Rail freight up 4.1%: its only

[westernvicki]

http://www.producer.com/2017/05/cta-weighs-in-on-cost-of-moving-grain-by-rail/

The article states rail rates projected to go 4.1% on account of higher fuel and employment costs, with the application done when oil was over 55$ a barrel, and now about 20% less than at the time of application:

Question: if the rate increase was approved because fuel went up, is it equally responsive to going lower when oil goes down?

Question: does the formula factor increased efficiency of longer trains: fuel used per mt?


Or should we just buy more railway shares?

[furrowtickler]

Buy more shares and less dirt .

[westernvicki]

So it seems.

Just vexes me when a formula picks the high to calculate a rate increase. I live by the rail, the trains are longer, does it factor efficiency?

[bucket]

Did rates ever come down from when oil was 150....seems the CTA is in the railways pocket or too stupid to say "let's think about this"....

But no farmer group attacks these rip offs ....or if they do another group attack them as being left wing. ...and the railways and politicians love it....because they get away with rubber stamping it.

[bucket]

Railways haven't moved a million tonnes in a week for quite a while....maybe less production in western Canada would be a good thing ....then they could say the value of the commodities they haul is up so they should charge a premium to cover insurance costs....


It's just that stupid.

[furrowtickler]

Westernvicki can you please check your pm. I have a question for you

[farming101]

per tonne rate in 2015-16 lower than 2012-13 under MRE

[Hopalong]

Would appreciate comment on what has happened to rail shipping rates in captive shipper areas of United States.
Seems to be a bit of a quiet period in the over one hundred year concerns about rail shipping monopolies in Western Canada as evidenced by suggestions to just buy shares.

[farming101]

USDA grain transport cost indicator for shuttle trains for Dec 2016 is up 126% over year 2000

[URL="https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/GTR%2012-29-16.pdf"]https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/GTR%2012-29-16.pdf[/URL]

Be careful. MRE is working

[westernvicki]

To the credit of the railways the system has worked PD good, since the inception of the Ritz regulation.
Railways like us have increased efficiencies, and with this reliability, and indeed the service allows us to capture markets and value as a result. Kudos earned and deserved to railway management and operations.

This straw, that camel are noting an increasingly competitive global market, it is nickels and dimes, but aggregated over the acres a significant cost increase to the average farm in freight costs.