In the July issue of Trains, there is an excellent article by Bill Stephens about PSR.
Therein it is stated that PSR requires far fewer cars and engines. Now, I get why it requires fewer employees, but not cars and engines.
I don’t get why. A car still holds X amount only; and X amount of power is still required to move Y weight from A to B.
One of the principals of PSR is to keep cars moving, not standing in yards. So that should reduce the number of cars needed. Another thing that has happened, though, is that PSR has apparently cut the number of rail customers and/or carloads as the railroad reduces available service. This also reduces the number of cars needed.
I believe that what is really happening is that railroads are in the process of beginning to phase out traditional carload service in favor of intermodal service. Where once they ran two networks of trains (carload and intermodal) in the future there will be only one. That means less trains, fewer yards, fewer employees. Eventually, I think it will mean less track mileage and fewer railroads.
Dwell is a number that can be manipulated in a myriad of ways to display whatever level of ‘efficiency’ the powers that be want to display to the world and thus ‘prove’ their contention - whatever they decide it needs to be for their story.
When you reduce the number of customers you are servicing you also reduce the number of cars on line and the number of engines and crew members necessary to move those cars.
The numbers produced by PSR are the crowning touch of railroad fiction.
The most telling aspect of Bill’s article was the comparison between psr railroads and BNSF. Despite all the slash and burn at UP, NS and KCS, their average OR in 2020 was 60.6 versus 61.6 for BNSF.
CW
Reducing the number of times the car is handled and decreasing the amount of time each handling takes.
Here’s an example. Let’s say you have a car going from Millville NJ to the UP in Chicago. Traditionally, Millville would send it’s cars to Camden to be classified, one at a time. The train taking cars west went to Allentown, so the car would be humped and built into the Allentown train. At Allentown, it would be humped again and to Conway to be humped again, then Elkhart, humped again, and finally on a train to UP in Chicago.
So, that’s four intermediate handlings, each 12-36 hours (assuming daily service between points)
Actually, railroaders were smarter than this, and have been for quite a while. Places make more blocks for more places than the next yard along the way in the right direction. Allentown would make a Conway block and an Elkhart block, and our car would ride to Elkhart directly.
Planners determine how many and which blocks to make where based on volume to try to minimize handlings.
Another trick is the block swap. Camden could make a Conway block and our car could ride the Allentown train to Abrams where the car would be set off and picked up by the train from Morrisville to Conway. Block swap connections are tighter since there is a lot less work to do - but are generally reliant on you running trains on plan and on time.
Yet another trick is pre-blocking. Say Millville sorts their cars out into Conways, Allentowns and Camdens instead of just sending the whole thing to Camden to sort out. Lets say there is 8 hours from the arrival of the train at Camden to departure of the train to Allentown. This is too short to hump and make the outbound train. But, if you pre-block, you can just block swap those Allentowns and Conways and only have to classify the Camdens.
Similarly, Conway makes a UP Chicago block and there is a train that can take it th
BNSF is doing “PSR Like” things. See the Trains News Wire:
Pandemic accelerates operational changes at BNSF Railway - Trains
I know the unions and employees don’t like the reduction in force. Handling 7% more volume with 11% less T&E employees is wonderful for efficiency, but it reduces employment and union dues. The railroad’s purpose is not to provide employment or create union dues. The railroad’s purpose is to move freight efficiently.
A goal of PSR is to use assets more efficiently. Using fewer freight cars and fewer employees to produce more ton miles, which is what is happening, improves efficiency. This benefits our overall population. But it sure sucks if you’re a furloughed railroad employee.
[quote user=“oltmannd”]
Reducing the number of times the car is handled and decreasing the amount of time each handling takes.
Here’s an example. Let’s say you have a car going from Millville NJ to the UP in Chicago. Traditionally, Millville would send it’s cars to Camden to be classified, one at a time. The train taking cars west went to Allentown, so the car would be humped and built into the Allentown train. At Allentown, it would be humped again and to Conway to be humped again, then Elkhart, humped again, and finally on a train to UP in Chicago.
So, that’s four intermediate handlings, each 12-36 hours (assuming daily service between points)
Actually, railroaders were smarter than this, and have been for quite a while. Places make more blocks for more places than the next yard along the way in the right direction. Allentown would make a Conway block and an Elkhart block, and our car would ride to Elkhart directly.
Planners determine how many and which blocks to make where based on volume to try to minimize handlings.
Another trick is the block swap. Camden could make a Conway block and our car could ride the Allentown train to Abrams where the car would be set off and picked up by the train from Morrisville to Conway. Block swap connections are tighter since there is a lot less work to do - but are generally reliant on you running trains on plan and on time.
