we're gonna change it out.
If not, we got a problem.
(soft music)
- [Mike] Fortunately
for his colleagues,
Anthony keeps just about
every spare part imaginable
under the shop's roof,
including cab lock cylinders.
- Now if you'll take
a look right here,
you can see this one's
missing this pin.
This is why where
we replacing this,
'cause this is what locks it.
So let's get busy on
taking this apart.
(tools whirring)
(energetic rock music)
- [Mike] With over 30
years of experience,
Anthony makes short work of
removing the faulty cylinder,
but installing the new one,
that's a little trickier.
- This is the hard
part of this job,
getting these bolts to go in
the hole with my fat fingers.
(tense music)
And there we go.
(upbeat music)
(tool whirring)
Those are all tight.
(energetic music)
(tool whirring)
All right, let's give it a test.
When I hit the hydraulics
for it to go up,
you're gonna see this pin
pop out to about here,
and this is gonna open up.
So here we go.
(pin clicks)
All right, y'all see
how that popped out?
It's working like
it's supposed to.
So this truck is ready to go.
That's instant gratification.
It came in with a problem,
it went out perfect.
- [Mike] And just
in the nick of time,
because, back out
on the docks
(upbeat music)
another of Watco's team
will be needing this truck
for that aforementioned
windmill job,
which basically boils
down to offloading
all 18 of these blades
bound for North Dakota.
And the man in charge
of making that happen
will be Vessel
Superintendent Ruben Powell.
- The goal for today
by the end of our shift
is to have all 18
blades discharged.
We have a certain way that
we have to take 'em out,
the way that they overlap,
so you have to take 'em
off in order, in pairs.
(radio chirps)
Let's go ahead and bring
that first one off.
- [Mike] Offloading
a 150-foot-long blade
weighing 13 tons
requires two cranes
working in tandem
and a crew of 26 on the ground.
So Ruben's role
here will be mainly
keeping an eye on everything
and calling the shots.
(tense music)
(radio chirps)
- Nice and easy. Nice and easy.
We're not in a rush.
Do it the right
way. No shortcuts.
It might take us a little
longer to do so, but so be it.
(dramatic music)
- [Mike] He's right, you know,
because, since each of these
blades is worth $400,000
and is incredibly fragile,
it pays to take one's time.
- Once you get the the
blades over on the side,
Lalo, my foreman there,
he flags the truck
back into position,
and once he's in position,
then we're lowered onto
the bed of the truck.
- [Ruben] What's wrong
Lalo? What's the problem?
(upbeat music)
- [Mike] We may not
put too much thought
into how our cargo moves in,
out, and around the country.
I mean it's kind
of an out-of-sight,
out-of-mind operation.
But if that system
were to stop working,
trust me, you'd feel it.
Because there is nothing
like a post-apocalyptic lack
of everyday essential items
to put a damper on one's day.
Seriously, almost all of
the items in your home
had to be barged, trained,
and/or trucked into
your community.
And without those
means of transit,
every American would
be in a bad way.
But not if the people at ports
like Watco in Houston, Texas
have anything to say about it.
Here, at one of the greatest
shipping hubs in the country,
they're working double time
to move a staggering 70,000
tons of cargo by day's end
in an attempt to keep
up with record demand.
But while offloading the
first of 18 windmill blades
- [Ruben] What's the problem?
- [Mike] Ruben Powell's team
seems to have hit
a bit of a snag.
(crew members chattering)
- Oh, okay.
(tense music)
Right now the issue is
the blade is about to touch
the bed of the trailer,
which we don't want, so
we're gonna have to readjust.
We need to get a
crosstie in there
to go up under the frame
so that the the blade
don't touch the bed.
(intense rock music)
- Being fiberglass, just
the weight of this blade
can cause cracks or dents
when resting on steel.
Wood, however, should be soft
enough to use as a cushion,
which is why Ruben
always keeps some handy.
- This is a
36,000-pound forklift.
We're gonna use it to
put these crossties
up under the frame of that blade
so that the blade itself
is not rubbing the trailer.
Good?
- [Mike] With the
crossties in place
(dramatic music)
- [Ruben] Watch your fingers.
- [Mike] Ruben and
the boys waste no time
loading their first
blade onto a semi.
