Rail service has gotten better since the service meltdowns seen in the first half of 2022, but more needs to be done to get service metrics back to pre-pandemic levels, according to two reports on rail service.
ACC: Most say rail service in H2 2022 didn’t improve from H1
Seventy-eight percent of the members of the American Chemistry Council (ACC) say rail service was the same or worse in the second half of 2022 compared with the first half of that year, according to a report released Thursday.
Forty-eight percent said conditions were the same and 30% said conditions were worse compared with the first half of 2022, ACC said. The remaining 22% said rail service improved. The report uses findings from a January 2023 survey of 76 chemical manufacturers.
About 81% of respondents noted longer transit times while 67% said they experienced missed switches. Fifty-one percent said they saw increased demurrage charges, while 64% said there were reduced service days and 63% said there were higher rates.
Sixty-two percent of respondents experienced rail service embargoes in 2022, with three-quarters of those companies saying that the embargoes haven’t been effective at reducing congestion or alleviating supply chain issues.
“Companies highlighted that the embargoes created supply chain problems and forced them to switch to sub-optimal transportation options,” ACC said in its report.
To alleviate rail service issues, the group called for the standardized reporting of first-mile/last-mile information to provide shippers with additional visibility. ACC also said reciprocal switching could alleviate service issues because it would provide more shipping options and increase competition for business among the railroads.
The report, which also tracks trucking and maritime service in the second half of 2022, is available here.
USDA: Grain carloads down, but service metrics mixed
The Agricultural Marketing Service, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, found that rail service metrics were mixed in the first quarter of 2023.
Grain carloads have declined since late January, due in part to record snow and rain totals in portions of the U.S. central and western regions, according to the agency’s “Grain Transportation Report” released Thursday.
The decline in carload traffic has helped to improve service, with the number of unfilled orders for empty grain cars in manifest service falling steeply between late January and April.
But “two metrics of continuing concern are grain origin dwell times and the number of cars not moved in over 48 hours,” the report said.
“Between the start of February and the end of March, the average origin dwell times have risen from 19 hours to over 30 hours. The number of grain cars not moved in over 48 hours also rose from the start of February to the end of March, despite the overall reduction in carloadings over the same period.”
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