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WASHINGTON — Class I railroads say their increased accessorial and demurrage charges, which they levy on customers for things such as car storage and special switching requests, are designed to make service more efficient by encouraging faster loading and unloading of freight cars. Grain shippers beg to differ. “Many Class I carriers increasingly are using […]
Association of American Railroads Association of American Railroads WASHINGTON — The Association of American Railroads today reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending March 2, as well as volumes for February 2019. U.S. railroads originated 999,978 carloads in February 2019, down 2.7 percent, or 28,238 carloads, from February 2018. U.S. railroads also originated 1,094,499 […]
NEW YORK — Railroads can only regain traffic lost to the highway if they can provide dependable, trucklike service, CSX Transportation CEO Jim Foote says. A typical carload customer — be it plastics, chemicals, paper, or lumber — might send only 60 percent of its business via rail, while the rest goes by truck, Foote […]
BALTIMORE — CSX Transportation CEO James Foote on Monday joined Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan in officially seeking federal funding for the $466 million Howard Street Tunnel clearance project. Hogan’s office announced that it submitted an application for a U.S. Department of Transportation grant that would fund raising clearances in the tunnel to permit double-stacks to […]
Kansas City Southern ORLANDO, Fla. — Kansas City Southern will be able to park at least 10 percent of its locomotive fleet as it moves tonnage on longer trains under its shift to Precision Scheduled Railroading. KCS rostered 1,100 locomotives at the end of 2018 and has identified 75 older units that will be stored, […]
The SPMW 222 at Crystal Lake, Calif., about 15 minutes before its bearings failed. S.R. Bush TRUCKEE, Calif. – Winter on Donner Pass is only at the halfway mark but already is proving one to be remembered. November and December were mild, but in January things began to shift the pace and strength of storms […]
Association of American Railroads Association of American Railroads WASHINGTON — The Association of American Railroads reported this week on U.S. rail traffic for the week ending Feb. 23. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 522,630 carloads and intermodal units, down 1.1 percent compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for […]
Bill Stephens/ Class I railroad data Bill Stephens/ Class I railroad data The Class I railroad average operating ratio rose slightly in 2018 — the first increase in a decade — as congestion-related costs and an accounting rules change pushed the closely watched efficiency metric up at four of the seven big systems. CSX Transportation […]
Canadian Pacific CEO Keith Creel Canadian Pacific MIAMI — Canadian Pacific CEO Keith Creel is cheering the industry’s embrace of the Precision Scheduled Railroad operating model touted by his mentor, the late E. Hunter Harrison. “I want them all to do it … I think it’s the right way to run the business,” Creel told […]
NEW YORK – Commuter railroads are looking to Albany for help with expenses following grade crossing incidents. That includes a fatal grade crossing strike and subsequent derailment involving two trains in Westbury, in Nassau County on Long Island, on Tuesday evening. “Costs that should be borne by others are being borne by us currently,” Long […]
OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific has pulled 107 locomotives from its surge fleet and added 300 train and engine crews in response to harsh winter weather and derailments that gummed up its system over the past month. “I want to make it clear that the setbacks we’ve experienced are not due to the implementation of […]
FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway’s revenue and profits were up in 2018, with industrial products revenue and volume leading the way. BNSF’s annual operating income increased 9 percent, to $6.9 billion, on revenue of $23.9 billion, an increase of 12 percent, the railroad’s parent, Berkshire Hathaway, reported on Saturday and BNSF reported in its […]
