Ancora placed a few of its people on the Norfolk Southern board in May, and that likely led to CEO Shaw’s ouster.
A law firm specializing in stockholder rights wants Norfolk Southern investors to join a class-action lawsuit over precision scheduled railroading. The firm says certain PSR practices compromised safety and depressed NS stock prices.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office’s report on precision scheduled railroading serves as a broad overview of how the freight rail industry has changed over the past decade.
President Joe Biden’s order last week calls upon the Surface Transportation Board to examine hot topics among rail shippers, including reciprocal switching. The challenge will be balancing the wants and needs of shippers and the freight railroads.
Democratic leaders with the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure want the General Accountability Office to examine the effects that precision scheduled railroading has had on freight and passenger rail operations, rail safety and the labor workforce.
Rail shippers discuss what issues they would like to see addressed in 2021. Among them: further action by the Surface Transportation Board and Congress on ensuring rail competition and adequate rail service.
The railroad’s deployment of precision scheduled railroading resulted in faster and longer trains and reduced car sorting, according to the company’s recent sustainability report.
A report from Boston Consulting Group suggests that the Class I railroads must look beyond precision scheduled railroading and operating ratios if the industry wants to be a competitive transportation mode.
Improving rail volumes and service are among the crucial issues to look out for as the railroads reveal their 2020 guidance in the coming days.
Precision Scheduled Railroading, or PSR, is the operational method of running a railroad for maximum asset utilization by which freight movements are scheduled and managed on the individual carload (rather than entire train level). That contributes to efficiency improvements by, for instance, using more direct point-to-point routing, bypassing classification terminals, and having the flexibility to use long mixed-commodity trains.
Ben Thrower writes about the positive and negative aspects of precision scheduled railroading in this commentary article.
A wide-ranging roundtable discussion on the implementation of precision railroading will highlight FreightWaves Radio on SiriusXM Road Dog Trucking the weekend of Oct. 19-20. The show will bring together two […]
Jim Blaze writes about the decisions that will go into determining 2020 capital expenditures by the freight railroads.
This week we step inside the world of an industry that’s been rolling for nearly 200 years. Ian Jefferies of the Association of American Railroads talks about rails role in the economy, an industry in transition, Precision Railroading, Positive Train Control, drones, data, and automation.
Jim Blaze writes about earnings season for the railroads, and what investors, customers and employees should be looking and asking for in the railroads’ quarterly earnings reports.
The implementation of precision scheduled railroading has contributed to dwindling morale and could result in creating unsafe working conditions should the federal government withhold intervention, according to union witnesses at a June 20th Congressional hearing on rail safety.
Executives with eastern railroads CSX and Norfolk Southern expressed confidence this week that they can compete alongside trucks for e-commerce business.
A number of rail equipment lessors and manufacturers have been merging and consolidating in recent months as a way to leverage themselves against marketplace changes brought about by precision scheduled railroading. Meanwhile, industry observers are watching whether railcar utilization grow in 2019.
Berkshire Hathway (NYSE: BRK) chairman and CEO Warren Buffett said he would be willing to consider some form of precision scheduled railroading (PSR) for western U.S. railroad BNSF, although he […]
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.
With almost all of the Class I railroads transitioning to precision scheduling railroading (PSR), an operational model that emphasizes running railcars on a fixed schedule, a question surfacing within the rail industry is how much emphasis should the railroads place on lower operating ratio.
Precision scheduled railroading (PSR) can’t succeed if the Class I railroads aren’t able to fold the shortline railroads into the new operating model, according to one of the early developers of the precision railroading model.
Precision scheduled railroading (PSR) is the latest tactic railroads are using to improve their operations – and their images. Market voice Jim Blaze explores whether PSR is real or just marketing hype…
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.
Precision scheduled railroading and positive train control can help railroads improve service, safety and profits. Learn how in Jim Blaze’s piece.
Lawmakers heard how costly fees and equipment shortages along the supply chain are hurting exports.
Positive Train Control isn’t just about safety anymore as the railroads revisit how the technology can generate capacity and save money.
The still-high operating ratio came in for criticism while management says it will reveal all on February 11.
The company moved up its operating ratio targets on the back of a strong performance in the early days of precision railroading.
It was a great quarter for the railroad with revenue growth in all its product lines and increases in both operating and net income.
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.
After first saying in November that operating ratio for the year would be flat, a strong December has enabled it to tick up slightly.
In a 45-minute chat at a Credit Suisse conference, Jim Foote insists that it isn’t all about cost-cutting.
After making its first acquisition last year in a quarter-century, the company could be in the market for another one, according to CEO John Roberts.
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 Unified Plan 2020 is in place in one corridor, with another to come. So far, UP executives are boasting about its success.
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.
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.
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.
It’s been quite a few weeks in the discussions regarding precision railroading vs. not-precision, for lack of a better term. Also: OPEC pumping strong, Bangkok a growing intermodal hub
A concern is expressed over a potential lack of investment to get railroads ready for the future.
The debt rating agency sees some drawbacks to the process, but is otherwise strongly in support of the growing trend.
A response to an earlier piece discussing railroad attendance at IANA’s recent expo and the benefits of precision railroading.
