Rail Freight Transportation
Author: Dr. Alan Erera
North American Mode Share, 1996
% of total ton-miles
air
water
rail
truck
U.S. Freight Movements, 1996
(Millions of metric tons)
1990
1995
1996
Total
Air
Water transport
Coastal shipping
Great Lakes
Inland waterwaysa
6,079.30
7.7
1,014.00
270.9
99.9
643.2
7,062.00
8.5
985.4
241.9
105.3
638.1
7,320.70
9.8
991.9
242.6
104.2
645.1
Pipeline
Crude oil and petroleum products
Natural gas
1,416.20
958.9
457.3
1,551.60
1,017.00
534.6
1,611.80
1,067.80
544
Railroad
Truck
1,292.60
2,348.70
1,405.80
3,110.70
1,461.40
3,245.90
Railroad Freight Flows
U.S. Freight Railroad Economics
In 1998 ...
• Market share: 40% of intercity tons
• Large share markets:
– 70% of finished automobiles
– 64% of coal (generating 36% of electricity)
– 40% of grain (domestic and export)
U.S. Railroad Economics II
• Movement statistics
– Freight volume: 1.38 trillion ton-miles
– Carload volume: 26 million carloads
• 8.8 million intermodal trailers and containers
• Fleet statistics
– 1.3 million railcars
– 127 million ton capacity
• Costs 26% less (57% IA) than 1981
Railroads are capital-intensive
Primary Commodities
• Rail Only
–
–
–
–
–
Coal
Farm Products
Non-metallic minerals
Petroleum
Chemicals
572 MM tons
158
131
123
118
• Intermodal
– Transportation equipment 6.9 MM tons
– Chemicals, food, lumber, pulp & paper
Georgia Rail Freight
Growth in Intermodal
Growth in Intermodal
• 17% of revenues
– second only to coal: 23%
• COFC 62%, TOFC 38%
• Why?
– Labor efficiency
– Fuel efficiency (50% savings over truck)
– Door-to-door service
• Downsides
– speed, reliability
Container land bridge
Long Beach
Elizabeth
• Asia - Europe market
• Double-stack N.A. network
• Why?
– Hub-and-spoke efficiencies
– Panama canal costs, queuing delays
NAFTA freight flows for UP
Freight Railroad Classification
• Class One
– Operating revenue > $250 MM (1991$)
– 91% of total revenue, 71% of track
– CSX, NS, UP, BNSF, Kansas City Southern
• Regionals
– Revenue $40-250 MM, more than 350 miles
– Wisconsin Central, Bangor & Aroostook, Alaska
• Local/Short Lines
CSX
•
•
•
•
•
Miles: 23,000
Carloads: 5.1 MM
Locos: 4,000
Railcars: 100,000
Revenues: $5.6 B
– coal: $1.6 B
– chem: $0.91 B
– auto: $0.76 B
Norfolk Southern
•
•
•
•
•
Miles: 21,800
Carloads: 5.1 MM
Locos: 3,500
Railcars: 117,000
Revenues: $5.2 B
–
–
–
–
coal: $1.3 B
intermodal: $0.83 B
auto: $0.73 B
chem: $0.73 B
Union Pacific
•
•
•
•
•
Miles: 38,600
Carloads: 8.5 MM
Locos: 6,847
Railcars: 157,000
Revenues: $10.2 B
–
–
–
–
coal: $2.2 B
intermodal: $1.7 B
chem: $1.6 B
auto: $1.0 B
BNSF
•
•
•
•
Miles: 33,500
Locos: 5,000
Railcars: 90,000
Revenues: $9.1 B
–
–
–
–
carload: $2.6 B
intermodal: $2.5 B
coal: $2.2 B
agri: $1.3 B
Kansas City Southern
• Miles: 6,400
• NAFTA railroad
–
–
–
–
–
Gateway Western
KCS
TexMex
TFM
Panama Canal RR
Canadian National
•
•
•
•
•
Miles: 16,000
Carloads: 3.5 MM
Locos: 5,000
Railcars: 90,000
Revenues: $5.1 B
–
–
–
–
grain: $1.0 B
forest: $0.97 B
chem: $0.84 B
intermodal: $0.80 B
Locomotive Equipment
• They are mobile power plants
– Diesel generators
– DC and AC traction motors
• Road vs. switching
• Multiple units
– consist
– DPUs and helpers for heavy trains, grades
Pre-diesel UP locomotives
UP Road Locomotive
• AC traction (6000 HP)
CSX Roads in Two-engine consist
Yard switcher
• Often “retired” road locomotives
• Low HP (1500)
Boxcars
• Weather-protection
• Insulation, refrigeration, cushioning
• Auto parts, building materials, food
