Norfolk Southern

Market Voice Jim Blaze writes about rail intermodal and what is happening to this area of the railroad sector.

Hub Group believes “soft” intermodal volumes will begin to flatten out and that the 2019 peak shipping season will be similar to that of 2017.

Hub Group sees record earnings despite a “softening demand environment” and “increased truckload and intermodal competition.”

Grain shippers say Congress should take a “fresh look” at railroad policy.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC) expects continued operational changes will help boost profits and lower operating ratios in the second half of the year.

Norfolk Southern’s (NYSE: NSC) second quarter net profit rose slightly as the company prepared to launch the next phase in its new precision scheduled railroading (PSR) operating model. Net profit […]

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 […]

Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific are modifying some of the ways they collect demurrage and accessorial charges for some commodities, but some shippers are questioning the modifications.

Hurricane Barry made landfall in Louisiana on July 13, and as it did, it caused disruption to travel and cargo movement in the region.

This morning (July 8) Morgan Stanley’s transports equities analysts cut their 12-month price targets for most of the companies they cover, but said that following the release of second quarter […]

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.

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 […]

U.S. rail volumes trended downward again for the week ending June 15, with weekly volumes falling over 5 percent and year-to-date volumes declining nearly 3 percent, according to the latest data from the Association of American Railroads.

Flooding impacts, cheap natural gas prices, and trade and economic uncertainty could be factors contributing to a significant slump in weekly U.S. rail volume.

“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.

U.S. intermodal volumes fell 5.9 percent in May, while carloads fell 2.1 percent amid economic uneasiness and uncertainties surrounding U.S. trade between Mexico and China.

The Port of Savannah aims to boost its market share of freight moving into the U.S. Midwest, saying it offers a cheaper way into the Gateway of the West than […]

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.

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.

Canadian rail volumes rose again year-to-date for the week ended May 11, while U.S. rail volumes continued downward amid U.S. tariff uncertainty and a fuzzy economic picture.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC) expects to have the next stage of its new operating plan in place by the end of July. In this next stage, which Norfolk Southern dubs “TOP 21,” the railroad will seek to run heavier trains and have them run faster along some routes.

The company posted an operating ratio (OR) of 66 percent, improving on its fourth quarter 2018 OR of 67.8 percent and setting a first quarter record.

Norfolk Southern’s (NYSE: NSC) chief marketing officer sought to assuage shippers’ concerns at a rail shippers’ conference on April 5, saying his company would engage with shippers and seek opportunities to grow capacity as NSC transitions to the precision scheduled railroading (PSR) operating model.

Precision scheduled railroading (PSR) could benefit customers and shippers, but its deployment pace and how shippers respond to changes will be key to its success, panelists said today at the North East Association of Rail Shippers conference in Baltimore, Maryland.

U.S. rail volumes fell again last week as rail service issues continue to plague the post-flooding Midwestern landscape.

Human Rights Campaign survey shows most, least LGBTQ-friendly companies

BNSF (NYSE: BRK) and Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP) are grappling with the aftermath of the recent historic floods, with both companies scrambling to assess and repair damage as quickly as possible.

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

Five-year high in growth seen last year thanks to tariff front-loading and tight truck supply, but shippers likely to put brakes on growth this year.

Class 1 railroads may have to shorten train lengths and reduce speeds to cope with cold, while drayage supply will also be tight.

ELD impact substantive but short-lived, Hunt, NS executives say.

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.‘

Hard commodity volumes were mixed, but intermodal and coal are better; pricing is the best in seven years.

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.

A current rail attorney who was with the STB for many years wonders whether it has ever broken free of the changes envisioned by the Staggers Act.

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.

Record intermodal shipments on the rail for the second year in a row has deep implication for the trucking market into 2019. Trucking will benefit, at least partially, from Norfolk Southern’s latest decision.

Railroad to leave Norfolk for Georgian pastures.

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

Winter Storm Diego still on track to ice over parts of the South and sock in areas with heavy snow. Significant disruptions to supply chains and travel expected.

Big ships, bigger plans in store for Savannah

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

Also today: going to jail for bogus CDLs; ecommerce driving the Canada Post labor dispute.

Norfolk Southern adds info on impending HQ move to Atlanta.

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

Although a full reveal of its strategy was not part of the conference call, the discussion of the “clean sheets” program shows that Norfolk Southern has undertaken a review of its operations on its way to how much of the precision railroading model it will adopt.

West Coast ports post strongest volumes ever; Norfolk Southern is moving to Atlanta; flatbed tender rejections stay down; expect electric trucks in 2020; pregnant XPO Logistics warehouse workers suffer miscarriages; E2open buys Inttra; Iraq produces more oil but can’t rebuild.

Comments by the railroad previously were somewhat vague. But the CEO wasn’t vague in a video to employees.

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.

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

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.

The class 1 railroad owned by Berkshire Hathaway had the worst OR of any of the class 1 railroads for the second quarter.

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

Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC) today announced it has joined the Blockchain in Transport Alliance.

Intermodal prices generally take their cues from the truck market, so this is a lagging indicator.

NS had weak operating metrics in the first quarter, but strong performance. Hub sees a strong pricing environment for the rails.

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.