(Source: The Fence Post, October 27, 2022)
Total grain rail cars loaded and billed dropped in the third quarter of 2022 from 398,000 cars in quarter two to 351,000 cars in quarter three. This 47,000-car difference, though drastic, is about half the drop that occurred between quarter two 2021 and quarter three 2021, when only 295,000 cars were loaded. In other words, railways loaded and billed fewer grain cars than last quarter but more grain cars than this time last year. Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway and Union Pacific Railroad, railroads that together processed 60% of all grain rail cars in quarter three 2022, shipped 14% and 5% fewer grain rail cars than last quarter, respectively. A look at cumulative weekly unfilled grain car orders, a metric that tracks grain cars not effectively loaded and billed, reveals these declines are still not due to reduced demand from shippers.
Full story: The Fence Post