CSX

The rail industry will try to keep business as usual for as long as possible, according to recent notices to customers.

The three Class I railroads have set or will set targets as part of their involvement in a global initiative.

The railroad installed its first-ever train inspection portal southeast of its largest hump yard in Georgia last December.

Uncertainty is still an underlying theme facing North American freight railroads.

Coal declines and a still sluggish industrial economy could put pressure on revenue this year. Still, CSX sees upside potential for intermodal and merchandise volumes.

Net earnings fell 8.5% in the fourth quarter of 2019 compared with the same period a year ago.

Lower rail volumes, an active Surface Transportation Board and a strike were among the key events that the U.S. and Canadian freight rail industry experienced this year.

CSX and passenger and commuter rail share the same railroad track between Washington, D.C. and Richmond. Investments to the corridor south of Washington, D.C. would change that.

The funding includes $14.4 million to support CSX’s double-stacking efforts near the Port of Philadelphia.

Proposal providing relief for shippers could be rolled out next year.

Site is close to Interstate 69 and Ohio River.

North American Class I carloads increased year-over-year in week 47 on a favorable comp. The prior four-week average remains weak.

The eastern U.S. railroad declined to share its expectations for 2020 but said it would be prepared should rail volumes rebound.

Excerpt: The companies promote and assign new roles to longstanding employees.

Trucks are competitively priced on East Coast lanes and offer better service than the railroads.

Norfolk Southern announced that Claude Mongeau has been elected as a director. The former Canadian National Railway head may be viewed as an effort to improve PSR initiatives or to explore potential opportunities to partner with other Class I railroads.

CSX needs to be more proactive if wants to compete with trucks, CSX’s chief said.

The outlook from JBHT was notably better than the concern around the lack of an uptick in seasonal demand that many carriers expressed at multiple investor conferences in May and June.

CSX and Canadian National’s partnership to create new intermodal service between Montreal and Toronto and the greater New York City area is a strategy to expand each other’s geographical reach and compete with the long-haul trucking market.

Ports receive 15% of grant program typically used for surface projects.

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan (R) said Maryland has received a $125 million federal grant that the state hopes will lead to an expanded rail tunnel in Baltimore to allow for taller trains to travel to the Port of Baltimore.

The South Carolina Port Authority (SCPA) said ocean container moves were up 9 percent in its fiscal year, setting a volume record for the port.  The Port of Charleston’s two […]

“The present economic backdrop is one of the most puzzling I have experienced in my career..”

Despite a drop in profit in the second quarter, CSX’s (NYSE: CSX) operating ratio set a company record.

Rail volumes were off again for the week ending June 29, 2019 with U.S. railroads reporting a 5.5 percent decline.

Year-to-date U.S. rail volumes fell again amid a loosening truck market, receding floodwaters in the Midwest and overall economic uncertainty.

Intermodal giant sees rail and truck as better than option than truckload into

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said this week that it is ready to be the second largest port in the U.S., thanks to the completion of […]

The transition to e-commerce and anticipated advances in automated trucking are forcing the freight railroads to adapt to supply chains that require railroads to be more responsive and nimble. One way that the railroads are seeking to address this challenge is by hiring executives outside of the railroading community, in the hopes that placing a non-rail executive in a leadership role will help the railroad weather systemic changes within the supply chain.

“It’s just a confusing time for all of us in transportation and anybody in manufacturing or business in general to have a really good sense of why we’re seeing this kind of softness,” said CSX chief executive officer Jim Foote.

Only 17 percent of the relationships between the U.S. passenger and freight railroads required to utilize positive train control technology have interoperability, meaning that the host railroad can communicate with a non-host train through the technology, according to data released by the Federal Railroad Administration.

Eastern U.S. railroad CSX intends to increase the speed of its trains along a route in Alabama to Georgia as part of broader efforts to increase train velocity and improve network fluidity.

U.S. rail volumes fell again for the week ended May 18, while Canadian volumes grew, according to the latest data from the Association of American Railroads. The theme of higher U.S. carloads but lower intermodal volumes was also expressed by CSX this week.

Regulators frustrated by carriers’ lack of candor in justifying service fees

For years, shippers have tapped spare capacity of railcars and tracks as a low-cost option for storing and staging bulk commodities. But the widespread adoption of the business model known […]

Executives with eastern railroads CSX and Norfolk Southern expressed confidence this week that they can compete alongside trucks for e-commerce business.

