Railroads

C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ: CHRW) benefited from a collapsing trucking spot market in the first quarter of 2019 and reported earnings that beat analyst expectations on lower revenues. According to Barchart, the average analyst expectation for CHRW's earnings per share (EPS) was $1....

Overseas Orient Container Line (OOCL) has sold its Long Beach Container Terminal for US$1.78 billion (HK$13.973 billion) in cash, it was announced today by OOCL's owner, Overseas Orient International Ltd. OOIL says that it expects to realize a gain of  just under US$1.3 billion from the...

Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE: NSC) reported record first quarter diluted earnings per share (EPS) for 1Q 2019. The company's diluted EPS came in at $2.51, a 30 percent increase year-over-year, outpacing analyst estimates of $2.18. NSC has beaten EPS estimates every quarter for the past...

  GATX's (NYSE: GATX) first quarter profit fell 46 percent to $41.5 million, or $1.12 per diluted share, from $76.3 million, or $1.98 per diluted share, in the first quarter of 2018. Chicago-based GATX is a railcar lessor, providing railcars and boxcars to freight railroads and shippers...

  The Greenbrier Companies (NYSE: GBX) is planning to buy the manufacturing arm of American Railcar Industries as a way to increase its North American presence. Oregon-based Greenbrier, a railcar manufacturer that serves markets in North America, Europe, Saudi Arabia and Brazil, will acquire...

  FreightWaves is providing a forum – Market Voices – for a number of market experts. Jim Blaze is a railroad career economist with an engineering background and a strategic analysis outlook. Jim's career spans 21 years with Consolidated Rail Corporation (CONRAIL), 17 years...

  Add Ohio and Washington state to the list of states where leaders are debating whether to require freight railroads to have at least two crew members per train. Ohio and Washington state legislators have introduced bills this spring mandating a minimum crew size for freight trains. The...

Union Pacific's (NYSE: UNP) first quarter net profit rose nearly 8 percent despite lower revenue. First quarter 2019 net income increased 7.7 percent to $1.4 billion, or $1.93 per diluted share, compared with $1.3 billion, or $1.68 per diluted share in the first quarter of 2018. Meanwhile,...

Higher coal and chemicals volumes drove U.S. carloads upward on a weekly basis for the first time since late February, according to the latest data from the Association of American Railroads (AAR). But despite that weekly gain for U.S. carloads, overall U.S. rail traffic still softened. AAR...

Kansas City Southern (NYSE: KSU) said its first quarter 2019 net profits rose nearly 16 percent amid its ongoing transition to precision scheduled railroading (PSR). Adjusted net income for the first quarter of 2019 totaled $154.9 million, or $1.54 per share, compared with $133.8 million, or $1....

Railroad company CSX Corporation (NASDAQ: CSX) beat the Street when it reported frist-quarter earnings Tuesday, but sell-side analysts have mixed opinions on its long-term outlook. CSX reported first-quarter earnings per share of $1.02, up 30 percent year-over-year and more than a dime above Wall...

CSX (NYSE: CSX) achieved an operating ratio of less than 60 percent in the first quarter amid continued efforts to employ precision scheduled railroading (PSR) throughout its network. The railroad, whose network serves primarily the eastern U.S., reached an operating ratio of 59.5 percent in the...

  With almost all of the Class I railroads transitioning to precision scheduling railroading (PSR), an operational model that emphasizes running railcars on a fixed schedule, a question surfacing within the rail industry is how much emphasis should the railroads place on lower operating...

  Precision scheduled railroading (PSR) can't succeed if the Class I railroads aren't able to fold the shortline railroads into the new operating model, according to one of the early developers of the precision railroading model. Class I railroads need the smaller freight railroads,...

  Railroad tracks are still flooded in some parts of the nation's breadbasket – from eastern Nebraska to western Iowa, as well as in portions of Missouri – after a historic storm plowed through the region in mid-March. But through sheer grit and determination, repair teams...