Boss enforces strict no-overtime rule, employee clocks out on time and freezes steel mill operations with 2-mile-long parked train

When bosses roll out sweeping rules without thinking them through, nothing good can come from it. That's what happened at a steel mill in the 1960s, where management decided to enforce a strict "no overtime, no exceptions" policy. One employee knew exactly how to follow orders to the letter, and his version of "no overtime" brought the entire operation to a screeching halt.

This employee worked on the railroad at the mill, moving cars back and forth across a river to connect different parts of the plant. His job wasn't glamorous, but it was essential. If the trains weren't running, neither was the mill. Normally, he'd wrap up his run before clocking out. But under the new rules, at exactly 3:00 p.m., he parked his engine right next to the time clock, punched out, and went home, leaving nearly two miles of loaded train cars stretched across the mill, the bridge, and into the other section of the plant.