It’s Him, Jim

Railroad Weekly July 31, 2023

Photography by Frederick Manfred Simon © www.steelwheels.photography

Inside This Issue  

·   It’s Him, Jim: Jim Vena Gets the Top Job at Union Pacific

·   With Trends Like These: Q2 Reports Reveal Weaker Revenues, Rising ex-Fuel Costs

·   When Will the Box Pox End? Intermodal Revenues in Extreme Decline

·   The Driver’s Seat: Autos the Lone Unambiguous Bright Spot for Q2 Growth

·   Slow Start: CPKC Stumbles in Q2 but Remains Ultra-Bullish

·   The Ghosts of Ohio: NS Spending a Fortune on Post-Palestine Cleanup

·   Another Dock Shock: Canada’s Port Workers Reject Latest Contract  

·   Economy Anomaly: U.S. GDP Looking Strong Despite Repeated Rate Hikes

Track Talk

“When we think about supply chain congestion, I think it's pretty much gone. I’d say supply chains are really about as fluid now as they were prior to the pandemic.”

-Norfolk Southern’s marketing chief Ed Elkins

The Latest

·   If you’re in the railroad industry and not excited by all that’s going on right now, well, check your pulse. For starters, Union Pacific finally revealed its next CEO. It also reported Q2 earnings, delivering a less-than-cheerful description of current demand. Norfolk Southern, Canadian National, and CPKC published their Q2 results as well, largely echoing UP’s downbeat demand assessment. There were certainly exceptions though—the booming auto freight sector, most importantly. And all railroads remain