Yet another trick is pre-blocking. Say Millville sorts their cars out into Conways, Allentowns and Camdens instead of just sending the whole thing to Camden to sort out. Lets say there is 8 hours from the arrival of the train at Camden to departure of the train to Allentown. This is too short to hump and make the outbound train. But, if you pre-block, you can just block swap those Allentowns and Conways and only have to classify the Camdens.
Similarly, Con
Greyhounds; I agree BNSF has adopted the long train / blended train aspect of psr and was using this approach last year. It’s likely what resulted in them having the most improved OR among the Class 1’s.
Bill’s article contained a comparison chart however, that is fodder for discussion as it relates to railroad employment levels at BNSF versus CSX, UP and NS. The chart lists the percentage reduction in personnel in various job classifications from 2017 through December 2020 and, the only category in which BNSF is comparable to the other three is MOW and Structures, with BNSF cutting 19% as opposed to the other three cutting an average of 20%. For T&E, BNSF was down 15% compared to an average of 21% for CSX, UP and NS.
The two most shocking disparities involved professional & administrative which, presumably would include sales and customer service positions. BNSF was down only 15% compared to -30% for the other three. Given BNSF’s “bias for growth” noted in the Newswire article, this makes sense.
The second large disparity was in Maintenance of Equipment & Stores with BNSF down 13% versus an average of -43% for the other carriers. This again might be attributed to BNSF seeking new business that keeps assets in use moving profitable business as opposed to storing locomotives and furloughing shop personnel all while triaging your customer base as appears to be what CSX, UP and NS have done.
I guess the overall point here is that BNSF seems to be looking at this from a more balanced perspective than the other three.
CW
[quote user=“greyhounds”]
Juniata Man
The most telling aspect of Bill’s article was the comparison between psr railroads and BNSF. Despite all the slash and burn at UP, NS and KCS, their average OR in 2020 was 60.6 versus 61.6 for BN
Yep. Wouldn’t argue thing you say. I’d add, you can’t run an fast, efficient scheduled RR with 19th century technology. Mgt wants the benefits without the investment and they seem to get caught short every time.
I’ll also add, back in 2002 when NS started scheduled railroading for merchandise traffic, the plan was partially optimized to make the right blocks at the right places to minimize the number handlings per trip, on average.
We measured connections (based on when the car arrived, what train should it go out on) and train on time performance. So, if you get those two things right, the railroad’s velocity should be close to plan. We even measured early train arrivals so that you couldn’t “win” the game by padding schedules.
Despite the big turmoil around the 2008 recession, by 2013 the RR was handing more traffic than 2007 with the fastest network velocity since we started measuring it.
The PSR guys came in and made a big splash. With traffic way down, they finally just nicked the velocity achieved in 2013. They since have been shown the door.
railroads are the only business that I know of that tell its customers to go pound dirt and still stay in buisness…however there was that bartender that adopted a PSR model of business that would serve the high rollers first with their Hennsay 10 doller shots before serving me with my 1.75 dollar Hamms…After a half hour of being ignored I left for the bar down the street…with railroads customers may not have the same option.
[quote user=“oltmannd”]
Reducing the number of times the car is handled and decreasing the amount of time each handling takes.
Here’s an example. Let’s say you have a car going from Millville NJ to the UP in Chicago. Traditionally, Millville would send it’s cars to Camden to be classified, one at a time. The train taking cars west went to Allentown, so the car would be humped and built into the Allentown train. At Allentown, it would be humped again and to Conway to be humped again, then Elkhart, humped again, and finally on a train to UP in Chicago.
So, that’s four intermediate handlings, each 12-36 hours (assuming daily service between points)
Actually, railroaders were smarter than this, and have been for quite a while. Places make more blocks for more places than the next yard along the way in the right direction. Allentown would make a Conway block and an Elkhart block, and our car would ride to Elkhart directly.
Planners determine how many and which blocks to make where based on volume to try to minimize handlings.
Another trick is the block swap. Camden could make a Conway block and our car could ride the Allentown train to Abrams where the car would be set off and picked up by the train from Morrisville to Conway. Block swap connections are tighter since there is a lot less work to do - but are generally reliant on you running trains on plan and on time.
Yet another trick is pre-blocking. Say Millville sorts their cars out into Conways, Allentowns and Camdens instead of just sending the whole thing to Camden to sort out. Lets say there is 8 hours from the arrival of the train at Camden to departure of the train to Allentown. This is too short to hump and make the outbound train. But, if you pre-block, you can just block swap those Allentowns and Conways and only have to classify the Camdens.
Similarly, Conway makes a UP Chicago bloc
I get the feeling - the metrics that were in effect prior to PSR were the kind of mathmatics us silver haired devils were taught was we went through school in the 50’s-60’s-70s.
PSR is the ‘new math’ being taught these days that makes no sense to us silver haired devils. They say all the buzz words but they get linked together in different orders.
