May 28, 2021 - TRA Newswire -
Freight rail deliveries have started to improve after a horrendous Texas winter storm in February and late-season hurricanes in the Gulf Coast toward the end of 2020 disrupted the supply chain.
Delivery schedules were upended until the start of May for many chemical shippers because of rail congestion, especially with trade at the Texas border.
Some rail shipments to Mexico rose from an average delivery time of 15-20 days to as high as 45-60 days and affected all Class 1 railroads.
Icis.com reported that Union Pacific Railroad executive vice president Kenny Rocker said key service measures tracked by railroad companies are showing improvement. BNSF has shown slightly improved metrics in keeping freight cars rolling. “We have generated some improvement this week in key service metrics,” the company said in a network update on its website. “Overall car velocity increased and is slightly above the average level recorded in April. Average terminal dwell, as well as our local service compliance measure are both currently running about 2% better than the prior month.”
The Association of American Railroads reported that total carloads for the week ending May 22 were 242,227 carloads, up 27.2 percent compared with the same week in 2020, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 286,547 containers and trailers, up 20.4 percent compared to 2020. For some rail traffic categories, percentage changes for the current week compared with the same week in 2020 are inflated because of the widespread shutdowns — and subsequent large reduction in rail volumes — that impacted many economic sectors last year at this time.
Freight rail deliveries have started to improve after a horrendous Texas winter storm in February and late-season hurricanes in the Gulf Coast toward the end of 2020 disrupted the supply chain.
Delivery schedules were upended until the start of May for many chemical shippers because of rail congestion, especially with trade at the Texas border.
Some rail shipments to Mexico rose from an average delivery time of 15-20 days to as high as 45-60 days and affected all Class 1 railroads.
Icis.com reported that Union Pacific Railroad executive vice president Kenny Rocker said key service measures tracked by railroad companies are showing improvement. BNSF has shown slightly improved metrics in keeping freight cars rolling. “We have generated some improvement this week in key service metrics,” the company said in a network update on its website. “Overall car velocity increased and is slightly above the average level recorded in April. Average terminal dwell, as well as our local service compliance measure are both currently running about 2% better than the prior month.”
The Association of American Railroads reported that total carloads for the week ending May 22 were 242,227 carloads, up 27.2 percent compared with the same week in 2020, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 286,547 containers and trailers, up 20.4 percent compared to 2020. For some rail traffic categories, percentage changes for the current week compared with the same week in 2020 are inflated because of the widespread shutdowns — and subsequent large reduction in rail volumes — that impacted many economic sectors last year at this time.