Greenbrier 3Q: ‘Steady Recovery in Our Markets’
The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. reported financial results for its third fiscal quarter ended May 31, 2021, that were “the best quarterly performance to date” for the company’s current fiscal year.
Author: William C. Vantuono
Biden Targeting Class I Rail Mergers? Report (UPDATED)
President Biden on July 9 will sign an Executive Order directing federal regulators to “confront consolidation and perceived anticompetitive pricing” in the railroad and ocean shipping industries, among many others, “as part of a broad effort to blunt the power of big business to dominate industries,” according to a July 8 Wall Street Journal story by reporters Tedd Mann and Andrew Restuccia.
From Siemens: Amtrak’s Next-Gen Trainsets
Amtrak has awarded Siemens Mobility $3.4 billion in contracts to design, manufacture and provide technical support services and maintenance for 83 trainsets of two power configurations, with options for up to 130 additional trainsets. For Siemens, it is the company’s largest North American contract in history. For Amtrak, its total investment, with a long-term parts supply and service agreement, facility modifications and upgrades, and contingencies, is $7.3 billion. Deliveries are slated to commence in 2024.
QRS, UTLX Partner on Field Services
Quala Rail & Specialty Services (QRS) and UTLX Field Services have partnered to offer full-service railcar cleaning and maintenance services at Quala’s Pasadena, Tex., location, providing customers with “access to a full set of maintenance, repair, inspection and qualification services at one site.”
Sumwalt Exits NTSB
National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Robert L. Sumwalt retired from government service On June 30, 2021, following nearly 15 years at the NTSB. His tenure as the agency’s 14th chairman began in August 2017. Vice Chairman Bruce Landsberg will serve as Acting Chairman until a new chair is confirmed by the Senate. President Biden nominated NTSB Member Jennifer Homendy May 20 to become the NTSB’s 15th chair.
CSX Amends, Re-files Pan Am Railways Acquisition Application with STB
On May 26, The Surface Transportation Board rejected as “incomplete” the merger application filed by CSX Transportation, Inc. to acquire control of Pan Am Systems, Inc. and its short line railroad subsidiaries. CSX on July 1 submitted an “amended and supplemented application” to the STB, stating that the refreshed application “provides all of the additional details of the proposed transaction requested by the STB.”
Shift5 Expands Executive Team
Former executives from Tanium and Armis have joined the Shift5 executive leadership team as Chief Revenue Officer, Chief Product Officer and Chief Technology Officer.
Commentary
Mixed Responses to INVEST in America Act
House Democrats crafted it, House Republicans ridicule it, rail labor loves it, APTA likes it, AAR dismisses it, and ASLRRA notes it’s merely a first step in a tedious process: It’s H.R. 3684, the INVEST (Investing in a New Vision for the Environment and Surface Transportation) in America Act, passed by the full House in a largely partisan vote. It has a snowball’s chance in Seattle’s June heat wave of going anywhere. Wasted time, wasted effort? Probably, but that’s Washington.
SGIH Opens Import Distribution Facility
The Savannah Gateway Industrial Hub (SGIH), a Broe Group property, has opened a new 388,400-square-foot import distribution space to serve the industrial park’s second tenant.
Sand Traps, by Rail
The next time you’re golfing on Long Island, N.Y., and you hit a ball into a sand trap, think of the Brookhaven Rail Terminal (BRT), a rail/truck transload facility in Yaphank, Town of Brookhaven.