Curious on the impact of higher Diesel Fuel prices and if it translates into more shipments by railroad intermodal trains vs OTR trucking. Understood higher fuel prices are felt by railroads as well but not as much as other modes.
I would think that might be true in lanes where one could easily replace the other. Otherwise, not so much.
That thought (more IM on rail) was going through my head earlier this week when paying $6.50/gal for diesel (saw $5.80/gal later that day…). Part of it depends on how long the high oil prices will last.
In past fuel crunches the Class 1 carriers have added ‘Fuel Surcharges’ to their freight bills.
I remember reading about ‘fuel surcharges’ in the past.
Since IM by rail usually takes less fuel per ton-mile than IM by truck, the Class 1 fuel surcharges “should” be less than the truckers fuel surcharges. What happens in real life may be different from this simplistic analysis.
My comment about expected time frame for the high fuel prices is how much investment is justifiable to reduce fuel consumption.
All I know is my boss is celebrating with his fuel hedge from last year. He dang near borrowed against everything that he was worth and bought 4 years worth of fuel at just over 2.50 a gallon from a major truck stop chain good nationwide. Well to say he was correct in his hunch was putting it mildly. We’re pretty much locked in and the savings are going to allow us to maybe grow some more.