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Drilling Deep: Efficiency challenges facing intermodal rail

John Kingston
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Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves

One of the biggest arguments for moving goods by rail in an intermodal service is that while it might be more complex and slower, efficiency gains make it competitive with trucking in certain markets.

With diesel prices historically low, one of those advantages is eroded. FreightWaves contributor and rail economist Jim Blaze joins Drilling Deep host John Kingston on this week’s edition to discuss the conditions for the rails in general and intermodal in particular. Also on the agenda: Has the cutting of employees gone too far?

Kingston in his opening oil segment discusses the recent closure of three U.S. oil refineries, what it means for diesel consumers and why plans at two of the plants offer some good news for those buyers.

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John Kingston

John has an almost 40-year career covering commodities, most of the time at S&P Global Platts. He created the Dated Brent benchmark, now the world’s most important crude oil marker. He was Director of Oil, Director of News, the editor in chief of Platts Oilgram News and the “talking head” for Platts on numerous media outlets, including CNBC, Fox Business and Canada’s BNN. He covered metals before joining Platts and then spent a year running Platts’ metals business as well. He was awarded the International Association of Energy Economics Award for Excellence in Written Journalism in 2015. In 2010, he won two Corporate Achievement Awards from McGraw-Hill, an extremely rare accomplishment, one for steering coverage of the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster and the other for the launch of a public affairs television show, Platts Energy Week.