Freight Rail

Rail carloads, at 219,586, fell 0.6% annually, and intermodal containers and trailers, at 255,010, saw a 13.8% annual increase.

On the heels of the U.S. House of Representatives signing off on legislation aiming to quell the impasse between the remaining railroad labor unions that had yet to ratify terms of the tentative agreement outlined by President Biden’s Presidential Emergency Board’s (PEB) tentative agreement, the United States Senate followed suite yesterday, preventing a freight railroad labor strike that, had it occurred, could have cost the nation’s economy upwards of $2 billion per day.

What happens from here remains to be seen, of course. But let’s hope, as Yogi Berra noted, that it is not already getting late too early and that freight is able to keep rolling down the tracks without a strike getting in the way.

Oberman described 2022 as a “demanding year” for the STB, due to the pending Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger, as well as he termed a “service meltdown” by Class I railroad carriers, which he said had been brewing long before the onset of the pandemic.

NCCC said that membership of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers ratified the recent tentative agreement between IBEW and U.S. freight railroads. And it added that IBEW represents the third union to “ratify an agreement resolving the current national bargaining round,” adding that “[t]entative agreements with nine other labor organizations remain subject to ratification.”

Leading up to this development, there had been a high level of uncertainty and anxiety among supply chain stakeholders through multiple modes of freight transportation, with a 12:01 A.M. September 16 deadline marking the end of a 30-day “cooling off” period between the 12 United States-based railroad labor unions and six largest freight railroad carriers (even though the majority of the 12 unions had reached tentative labor agreements prior to the tentative deal being struck).

Rail carloads—at 1,189,892—saw a 2.3%, or 27,040 carloads, annual increase. Intermodal containers and trailers—at 1,335,618, were down 1.2%, or 15,856 units, in August.

Following an announcement it made earlier this month, when it said it would hold a hearing on April 26-27, regarding recent rail service problems and recovery efforts relating to various Class I railroad carriers, entitled "Urgent Issues in Freight Rail Service," the Surface Transportation Board (STB), an independent adjudicatory and economic-regulatory agency charged by Congress with resolving railroad rate and service disputes and reviewing proposed railroad mergers said late last week that it has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking ...

With the February 14 filing date for the Surface Transportation Board’s (STB) proposed reciprocal switching regulations earlier this week, various freight railroad stakeholders made their cases for and against the case for it in comments filed to the STB. A public hearing hosted by the STB on these regulations is scheduled for March 15 and 16 at the STB’s Washington, D.C.-based headquarters.

Rail carloads—at 223,395—were off 3.3% annually, and intermodal containers and trailers——at 254,607—saw a 14.8% annual decrease.

Rail carloads—at 1,135,835—saw a 3.1%, or 33,918 carloads—annual gain, and intermodal containers and trailers—at 1,224,780—fell 8.2%.

Rate forecasts are always challenging for the rail and intermodal sector, says Jason Kuehn, vice president of the consultancy Oliver Wyman. But this one feels more difficult than most.

Late last month, the Surface Transportation Board (STB) provided information regarding its public hearing on proposed reciprocal switching obligations, which is scheduled for March 15-16, and will be held at its Washington, D.C.-based office.

With the supply chain remaining front and center, as it relates to the overall economy and goods movement, there was no shortage of things to address for Ian Jefferies, President and CEO of the Association of American Railroads, at the RailTrends Conference hosted by Progressive Railroading and independent railroad analyst Tony Hatch earlier this month.

Following the closing of the agreement reached in mid-September between Class I railroad carrier Kansas City Southern (KCS) and Calgary-based Canadian Pacific Railway Company, in which CP will acquire KCS for $31 billion, in a stock and cash transaction, which includes the assumption of $3.8 billion of outstanding KCS debt, the companies announced late last week they are now officially ready to take the next step in their relationship.