Delivering The Goods Across the Country and to the World
Today, the U.S. freight rail network is widely considered one of the most dynamic freight systems in the world. The $60 billion industry consists of 140,000 rail miles operated by seven Class I railroads (railroads with operating revenues of $433.2 million or more, 21 regional railroads, and 510 local railroads. Not only does the 140,000 mile system move more freight than any other freight rail system worldwide but it also provides 221,000 jobs across the country and numerous public benefits including reductions in road congestion, highway fatalities, fuel consumption and greenhouse gasses, logistics costs, and public infrastructure maintenance costs.
The U.S. freight railroads are private organizations that are responsible for their own maintenance and improvement projects. Compared with other major industries, they invest one of the highest percentages of revenues to maintain and add capacity to their system. The majority of this investment is for upkeep to ensure a state of good repair while 15 to 20 percent of capital expenditures, on average, are used to enhance capacity.
More than 560 freight railroads operate in the United States. The seven “Class I” railroads account for 69 percent of freight rail mileage, 90 percent of employees, and 94 percent of revenue. Class I railroads typically operate in many different states over thousands of miles of track. Non-Class I railroads — also known as short line and regional railroads — range in size from tiny operations handling a few carloads a month to multi-state operators not far from Class I size. Together, America’s freight railroads form an integrated, nearly 140,000-mile system that provides the world’s safest, most productive, and lowest-cost freight service. From the food on our tables to the cars we drive to the shoes on our children’s feet, freight railroads carry the things America depends on:
1. The rail share of ton-miles is about 40 percent, more than any other transportation mode.
2. Coal historically has generated much more electricity than any other fuel source, and more than 70 percent of coal is delivered to power plants by rail.
3. Railroads also carry enormous amounts of corn, wheat, soybeans, and other grains; fertilizers, plastic resins, and a vast array of other chemicals; cement, sand, and crushed stone to build our highways; lumber and drywall to build our homes; autos and auto parts; animal feed, canned goods, corn syrup, flour, frozen chickens, sugar, beer, and countless other food products; steel and other metal products; crude oil, asphalt, liquefied gases, and many other petroleum products; newsprint, paperboard, and other paper products; iron ore for steelmaking; and much more.
4. Intermodal (shipping containers and truck trailers moving on railroad flatcars) has been the fastest growing rail traffic segment over the past 25 years. Most intermodal traffic is consumer goods. In fact, just about everything you find on a retailer’s shelves may have traveled on an intermodal train. More than 50 percent of rail intermodal consists of imports or exports, reflecting the vital role railroads play in international trade.board, and other paper products; iron ore for steelmaking; and much more.
Source: Association of American Railroads
Performance
After Stagger Act passed in 1980, the productivity and volume grow up rapidly because railroad companies can decide service types and route selections. Most of shipments are coal, chemical products, and agricultural products (about 70%). Between 1987 and 2009, output-per-hour worked more than doubled in line-haul railroading but grew only 23 percent in long-distance, general-freight trucking. Line-haul railroads do not include switching and terminal operations or short-distance (or local) railroads. Long-distance, general-freight trucking establishments exclude local trucking and truck operators that require specialized equipment, such as flatbeds, tankers, or refrigerated trailers.
https://www.aar.org/keyissues/Documents/BackgroundPapers/Overview-US-Freight-RRs.pdf
沒有留言:
張貼留言