February, 2009

The next FRA administrator might be Joseph Szabo. At least according to a Bloomberg news report issued yesterday. The United Transportation Union’s state director for Illinois is President Barack Obama’s top candidate for the job, the report...

Because of steep traffic declines associated with weak freight demand, the Class Is are shrinking their workforces and whittling down their rolling stock fleets. Senior executives at the six largest Class Is broached the subject during their fourth...

On Dec. 2, a monumental event occurred in the short-line industry. A Central Railroad Co. of Indiana (CIND) train moved the first batch of vehicles to be transported by rail from a new Honda Motor Co. automotive plant in Greensburg, Ind., to Cincinnati...

Make a good thing better. That’s what CSX Corp. is aiming to do with the ONE Plan. Since the Class I rolled out the operational planning/execution software tool in second-half 2004, the railroad has reduced train starts about 6 percent, eliminated...

There are several traffic segments that pose the biggest carload-growth opportunities for short lines. Ethanol, certainly, is No. 1. Intermodal traffic, which has been soft throughout 2008, still is a top draw. And old standbys coal and grain remain high...

It’s hard to find your way on a long journey on an unfamiliar route without a road map. For Norfolk Southern Corp. , the directional tool that will guide the Class I down the right self-improvement path the next few years is “Track 2012.”...

In August, the U.S. unemployment rate reached 6.1 percent — the highest level in five years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The rate has steadily risen after reaching 5 percent in April and 5.7 percent in July. U.S. employers shed...

The North American economy isn’t strengthening, but it isn’t weakening a whole lot, either. And rail-car supplies are getting tighter. At least, according to the opinions of two dozen rail shippers. With an assist from the helpful folks...

As is the case for all Class Is, automotive traffic volumes are down at Norfolk Southern Corp. — way down. Automotive carloads dropped about 12 percent in the second quarter to 116,300 units after tumbling 11 percent in the first quarter to 119...

When you think about the potential victim of a grade crossing accident, a motorist or truck driver comes to mind. But a horse? Yet, a collision between a train and horse tow vehicle or trailer at a crossing often causes a horse fatality, according...

Railroads and trucking firms long have added fuel surcharges to shippers’ freight bills to compensate for diesel cost escalations. But now, with diesel prices and surcharges at record levels, two chemical shippers are passing their staggering transportation...

Record attendance and an all-time-high number of railroad representatives were hot topics in the exhibit hall, general session ballroom and break-out session salons at the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association’s (ASLRRA) annual meeting...

As I was perusing the headlines on the news wires April 28 — something I do every morning to keep up with rail industry doings — I noticed this one from the AP: “Driver, 3 Children Unharmed After Train Hits Car in North Florida.”...

Railroads long have been passing on higher diesel costs to shippers through fuel surcharges, but how about the cost to maintain grade crossings? Saginaw Bay Southern Railway (SBS) has instituted a surcharge of $20 per car to cover a portion of expenses...

Even though the Standard & Poor's 500 index is down about 6 percent so far this year, the Dow Jones transportation average is up about 4 percent. What’s a major factor behind the healthy transportation index? U.S. railroads, which are...

Greetings from Pueblo, Colo., a town local officials refer to as the “City of Excellence” and Association of American Railroads (AAR) officials call research city. It’s here that AAR subsidiary the Transportation Technology Center Inc...

The Summer Olympic Games are coming to Beijing, China. Excitement is building among athletes preparing for the August games, people arranging vacations and purchasing tickets for the worldwide event, and NBC officials readying plans to televise the 29th...

Oh-for-four is bad in baseball and recessionary terms. Each of the four monthly indicators used to determine whether the U.S. economy is entering a recession — inflation-adjusted retail sales, job growth, income growth and industrial output —...

Bank of America Securities’ fourth-quarter survey of 1,400 rail shippers revealed a growing trend that should concern railroads. More shippers are considering diversions to other modes. Conducted in November, the survey showed 67 percent of the...

Dec. 31 is fast approaching and short liners have more at stake that day than their New Year’s Eve plans. The federal tax credit law expires when the clock strikes midnight. Since the law was enacted in 2005, short lines have used tax credits...

From 12 days to 12 minutes? I have to admit I was skeptical when three Union Pacific Railroad senior executives said Bailey Yard cut the time to change wheelsets on empty coal cars that much by performing the work in the field instead of in a shop. ...

Salvador Rodriguez paid attention to the details — moreso than most of us would have in today's mind-your-own-business society — and saved a man's life as a result. After a recent routine grade crossing equipment check in Hinsdale...

Planes, trains and automobiles. The three transportation modes are somewhat interconnected, as the title of Steve Martin's 1987 movie suggests. But what if you converted planes to trains as part of a monorail system aimed at reducing the number of...

You can never get enough of a good thing. And for railroads and tank-car builders, ethanol has been a very good thing. During the past few years, many railroads have posted double-digit increases in ethanol-related traffic and the handful of builders...

When Southeast Aggregates searched high and low for a distribution facility site in Georgia earlier this year, a city offering long-term business growth potential was priority No. 1. A close second? Rail access. The company, which operates an aggregate...