CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Norfolk Southern will do away with its hump yard operations at its DeButts yard in Chattanooga, the Times Free Press reports. The decision to close down its hump yard operations will result cut about 74 of the 495 jobs assi...
http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2017/05/22-norfolk-southern-to-get-rid-of-chattanooga-hump-yard-operations
Brian Schmidt, Editor, Classic Trains magazine
NS merchandise carload traffic is in long-term decline: Down 14% since the 2006 peak, with no end in sight as NS pursues its higher-than-inflation "core pricing" strategy.
Of course, CSX is out-pacing NS merhcandise ... in decline: Down 17% in the same 10 years, and EHH can't seem to close humps fast enough.
A race to the bottom (of the hump)?
We are actually experiencing a healthy spike in merchandise traffic this year, part of the reason for closing some humps on the NS is the expanson of the Bellvue Hump Operation, more cars are being pre-blocked there. Harrison is trying to do the same on the CSX, my guess is some of these humps may have to reopen if traffic keeps rebounding. The railroads are usually the first to see an ecconomic boom and we are seeing some good carload growth this year. I 'm just afraid some of these railroads are going to be caught off guard by the growing traffic levels and we are going to see some traffic mellt downs this summer. I have been in the business a long time and this always happens. It has been since around 2006 since we had any decent ecconomic growth in this country.
James Sanchez
jsanchez said: “It has been since around 2006 since we had any decent ecconomic growth in this country.”
That is an accurate observation: Industrial Production Index for 2016 was essentially flat with 2006.
The inference I draw from the annual numbers I cited earlier is that rail has lost significant market share, and the multi-decade trend remains ominous.
Latest report from the “front’ for week ended May 20: NS merchandise down 2%; CSX down 6% from the same week last year.
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