CSX and Hunter Harrison

dak94dav Feb 16, 2017

  1. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Spelling errors aside, it is a bullseye. Exactly how they see it, from their lofty positions.

    We need to start a fund which would buy leaders of industry mirrors. So they could look and see the real cause of their problems.
     
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  2. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    Interesting charts here from Seeking Alpha's investment website. NS vs CSX data don't show staggering numeric differences, but the trends are clear. NS's average train speed is increasing and averages ~6 MPH better than CSX's, which shows a precipitous slide. Dwell time is under control at NS, but not at CSX were the average carload spends ~5 Hours more at each yard along its route. Hunter Harrison is quick to defend his slower train speeds and clogged yards, explaining that his worsened operation fosters an expense shippers must bear as a temporary irritant before things get better. I submit that he has a long way to go to simply restore the railroad's service to where it was when he moved in.

    upload_2017-8-22_14-47-54.png
     
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  3. dti406

    dti406 TrainBoard Member

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  4. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    CSX's success will be self-fulfilled. As customers quit using the railroad, logjams will clear, car velocity and dwell time statistics will improve, lines which have lost too much tonnage will be sold and Wall Street will cheer Harrison's makeover. What's sad too is that railroads that handled connecting traffic with CSX will suffer decline through lost carloads.
     
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  5. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    (y) Well proven by past history.
     
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  6. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    Wall Street is expecting a lot from Hunter Harrison. Year-to-date (excluding dividends):

    CSX is up 48%
    KCS is up 30%
    CP is up 28%
    NS is up 25%
    CN is up 20%
    UP is up 11%
    Genesee & Wyoming is up 5%
     
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  7. Jovet

    Jovet TrainBoard Member

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    The omission of BNSF there is intersting. Warren won't be pleased!
     
  8. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Wall Street is just legalized gambling. Upward moving stocks do not necessarily prove the issuer to be worthy. :(
     
  9. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    Yep, share worth is built on forward earnings expectations and a number of so-called "analysts" aren't very good at their craft. These days, headlines and hype carry a lot of weight.
     
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  10. BnOEngrRick

    BnOEngrRick TrainBoard Member

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    Berkshire Hathaway holds BNSF as a private company, so it's stock activity won't be listed.
     
  11. badlandnp

    badlandnp TrainBoard Member

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    There has been such a change in the philosophy at Wall St. Make a quick buck and sell, repeat. It used to be to find a good steady growth stock and hold it, and maybe a few risky ones. Now they all want rapid double digit growth, like pirates! Aaaarrrgggh! The sad part is the long term losses incurred by the companies raided by these folk.
     
  12. mmi16

    mmi16 TrainBoard Member

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    The stock market has always been legalized gambling. At least at Las Vegas there are known odds with each of the games. In the market you never know who the puppeteers are pulling the strings to manipulate the market in whole or in part and whether it is the same part that you have interests in. Not saying Wall Street is crooked but it is far from open and above board. Throw the Hedge Fund manipulators into the game and all bets are off.
     
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  13. gjslsffan

    gjslsffan Staff Member

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  14. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Train lengths such as these are a sad way to try cutting payroll and equipment costs. It is like working in a grocery store, and expecting each stocker to do the miraculous work of having four hands and arms, when they only have two- it simply does not happen and the work expectations/timetables, swiftly fall apart.
     
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  15. Point353

    Point353 TrainBoard Member

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    Nine out of 151 cars derailed on a CSX train in Jacksonville:
    Two Amtrak trains delayed for many hours.
     
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  16. mmi16

    mmi16 TrainBoard Member

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    Auto-train has a diner so they won't starve. The Silver Star - at least they are still at the station.
     
  17. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    Read today that three CSX executives are packing up and leaving, including COO Cindy Sanborn, Chief Marketing Officer Fredrik Eliasson and EVP of Law/Public Affairs Ellen Fitzsimmons.

    Hunter Harrison has brought in a lawyer chum to become COO. Curiously, he’ll be a COO without any Operating experience.

    What’s funny is that despite CSX’s claims of triumph, a Barclay’s analyst noted that NS bested CSX’s operating ratio by over two points. NS is doing a better job of managing costs than CSX and without turning the property upside down.

    As an aside, my wife and I spent a few days last week on NS's "Rathole" in east TN and KY and were absolutely astonished at the tonnage we saw moving. This remains one of the busiest lines in the east (it connects Chattanooga and Cincinnati) and I estimate that it must see over 35 trains a day. Seeing a lot of trains go by doesn't equate to sound financial analysis, but quarterly reports show that NS is earning more and bringing more of it to the bottom line.
     
    Last edited: Oct 27, 2017
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  18. TwinDad

    TwinDad TrainBoard Member

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    There’s more like 60 a day through the section from Cincy to Danville, KY so the rathole should be higher than that (my numbers are from an NS employee in a position to know). It is indeed very busy trackage.
     
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  19. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    Thanks much TwinDad -- I knew we were seeing at least three trains per hour and probably more. Twice on my scanner I could hear the Dispatcher working to allot a sliver of time for a track crew to do minor maintenance and on both occasions three southbounds were held and a number of northbounds too. As you know, there's now a lot of double track in place, but not throughout. Many of the deep rock cuts were engineered to provide for three tracks if ever needed.

    Sadly, remote Oakdale, TN is no longer a crew change point and all that was there has been demolished, including the brick dormitory. The only thing that remains is an office trailer. Years ago my wife and I saw a rolling crew change there and the choreography so impressed us.
     
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  20. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Yup. It can be done, easily. Rape, pillage and burn has yet to never work as offered, yet they keep on doing it, as the investors get their fast buck. All the while, everyone else suffers the side-effects. Including Joe Average Publicperson.
     

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