Railroads are fantastic businesses: their scale is hard to match, new companies can’t just build new railroads, trucking goods is almost 4x as expensive as shipping by rail, and they throw off a fantastic amount of free cash flow. Unfortunately, it is a cyclical business and earnings can fluctuate quite a good amount, especially when…
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A century after transforming global trade and markets, the Panama Canal is about to revamp world trade once again. On June 26 the canal is scheduled to reopen after a massive project costing more than $5 billion that will allow bigger ships to pass through the 102-year-old waterway, doubling cargo capacity. U.S.-based businesses are recognizing…
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The fate of BNSF Railway Co.’s new terminal near the Port of Los Angeles is now in jeopardy even though it has been in development for 10 years at a cost of more than $50 million and would provide badly needed rail capacity. In March, a judge halted the railroad’s plans, ruling its environmental review…
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One of the enduring ideas found in Dow Theory is that transportation companies can provide insight into the overall health of the US economy. As more goods are manufactured, more ore and coal mined, more corn farmed and cattle raised, the transport company’s business expands as they bring these goods to market. Even though we…
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CSX’s total railcars CSX Corporation (CSX) is a major operator in the Eastern US. CSX, along with Norfolk Southern (NSC), holds a virtual duopoly in that region. In the week ended April 9, 2016, CSX’s railcars, excluding coal and coke, declined by ~5%. CSX hauled ~55,000 units in the same week against 58,000 units in…
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Total carloads for the week ending April 23 were 230,599 carloads, down 17.1% compared with the same week in 2015, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 261,347 containers and trailers, down 6.3% compared to 2015. Three of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2015. They…
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