Jim Blaze

Jim Blaze is a railroad career economist with an engineering background and a strategic analysis outlook. Jim’s career spans 21 years with Consolidated Rail Corporation (CONRAIL), 17 years with the rail engineering firm Zeta Tech Associates, 7 years with the State of Illinois Department of Transportation in Chicago urban goods movement research, and two years studying what to do with the seven bankrupt and unrecognizable Northeast railroads at the federal agency USRA. Now primarily a teacher and writer, Jim likes to focus on contrarian aspects of the railroad industry.

Intermodal

Jim Blaze Tuesday, September 29, 2020
0 6

Commentary: Belay that RR intermodal market hype

It is too early to call the intermodal recovery a long-term win for the railroads.
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News

Jim Blaze Tuesday, September 22, 2020
0 379

Commentary: Rail freight recovery lags US economic pace

2020 could end up for the railroads as the worst overall freight volume loss year-over-year in the past 15 years.
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Intermodal

Jim Blaze Tuesday, September 15, 2020
0 567

Commentary: Railway insight from New England

Changes with significant impact on rail customers are taking place across New England.
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American Shipper

Jim Blaze Wednesday, September 2, 2020
3 1,495

Commentary: Intermodal missed signals? Fumbling so close to the growth goal line?

Intermodal was supposed to be the growth engine for rail.
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Rail

Jim Blaze Tuesday, August 4, 2020
2 594

Commentary: Is outlook for Mexico’s rail freight still relevant?

Jim Blaze explores the state of the major railroads that operate in Mexico - particularly Kansas City Southern, which is rumored to be a takeover…
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Intermodal

Jim Blaze Wednesday, July 15, 2020
654

Commentary: Will railroads grow organically or just recover?

The views expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of FreightWaves or its affiliates. That search for…
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Rail

Jim Blaze Tuesday, July 7, 2020
486

Commentary: What are best practices for private railcar storage?

About 25% of the total railcar fleet is in storage of one kind or another. Jim Blaze writes about best practices of rail storage.
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Rail

Jim Blaze Thursday, June 11, 2020
806

Commentary: Do you want to build a freight railroad?

The cost to build a railroad is staggering. Jim Blaze gives an overview of the costs involved in such an endeavor.
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Rail

Jim Blaze Monday, June 8, 2020
1,444

Commentary: Should we fear mega-railroad mergers?

Jim Blaze explores the pontential for a merger or mergers among the Class 1 railroads.
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Rail

Jim Blaze Friday, May 29, 2020
849

Commentary: Making a tough best guess market forecast

Railroad volumes continue to drop. What might they do to increase volumes? Where are the volume increases going to come from?
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