Economy good why not railroads
The economy is not good. It has been slowing all of 2019, and continues to slow. The railroads are a leading indicator of a slowing economy.
The Stock Market numbers and the Economy are two different things. The Economy is nowhere near as good as the Stock Market numbers.
Four threads with the same title by the same poster, chicagorails. Trolling time?
Yes, the economy and stock market are two very differernt entities. And then there is the Bandwagon that always tells us about how the ecomony is roaring. But the only thing roaring is the Bandwagon.
Comp. Problem sorry
Funny, I’ve been preparing individual tax returns, and there have been primarily significant increases in income year to year. Example today was a gal who works for a fast food place. She was ecstatic. Said amount she earned in 2019 was the most she’s earned in a year in her whole life.
As a employed individual - every year’s earnings should always surpass the prior year’s earnings - the employed should always be striving to earn more than they did the prior year.
The looming threat of tarriffs caused mass purchases in previous years. Additionally, with oil prices down and stable, trucking is significant competition. After recent service meltdowns shippers are reluctant to go with the railroads.
As of 2019, the spot cost of trucking and intermodal have converged and most shippers find no significant advantage to rail freight. Additionally, the trucking industry is now coordinated by digital brokers (much like Uber has smashed the taxi). These brokers are more flexible and less costly than traditional brokers and make trucks more flexible.
Railroads are not out selling their services. They have adopted the “ostridge” mode of competition (Sick you head in the sand and pretend the rest of the world doesn’t matter.) The only thing that matters is the Operating Ratio. Ratios have two numbers: income and outgo. They are cutting outgo to make the OR better. And surprise! Incomes are slipping as service gets more expensive, less competitive and less timely. That’s what they teach in Business School, I guess.
To know whether the railroads are not out selling their services or why, one would have to be part of the corporate planning team, was well as the executive team, of every railroad in the U.S., or at least have access to their activity reports. That would be quite a challenge.
One thing they teach students in the nation’s better business schools is not to make statements that cannot be supported with verifiable evidence.
Easy. Search UP web site for marketing jobs: Nothing Found.
Search Indeed for “Railroad Marketing” 5 jobs at Florida East Coast and nothing else.
Have plenty of experience to know the difference between “should” and “does”. Plus I said significant.
THE major problem is the additional tarrifs on trade with China. Some companies have found new supploers in such countries as Vietnam, Burma and Bangladesh. Others are still struggeling and some are still trying to find new suppliers. Sales of soy beans are way down. Used to be we sold one of every three rows of soy beans to China. That number has been greatly reduced and farmers are selling their farms because they cannot make it any longer.
Both UP and NS in meetings with analysts over the past six months have noted (bragged might be a more apt term) that they are maintaining pricing discipline despite loss of volume in both carload and intermodal business segments.
I won’t deny this could mean railroad sales people may still be knocking on doors trying to pull in new business based on their theoretical superior service offering but; in this day and age low cost is what gets the buyer’s attention whether we are talking stuff on Amazon or procurement of transportion services.
The major railroads are also more and more choosy about the business they want. One of the tennants of the Unified Plan 2020 is “secure appropriate business.”
The more work (switching) required, the less they are interested.
Jeff
How old was she? 19? Did she have the amount of withholding to get a bigger refund this year?
All else being equal, wage increases due to inflation alone should result in an increase from year to year. Real purchasing power, however, might be another story . . .
- PDN.
- W2 box1 went from 16 to 24 yr to yr. Single mom, 2 kids. In addition, EIC/ACTC 8,325. Where the pedal meets the metal. Not abstract gumflapping.
Minimum wage was raised in some progressive states and localities. Not federally, of course.
Not in Wisconsin. She worked hard.