Forward Air names Chris Ruble COO, Matthew Jewell chief commercial officer

Ford invests $500M in electric pickup maker; plus U.S. may be pulling freight from trucking, India seeks logistics technology upgrades, and scientists call for unity on electric vehicles.

CSX (NYSE: CSX) achieved an operating ratio of less than 60 percent in the first quarter amid continued efforts to employ precision scheduled railroading (PSR) throughout its network.

NS invokes precision scheduled railroading as its seeks to match peer performance and lower its operating ratio.

The still-high operating ratio came in for criticism while management says it will reveal all on February 11.

Port’s growing base of automotive and other shippers needs better way to move freight as traffic woes mean Charleston is ‘not as quaint.‘

It was a great quarter for the railroad with revenue growth in all its product lines and increases in both operating and net income.

Just a few months after its CEO expressed some skepticism about the practice, the NAFTA-focused rail company will adopt its principles.

The operating ratio—strong enough in the third quarter that it can be argued it was earth-shaking—weakened slightly but was still ahead of the fourth quarter of 2017.

Auto parts imports could take a hit as vehicle sales slow; Japan makes its own play for African port supremacy.

Overall import growth mean more freight all around, but high drayage costs and better service bringing more boxes to rail.

After first saying in November that operating ratio for the year would be flat, a strong December has enabled it to tick up slightly.

Once dependent on drayage to move boxes to rail, GCT Bayonne now has near-dock rail to speed shipments to U.S. hinterland.

Project first suggested in 2002 may yet go forward as Port of Baltimore vies for hinterland freight movements.

Cowen expects softening trucking prices in 2019 to be a headwind for truckload carrier earnings, but should widen gross margins for freight brokerages.

Big ships, bigger plans in store for Savannah

Facility designed to link inland businesses with Savannah port through dedicated rail service

Also in the pickup: Morgan Stanley index, and a move back to sailing across the ocean.

In a 45-minute chat at a Credit Suisse conference, Jim Foote insists that it isn’t all about cost-cutting.

What happens if vegetables are grown vertically indoors? What happens if oil prices collapse? Those were some of the questions at this Marketwaves18 panel.

In this final part of the three-part series, the author looks at what steps need to be taken to successfully implement precision railroading.

Precision railroading has worked, but consistent success has been elusive.

The industry clearly is moving in the direction of precision railroading being the “way to go.” Now it’s time to figure out the possibilities and the hurdles.

SONAR’s signature index has a birthday; Ocean Network Express to lose $600M; oilfield service companies guide for tight margins in Q3; President Trump bails on coal industry incentives; pros and cons of blockchain in container shipping; spending 60,000 hours reverse-engineering a Tesla Model 3.

CSX beats estimates as coal volumes post strong gains, but increasing share in intermodal is the railroad’s next plan.

In his preview of the railroads’ Q3 earnings reports, Susquehanna’s Bascome Majors set optimistic price targets but warned that P/E valuations are at historically high levels.

Four new inbound truck lanes recently opened at Virginia International Gateway, increasing the capacity at the terminal’s gate complex by 30 percent.

Norfolk Southern has control over a small connector railroad in the Hampton Roads port area, and CSX says it is using that control to block CSX from launching significant intermodal service there.

Howard Green is best on fights between the serial CEO and his boards, activist investors, and proxy wars, but there’s a lot in the book for railroad buffs who want to know more about Harrison’s signature philosophy, precision scheduled railroading.

The debt rating agency sees some drawbacks to the process, but is otherwise strongly in support of the growing trend.

BNSF will use the CSX system to haul intermodal freight from the LA/Long Beach port, and service on the CSX system will be added from the New York/New Jersey port.

The lawsuit asserts that water “poured in through a gap in city levees,” and it says the gap was created by a railway underpass owned by CSX.

Jim Filter of Schneider says he’s seeing benefits from CSX paring back its footprint and focusing on a smaller range of lanes.

The Georgia Ports Authority approved a measure that will double its intermodal rail capacity as the port continues to see strong growth in container volumes. The GPA approved $92 million […]

The advantage of a broader talent pool and air service to almost anywhere in the country and the world gives Atlanta a huge advantage over a place like Norfolk.

