Canadian National (NYSE: CNI) reported increases in net profit and revenue in the second quarter of 2019, with its acquisition of trucking and transportation provider TransX providing both higher revenue and costs.
While operational efficiencies get the credit for a freight railroad’s improved operating ratio, other factors, such as changes in fuel prices and increases in freight rates, play significant roles according to a research paper by a law firm representing shippers in Canada.
Rail volumes were off again for the week ending June 29, 2019 with U.S. railroads reporting a 5.5 percent decline.
The transition to e-commerce and anticipated advances in automated trucking are forcing the freight railroads to adapt to supply chains that require railroads to be more responsive and nimble. One way that the railroads are seeking to address this challenge is by hiring executives outside of the railroading community, in the hopes that placing a non-rail executive in a leadership role will help the railroad weather systemic changes within the supply chain.
“It’s just a confusing time for all of us in transportation and anybody in manufacturing or business in general to have a really good sense of why we’re seeing this kind of softness,” said CSX chief executive officer Jim Foote.
Canadian National’s (NYSE: CNI) strategy to build up its eastern network could include even more partnerships with trucking and intermodal partners, the company’s chief executive officer said at an investor conference.
Only 17 percent of the relationships between the U.S. passenger and freight railroads required to utilize positive train control technology have interoperability, meaning that the host railroad can communicate with a non-host train through the technology, according to data released by the Federal Railroad Administration.
Government agency Transport Canada has released a proposed regulation requiring the use of video and voice recorders in locomotive cabs of freight trains operating in Canada.
“The board has the authority to define reasonable practices. If you were in our shoes, what would you do?” said Surface Transportation Board vice chairman Patrick Fuchs to a panel representing BNSF, Canadian National and Canadian Pacific.
Canadian rail volumes rose again year-to-date for the week ended May 11, while U.S. rail volumes continued downward amid U.S. tariff uncertainty and a fuzzy economic picture.
FreightWaves market expert Jim Blaze looks at a regulatory spat between Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway over the concept of “open access.” Learn why that is important to all railroads – and shippers!
A Canadian National (NYSE: CNI) subsidiary has acquired the intermodal assets of Alberta-based H&R Transport, a company that specializes in the over-the-road, temperature-controlled service. The acquisition will expand CN’s presence in moving consumer goods, and is part of the company’s broader effort to offer more end-to-end rail supply chain options, according to railroad president and […]
