precision scheduled railroading

Democrats want look at precision scheduled railroading’s impact

A photograph of a train at a railroad crossing.

Democratic leaders with the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure want the U.S. General Accountability Office (GAO) to examine the impacts that precision scheduled railroading (PSR) has had on shippers and freight and passenger rail operations.

PSR is an operational model that all of the Class I railroads except BNSF (NYSE: BRK.B) have publicly embraced. The model seeks to streamline operations and cut costs. Proponents say PSR enables greater network efficiency, which will...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/democrats-want-look-at-precision-scheduled-railroadings-impact

Rail shippers give policy wish list for 2021

A photograph of a train hauling intermodal containers.

With a new year and a new White House administration ahead, rail shippers and industry observers say these are some key issues they hope will be addressed soon:

Issues before the Surface Transportation Board

Rail shippers and others are looking forward to having a full complement of five members on the Surface Transportation Board (STB). Although it’s still uncertain how the two new members, Robert Primus and Michelle Schultz, will respond to issues, having “fresh eyes” on the several outstanding...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/rail-shippers-give-policy-wish-list-for-2021

DOT may not be ready to take on automation safety

A government watchdog report has warned that the U.S. Department of Transportation has not fully assessed whether its workforce has the skills needed to oversee automation in the trucking and rail sectors.

The report was conducted by the U.S. Government Accountability Office and delivered on Friday to Congress. It acknowledged that DOT, over the last four years, has identified many of the skills cited by private industry groups — including the American Trucking Associations and Women in Trucking...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/dot-may-not-be-ready-to-take-on-automation-safety

COVID-19 uncertainties, PSR part II: What’s on the minds of rail execs

A photograph of a Kansas City Southern train in a rail yard.

Train lengths, e-commerce and mergers and acquisitions were among the topics discussed by four Class I railroads at the Credit Suisse 8th Annual Industrials Conference last week. Here are some highlights:

Kansas City Southern talks service design adjustments, longer sidings

Kansas City Southern (NYSE: KSU) hopes to implement the third phase of its PSR program in 2021.

Although this phase could be the most challenging, it also could be the most rewarding, according to Sameh Fahmy, executive vice...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/covid-19-uncertainties-psr-part-ii-whats-on-the-minds-of-rail-execs

Shippers, unions, railroads take sides at Senate hearing

A photograph of a train traveling through a desert.

The debate about how much oversight Congress and the Surface Transportation Board (STB) should have regarding freight rail operations and rates took center stage at a hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee last week.

At one corner was the Association of American Railroads (AAR), which represents the Class I railroads operating in the U.S. and argues that the status quo enables the railroads to make the millions needed to maintain, invest and expand the nation’s freight rail network. At the...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/shippers-unions-railroads-take-sides-at-senate-hearing

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

Cargill urging regulators to seek last-mile metrics from railroads (with video)

Responding to pressure to be more transparent about their service performance following the major railroad mergers of the 1990s, the freight railroads began providing shippers and regulators weekly data on metrics such as rail car velocity and terminal dwell times.

But one measure that they haven’t been providing, asserts an executive at one of the country’s largest agribusiness companies, is how well they’ve been performing against the promise of Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR), an...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/cargill-urging-regulators-to-seek-last-mile-metrics-from-railroads-with-video

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

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

When trying to comprehend what’s going on in complex markets, it’s best to consider multiple expert opinions. It is also prudent to consider different ways to sort the data sets available and then display them against other matched datasets.

The more views, the better the comprehension. In the digital age, there are a lot more sources.

Figure 1 (below) identifies...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/commentary-intermodal-missed-signals-fumbling-so-close-to-the-growth-goal-line

Breaking News: House approves trucking insurance increase and hours-of-service delay

A major infrastructure package that includes provisions to hike truckers’ insurance coverage to $2 million and delay the September 29 start date for new federal hours of service (HOS) changes was approved today by the U.S. House of Representatives.

The $1.5 trillion Moving Forward Act, which passed the Democrat-controlled House largely along party lines by a vote of 233 to 188, was derided by Republicans in the chamber as a “wish list” partisan bill heavy on climate-change related proposals that...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/breaking-news-house-approves-trucking-insurance-increase-and-hours-of-service-delay

Operational changes helped railcars move faster, says Union Pacific report

A photograph of a train locomotive by a buidling.

Converting more hump yards to flat switching has reduced the time a railcar is at a rail yard, Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP) said in its 2019 sustainability report released May 28.

Union Pacific (UP) uses hump yards to sort railcars in such a way that blocks of cars are consolidated based on common destinations, the report said. Flat switching results in the same outcome but maintenance costs are much less, according to UP.

“Each time a car touches a [hump] yard, it adds about 24 hours to its...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/operational-changes-helped-railcars-move-faster-says-union-pacific-report

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