(Reuters circulated the following article on February 15.)
NAPLES, Fla. — U.S. railroad Norfolk Southern Corp. has seen first-quarter freight volumes lag behind last year due to bad winter weather plus softness in some sectors, the company’s top executive said on Thursday.
“We are trailing behind last year’s first quarter,” Chief Executive Officer Wick Moorman told Reuters on the sidelines of the Business Council meeting in Naples, Florida. “The comparison is harder because last year’s first quarter was a record for us and we had a mild winter.”
The railroad has seen softness in particular in the housing and automotive sectors, he added.
Moorman said that one upside from the recent harsh winter weather that has hit the United States is that demand for coal from utilities has been rising to heat homes and businesses.
“Our coal business has been good recently,” he said.