Vena’s Vision

Railroad Weekly September 23, 2024

courtesy: Steel Wheels Photography

Inside This Issue

·   I’m Sexy and I Grow It: UP Showcases Growth-Focused Biz Plan

·   Let it Grow, Let it Grow: STB Asks, Why is the Rail Market Frozen?

·   You Need to Change: Rail Shippers Have a Long List of Gripes

·   The Wolves of Wall Street: Are Investors to Blame for Lack of Growth?   

·   On Your Mark: New NS Chief Debuts with Two Announcements

·   Dock, Dock, Truce? Not Yet. Eastern Port Strike Looking More Likely

·   Capitol Chill: Also Looming is a Potential Gov’t Shutdown

·   Golden Rate Bridge? Will Fed Cut Trigger Jump in Rail Volumes?

Track Talk

“I don't listen to people when they tell me, well, coal could be a problem. So what? What do we do to make sure we make that up?”

      -Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena   

The Latest

·   It’s an event-filled fall for the U.S. rail business, with last week alone featuring a Union Pacific investor pitch and an STB hearing on the industry’s growth prospects. As you’ll read below, UP sees many avenues for both revenue and traffic growth, to help offset an inevitable decline in coal freight. It’s in fact growing this year despite coal’s vertiginous plunge. But it’s doing so with big help from international container freight, whose profit margins are significantly below what UP generates from other freight categories. That said, categories like chemicals, grain, autos, and petroleum products are growing this year as well.

·   In Washington meanwhile, railroads insisted they care deeply about growth and