Parallel Systems’ Post

Friday, before all the dramatic events of the weekend, the Surface Transportation Board published notice of a public hearing to be held September 16th and 17th to "gather information about recent trends and strategies for growth in the freight rail industry (public notice here: https://lnkd.in/gFDmxpzM). John Gallagher reports in FreightWaves that STB practitioner Michael McBride notes that "a special hearing on future growth and investments is a bit unprecedented." He notes that the hearing may be a way for newly designated STB Chairman Robert E. Primus to establish his own voice after the tenure of outgoing Marty Oberman. "Holding this hearing is good policy and good politics," Mr. McBride asserts. In Railway Age, Frank Wilner notes that the hearing was called without a formal vote of Chairman Primus' fellow STB members (https://lnkd.in/gFDmxpzM). Wilner notes the friendly relationship of Primus and rail labor by quoting Primus at a recent SMART-TD National Training Seminar last week telling attendees, "Thank you for letting me represent you." For more context on how railroads are faring in the sluggish freight economy, the folks at the Association of American Railroads are publishing a monthly economic outlook, "Rail Industry Overview" (more info here https://lnkd.in/gzd9DMcD). Adriene Bailey (she/her) at Oliver Wyman has suggested that freight railroads could focus on growth opportunities in intermodal commodities (https://lnkd.in/genvdbyP) and suggests that railroads could garner more freight traffic from trucks if service could improve (more deets behind this paywall at Journal of Commerce https://lnkd.in/gCxbNHUC). For an even more radical approach, there is the option of public ownership of freight railroads, posed by Maddock Thomas in a white paper sponsored by rail labor groups, described in this Bill Stephens article two weeks ago (https://lnkd.in/gW7JxYdq). We'll have to see who shows up at the September hearing and what kinds of issues and strategies are discussed. #freight #intermodal #railroads

The NSW Freight Policy Reform Program is reviewing ports, rail, road & intermodal facilities, to find the best policy framework to optimise safety, productivity and sustainability. Today the Interim Directions Paper was released for consultation. I was glad to see strong support for our work on implementing the National Service Level Standard framework (see link in comments). The framework helps align road functions with customer expectations; and ensures consistent and transparent decision-making for road management, and investment decisions. https://lnkd.in/gi6fSauT Transport for NSW Roads Australia Roads & Infrastructure Australia Infrastructure NSW AITPM - Leadership in Traffic and Transport National Heavy Vehicle Regulator National Transport Commission Australasian Railway Association (ARA) Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts Infrastructure Australia NatRoad Australia Austroads

The Short Line and Regional Railroad Industry: Short line railroads are a critical part of the U.S. freight network. #railindustry #shortline_rail #freight

Many rail shippers believe that if they are captive to a railroad at a location, they have little leverage to negotiate better rates. This blog article addresses 8 effective strategies & tactics designed specifically to help shippers improve rail rates on captive movements. Click to read full article: https://lnkd.in/eU7kSCt8

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) has reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending August 10, 2024. This week's total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 496,509 carloads and intermodal units, up 5.2 percent compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending August 10 were 222,039 carloads, down 0.9 percent compared with the same week in 2023, while U.S.

Two big days this week that I'll write about in the days to come: tomorrow's virtual meeting of Norfolk Southern shareholders to determine the outcome of the takeover/rescue attempt by Ancora Holdings Group on NS' board and management and Friday as the last day of Marty Oberman's consequential chairmanship of the Surface Transportation Board. Today, I note a short Bill Stephens story in Trains magazine expressing disappointment in the STB's reciprocal switching rule by the The National Industrial Transportation League as expressed by Nancy Oliddy (Bill's story about the final rule here https://lnkd.in/gp-wGANb and from the STB here https://lnkd.in/gtb9Tqqm) . She is not alone in her assessment that the ultimate rule doesn't go far enough for shippers, but one of her complaints has roots in the legal jurisdiction of the STB itself. The story notes that the STB's rule is limited to rail traffic moving under tariffs and in commodities regulated by the STB, leaving a rather large Venn diagram circle of rail traffic not covered by the new rule. Bill writes that the NITL faults the STB for not seeking broader statutory authority to extend its regulations to contract rail movements. I'm not sure whether Congress would welcome STB requests for more authority, but this issue illustrates the challenge facing rail shipper corporations whose collective market capitalization dwarves that of all Class I railroads (not counting BNSF's owners). Rail shippers have numerous and varied regulatory issues competing for corporate political capital, while railroads can focus on keeping economic regulation limited and keeping rail safety regulation federal. #freight #regulations #railroads #shippers

The multiplicity of approval processes to operate rolling stock across Australia has been identified by the rail freight industry as a major deterrent to investment and innovation.   To address this industry wide issue, RISSB has commissioned a White Paper: Streamlining the Rolling Stock approval processes. This is released today. Registering a railway vehicle to operate across the Australian rail networks involves applying to multiple network owners, with each requiring differing data, testing and other requirements to satisfy the approval process. Registration and certification of rolling stock ensures both the safety and efficiency of train operations for the train operator and rail infrastructure manager. That’s why the rail freight industry continues to advocate for more streamlined and more certain vehicle approval processes. The Paper supports the further development and expansion of the national rolling stock register (NRSR) and procedures, being developed by RISSB, which will help improve standardisation and enhance interoperability across multiple interstate and intrastate networks. It puts forward a set of discussion points and recommendations for further consideration and will operationalise the work being undertaken by the National Transport Commission. You can find out more and read the White Paper on the RISSB website here: https://lnkd.in/gGe3gRZn

Clearly, public interests in this critical national infrastructure are not being served by the current ownership, management and incentive structures. Deregulation of the railroads and relieving them of the common carrier obligation to serve passengers (amongst many other things) has backfired, corroding the rail system those measures were supposed to protect. Predatory capital is extracting profits by degrading the very system that could otherwise offer so many possible solutions for a more resilient future. It's time for a major shift in how railroads are run in the US, and for whose benefit. https://lnkd.in/gmjwJgmV

Knowledge is power when it comes to rail logistics. Our updated 2024 blog offers a deep-dive into railroad pricing strategies, including the key Revenue-to-Variable-Cost Ratio (RVC). Equip yourself with the knowledge to assess rate reasonableness and secure cost-effective rail freight transportation.