WHEN WILL THEY EVER LEARN?

Trains correspondent George Hamlin observes the effect of so-called Precision Scheduled Railroading on train length and asks a few questions.

The primary game here is to reduce the number of trains, and more importantly, the number of operating crew starts versus previous conditions.  Until recently, there were two manifests between Hagerstown, Maryland and Roanoke, Virginia and a single intermodal in each direction.  Now, the second manifest has been melded into the intermodal, as can be seen here.

Logical questions spring to mind as a result, including “won’t that slow the intermodal down”, and “how do you fit a train that’s now often over 7,000 feet in length into passing sidings that are typically five to six thousand feet long”?

In reality, one answer trumps these, and virtually any other questions posed on this account.  Doing this lowers expenses, and hence improves the operating ratio, that is, expenses divided by revenues.  This has now been turned into a number with something approaching the status of almighty in the railroad industry, and there is continuing pressure for further reductions.

This, of course, raises the issue of whether a business can save its way into prosperity.  Yes, it’s nice to control costs and eliminate unnecessary expenses, but how do you balance that with the need to attract more, and especially, more profitable business going forward?

The answer, as anyone who lived in Chicago Great Western territory can tell you, is that you can save your way into having your assets stripped by a company with a different approach.