Management

Crude oil loaders fail in hazmat classification

In their quest for a smoking gun, lawyers developing a class action suit on behalf of the victims of the July 6 calamity at Lac-Mégantic say they have found disturbing evidence that at least some managers in the oil industry knew beforehand that the hazmat classification of mid-continent crude oil for rail transport was systematically bogus.

Canada cracking down on CBR shippers

Canada’s government has ordered Transport Canada to crack down hard on crude oil shippers who they say continue to evade a directive that they test the contents of tank cars before classifying them as hazardous materials for crude by rail (CBR) transportation.

Railinc upgrades CHRNSS application

Railinc has upgraded its Car Hire Rate Negotiation Self-Service (CHRNSS) application, “enhancing the ability of railroads, car owners, and third-party leasing companies to query, view, and manage data essential to the negotiation of car-hire rates, or the amount of money paid for the use of a railcar.”

BNSF: Ice rises; Rose blooms

The announcement of a leadership transition at BNSF Railway was not unexpected: Effective Jan. 1, 2014, Carl Ice, President since 2010, will add the title of Chief Executive Officer. Matt Rose will become Executive Chairman, where he will be the railroad’s chief decision-maker, but without daily operational responsibilities.

AAR sets Associate Advisory Board seats

The Association of American Railroads has established its Associate Advisory Board (AAB) seats for calendar years 2014-2015. The AAR received more than 70 nominations for 32 seats on AAR committees.

CN adds frac sand producer in Wisconsin

CN will start serving a new state-of-the art frac sand producer on its Wisconsin rail network beginning this month. Such industrial sands are used by the oil and gas industry in the hydraulic fracturing process to hold shale fractures open to let natural gas and crude oil flow out.

2014 TRAFFIC AND SPENDING OUTLOOK: A capital year for suppliers

2013 has been a record year for the railroads, “a very robust and challenging year for growth and re-investment,” in the words of BNSF chief executive Matt Rose. The indications are that 2014 could be even better—from a shareholder’s standpoint, “a profile of continued steady earnings growth, stock repurchases, and increasing dividends,” in the words of Jason Seidl, Railway Age’s Wall Street contributing editor.
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