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Rail Freight Transportation. Author: Dr. Alan Erera. North American Mode Share, 1996. % of total ton-miles. air. water. rail. truck. U.S. Freight Movements, 1996. Railroad Freight Flows. U.S. Freight Railroad Economics. In 1998 ... Market share: 40% of intercity tons
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Rail Freight Transportation Author: Dr. Alan Erera
North American Mode Share, 1996 % of total ton-miles air water rail truck
U.S. Freight Railroad Economics In 1998 ... • Market share: 40% of intercity tons • Large share markets: • 70% of finished automobiles • 64% of coal (generating 36% of electricity) • 40% of grain (domestic and export)
U.S. Railroad Economics II • Movement statistics • Freight volume: 1.38 trillion ton-miles • Carload volume: 26 million carloads • 8.8 million intermodal trailers and containers • Fleet statistics • 1.3 million railcars • 127 million ton capacity • Costs 26% less (57% IA) than 1981
Primary Commodities • Rail Only • Coal 572 MM tons • Farm Products 158 • Non-metallic minerals 131 • Petroleum 123 • Chemicals 118 • Intermodal • Transportation equipment 6.9 MM tons • Chemicals, food, lumber, pulp & paper
Growth in Intermodal • 17% of revenues • second only to coal: 23% • COFC 62%, TOFC 38% • Why? • Labor efficiency • Fuel efficiency (50% savings over truck) • Door-to-door service • Downsides • speed, reliability
Container land bridge • Asia - Europe market • Double-stack N.A. network • Why? • Hub-and-spoke efficiencies • Panama canal costs, queuing delays Long Beach Elizabeth
Freight Railroad Classification • Class One • Operating revenue > $250 MM (1991$) • 91% of total revenue, 71% of track • CSX, NS, UP, BNSF, Kansas City Southern • Regionals • Revenue $40-250 MM, more than 350 miles • Wisconsin Central, Bangor & Aroostook, Alaska • Local/Short Lines
CSX • Miles: 23,000 • Carloads: 5.1 MM • Locos: 4,000 • Railcars: 100,000 • Revenues: $5.6 B • coal: $1.6 B • chem: $0.91 B • auto: $0.76 B
Norfolk Southern • Miles: 21,800 • Carloads: 5.1 MM • Locos: 3,500 • Railcars: 117,000 • Revenues: $5.2 B • coal: $1.3 B • intermodal: $0.83 B • auto: $0.73 B • chem: $0.73 B
Union Pacific • Miles: 38,600 • Carloads: 8.5 MM • Locos: 6,847 • Railcars: 157,000 • Revenues: $10.2 B • coal: $2.2 B • intermodal: $1.7 B • chem: $1.6 B • auto: $1.0 B
BNSF • Miles: 33,500 • Locos: 5,000 • Railcars: 90,000 • Revenues: $9.1 B • carload: $2.6 B • intermodal: $2.5 B • coal: $2.2 B • agri: $1.3 B
Kansas City Southern • Miles: 6,400 • NAFTA railroad • Gateway Western • KCS • TexMex • TFM • Panama Canal RR
Canadian National • Miles: 16,000 • Carloads: 3.5 MM • Locos: 5,000 • Railcars: 90,000 • Revenues: $5.1 B • grain: $1.0 B • forest: $0.97 B • chem: $0.84 B • intermodal: $0.80 B
Locomotive Equipment • They are mobile power plants • Diesel generators • DC and AC traction motors • Road vs. switching • Multiple units • consist • DPUs and helpers for heavy trains, grades
UP Road Locomotive • AC traction (6000 HP)
Yard switcher • Often “retired” road locomotives • Low HP (1500)
Boxcars • Weather-protection • Insulation, refrigeration, cushioning • Auto parts, building materials, food products, bagged products
Automobile Racks (autoracks) • Bi-level or tri-level • Damage/vandalism protection • Finished autos, trucks, vans, minivans
Load/unload operations: autoracks • a type of “roll-on, roll-off” system
Open hoppers • Hopper openings or rotary couplers • Coal, coke, stone, sand, ores, gravel
Load operations: coal • conveyors
Covered hoppers • load: round or trough hatch • unload: hoppers (gravity, airslide) • grains, corn, soybeans, flour, salt, sugar, clay, phosphates, cement, fertilizers, plastics
Tank cars • Private (non-railroad) fleets • Chemicals, molasses, water, diesel fuel
Gondolas • Open or covered • Scrap metal, aggregates, woodchips, logs, poles, steel beams, steel coils
TOFC • Trailer-on-flatcar • Highway trailers • LTL trucking growth in intermodal
COFC • Container-on-flatcar • ocean shipping containers, trucking containers
Double-stack COFC (1979) • Articulated cars • Clearances • bridge/tunnel investments
Intermodal flatcar types • Two-hitch flatcar • two trailers, each up to 40 ft length • Articulated well flatcar • containers sit low for double-stacking • articulation: no conflict with rail wheels (trucks) • 3 to 5 permanently joined units • Roadrailer • truck trailers mounted on railroad wheel assemblies
EOT Device • End-of-train device • Caboose replacement • warns following trains • Crew size reduction • brakemen, fireman gone • 2-4 person crews • labor cost reduction
Rail shipping • Shipment types • Unit train (bulk commodities) • Carload (FCL) • Less-than-carload (LCL) • Train types • Unit train (through service) • Hot shot (intermodal; expedited service) • Bulk train (single bulk commodity) • Manifest (mixed freight)
Unit train routing • Direct, through trains • From shipper to consignee • Coal train example • Powder River Basin, WY to Dallas area power plant • Petrochemical example • Elizabeth, NJ refinery to Houston processing plant • Interline
Intermodal train routing • Expedited service • But, set-outs or pick-ups at consolidation points • Load/unload intermodal yards • Portside (e.g. Long Beach) • Port adjacent (e.g. Oakland) • Inland • Enroute yards • “hubs” • cross-towns (rubber tire transfers)
Manifest (mixed freight) train routing • Load/unload facilities • Shipper sidings, public facilities (e.g. grain elevators) • Switching service to terminal railyard • Hump yards • Classification • sorting by destination • Receiving, bowl, departing • Hub-and-spoke concept
US Deregulation: Staggers (1980) • Market-driven pricing • only for route/services with competition • Confidential service agreements, rates • Abandonment and sale streamlined • Impact • Costs down: 57% from 1981 to 1998 • Return on net investment: from 2 to 7% • Consolidation • Regionals and shortlines: 50,000 miles