Category Archives: Rail

State of Freight II Report

Posted on December 9, 2016 by | Leave a comment

The second State of Freight report is out.  We should listen to it because one thing Trump expects to do is spend big money on, guess what, infrastructure construction projects.   If he gets rid of EPA regulations, we can see these move forward quickly, for better or worse.  Reports such as this will provide important input to the choice process.

The report comes a year after Congress made dedicated freight funding a priority, with almost $11 billion in funding for freight mobility in dedicated freight funds as part of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act, the report also notes how states will have a key role in how the U.S. plans for freight movement and what projects will be completed.

Source: State of Freight II Report Takes Wide-Ranging View of U.S. Infrastructure’s Needs – Supply Chain 24/7

Here’s the actual report in PDF format: aapa_state_of_freight_reportii

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Posted in Logistics, Ports, Rail, Supply Chains, Trucking

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STB rolls out proposed reciprocal switching regulations

Posted on July 29, 2016 by | Leave a comment

The proposed new regulations are opposed by the AAR as we might expect. Rules have not been updated since 1985. The finding is a small modification. Rails who want switching from another line need only show it is in the interest of lowering overall costs, not that the other line is behaving monopolistically.

Something must be done to loosen up the switching rules.  Rails argue that it would be costly and prevent them from making large capital investments. But when you consider that since the 1880’s rails have benefited from free land …

I agree with the last paragraph in the article:  this rule should keep the lawyers busy!

www.logisticsmgmt.com 2016-07-29 09-49-14  New regulations focused around reciprocal switching were proposed by the Department of Transportation’s Surface Transportation Board (STB) yesterday.

Source: STB rolls out proposed reciprocal switching regulations

Thanks to author Jeff Berman for the article!

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Posted in Production Operations, Rail, Supply Chains

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On southwestern fringe, China’s Silk Road ambitions face obstacles

Posted on June 7, 2016 by | Comments Off on On southwestern fringe, China’s Silk Road ambitions face obstacles

Here is an example of the difficulty of building a major infrastructure improvement, in this case, a rail line from China to Thailand and thence to Singapore.  Who’s got the money?

The answer is no one; and so they can’t agree on terms that advantage all of them fairly.  One interesting factor is land use rights.  Thailand and Laos will not give the Chinese land development rights on each side of the rail line.  Those were expected to help the Chinese pay for the route.  I think those countries are right to retain their sovereignty over the land.

screenshot-www.reuters.com 2016-06-07 08-17-27    Source: On southwestern fringe, China’s Silk Road ambitions face obstacles | Reuters

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Posted in Rail, Strategy, Supply Chains

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