What’s the Shipping and Production Plan? By now, you’re most likely already working on developing (and may already be wrestling with) your 2023 shipping and production plan. If you’re like…
Darell LutherNovember 25, 2022
Preparations for Winter Welcome Fall! With the shorter daylight hours and colder weather, we know winter is on the way! As winter approaches, many of us resort to working in…
Darell LutherOctober 25, 2022
Applying Pareto Principle to Rail Freight Shipments Familiar with the “Pareto Principle” or “Pareto Rule”? According to Investopia: “The Pareto Principle, named after economist Vilfredo Pareto, specifies that 80% of…
Darell LutherSeptember 1, 2022
Railcar Management: Auto Pilot or Proactively Managed Are your railcar management activities on auto pilot or are you proactively managing to a plan? Most companies attempt to manage their rail…
Darell LutherAugust 4, 2022
Value of Setting Rail Service Metrics What is knowing the current position, future position and route of your railcars worth? Is it “Peace of Mind” by simply knowing where they’re…
Darell LutherJuly 6, 2022
Railcar Tracking... Critically Important When Service Is Challenging! When I started in the railroad world several decades ago, big data for railcar maintenance was collected by railroads through readers that…
Darell LutherMay 31, 2022
The Railroads are FULL... A Cooperative Approach May Bare The Most Fruit! How can you tell the railroads are full? Cycle times increase dramatically (get longer), more trains are parked…
Darell LutherMay 10, 2022
A Wallop for Rail Transportation: Current Events that Potentially Pack a Punch. There are several current on-going events that potentially pack a wallop for rail transportation providers. Although we won’t…
Darell LutherApril 18, 2022
Do You Lease or Own Private Railcars? Imagine spending thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars per month to lease or hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars…
Darell LutherMarch 14, 2022
When moving a private empty freight railcar (non-tank car), there are several options. If that private railcar moves off a loaded “revenue move” (paid, loaded move) then the return trip…
Darell LutherFebruary 1, 2022
Railcar leasing rates are predicated on several factors. While all of them influence railcar leasing rates, three key variables really set the pricing stage: Railcar Utilization: How many trips per…
Darell LutherJanuary 1, 2022