Mix Apprehension

Railroad Weekly August 21, 2023

Photography by Frederick Manfred Simon © www.steelwheels.photography

Reminder Railroad Weekly publishes 48 issues a year, with two-week breaks in December and August. The next issue will be on Sept. 11^th.

Inside This Issue  

·   Mix Apprehension: Railroads Carrying Greater Share of Lower-RPU Traffic   

·   Paradox at the Pump: Railroads Positioned to Benefit from Pricier Diesel

·   Little Dead Corvette? Railroads Brace for Potential Auto Strike 

·   Overstaff Math: NS Quantifies Why Furloughs Now Wouldn’t Make Sense

·   The Vena Era Begins: UP’s New Chief Starts His Tenure

·   For CSX: Domestic Intermodal Shows Life, Int’l Intermodal Still Stalled

·   For NS: Int’l Intermodal Shows Life, Domestic Intermodal Still Stalled

·   Retail Detail: Leading Big Box Stores Describe Trends in Consumer Spending

Track Talk

“Look, the volume environment is not as supportive as we’d like it to be. We want to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to position for a rebound in the markets. But at the same time, if there are costs that we can curtail, asset utilization efficiency gains that we can drive over the next couple of months, we ought to be looking at every opportunity.”

-CSX CFO Sean Pelkey

Read American Places, a book with deep insights into the most important trends and developments throughout the U.S. economy -Jay Shabat, Publisher, Railroad Weekly

The Latest

·   America’s two big eastern railroads shared their latest assessment of demand conditions as the fall fast approaches. Through the course of 2023, CSX and Norfolk Southern have both seen their intermodal traffic shrink, though NS’s declines have