Rail Freight Transportation

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Rail Freight Transportation

• Author Dr. Alan Erera

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North American Mode Share, 1996
of total ton-miles
air
water
rail
truck
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U.S. Freight Movements, 1996
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Railroad Freight Flows
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U.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)

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U.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

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Railroads are capital-intensive
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Primary 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

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Georgia Rail Freight
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Growth in Intermodal
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Growth 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

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Container land bridge
Long Beach
Elizabeth

• Asia - Europe market
• Double-stack N.A. network
• Why?
• Hub-and-spoke efficiencies
• Panama canal costs, queuing delays

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NAFTA freight flows for UP
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Freight 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

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CSX

• 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

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Norfolk 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

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Union 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

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BNSF

• 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

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Kansas City Southern

• Miles 6,400
• NAFTA railroad
• Gateway Western
• KCS
• TexMex
• TFM
• Panama Canal RR

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Canadian 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

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Locomotive 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

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Pre-diesel UP locomotives
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UP Road Locomotive

• AC traction (6000 HP)

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CSX Roads in Two-engine consist
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Yard switcher

• Often retired road locomotives
• Low HP (1500)

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Boxcars

• Weather-protection
• Insulation, refrigeration, cushioning
• Auto parts, building materials, food products,
  bagged products

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Automobile Racks (autoracks)

• Bi-level or tri-level
• Damage/vandalism protection
• Finished autos, trucks, vans, minivans

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Load/unload operations autoracks

• a type of roll-on, roll-off system

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Open hoppers

• Hopper openings or rotary couplers
• Coal, coke, stone, sand, ores, gravel

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Load operations coal

• conveyors

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Unload operations coal
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Covered hoppers

• load round or trough hatch
• unload hoppers (gravity, airslide)
• grains, corn, soybeans, flour, salt, sugar, clay,
  phosphates, cement, fertilizers, plastics

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Tank cars

• Private (non-railroad) fleets
• Chemicals, molasses, water, diesel fuel

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Gondolas

• Open or covered
• Scrap metal, aggregates, woodchips, logs, poles,
  steel beams, steel coils

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Load/unload Lumber on flatcars
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TOFC

• Trailer-on-flatcar
• Highway trailers
• LTL trucking growth in intermodal

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TOFC train
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COFC

• Container-on-flatcar
• ocean shipping containers, trucking containers

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Double-stack COFC (1979)

• Articulated cars
• Clearances
• bridge/tunnel investments

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Load/unload Double-stack COFC
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Intermodal 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

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EOT Device

• End-of-train device
• Caboose replacement
• warns following trains
• Crew size reduction
• brakemen, fireman gone
• 2-4 person crews
• labor cost reduction

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Rail 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)

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Unit 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

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Intermodal 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)

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Manifest (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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North Platte Hump Yard (UP)
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US 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

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Post-deregulation performance
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Railroad 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

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BN Operating center
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Freight 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