An anticipated decrease in grain exports and increase in domestic biofuels production could change U.S. freight railroads’ capacity needs in the coming years.
The world needs American energy and fuel — badly. And the barges carrying those goods can’t get through fast enough.
The Surface Transportation Board wants to know how the seven Class I railroads expect to meet demand for rail service during the harvest season running from September into the new year.
Managing the Harvest Season
Cargo vessels allegedly are meeting at sea to transport stolen Ukrainian grain to Turkey and Syria.
Union Pacific is constructing a grain transload facility at its intermodal terminal near Chicago, while two U.S. senators introduce bipartisan legislation to form a grant program that aims to reduce highway-rail grade crossings.
Other factors beyond the coronavirus pandemic are weighing on U.S. rail volumes for grain.
Transporting grain is a major source of revenue for the railroads. How will the coronavirus impact the grain market and the railroads?
Enhancements to the Bulkloads app are designed to improve the communication and speed of finding loads and negotiating rates for bulk carriers.
The U.S. imports corn from Brazil ahead of the harvest season.
A renewed focus on building western gran network capacity helped Canadian Pacific reach all-time records for grain hauls in the 2018-2019 crop year.
Tonnage of grains, number of grain barges increasing up and down the Mississippi.
Canadian National announced record western Canadian grain shipments and a C$210 million investment to support exports.
The railway moved 15 million metric tonnes of grain for export through Vancouver in May, breaking the record set in May 2017 by 5 percent, the company said on June 4.
Locks are closed, tons of grains can’t get to ports for export.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) lowered its export projections for corn and wheat in the 2018-2019 harvest season amid slumping grain volumes and Midwest rail operations coping from last month’s record flooding.
With this acquistion, TeleSense will help drive the automation of the grain supply chain and expand its footprint across Europe.
More than 150 locations remain at or above flood stage along Midwest rivers. Additional rainfall, snowmelt to slow down improvement.
The Grain Transport Report, a weekly publication by the Agricultural Marketing Service (a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture) released information showing that total export inspections for grain (corn, wheat and soybeans) declined 22 percent from the previous week.
The stars are aligning for the 2018-2019 Atlantic grain season to give dry bulk shipping a much-needed boost.
Bulk trailers, including walking floor and end dumps, are commonly used for cleanup following hurricanes. The timing of Florence could create a capacity issue in the southeast for ag products as owners of these types of trailers shift to cleanup efforts.
For the first half of the year thus far, coal exports are up nearly 24% over the same period last year.
Ag haulers are not only dealing with ELDs and hour-of-service uncertainty, but tariff talk is clouding the future outlook as well.
Grain supplies have been trending up in the U.S. as prices have remained relatively stable, causing farmers to hold onto their crops longer hoping for a boost in prices. Hurricane Harvey, though, is making the situation worse as grain exports have nearly stopped.
