What will Union Pacific look like once incoming CEO Jim Vena assumes the role later this month? That’s the question industry stakeholders have been wondering.
Calls to remove Surface Transportation Board Chairman Marty Oberman are misguided in light of regulatory efforts that Oberman and the current board have undertaken, labor groups tell President Joe Biden.
A law firm specializing in stockholder rights wants Norfolk Southern investors to join a class-action lawsuit over precision scheduled railroading. The firm says certain PSR practices compromised safety and depressed NS stock prices.
The railroads must work with other supply chain stakeholders and even consider sharing infrastructure in order to maintain an integral role within the broader freight transportation network, experts said at the Transportation Research Board’s annual meeting.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office’s report on precision scheduled railroading serves as a broad overview of how the freight rail industry has changed over the past decade.
A hearing at the Surface Transportation Board raised hard questions that could influence the trajectory of the freight rail industry.
Access to interchanges, treatment of American grain shippers compared to Canadian ones and service impacts weigh on shippers’ minds as they evaluate the proposed merger between Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern.
Union members say precision scheduled railroading affects the ability to conduct thorough safety inspections.
Two rail unions contend that NS is forcing some locomotive engineers to perform train conductor and brakeman duties following NS’ efforts to reduce its workforce.
Train engineer Matt Parker of the BLET discusses why precision scheduled railroading isn’t about precision, but about profits.
President Joe Biden’s order last week calls upon the Surface Transportation Board to examine hot topics among rail shippers, including reciprocal switching. The challenge will be balancing the wants and needs of shippers and the freight railroads.
Democratic leaders with the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure want the General Accountability Office to examine the effects that precision scheduled railroading has had on freight and passenger rail operations, rail safety and the labor workforce.
Rail shippers discuss what issues they would like to see addressed in 2021. Among them: further action by the Surface Transportation Board and Congress on ensuring rail competition and adequate rail service.
Cybersecurity skills are among the gaps identified in GAO review of DOT’s workforce.
Train lengths, improving network velocity and coronavirus uncertainties are among the big themes expressed by Class I railroad executives at a recent investor conference.
Rail stakeholders debate the legacy of precision scheduled railroading and the common carrier obligation.
Genuflecting toward Wall Street has symbolically become part of the North American Class 1 rail company culture.
Brad Hildebrand discussed Cargill’s reliance on dependable rail service during FreightWaves Last Mile Logistics Summit.
Intermodal was supposed to be the growth engine for rail.
$1.5 trillion infrastructure bill passes U.S. House along party lines; includes truck insurance hike.
The railroad’s deployment of precision scheduled railroading resulted in faster and longer trains and reduced car sorting, according to the company’s recent sustainability report.
The company says its “disposal’ of 300 locomotives and its plans to sell 400 more are due to precision scheduled railroading.
A report from Boston Consulting Group suggests that the Class I railroads must look beyond precision scheduled railroading and operating ratios if the industry wants to be a competitive transportation mode.
Are there too many railroad freight cars? Jim Blaze writes about many reasons why this is the case.
Jim Blaze writes about the outlook for intermodal rail in 2020.
Improving rail volumes and service are among the crucial issues to look out for as the railroads reveal their 2020 guidance in the coming days.
Precision Scheduled Railroading, or PSR, is the operational method of running a railroad for maximum asset utilization by which freight movements are scheduled and managed on the individual carload (rather than entire train level). That contributes to efficiency improvements by, for instance, using more direct point-to-point routing, bypassing classification terminals, and having the flexibility to use long mixed-commodity trains.
Lockheed Martin rolls out big, slow, low-altitude air transport vehicle’ does Precision Scheduled Railroading run afoul of common carrier requirements?
Ben Thrower writes about the positive and negative aspects of precision scheduled railroading in this commentary article.
Market View commentator Jim Blaze writes about the advantages short line railroads offer to shippers.
Jim Blaze writes about the decisions that will go into determining 2020 capital expenditures by the freight railroads.
Norfolk Southern announced that Claude Mongeau has been elected as a director. The former Canadian National Railway head may be viewed as an effort to improve PSR initiatives or to explore potential opportunities to partner with other Class I railroads.
Market Voice Jim Blaze contents that railroads are using the wrong KPIs to increase volume and capture market share from trucks.
Grain may return with trade growth, but frac sand in structural change.
As railroads cut less profitable routes, shippers should learn as much as possible about railroads plans for future service.
The Class I railroads have reported their second quarter/first-half of 2019 results. Jim Blaze writes about what may happen during the remainder of 2019.
Grain shippers say Congress should take a “fresh look” at railroad policy.
“You’ve heard me say this many, many times – we’re not going to use the lack of volume as an excuse not to make aggressive achievements on our productivity,” Union Pacific chief financial officer Rob Knight said.
The implementation of precision scheduled railroading has contributed to dwindling morale and could result in creating unsafe working conditions should the federal government withhold intervention, according to union witnesses at a June 20th Congressional hearing on rail safety.
Regulators frustrated by carriers’ lack of candor in justifying service fees
For years, shippers have tapped spare capacity of railcars and tracks as a low-cost option for storing and staging bulk commodities. But the widespread adoption of the business model known as “precision scheduled railroading” means the big U.S. railroads want to be in the moving business, not the storage business. And that poses a problem […]
Executives with eastern railroads CSX and Norfolk Southern expressed confidence this week that they can compete alongside trucks for e-commerce business.
A number of rail equipment lessors and manufacturers have been merging and consolidating in recent months as a way to leverage themselves against marketplace changes brought about by precision scheduled railroading. Meanwhile, industry observers are watching whether railcar utilization grow in 2019.
Berkshire Hathway (NYSE: BRK) chairman and CEO Warren Buffett said he would be willing to consider some form of precision scheduled railroading (PSR) for western U.S. railroad BNSF, although he didn’t say when or even if BNSF would eventually adopt the operating model. ”We are not above copying anything that is successful, and I think […]
Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC) expects to have the next stage of its new operating plan in place by the end of July. In this next stage, which Norfolk Southern dubs “TOP 21,” the railroad will seek to run heavier trains and have them run faster along some routes.
The Greenbrier Companies (NYSE: GBX) is planning to buy the manufacturing arm of American Railcar Industries as a way to increase its North American presence.
Market expert Jim Blaze questions the benefits to-date of precision scheduled railroading (PSR). Read his views on how railroads could prove PSR’s value to shippers.
With almost all of the Class I railroads transitioning to precision scheduling railroading (PSR), an operational model that emphasizes running railcars on a fixed schedule, a question surfacing within the rail industry is how much emphasis should the railroads place on lower operating ratio.
Precision scheduled railroading (PSR) can’t succeed if the Class I railroads aren’t able to fold the shortline railroads into the new operating model, according to one of the early developers of the precision railroading model.
Precision scheduled railroading (PSR) is the latest tactic railroads are using to improve their operations – and their images. Market voice Jim Blaze explores whether PSR is real or just marketing hype…
Norfolk Southern’s (NYSE: NSC) chief marketing officer sought to assuage shippers’ concerns at a rail shippers’ conference on April 5, saying his company would engage with shippers and seek opportunities to grow capacity as NSC transitions to the precision scheduled railroading (PSR) operating model.
Precision scheduled railroading (PSR) could benefit customers and shippers, but its deployment pace and how shippers respond to changes will be key to its success, panelists said today at the North East Association of Rail Shippers conference in Baltimore, Maryland.
