Class I railroads’ volume trends in the second quarter varied considerably, with Norfolk Southern traffic up 5.1% and Canadian Pacific Kansas City down 4.2%, according to the railroads’ Association of American Railroads carload reports.
Norfolk Southern’s volume was boosted by 8.2% year-over-year growth in intermodal traffic. Its carload volume, less coal, was up 1.7%. Coal declined 0.94%.
At the other end of the spectrum, CPKC’s volume fell due to double-digit declines in intermodal and coal traffic. Intermodal was down 11%, partly due to the shift of BNSF Railway’s J.B. Hunt cross-border traffic to Ferromex via the Eagle Pass, Texas, gateway. CPKC’s coal traffic also sank 10.1%.
BNSF’s traffic was up 4% due to the industry’s strongest intermodal growth. BNSF’s intermodal volume surged 15% in the quarter. BNSF, however, saw the industry’s deepest drop in coal volume, at 29%.
Canadian National volume grew 3.9% in the quarter, with intermodal up 9.2%. Its coal volume was off by 11.4%.
CSX saw its traffic rise by 1.7% thanks largely to a 4.3% increase in intermodal volume. The railroad’s carloads, less coal, were down 0.4%, while coal declined 5.1%.
Union Pacific’s volume was flat. Intermodal was up 5%, but that wasn’t enough to offset a 24% decline in coal traffic.
The “wall Street” conumdrum raises something with me. I retired from NS some years ago, and wishing to depend on more than RRB tier 1&2 and the VA, I invested my earning with reputable firms with the idea of making my money grow.
Now then, at the tender age of 65, having retired early due to cancer, I have steady growth funds. Own Very few individual stocks. Since working for a company and depending on a pension or social security alone went the way of the passenger train, if you want to live well, and I do, you want to invest in something that makes money.
Which led to the wolfs on wall st. I despise Ancora, I want my RR to do well. Shiny rails mean boxcars turning wheels to help the broke RRB. But the ‘investors’ who also represent retirement funds want their customers happy.
A conumdrum.