But with 17 more still to go,
they'll need to pick up
the pace from here on out.
- Time is money, and we
need to get back on track
so we can finish
these blades ASAP.
- [Mike] While Ruben
puts some spurs
to the offloading effort,
not far away, another
of Watco's teams
is working with cargo
of a different kind;
actually, the most common
kind: container cargo.
And since all the containers
that come through Watco
look pretty much the same,
it's up to Vessel Supervisors
like Danielle Turner
to track what they are
and where they're going.
- Our job is to make sure
that all of this cargo
that's scheduled
to load the vessel
is gonna get loaded today
so it can go to Colombia.
Easy Peasy.
- [Mike] But before any of
these containers can be moved,
they'll first need the
sign off from Danielle,
which, when working
with 30 units total,
can take a little time.
- Very important to make sure
that we have all the
cargo accounted for,
all the marks are right.
So I'm gonna try to get through
this as quickly as possible,
but I still need to make sure
that all my work is accurate.
- [Mike] And with the
boat bound for Colombia
already pulling into port,
Danielle has just a
half hour to ensure
that all this cargo is
present, accounted for,
and free of any defects.
- We have to make sure
that all the cargo we
ship out is seaworthy,
seaworthy meaning it's intact,
the crating is intact, the
material inside is not exposed.
Then we just wanna make sure
that our customer's cargo
is secure and and in good shape.
- [Mike] But despite
Danielle's best efforts,
the occasional container
can still show up
in less than good shape.
(tense music)
- Who left this here?
This is obviously torn to
pieces, and no one said nothing?
This has to load
in like 30 minutes,
and it is not ready at all.
(tense music)
- [Mike] While Danielle
deals with the busted crate,
over on the docks, crew
leader Johnny Rankin's
come up against an
issue of his own;
specifically, an air compressor
that showed up late for work
and now has quit on the job.
Fortunately for his team, what
with 13 years of experience,
Johnny has grown accustomed
to fixing problems on the fly.
- There we go.
Just a rubber O-ring
had a little rip in it.
They call it a gladhand rubber,
just like on the
tractor trailers.
They have these in the air lines
between the truck
and the trailer.
It wasn't allowing
the air pressure
to get the cylinders on the
hopper to open the doors,
and rather than call a mechanic
that might take 30
minutes to get here,
I'm just gonna steal one
outta the other side.
That one looks good.
There we go.
New seal in, hook up, fire up.
(tense music)
(cargo rattling)
(truck horn honks)
All good. Go back to work.
(energetic music)
(truck horn honks)
- [Mike] And right on time,
because with his partner, Gomez,
rounding up the
last of the chrome,
Johnny has finally hit the
home stretch of this offload.
- What we're doing now, set
the bucket on the floor,
and Gomez is picking up the
last little bit of scoop,
and he'll dump it into my
bucket, and we'll be done.
All clear. Here we go.
(energetic music)
(soft music)
Final number was 1,638 tons.
All done. My team is safe.
It's been an amazing day.
Now that I'm done
here, I will go home
and get ready to start
my vacation tomorrow.
Truth be known,
it's my honeymoon.
Tomorrow starts my honeymoon.
- [Mike] We've already
talked about how much cargo
America moves by rail,
but since they ferry
about 80% of all goods,
how 'bout waterways?
Well, if you were to take
the 39 million containers
that move through our
sea ports each year
and stack them on
top of each other,
you could build a
wall 400 feet high
that would stretch from
sea to shining sea.
And mind you, that's just
the stuff in containers.
For the cargo workers
of our nation,
that's what I'd
call job security.
And with demand
reaching record highs
in the post-COVID climate,
those jobs are more secure
than they've ever been.
Take the employees
of Watco's port
in Houston, Texas for example,
who are grinding it out
to move a whopping 70,000 tons
of cargo by quitting time.
To pull it off, conductor
Troy Vacala here
will need to line out
another 10,000 or so tons
of what's called liquid bulk.
(dramatic music)
- And we've got about
110-car fuel train
that we're gonna go
outbound down to Mexico.
We gotta get that put together,
and kinda running short on time,
'cause I only got about
two hours left on my shift,
and that's gonna be
cutting it close.
