Railroads

  Railroad tracks are still flooded in some parts of the nation's breadbasket – from eastern Nebraska to western Iowa, as well as in portions of Missouri – after a historic storm plowed through the region in mid-March. But through sheer grit and determination, repair teams...

U.S. rail volumes fell again last week as rail service issues continue to plague the post-flooding Midwestern landscape. Total U.S. rail traffic dropped 4.6 percent to 509,958 carloads and intermodal units for the week ending March 30, according to the Association of American Railroads. Of that,...

Rail cars using steel wheels on steel rails move freight in both the United States and Europe. Yet there are fundamental differences between the railroads in the U.S. and those in Europe. Why? What are some of the more critical reasons for the differences? Culture is one very big reason. A second...

Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE: UNP) confirmed that it is slowing down its pace of construction at the multi-million dollar Brazos classification yard in Robertson County, Texas. This comes amid UNP's plans to implement precision scheduled railroading (PSR) and modify its operating plan...

FreightWaves is providing a forum – Market Voices – for a number of market experts. Jim Blaze is a railroad career economist with an engineering background and a strategic analysis outlook. Jim's career spans 21 years with Consolidated Rail Corporation (CONRAIL), 17 years with the...

U.S. rail volumes are poised to be lower in the first quarter compared with last year, but whether that decline indicates a looming recession remains to be seen. "We're seeing something more anemic," said FreightWaves market analyst Jim Blaze. The level of the decline in rail...

FreightWaves Radio's fifth national show was broadcast on Saturday, March 23 on SiriusXM's Road Dog Channel 146. Unlike other industry-specific radio shows that often have particular messaging or lobbying aims, FreightWaves Radio is an independent, data-driven look at what's really...

Historic flooding that began on March 15 has wiped out miles of roads and bridges along the Missouri River, especially from eastern Nebraska to western Iowa. Omaha was the largest city to be hit. This part of the country isn't a big player when it comes to freight movement by truck, but at...

Andrew Clarke—if he doesn't have anything else lined up—is now the hottest free agent in transportation and logistics. Late on Thursday afternoon, leading third-party logistics provider C. H. Robinson Worldwide (NASDAQ: CHRW) announced that Andrew Clarke would leave his...

BNSF (NYSE: BRK) and Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP) are grappling with the aftermath of the recent historic floods, with both companies scrambling to assess and repair damage as quickly as possible. BNSF yesterday alerted customers that multiple subdivisions remain out of service in Iowa, Missouri and...

The request by the Association of American Railroads (AAR) asking the Surface Transportation Board (STB) to include a cost-benefit analysis into its rulemaking process is being viewed by some as a positive step towards aligning STB procedure with other U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)...

The Chinese government is considering buying up to 7 million tons of U.S. wheat, Bloomberg reported Tuesday afternoon. The proposal has been floated as a means to help reduce the China - U.S. trade deficit and make progress toward a resolution in the countries' ongoing trade dispute. China has...

Three sides of the move to precision railroading (PSR) were on display last week during earnings season conference calls, and they helped to drive home how deeply the practice is embedding itself in the nation's railroads. Within 48 hours, the industry could listen in on an earnings call from...

Commuters in the Pacific Northwest love to complain about how slow (and archaic) it is to travel between Portland and Seattle by train. It takes about three and a half hours to traverse the 170-mile distance on the Amtrak Cascades, which runs only four trains per day. As congestion clogs the I-5...