With more than 60 products and services providing value to the North American freight rail industry, hundreds of team members, and internal infrastructure that needs to be maintained, there is always something new happening at Railinc. Our Solutions Engineering team has been working closely with our TransmetriQ business unit to design solutions for customers using our current product library or by developing new offerings suited to their…
The North American rail equipment fleet increased its total size during the second quarter of 2023. The total equipment count was 2,109,210, for a change of about 0.5 percent. The four largest segments during the quarter were Covered Hoppers (29 percent), Tank Cars (22 percent) and Gondolas and Intermodal (10 percent). Most car groups increased from the last quarter, led by Intermodal, up 1.6 percent, followed by Box Cars which increased 1…
The number of carloads moved on short line and regional railroads in June 2023 was down compared to June 2022. Carloads originated decreased 1.5 percent, from 351,085 in June 2022 to 345,765 in June 2023.  Coal topped June gains with a 16.3 percent increase, followed by Motor Vehicles and Equipment which increased 15.2 percent. Metallic Ores led declines, down 22.6 percent, followed by Nonmetallic Minerals and Grain which declined by 20.5…
One of the enduring symbols always connected to railroads was the caboose. Even today when a model train set is bought in a department store, it usually includes a caboose. They came in all different shapes, sizes and colors depending on the railroad and were always seen trailing the train down the tracks. Cabooses, also referred to as “hacks” in railroad terminology, normally contained a viewing cupola on the top. The main role of the caboose…
The number of carloads moved on short line and regional railroads in May 2023 was down compared to May 2022. Carloads originated decreased 0.7 percent, from 353,028 in May 2022 to 350,661 in May 2023.  Chemicals and Motor Vehicles and Equipment topped May gains with a 15.3 percent increase and 15.1 percent increase, respectively. Nonmetallic Materials led declines for the second month in a row, down 19.4 percent, followed by Metallic Ores…
One of the most frequently asked questions we receive when conducting training on railroading basics is: “Who owns the railroad tracks?” In the United States and Canada, that answer is overwhelmingly the railroads themselves. Unlike motor freight, which utilizes government-maintained roadway infrastructure, the railroads own both the rights-of-way and the tracks that their trains operate on. This represents approximately 140,000 miles of track…
The number of carloads moved on short line and regional railroads in April 2023 was up compared to April 2022. Carloads originated increased 0.9 percent, from 344,944 in April 2022 to 348,109 in April 2023.  Motor Vehicles and Equipment topped April gains with a 25.6 percent increase. Chemicals and Petroleum Products were both up 17.7 percent. Nonmetallic Materials led declines, down 17.6 percent, followed by Grain which declined 15.3…
In January of this year, Railinc welcomed our North Carolina employees back to the office two days a week. We strived to maintain a healthy work-life balance for our employees in the transition, and so far, we have seen great success. Prior to this new working model, some of our employees hadn’t even met their team members in person. We recently checked in with our employees around the company to see how they felt the hybrid work model was…