Service has suffered on NS due to congestion on the southern portion of its system, with train speeds down and terminal dwell up significantly compared to last year. The key performance metrics are not rebounding, to the chagrin of both NS and its customers.
“We’re holding our own against strong volume growth,” Squires says. “Volume on our network is at a 12-year high.”
Part of the plan for restoring service levels involves reopening the hump at Chattanooga in what Squires called a “hybrid hump operation.”
The hump will classify traffic for local customers, Squires says. But the yard also will still serve as a block-swapping facility, in line with operating plan changes made after the hump was shut down in May 2017.
Terminal dwell is up at NS yards across the south, and dwell at Chattanooga has risen sharply since the hump was idled. It was 33.5 hours in the second quarter of 2017, but averaged 49.5 hours in April and last week was 62.7 hours, according to data reported to the Association of American Railroads.
NS retained the DeButts hump itself, Squires noted, but removed the retarders that slow cars on their descent into the classification bowl. The retarders are being re-installed.
It was not immediately clear when the hump would reopen.
“We are installing retarders as part of reopening the hump yard at Chattanooga,” NS spokeswoman Susan Terpay says, adding that she did not have a specific date that hump operations would resume.
NS was unable to provide information on what reactivation of the hump means for employment levels at the yard.
Retaining humps allows the railroad to have resiliency and operational flexibility when traffic rises, Squires says. A hump yard can absorb surges in traffic and meter the flow of volume by holding cars until they are ready to be released to customers, the CEO says.
But NS remains committed to building large blocks of cars and swapping them en route to minimize handling and speed shipments where possible, Squires says.
NS, which leased 90 locomotives in the first quarter, has added another 50 leased units to the fleet, Squires says. The additional units will help handle traffic growth and enable the railroad to convert 120 older six-axle DC units to like-new AC-traction locomotives as part of its ongoing DC-to-AC conversion program.
The railroad also has hired 400 new conductors to keep its train and engine crew headcount up.
“Customer service is not where we want it to be,” Squires says. “I want our customers to feel fully satisfied with the service they are getting from us, and right now many of them don’t.”
Despite the operational challenges, NS had the strongest volume growth among the Class I railroads for the year to date, Squires says, and demand for rail service is the strongest he’s ever seen.
Squires spoke at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2018 Transportation Conference.
OMG! I hope those poor investors can get through this crisis without getting too upset. My thoughts and prayers go out to them.
It’s all about the OR eh, fellas?
This is good news for my neck of the woods. It was a real dumbass CSX copy-cat move to close this one.
If you go to Earthlink and find Debutts yard in Chattanooga, the number of cars shown in years past compared to the congestion in the present picture, is striking!!!
Interesting to note that many who can’t wait to criticize CSX when they close a hump yard have to scramble as to why NS took a whole year to realize they made a mistake in closing a hump yard, not having enough engines, and needing to hire more conductors. Maybe some shippers who jumped to NS from CSX may be having second thoughts.
“Hybrid” is saying it mildly..Only installing 3 of the 7 group retarders..26 out of 60 tracks..It is a watered down hump operation. Let’s see how well it helps with the congestion and dwell..But at least it is a start in the right direction…
GREGG writes “something is wrong with this picture”. Yes, GREGG, everything is wrong with this picture. We have four of the six railroads – NS, CN, UP and (forgive the next swear word) CSX – put themselves in the dumper. Then they want us to recognize their brilliance when they climb back out. Sorry, folks, not me. I’ll save my applause for the railroads that didn’t self-destruct in the first place.
So here’s a ludicrous sidebar re: “gumming”. The term also refers in the local vernacular to the chainsaw sharpeners’ need to reduce the “gum” between the teeth being sharpened. How’s that for being both “off topic” yet respectful?
Dwell time almost doubles and they sit and watch it for a full year. These executives receive obscene 8-figure salaries and stock options.Something is wrong with the picture.
NS measures volume by the car and box. A revenue intermodal box = 1. A loaded freight car = 1. NS is at 12 year high in volume because of intermodal. I am doubtful that carload traffic is as high as it was in 2007.
My hunch is problems on NS are more about staffing levels at existing yards hump yards rather than whether you do local traffic by hump or flat at Chatt.
Can the yards do the work they’re being handed with enough reserve capacity to handle the variation and disruption that are the “normal” part of railroading? That’s the question that needs an analytic answer.
I am glad Mr. Squires has the wisdom to see the mistake of closing the hump and correct it. CSX, unfortunately, remains wedded to EHH’s ways.
If indeed, “NS had the strongest volume growth among the Class I railroads for the year to date,” as Squires said, could that have anything to do with what’s been going on at CSX? It looks like NS was doubly blessed by EHH — (1) EHH not working his magic on NS, and (2) EHH working his magic on CSX.
Just imagine how bad things would be at NS if EHH had had his way and gotten approval for CP to take over NS…or just look at how bad things are at CSX.
More HaHa from NS to match the UP’s gumming.