Author: Bruce E. Kelly

Commentary

BNSF’s best days are just ahead

If recent reports published by Railway Age and others regarding BNSF’s clogged network have managed to discourage any shipper or industry-related investor, I have news that might brighten their outlook.

Northwest congestion spurs intermodal shift

Historically high levels of traffic, plus numerous track and capacity improvement projects that are currently under way, are both putting the squeeze on BNSF’s northern corridor, with intermodal a potential casualty.

The crude oil challenge

If history records 2012 as the year when modern crude by rail (CBR) came into its own, 2013 will be remembered as a time of a nearly two-fold increase in that business, and as a time for examining more closely the means by which it’s handled.
Commentary

If crude by rail, why not water?

I can’t help but watch the wildfires and water shortages taking place in California and wonder if BNSF and Union Pacific, and perhaps a few of their shippers, are able to respond to this drought with the same urgency with which they’ve answered the call for hauling crude. How many weeks, or months, would it take for BNSF and UP to corral enough tank cars together and set up locations in states with a greater abundance of water where those cars can be filled and then rushed toward California?

Potash resilient after consortium break-up

One of railroading’s least-recognized commodities found itself in the global spotlight this summer. On July 30, Russian potash producer Uralkali announced it was severing ties to the Belarusian Potash Company, a joint marketing venture with rival producer Belaruskali. Uralkali’s exit was in response to Belaruskali making independent sales of potash to China.
Commentary

Oil a Canadian nightmare? Not for CP

One of the perks of living in the Idaho panhandle, snuggled between Washington and Montana, is the ability to eavesdrop on our Canadian neighbors just to the north. During a recent drive to work, I was paying close attention to the CBC radio Eyeopener show, which is broadcast out of Calgary, Alberta.