products, bagged products
Automobile Racks (autoracks)
• Bi-level or tri-level
• Damage/vandalism protection
• Finished autos, trucks, vans, minivans
Load/unload operations: autoracks
• a type of “roll-on, roll-off” system
Open hoppers
• Hopper openings or rotary couplers
• Coal, coke, stone, sand, ores, gravel
Load operations: coal
• conveyors
Unload operations: coal
Covered hoppers
• load: round or trough hatch
• unload: hoppers (gravity, airslide)
• grains, corn, soybeans, flour, salt, sugar, clay,
phosphates, cement, fertilizers, plastics
Tank cars
• Private (non-railroad) fleets
• Chemicals, molasses, water, diesel fuel
Gondolas
• Open or covered
• Scrap metal, aggregates, woodchips, logs,
poles, steel beams, steel coils
Load/unload: Lumber on flatcars
TOFC
• Trailer-on-flatcar
• Highway trailers
– LTL trucking growth in intermodal
TOFC train
COFC
• Container-on-flatcar
• ocean shipping containers, trucking
containers
Double-stack COFC (1979)
• Articulated cars
• Clearances
– bridge/tunnel investments
Load/unload: Double-stack COFC
Intermodal flatcar types
• Two-hitch flatcar
– two trailers, each up to 40 ft length
• Articulated well flatcar
– containers sit low for double-stacking
– articulation: no conflict with rail wheels (trucks)
– 3 to 5 permanently joined units
• Roadrailer
– truck trailers mounted on railroad wheel
assemblies
EOT Device
• End-of-train device
• Caboose replacement
– warns following trains
• Crew size reduction
– brakemen, fireman gone
– 2-4 person crews
– labor cost reduction
Rail shipping
• Shipment types
– Unit train (bulk commodities)
– Carload (FCL)
– Less-than-carload (LCL)
• Train types
–
–
–
–
Unit train (through service)
Hot shot (intermodal; expedited service)
Bulk train (single bulk commodity)
Manifest (mixed freight)
Unit train routing
• Direct, through trains
– From shipper to consignee
• Coal train example
– Powder River Basin, WY to
Dallas area power plant
• Petrochemical example
– Elizabeth, NJ refinery to
Houston processing plant
– Interline
Intermodal train routing
• Expedited service
– But, set-outs or pick-ups at consolidation points
• Load/unload intermodal yards
– Portside (e.g. Long Beach)
– Port adjacent (e.g. Oakland)
– Inland
• Enroute yards
– “hubs”
– cross-towns (rubber tire transfers)
Manifest (mixed freight) train routing
• Load/unload facilities
– Shipper sidings, public facilities (e.g. grain
elevators)
– Switching service to terminal railyard
• Hump yards
– Classification
• sorting by destination
– Receiving, bowl, departing
– Hub-and-spoke concept
North Platte Hump Yard (UP)
US Deregulation: Staggers (1980)
• Market-driven pricing
– only for route/services with competition
• Confidential service agreements, rates
• Abandonment and sale streamlined
• Impact
–
–
–
–
Costs down: 57% from 1981 to 1998
Return on net investment: from 2 to 7%
Consolidation
Regionals and shortlines: 50,000 miles
Post-deregulation performance
Railroad misconceptions
• Not technologically advanced …
– $247 billion investment since 1980
– Advanced signaling, communication, control
• Rolling stock outdated …
– 7,500 new locomotives since 1990 (37.5%)
– Freight cars lighter, stronger, more reliable
BN Operating center
Freight railroads: no subsidies!
• Track privately-owned and operated
– construction and maintenance
• Amtrak
– pays “usage fees” to freight railroads
• Trucking uses public infrastructure
– C&M funding via $0.55/gallon fuel tax but …
– Estimate: covers only 2/3 of costs