Jim Blaze

No simple swap: Ins and outs of reciprocal switching on US railroads

A photograph of a two boxcara and a tank car on train tracks.

One of the executive orders President Joe Biden issued in July calls for the chairman of the Surface Transportation Board to consider reciprocal switching as a way to pursue competitiveness in the freight rail industry.

As FreightWaves wrote in August, reciprocal switching occurs when a shipper has access to one freight railroad but wants access to a nearby competing freight railroad in order to cultivate a competitive pricing environment. A shipper can get that access at an interchange between...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/no-simple-swap-ins-and-outs-of-reciprocal-switching-on-us-railroads

Viewpoint: Strategic outlook for rail freight?

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

The strategic outlook for rail freight is mixed based on data and competition hurdles. Some challenges are not in rail management’s hands.

For example, is the long rail freight market trend upward, static or downward?

There is uncertainty.

Briefly, here is the long-term outlook.

Note that the numbers shown here are rounded.

The quick take is that over the past four...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/viewpoint-strategic-outlook-for-rail-freight

Commentary: Rail freight real-time, all-the-time inventory visibility

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

Which of the big seven U.S. railroads could make 2021 the year of railroad advanced cargo visibility — thus introducing a real game changer for railroad cargo shippers?

Something more than just a cheap, small, smart communicating sensor indicating whether the rail car doors are closed.

Shippers need something more robust. And rail shippers want it now, not in 10 to...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/commentary-rail-freight-real-time-all-the-time-inventory-visibility

Commentary: New tools for competitive railroad intel

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

I often am asked why I write for FreightWaves when I am a railway man. There is a simple answer. If you want to beat your competitor, do not spend too much time looking internally at only the railway part you already know. Instead, keep your eyes on what the lead dogs are doing.       

Writing for FreightWaves gives a rail journalist a strategic advantage, because...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/commentary-new-tools-for-competitive-railroad-intel

Commentary: Rail freight could grow market share

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

Oliver Wyman is among the consulting companies that actively conduct their own R&D market research on rail freight futures.The company just released a significant upside forecast. How big? Just over $175 billion in cumulative railway freight revenues between now and about 2030. That is big. But it is not guaranteed.

A significant business culture change must occur....

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/commentary-rail-freight-could-grow-market-share

Commentary: Cloud-based tool has been supply chain breakthrough

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

Do you get your railroad freight intelligence from ports? Most folks do not. But in today’s digital world, commercial news intel can be a different ballgame.

Wabtec and the Port of Los Angeles teamed up for a software-based means of improving intermodal container transport between Asia and inland freight-importing customers within the United States. It is not just...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/commentary-cloud-based-tool-has-been-supply-chain-breakthrough

Commentary: Simple photos illustrate intermodal rail model

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

Beyond the image beauty of this BNSF train is a complex business model.

Some may not appreciate the North American intermodal business model. Heck, even I am dissatisfied by some aspects, like its stalling growth and relatively fewer origin/destination pairs. And many are disappointed by the lack of rapid highway truck diversion to rail as a “growth strategy.”

Yet,...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/commentary-simple-photo-illustrates-intermodal-rail-model

Commentary: High-tech railcar/inventory management

A photograph of a train nearing a rail yard.

As previously described by multiple reports, customers have not been happy with the tracking of their valuable goods on freight trains. But within the next three years, shippers should see significant improvements in the age-old question, “Where are my goods?”

Steps underway now would introduce smart communicating devices to supplement the older RFID tags and manual recording used to date. Why? In part because railroads themselves want better train management data.

And today’s senior rail...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/commentary-high-tech-rr-carinventory-management

Commentary: Your railroad contingency plan?

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

Now a third of the way into the fourth quarter, how is 2020 going to end up for the U.S. freight railroads?

It’s going to be a mixed bag.

There are plus and minus indicators as we look closely at the data year-to-date. 

Yes, third-quarter economic recovery has lifted railroad volumes back up — but not for every rail-moved business commodity segment.

Table 1 shows two...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/commentary-your-railroad-contingency-plan

Commentary: A customer checklist for reading railroads’ third-quarter reports

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

The six railroads that practice their marketing-term model that is called precision scheduled railroading (PSR) will be reporting their third-quarter financial results through the remaining days of October.

There is, however, an opportunity for a more holistic quarterly briefing.  

This week’s market view rail column provides an argument for a new checklist of...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/commentary-a-customer-checklist-for-reading-railroads-third-quarter-reports

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