Quest for Quality 2020: Rail/Intermodal

Like all modes of freight transportation, the freight railroad and intermodal sectors are not operating in normal times. As group news editor Jeff Berman has been reporting, the ongoing impact of the pandemic serves as the main driver for this, and it’s reflected in year-to-date U.S. rail carload and intermodal volumes in data from the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

According to the AAR, U.S. carload volumes were down 14.7% through the first five months of 2020 on an annual basis, with the weekly carload average for May coming in at the lowest level ever recorded since AAR began tracking this data in 1989. The numbers have been down each month to date in 2020. What’s more, total U.S. carloads in May were down 27.7% annually, marking the largest monthly percentage decline, per AAR data.

While above carload levels, rail intermodal volumes are also feeling the pain. Intermodal container and trailer volume in May was down 13% annually. And on a year-to-date basis, intermodal units are down 661,703 units, or 11.3% annually. Average U.S. weekly intermodal volume for May came in at 228,231 for a 13% annual decline, and have also been down for each month in 2020 through May.

While U.S. rail carload and intermodal volumes remain low, the AAR reported that for the week ending May 30, with the re-opening of the U.S. economy underway, there were gains in 11 of the 20 carload commodities the association tracks. AAR added that several major commodity areas were improving their showing compared to 2019 in terms of current loading rates to those that had been seen in the prior four-week period.

Another ray of light on the rails has been mounting reports of solid service. In fact, based on both Surface Transportation Board data and industry reports, the railroads are supplying excellent intermodal service right now.

Speeds are substantially higher than both the prior year and the five-year average almost across the board. This is likely the combined result of both precision scheduled railroading initiatives and substantially reduced volume running across the network.

And according to Logistics Management readers, the 10 service provider taking home Quest for Quality gold in 2020 have not only been equal to the challenge, but they have worked to surpass service expectations over the past 12 months.

This year’s Rail/Intermodal Service Provider category finds Kansas City Southern Railway putting up the top weighted score (44.11). Kansas City Southern led the way in On-time Performance (10.59), Customer Service (8.88), and tied Union Pacific in the Equipment & Operations attribute category (8.50). BNSF Railway led the way in the highly important value category with a score of 9.68.

In the Intermodal Marketing Company category, Matson Logistics put up an impressive 49.29 to lead the way for this group of Quest for Quality winners. Matson put up top marks in On-time Performance (12.45) and Value (11.08) on its way to that solid weighted score.