Category Archives: Rail

China-Europe rail delays as borders close

Posted on August 31, 2021 by | 2 comments

A backlog of over 50 trains is clogging the China – Europe rail route known as the New Silk Road. As a result costs to ship a container to Europe are rising fast. And delays are a mater of weeks.

If this route is to be viable competition for ocean shipping it must fix the problems. are they easier to fix for rail than for ocean shipping? I’m not sure they are. Look at the trouble the Asia-US-Europe land bridge service has had in Chicago.

By Sam Whelan 31/08/2021

China-Europe rail delays as borders close and capacity gets ‘super-tight’ – The Loadstar

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Posted in Logistics, Rail, Supply Chains

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Rail shippers say admin and maintenance service is falling behind with PSR

Posted on September 29, 2020 by | 1 comment

Is PSR just another shorthand for cost cutting? It seems shippers think they are getting more financial responsibility for admin and maintenance now that most class I rails have adopted PSR practices.

Firms are usually trying to save money. And with the declines and constraints of COVID-19, I’m sure cost cutting is being practiced. but are shippers seeing the short end of the stick on important practices?

It would not surprise me; perhaps rails need a warning to shape up.

AUTHOR

Emma Cosgrove @emmacos

Link: https://www.supplychaindive.com/news/rail-shippers-admin-maintenance-service-falling-behind-PSR/585691

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Posted in Logistics, Rail, Service Management, Supply Chains

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Railroad Carloads Plummet

Posted on May 21, 2020 by | 1 comment

This nice essay from Escalation Consultants, delivered on 5/21/2020, shows very large decreases in rail carloads after mid-March of 2020, approaching 30% for most carriers. Only Union Pacific is down by only 18%.

Another graph shows the differences by commodity.

Only grain and crushed stone are up. Coal and petroleum, the profit centers of the railroads, are way down, by more than 30%.

The article claims that one can take advantage of leverage to obtain favorable prices due to these steep declines in the Coronavirus economy.

I think the article bespeaks some hard times ahead for the big rails.

Railroad Carloads PlummetDownload

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Posted in Logistics, Rail, Supply Chains

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