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.
Posted in Logistics, Rail, Service Management, Supply Chains
Tagged maintenance, operations, PSR, Rail
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.
Posted in Logistics, Rail, Supply Chains
Tagged Logistics, Rail, supply chains, transportation
There’s a great graphic in this article showing the container and carload bookings on rail by month over the last year.
I also was interested by the statement that ag and bulk products, which often go in hopper cars, are down considerably. The data come from the AAR (American Association of Railroads), an industry group that provides many statistics about railroad operations.
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