U.S. coal shippers face hiccups as one of the largest export facilities offline during Florence.

The monthly numbers of ACT and FTR on class 8 builds set new records; a Goldman Sachs report tries to measure the number of scrubbers that will be used for meeting IMO2020 standards.

A Norfolk Southern executive suggested that the company’s management will have a lot to talk about on its next quarterly earnings call.

After a soft opening earlier this month, the Appalachian Regional Port is officially open for business. The new inland terminal is located in Northwest Georgia and is set to service customers from four surrounding states.

Never the trains shall meet as CSX’s intermodal changes rile UP service.

The improved Operating Ratio posted by Norfolk Southern wasn’t enough to stop analysts from asking about its comparison to that of CSX.

CSX hit records on operating ratio while improving train speed and dwell time, but says intermodal still needs a “ton” of work and pricing will reflect CSX’s “superior product.”

Autonomous vehicle execs want you to know self-driving cars are very, very safe; China’s economic growth slows; Elon Musk talks about Tesla’s push to 5,000 Model 3s weekly; American oil bound for China needs to find new markets; DHL orders 14 Boeing 777s.

Freight markets still hot to close Q2; COSCO/OOCL merger approved by US, China; Tesla hits Model 3 production goal; CSX revives plan for intermodal hub in North Carolina; EU threatens retaliation over auto tariffs.

Used truck prices are up sharply; C.H. Robinson isn’t worried about tech startups; CSX cuts costs and grows bottom line by 50%; Hapag-Lloyd bullish despite losses; CA makes pot shippers report to the Feds; the American economy isn’t overheating… yet.

Hapag-Lloyd explores priority container freight; CSX raked in Q1 profits; aluminum prices are turbulent; UPS launches Groupon-like discounts for retailers; project44 raises $35M in Series A.

The company takes in less revenue, makes more profits and is off a federal watch list. 

Trucking contract rate increases tamp down volatility; Nikola Motor Company returns deposits on truck orders; Hunter Harrison was one of the highest paid CEOs in 2017; Xi Jinping takes the stage to defend Chinese trade practices; container lines enter bid season with a weak hand.

After strong fourth-quarter earnings results, weather and other external forces are expected to weigh on earnings reports in the first quarter, resulting in a mixed bag for public companies.

Once the Mason Mega Rail terminal is complete, the Port of Savannah will have a state-of-the-art facility, unique to the U.S. East Coast.

Uber AV kills pedestrian in Arizona; XPO Logistics takes its app to Europe; CSX has no apologies; China COSCO building methanol fuel plants in Louisiana; air cargo markets may see slower growth; Covenant stock hits a 52 week high.

TMC offers a free dashboard for unscheduled maintenance data using VMRS codes; Omnitracs gets into software; OPEC meets with shale producers in Houston; the Port of Virginia begins using truck reservations to manage traffic.

The meeting was the first since railroad legend, and CSX CEO, Hunter Harrison died in December.

Transport stocks were not immune to the big sell-off on Wall Street on Monday, with the Dow Jones Transport Index falling 336.77 points to 10,350.41, a 3.15% fall on the day.

Amtrak train 91, which was traveling from Penn Station in New York to Miami, should have been on the main line, but it was directed to tracks just east of it, where a CSX train was parked.

Freight brokers’ revenues went up but margins went down in 2017; Amtrak blames CSX for yesterday’s crash; Hazelwood won’t testify in Pilot trial; oil tanker shipping rates crater; click through for more!

After a difficult adjustment period in July/August, CSX improved its performance on key metrics like train speed and dwell time, ending 2017 as an industry leader.

FreightWaves’ readers made the past year a great one for our young brand. Today, we take a fond look back at your favorite articles from 2017.

On Saturday, two days after taking medical leave from CSX, CEO Hunter Harrison died. Investors have serious concerns about the railroad’s commitment to executing Harrison’s vision, while some observers disagreed with his approach entirely.

CSX Corp. CEO Hunter Harrison has taken a medical leave of absence from the railroad due to complications from a recent illness. Investors sold off the company stock, causing a 12% drop and $6 billion loss in company value in morning trading.

Despite continued complaints about CSX’s delays and no-shows, the railroad’s new CEO has made a controversial commitment to raising fees on everything from hazardous materials and overloaded cars to refrigerated cars.