PSR decreases Terminal Dwell by having the dwell happen during line of road ‘block swapping’. End to end transit time is nominally the same. They crow about the decreased Terminal Dwell and hide the line of road dwell.
I have appreciated all of these replies. I came to the RR late in life, but felt that RR Training didn’t bother teaching anything about RR business and operational philosophy. However, we did get tested on all of the rules and know the word for word definition of medium approach. Even though I’m retired, I still want to learn about these things. I spent my career evenly between a major terminal with a big hump yard and a separate flat switching yard with road trains going in 5 different directions, many locals and yard jobs as well as remotes. The other half was at the end of the line where it seemed more like a short line than a Class 1. I was glad to see many aspects of railroad operation. Reading these posts let me know what was going on.
I am not a railroader but sure enjoy wathcing and listening in…remotely these days. Berea, Oh is my favorite location as both NS and CSX pass thru with block swapping at NS at Rockwell Yard and Fairlane Yard.
Both seem to be adjusting. Just today NS switch plans with 10N (auto rack train) now bypassing Rockwell to pickup a Conway block. Now it is 16G a heavy manifest Elkhart to Conway. Why? Who knows, but someone decided to make the switch. The 16G crew advised they will outlaw frequently now. The 10n was previously setting out at Fairlane (auto racks?) for someone else to pickup.
Another example is 23K (intermodal - Albany - Chicago) setting out usually 20 - 30 autorack for 11N - Conway to Detroit. Makes sense. Not the volume out of Albany or Buffalo to run a direct train.
All kinds of block swapping at Rockwell with Bellevue and Elkhart trains for Buffalo and Conway making the swaps…sort of like the “X” which Conrail used to use.
CSX is picking up about 30 stone cars daily somewhere west (Fostoria perhaps) with a Chicago - Cleveland train (Q566) and dropping off at Marcy Yard in Cleveland. This as I have been told by a CSX employee replaced a unit train which could not be run profitable. Stone, it might be recalled is very freight sensitive. This seems like a good use of resources. Meanwhile NS runs frequent unit trains of stone east into Cleveland.
Interesting operations…including a mix of intermodal and autorack trains (Philadelpha via Selkirk to North Baltimore)and autoracks and general freight (New Jersey to Detroit).
One of the more interesting movements is Q192 an intermodal from UP (Rochelle perhaps) to North Baltimore which has about 30 - 60 general freights plus intermodals. This train is then broken apart in NWO with the general freight plus intermodal (both UP and BNSF) combined into Q162 for Selkirk or Syracuse. Lots of lumber and re
Does the efficiency really “benefit our overall population” if it comes at the cost of terrible customer service and railroads effectively shirking their role as common carriers?
Somewhere in there is a happy medium where the customers get the service they need and the investors get their dividends.
Unfortunately, right now it appears that there is more interest in the investors getting their dividends than in the customers getting service.
Sometimes I wonder if the investors are seeing the customers as being a drain on their dividends…
While there are long term investors, I wonder if the short-term investors, who can’t seem to see much past the end of the next quarter, aren’t running the show.
Short term investors have been wagging the tale of Wall Street for decades. As computerization has made more metrics available to more investors - EVERYBODY wants each quarters results to be better than the previous quarter. With Hedge Funds having leveraged buy ins - if more money isn’t siphoned into the investors pockets - heads will roll.
In the view of Hedge Funds - long term is for losers. Remember, hedge funds will buy into a company for several years and then sell of and move on the the next target. Yes sever
[quote user=“BaltACD”]
tree68
Psychot
Does the efficiency really “benefit our overall population” if it comes at the cost of terrible customer service and railroads effectively shirking their role as common carriers? Seems to me it benefits Wall Street much more than it does the economy writ large.
Somewhere in there is a happy medium where the customers get the service they need and the investors get their dividends.
Unfortunately, right now it appears that there is more interest in the investors getting their dividends than in the customers getting service.
Sometimes I wonder if the investors are seeing the customers as being a drain on their dividends…
While there are long term investors, I wonder if the short-term investors, who can’t seem to see much past the end of the next quarter, aren’t running the show.
Short term investors have been wagging the tale of Wall Street for decades. As computerization has made more metrics available to more investors - EVERYBODY wants each quarters results to be better than the previous quarter. With Hedge Funds having leveraged buy ins - if more money isn’t siphoned into the investors pockets - heads will roll.
In the view of He
Short-term investors are not the only problem. It’s pretty well known that PRR paid dividends it couldn’t justify or afford to keep the stock price high for the benefit of the wealthy investors on the Main Line.
We at this site talk about investors as individuals. Actually individual investors, I am one as are several of us here, do not have any substantial affect on the price of a stock when we trade. The large funds, including labor union funds, are what drive changes in stock prices when they sell or buy 1000’s of shares in one trading day.