Commentary

A Hurricane, a Looming Port Strike, Western Intermodal Domino Effects—In the Same Week

Covering the railroads for a long time does strange things to a person. We were glued to The Weather Channel, with Hurricane Helene’s Category 4 track resulting in a direct hit on

Commentary

Fourth of July Slingshot Effect Accelerates Eastern Rails

We heavily scrutinize operating metrics during, and on the back of, the four major public holidays during the year (Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving) due to the beneficial network

Commentary

Post-Winter Acceleration Needed

Winter is always a challenge for the railroads, but the one we’ve just had was at least milder than normal. Apart from being the warmest on record, it included just one Arctic

Commentary

There’s No Such Thing as ‘Resilience Railroading’

We’ve of course been watching the back and forth between the Ancora group and Norfolk Southern ahead of the May 9 proxy contest. We don’t feel a need to comment on every

Commentary

Bad Luck Playing an Outsized Role

This report often—and necessarily—focuses on the individual railroads that are struggling the most, for one reason or another, and trying to right the ship. Norfolk Southern has spent the most time on

Commentary

BNSF Desperate for an Inflection

The Smokehouse Creek wildfire in Texas, which severed BNSF’s Transcon route on February 27, was the latest in a series of problems that have significantly slowed BNSF’s network and impacted service. After

Commentary

Smokehouse Creek Fire Smokes BNSF

While it’s still technically winter, that hasn’t stopped the largest wildfire in Texas history raging in the panhandle, northeast of Amarillo. There aren’t many people living in this part of the world,

Commentary

Arctic Blast Rebound Shows Good Industry Recoverability

Arctic Blast recovery, week 2: We’ll be able to shift focus shortly, because most of the damage from the Arctic Blast in the third week of January has now been corrected, and

Commentary

Arctic Blast Recovery; NS Activism (Again)

Before we talk about the recovery, let’s compare the recent Arctic Blast with comparable cold snaps over the past four winters. There were two Arctic Blasts last winter, falling in reporting weeks

Commentary

Arctic Blast Was Brutal

The Arctic Blast has been our singular focus over the past few weeks, starting with foreboding anticipation, then some historical context, and we’ve now reached the quantifying the damage stage. Here it

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