News Wire: NS to reopen Debutts Yard hump

[oltmannd]

greyhounds

Can the rails hang on to the gain?  I'd think the biggest issue is intermodal terminal capacity.  It takes years to expand or build a large terminal.  Locomotives, intermodal cars, even crews, have shorter lead times.  

I'll play optimist here.  NS, at least, has poured a bundle into terminal space in the past decade.  New, big terminals at Memphis, Birmingham, Charlotte, Greencastle.  Expansion nearly everywhere else.  The two spots on the Crescent Corridor that didn't get built are Knoxville and Roanoke  Although the sites were identified, the plans were put on hold.  Don't know if land is owned or not.  

Also optimistically, although NS's network has slowed to a crawl in the south, they've managed to keep snaking the intermodal traffic around the trouble spots for the most part, and between NJ/Harrisburg and Chicago, things are still zooming.

greyhounds

So some of it is a market share gain.  Those reefer trailers you see on the NS are a good example.

While it's dismaying to the driver shortage creating inflationary pressure on the economy, it would seem that railroads should be able to gain market share AND raise rates.  My NS intermodal volume chart shows that they have been able to grow market share, primarily by keeping rates flat or slightly declining over the years.  Being able to raise rates will be very helpful.

Here's an interesting service I think is pretty new and shows NS intermodal folk are on the ball.  http://nscorp.com/content/nscorp/en/shipping-options/intermodal/norfolk-southern-services/nor-easter.html

One thing I find dismaying at present is the inability of railroads to understand and be prepared for even moderate-sized "bumps in the road".  NS has now been on the verge of meltdown for the second time in 4 years.  The reason is not keeping enough engineers and conductors on the payroll.  When a "bump" occurs, the shortage tips the network and/or yard flow into a congested condition.  And much like a highway, capacity is LESS in jammed condtion than when free flowing.

Further, it takes either a lot more resources or significantly less traffic to relieve the jam.

Another dismaying thing I see of late is that NS is not using at least part of the their tax rate windfall, nor the current high cash flow to get the railroad into an improved competitive position.  For example, reducing running times between Front Royal and Memphis would allow lengthing crew districts and could attract premium customers to the Cresecent Corridor.  That will cost some money, and it's pay now, play later.  But, it's the last and largest "untapped" trucking and the terminals are sitting there ready for the traffic.  Is the time lag from investment to cash flow killing the ROI?  I doubt it.