- [Mike] And there is much
to do in those two hours,
because, in that time,
Troy will need to take
three separate groups of cars
from three different tracks
and link them all up into
a mile-long mega train.
(tense music)
Better get started.
- Easy, easy.
And then stop
(train cars clacking)
(radio chirps)
All right there, 101,
three step is all clear,
everybody's clear.
When you can, start
dragging it out
and get this party started.
(energetic rock music)
- [Mike] After his engineer
pulls the string of cars clear,
Troy once again mans the switch
needed to divert them
to the proper track.
- So right now we've got a
cut of 15 loaded fuel cars.
I'm gonna make a join
on this seven track,
which is another 15
loaded fuel cars.
(train cars clack)
And that'll be our train.
(radio chirps)
All right there, 101,
three step clear.
Let's drag it out.
(train rattling)
- [Mike] But midway
through the move,
Troy's engineer pipes
up with the one word
no conductor wants to hear.
(tense music)
(radio chirps)
- You all right? What was that?
(tense music)
(upbeat music)
- [Mike] Meanwhile,
back on the docks,
things are going a
little more smoothly
for Vessel Superintendent
Ruben Powell,
who, having moved 14
massive turbine blades
onto semi trucks, now
has just four left to go.
But for the last of them,
he and his team will need
to tweak their rigging.
- We're on the last
one, on the second tier,
We're gonna make an
adjustment to the chains
so that we can get
the last tiers off.
I'm gonna get in the man basket
and make an adjustment
to the chain.
Let me have that.
Come over here!
- [Mike] This being such
a time-sensitive offload,
you may be wondering why
Ruben would stop everything
to mess with the chains now.
He has his reasons.
- When the blades are
stacked three high or more,
then that's when we
shorten the chains.
But as we get
down, tier by tier,
we can let the
chains out as we go.
- [Mike] Translation: longer
chains means less time wasted
lifting and lowering.
And with ease let out
another four feet or so,
it's time to get back to it.
(radio chirps)
- Hey, come back, team.
Bennecourt, let's go
ahead and get it hooked up
so when the truck gets here,
we're ready to rock and roll.
(dramatic music)
- [Mike] Well, Ruben winds
down his turbine offload,
not far away, Vessel
Supervisor Danielle Turner
is just getting fired up,
because even though she
has just under a half hour
to ready a shipment to Colombia,
the state of this crate is
not something she can abide.
- Top's all took off.
The damages.
The markings are all torn.
We have to get it
fixed immediately,
because we need to
load this cargo.
So let me grab my tools.
- [Mike] While she's at it,
Danielle also grabs a
second set of hands,
a vessel checker by
the name of Tiarius.
- We wanna make sure
that all the cargo
that's inside of
the crate is intact,
so when it gets over
to the other side,
everything is good.
- Okay.
- [Danielle]
Seaworthy, ready to go.
- Ready to go.
- [Danielle] Ready to go.
(dramatic music)
(hammering)
- All right, we're
doing pretty good here.
Get this box patched
up just enough,
we can get it on the boat.
Seaworthy now. Ready
to load on the ship.
Thanks for your help.
- [Mike] Patch job complete,
all that remains is for
Danielle to move this crate
to its final staging point.
(dramatic music)
- [Danielle] We have shippers
waiting on their cargo.
We have customers waiting
on all their good packages.
So it just don't stop.
- And with the last of
her shipment in place,
Danielle's day is finally
over, the Watco part anyway.
- So here's the end of my shift.
I have a cute little
seven-year-old boy
who loves his mommy.
I'm gonna go pick him up.
We're gonna have Lunchables,
and we're gonna get juice
wasted and watch "Paw Patrol".
End of my day.
(bright music)
- It's been one heck of a day
for the men and women of Watco,
with 70,000 tons
of cargo to process
and hurdles to
clear at every turn.
But despite the setbacks,
they're finally starting
to close in on their quota.
(dramatic music)
Well, most of them anyway.
Because down at the rail yard
(radio chirps)
- What was that?
(dramatic music)
- [Mike] Conductor Troy
Vacala's fuel train
has stopped dead in its tracks.
- That's not supposed to happen.
