Prime Time

Railroad Weekly July 22, 2024

Inside This Issue

·   Prime Time: New STB Chair Primus Makes His First Move

·   Prime Climb: Fall Hearing Signals STB Priority Will Be RR Growth

·   Box Hunt: J.B. Hunt Sees Signs of Life but IM Market Still Struggling

·   POTUS Panic? Is the Nov. Election Affecting Shipper Behavior?  

·   Medal of Owner: UP Delights Shareholders with Dividend Boost

·   IT Snafu Won’t Affect You: Amid Worldwide Outage, RRs Avoid Software Despair

·   This Week: Q2 Railroad Earnings Season Begins

Track Talk

“With regard to our rail service providers, we have been pleased with the service from each of our providers, their commitment to the intermodal offering, and growing the overall market. That said, we and our railroad partners know the true test of our collective service will come once freight volumes increase with higher overall demand on our networks.”

      -J.B. Hunt intermodal president Darren Field

The Latest

·   Q2 railroad earnings season is finally upon us, with Canadian National kicking off the festivities on Tuesday. Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern will follow on Thursday. Several major railroad suppliers and partners report this week as well, including the locomotive maker Wabco, the railcar lessor GATX, the intermodal trucker Knight-Swift, and big rail customers like UPS and the steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs. Also this week: Another Congressional hearing on rail safety, with FRA chief Amit Bose among the scheduled speakers.

·   Investors are feeling more enthused about railroads on the eve of Q2 earnings season. Last week, even as the S&P500 stock index declined, railroad stock prices