Title: Rail Freight Transportation
1Rail Freight Transportation
2North American Mode Share, 1996
of total ton-miles
air
water
rail
truck
3U.S. Freight Movements, 1996
4Railroad Freight Flows
5U.S. Freight Railroad Economics
- In 1998 ...
- Market share 40 of intercity tons
- Large share markets
- 70 of finished automobiles
- 64 of coal (generating 36 of electricity)
- 40 of grain (domestic and export)
6U.S. Railroad Economics II
- Movement statistics
- Freight volume 1.38 trillion ton-miles
- Carload volume 26 million carloads
- 8.8 million intermodal trailers and containers
- Fleet statistics
- 1.3 million railcars
- 127 million ton capacity
- Costs 26 less (57 IA) than 1981
7Railroads are capital-intensive
8Primary Commodities
- Rail Only
- Coal 572 MM tons
- Farm Products 158
- Non-metallic minerals 131
- Petroleum 123
- Chemicals 118
- Intermodal
- Transportation equipment 6.9 MM tons
- Chemicals, food, lumber, pulp paper
9Georgia Rail Freight
10Growth in Intermodal
11Growth in Intermodal
- 17 of revenues
- second only to coal 23
- COFC 62, TOFC 38
- Why?
- Labor efficiency
- Fuel efficiency (50 savings over truck)
- Door-to-door service
- Downsides
- speed, reliability
12Container land bridge
Long Beach
Elizabeth
- Asia - Europe market
- Double-stack N.A. network
- Why?
- Hub-and-spoke efficiencies
- Panama canal costs, queuing delays
13NAFTA freight flows for UP
14Freight Railroad Classification
- Class One
- Operating revenue gt 250 MM (1991)
- 91 of total revenue, 71 of track
- CSX, NS, UP, BNSF, Kansas City Southern
- Regionals
- Revenue 40-250 MM, more than 350 miles
- Wisconsin Central, Bangor Aroostook, Alaska
- Local/Short Lines
15CSX
- Miles 23,000
- Carloads 5.1 MM
- Locos 4,000
- Railcars 100,000
- Revenues 5.6 B
- coal 1.6 B
- chem 0.91 B
- auto 0.76 B
16Norfolk Southern
- Miles 21,800
- Carloads 5.1 MM
- Locos 3,500
- Railcars 117,000
- Revenues 5.2 B
- coal 1.3 B
- intermodal 0.83 B
- auto 0.73 B
- chem 0.73 B
17Union Pacific
- Miles 38,600
- Carloads 8.5 MM
- Locos 6,847
- Railcars 157,000
- Revenues 10.2 B
- coal 2.2 B
- intermodal 1.7 B
- chem 1.6 B
- auto 1.0 B
18BNSF
- Miles 33,500
- Locos 5,000
- Railcars 90,000
- Revenues 9.1 B
- carload 2.6 B
- intermodal 2.5 B
- coal 2.2 B
- agri 1.3 B
19Kansas City Southern
- Miles 6,400
- NAFTA railroad
- Gateway Western
- KCS
- TexMex
- TFM
- Panama Canal RR
20Canadian National
- Miles 16,000
- Carloads 3.5 MM
- Locos 5,000
- Railcars 90,000
- Revenues 5.1 B
- grain 1.0 B
- forest 0.97 B
- chem 0.84 B
- intermodal 0.80 B
21Locomotive Equipment
- They are mobile power plants
- Diesel generators
- DC and AC traction motors
- Road vs. switching
- Multiple units
- consist
- DPUs and helpers for heavy trains, grades
22Pre-diesel UP locomotives
23UP Road Locomotive
24CSX Roads in Two-engine consist
25Yard switcher
- Often retired road locomotives
- Low HP (1500)
26Boxcars
- Weather-protection
- Insulation, refrigeration, cushioning
- Auto parts, building materials, food products,
bagged products
27Automobile Racks (autoracks)
- Bi-level or tri-level
- Damage/vandalism protection
- Finished autos, trucks, vans, minivans
28Load/unload operations autoracks
- a type of roll-on, roll-off system
29Open hoppers
- Hopper openings or rotary couplers
- Coal, coke, stone, sand, ores, gravel
30Load operations coal
31Unload operations coal
32Covered hoppers
- load round or trough hatch
- unload hoppers (gravity, airslide)
- grains, corn, soybeans, flour, salt, sugar, clay,
phosphates, cement, fertilizers, plastics
33Tank cars
- Private (non-railroad) fleets
- Chemicals, molasses, water, diesel fuel
34Gondolas
- Open or covered
- Scrap metal, aggregates, woodchips, logs, poles,
steel beams, steel coils
35Load/unload Lumber on flatcars
36TOFC
- Trailer-on-flatcar
- Highway trailers
- LTL trucking growth in intermodal
37TOFC train
38COFC
- Container-on-flatcar
- ocean shipping containers, trucking containers
39Double-stack COFC (1979)
- Articulated cars
- Clearances
- bridge/tunnel investments
40Load/unload Double-stack COFC
41Intermodal flatcar types
- Two-hitch flatcar
- two trailers, each up to 40 ft length
- Articulated well flatcar
- containers sit low for double-stacking
- articulation no conflict with rail wheels
(trucks) - 3 to 5 permanently joined units
- Roadrailer
- truck trailers mounted on railroad wheel
assemblies
42EOT Device
- End-of-train device
- Caboose replacement
- warns following trains
- Crew size reduction
- brakemen, fireman gone
- 2-4 person crews
- labor cost reduction
43Rail shipping
- Shipment types
- Unit train (bulk commodities)
- Carload (FCL)
- Less-than-carload (LCL)
- Train types
- Unit train (through service)
- Hot shot (intermodal expedited service)
- Bulk train (single bulk commodity)
- Manifest (mixed freight)
44Unit train routing
- Direct, through trains
- From shipper to consignee
- Coal train example
- Powder River Basin, WY to Dallas area power
plant - Petrochemical example
- Elizabeth, NJ refinery to Houston processing
plant - Interline
45Intermodal train routing
- Expedited service
- But, set-outs or pick-ups at consolidation points
- Load/unload intermodal yards
- Portside (e.g. Long Beach)
- Port adjacent (e.g. Oakland)
- Inland
- Enroute yards
- hubs
- cross-towns (rubber tire transfers)
46Manifest (mixed freight) train routing
- Load/unload facilities
- Shipper sidings, public facilities (e.g. grain
elevators) - Switching service to terminal railyard
- Hump yards
- Classification
- sorting by destination
- Receiving, bowl, departing
- Hub-and-spoke concept
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49North Platte Hump Yard (UP)
50US Deregulation Staggers (1980)
- Market-driven pricing
- only for route/services with competition
- Confidential service agreements, rates
- Abandonment and sale streamlined
- Impact
- Costs down 57 from 1981 to 1998
- Return on net investment from 2 to 7
- Consolidation
- Regionals and shortlines 50,000 miles
51Post-deregulation performance
52Railroad misconceptions
- Not technologically advanced
- 247 billion investment since 1980
- Advanced signaling, communication, control
- Rolling stock outdated
- 7,500 new locomotives since 1990 (37.5)
- Freight cars lighter, stronger, more reliable
53BN Operating center
54Freight railroads no subsidies!
- Track privately-owned and operated
- construction and maintenance
- Amtrak
- pays usage fees to freight railroads
- Trucking uses public infrastructure
- CM funding via 0.55/gallon fuel tax but
- Estimate covers only 2/3 of costs