If you look on these pistons,
all the brakes are now engaged,
and this train ain't moving
till we figure out
what's going on with it.
- [Mike] Mercifully for Troy,
it doesn't take long to
hone in on the issue.
(air hissing)
- Can you guys
hear that hissing?
I hear air hissing
out somewhere,
so there's a problem, and
it's gotta be right here.
(air hissing)
(dramatic music)
I don't know what's going on.
Maybe we're missing
a gasket or something
or a gasket's blown out.
(tense music)
Oh yeah.
Yeah, look at this
guy. He is ripped up.
This is a brand new
gasket right here.
This one right here
is obviously tore up,
and if you don't
have a tight seal,
you can't get any of the
airflow that you need
to properly operate
these brakes.
You could have a runaway
train on your hands.
So now this thing can
operate the way it should.
All the brakes
are gonna release,
and he'll have his pressure
that he needs up there
to properly drag this thing
out and finish this train off.
(radio chirps)
Hi, 101. When you can,
let's drag it out.
- [Mike] With the train
once again mobile
- [Troy] And that will do you.
- [Mike] Troy and his engineer
can finally finish
what they started.
- So that's our
110-car fuel train.
So right now, a
class one railroad
will jump on this bad boy.
That's it for us.
(bright music)
(energetic rock music)
- [Mike] Meanwhile,
down at the docks,
Vessel Superintendent
Ruben Powell and his team
still have two more
turbine blades to offload
before they can call it quits.
Unfortunately for them,
afternoons in Houston
usually means thunderstorms,
and already a stiff breeze
is starting to
hinder their efforts.
- The wind is an
issue right now.
I think they're at 20 to
25 mile an hour winds,
which could be a factor.
- [Mike] High winds always
make for difficult conditions,
especially when
hoisting something
that's specifically
designed to catch them.
But Ruben knows all too well
that these blades have to
come off the boat today.
- All we have to do is take
it easy, nice and slow,
safety first, and get her done.
Hey Bennecourt, I would
cheat up a little bit,
because on that last lift,
the wind took the blade
into the other blade.
So let's just take our time
and get it off safely, okay?
(tense music)
- [Mike] It can be a
little nerve-wracking
to know that one
strong gust of wind
could cost your
company $400,000.
Even so, Ruben tries
to keep things upbeat.
(radio chirps)
- [Ruben] Bennecourt,
that's a beautiful lift.
That's the way to
do it. Thank you.
(bright music)
- [Mike] And with this blade
safely placed on a semi
- [Ruben] Cut it loose.
(energetic rock music)
- [Mike] Ruben and
his team are quick,
as they can be anyway,
to get the last
one off the boat.
(energetic rock music)
- All right team, she's loaded.
Go ahead and take her away.
We're gonna call it 15:30,
completion on the blades.
I'm really proud of the team,
the effort that they put
out to make this happen.
Everybody is in one
piece, nobody was hurt.
Job well done.
(upbeat music)
- And so, as the last of
the blades rolls away,
the day shift here at Watco
can finally punch out,
having moved an incredible
70,000 tons of cargo
in just 12 short hours.
And while it's
probably safe to assume
they won't be getting
any thank you cards
from final destinations,
their collective
efforts are no doubt
worth a pat on the
proverbial back.
After all, these are the people
who keep gas in our tanks,
roofs over our heads, and
just about anything else
an American could need
one shipment away.
So the next time you
come across someone
in our nation's cargo industry,
you might wanna thank 'em
for their essential service,
because they are
truly the literal hubs
of how America works.
(upbeat music)
So I did a little
research during that
last commercial break
and I learned that my Emmy award
that absolutely
nobody cares about
was, in fact,
shipped on a barge,
and my one of-a-kind,
one-legged Mike Rowe
Works action figure
was, in fact, delivered to my
office by a guy on a bicycle.
Point being, it's not
just trucks and trains
and ships and planes that
handle all of our cargo;
it's anything with wheels
or wings or rudders,
and a couple million people
who make it all work.
Companies like Watco
are hiring all the time.
Opportunities in the cargo
industry are exploding.
You can check 'em out
at mikeroweworks.org,
along with a few
million other great jobs
waiting to be filled.
That's mikeroweworks.org.