Farmer’s Bad Harvest

Railroad Weekly May 6, 2024

Inside This Issue

·   Farmer’s Bad Harvest: BNSF Results Disappoint… Again

·   Cost Cause: Berkshire Says BNSF Must Cut Expenses

·   The Ninth of May: NS Shareholder Vote is Just Days Away  

·   Chaos to Come? Canadian Rail Strike Potentially Just Weeks Away

·   Rags to Switches: Fraught Shippers Get Relief with New STB Rule

·   Hot Debate: Should RRs Chase IM Traffic Even if it Inflates O.R.?

·   Who’s Got a Fast Train? UP Does, From L.A. to Chicago.

Track Talk

“We anticipated more demand and we did not reset our cost structure.”

      -Berkshire Hathaway’s Greg Abel, discussing results for BNSF    

The Latest

·   BNSF disclosed its financial results last week. Once again, they were weak—almost as weak, in fact, as those produced by industry bad-boy Norfolk Southern. Berkshire Hathaway, as discussed below, sounds determined to cut the railroad’s costs, surely with more urgency now that coal volumes are plummeting. Overall across the U.S. rail