Rail / Intermodal Carriers Quest for Quality 2019: Long-haul service superstars

While 2018 was a very strong year for the overall economy and a legendary year in terms of freight volume moved, 2019 hasn’t quite measured up. As group news editor Jeff Berman recently reported, the same could be said for year-to-date U.S. rail carload and intermodal volumes, based on mid-year data from the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

According to the AAR, U.S. carload volumes are down 1.2%, or 66,071 carloads, to 5,528,824, through the first five months of 2019, with the weekly carload average for May down 2.1% annually—marking the fourth straight month of annual declines.

On the rail intermodal side, the news is also less than encouraging, with annual year-to-date container and trailer volume down 2.4%, or 145,245 units, to 5,848,287. Average weekly intermodal volume for May came in at 263,137, down 5.9% annually, which is also down for the fourth consecutive month.

“Overall, the economy is still chugging along at a pretty good clip, it’s just not booming like it was last year, and those rail/intermodal volume numbers certainly reflect that,” says Berman. “Analysts say that the reasons for the declines on the rails vary, but the pricing environment remains steady for carriers as they continue to see decent returns. On top of that, many industry players are immersed in implementing precision scheduled railroading [PSR], hoping for substantial operational and efficiency gains.”

And that move to PSR—which railroad management maintains will eventually result in faster, more reliable service and spur greater use of the rail—could indeed help shippers unlock the potential the nation’s rail network has to offer. In the meantime, Logistics Management readers tell us that the 10 service providers listed here already offered world-class service over the past year.

In our Rail/Intermodal Service Provider category this year we find Florida East Coast Railway pulling in first with a 48.01 weighted score. Florida East Coast put up top marks in On-time Performance (11.71) and Value (9.49) and tied with Swift Transportation for best score in Equipment & Operations, with both providers posting a 9.02. J.B. Hunt Transport Services pulled in with a category high 8.47 in Information Technology.

According to LM readers, Schneider Intermodal Services earned a 52.15 overall weighed score, the top mark in the Intermodal Marketing Companies category. Schneider lead the way in Value (11.31) and Information Technology (9.49), while Matson Logistics put up an impressive 11.29 in Customer Services and 10.64 in Equipment & Operations to lead those two attribute categories. Mode Transportation, with its 11.58, pulled in first in the On-time Performance attribute.