News & Events

RCC Blog - Your Rail Rate May Look Great—Until You Compare It to the Right Market

Your Rail Rate May Look Great—Until You Compare It to the Right Market

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Your rail rate can look GREAT when compared against the broader…
RCC Blog - Change is the Enemy of Railroads

Change Is the Enemy of Railroads

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Escalation Consultants Inc. (EC) has been generating significant…
How to Stop Your Rail Rates from Always Increasing Blog

How to Stop Your Rail Rates from Always Increasing

Over the last 20 years railroad profits have soared. Illustration…
RCC Blog - Knowing Your Railroads' Business Model in Rail Negotiations

Knowing Your Railroads’ Business Model

Why Some Rail Shippers Keep Getting Rate Increases While Competitor…
2026 Rail Negotiation Seminar Registration

2026 Rail Negotiation Seminar – Designed to Reduce Your Rail Expenses

2026 RAIL NEGOTIATION SEMINAR April 15 - 16 Tampa, FL The…
AI Powered Rail Rate Benchmarking

AI-Powered Rail Benchmarking: A New Era of Rail Freight Rate Analysis for Shippers

AI-Powered Rail Benchmarking: A New Era of Rail Freight Rate…
2026 Rail Negotiation Seminar

Gain Leverage and Reduce Rail Costs – 2026 Rail Negotiation Seminar

Negotiate Smarter. Cut Costs. Strengthen Your Rail Strategy. The…
2026 Rail Negotiation Seminar

2026 Rail Negotiation Seminar

The #1 Recommended Event of the Year, Designed Specifically for…
STB's Freight Commodity Statistics Blog

Unlocking Lower Rail Rates with Quarterly Freight Commodity Statistics

Unlocking Lower Rail Rates: How the STB’s Quarterly Freight…
RCC Blog: Building Negotiation Advantage in 2026: How Rail Shippers Succeed

Building Negotiation Advantage in 2026: How Rail Shippers Succeed

As shippers prepare for another year of rail contract renewals…
RCC Blog: Rail Cost Control Even Benefits Non-Payers-of-Freight

Rail Cost Control Even Benefits Non-Payers-of-Freight

How Rail Cost Control (RCC) Empowers Shippers — Even When They’re Not…
Free Rail Movement Evaluation Exercise

Rail Movement Evaluation Exercise

FREE Rail Movement Evaluation Exercise: Take…
Don’t Wait for the UP–NS Merger to Define Your Rail Future

Don’t Wait for the UP–NS Merger to Define Your Rail Future

Why Every Rail Shipper Needs a Formal Position on the UP–NS…
Impact of UP NS Merger Blog

Impact of Union Pacific Proposed Merger with Norfolk Southern

The Union Pacific (UP) and Norfolk Southern (NS) proposed merger…
RCC Blog: SEC Filings Are Valuable Tools for Rail Shippers in Negotiations

Why SEC Filings Are Valuable Tools for Rail Shippers in Negotiations

When negotiating rail freight rates, shippers often feel they’re…
Benefits of The Public Use Waybill for Rail Shippers

Benefits of The Public Use Waybill for Rail Shippers

Maximizing Negotiations: The Benefits of The Public Use Waybill…
RCC Blog: Use Competitor Rates to Reduce Your Rail Rates

Use Competitor Rates to Reduce Your Rates

Railroads do not mind shippers saying they have high rates. What…
RCC Blog: Benchmark to Reduce Rail Expenses

Benchmark to Reduce Rail Expenses

To reduce rail expenses and consistently improve performance,…
RCC Blog: 8 Ways to Improve Your Captive Rail Rates

8 Ways to Improve Your Captive Rail Rates

Many rail shippers believe that if they are captive to a railroad…
Rail Negotiation Seminar

2025 Rail Negotiation Seminar – Registration Now Open

REGISTRATION FOR THE 2025 RAIL NEGOTIATION SEMINAR IS NOW OPEN  We…

Changes in Railroads and Shippers Contracting Practices

Rail markets have changed dramatically in recent years. Shippers…
RCC Blog: The Big Issue with Rail Contract Escalation

The Big Issue with Rail Contract Escalation

The index most commonly used to escalate rates in rail contracts…
STB Proposes Rule to Improve Poor Service for Captive Rail Movements

STB Proposes Rule to Improve Poor Service for Captive Rail Movements

STB Proposes Rule to Improve Poor Service for Captive Rail Movements…
RCC Blog - Reducing Rates on Captive Rail Movements - Part 2

Reducing Rates on Captive Rail Movements – Part 2

Information on Your Railroad that Helps Reduce Rates on Captive…
RCC Blog - Using Information Within Your Company to Reduce Captive Rail Rates

Using Information Within Your Company to Reduce Captive Rail Rates

Reducing Rates on Captive Rail Movements – Part 1 Shippers…
RCC Blog - Details on How to Reduce Rail Rates on Captive Moves

Details on How to Reduce Rail Rates on Captive Moves

Many rail shippers try to reduce their rail expenses. Those with…
RCC Blog - Improving Rail Rates on Captive Movements

A Regulatory Perspective: Improving Rail Rates on Captive Movements

Improving Rail Rates on Captive Movements Large increases in…
RCC Blog - Reasonable RVC's for Captive Rail Movements

Reasonable RVC’s for Captive Rail Movements

When looking at what a reasonable margin is for a railroad to…
RCC Blog - Improve Negotiating Leverage on Captive Rail Movements

Improve Negotiating Leverage on Captive Rail Movements

Shippers Negotiating Leverage Has Just Improved on Captive Rail…
Percent Change in ALL-LF Index Before and After Error Adjustment

AII-LF: Check Your Index

  Check the Index You Use to Escalate Multi-Year Rail…
Change in RR's Inflation Premium Above Expenses

302% Increase In Rail Premiums Above Expenses

The premium railroads make above their operating expenses,…
STB’s Annual Rail Rate Index Study: A Deeper Dive

STB’s Annual Rail Rate Index Study: A Deeper Dive

As of January 27, 2022, the newly released STB Annual Rail Rate…
Rail Rate Increases by Commodity

Staggering Rail Rate Increases Across Commodities

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The cost of shipping by rail has increased more in 2022 than…
Major Railroad Rate Increases

Big Changes in Cost of Rail Freight

RCC Blog: Acknowledging Railroad Service Issues

Are Railroads Turning the Corner on Bad Service?

Much has been written about current problems with the United…
STB Rate Case Index Study Rebuttal

The STB Study Saga Continues

The STB Study Saga Continues An article was recently published…
NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION FOR IMPROVING RESULTS WITH RAILROADS

New Year’s Resolution for Improving Results with Railroads

As you start the year of 2022, it is good to consider a new year’s…
Negotiating Multiple Gateway Rule 11 Movements

Negotiating Multiple Gateway Rule 11 Moves

Negotiating Multiple Gateway Rule 11 Rates for Movements Imagine…
Non-Competitive Pricing Practices

Non-Competitive Pricing – The New Norm?

Study shows that shippers need to be more proactive in rate negotiations…
RCC Blog: Impact of Consolidation on Rail Freight Rates

Impact of Consolidation on Freight Rail Rates

An analysis of railroad pricing practices shows that over the…
Rail Cost Control Webinar Recording

CN & KCS Merger Webinar Recording

Developing Your Company’s Position on the KCS –…
Rail Contracts: Preparing for Rapid Inflation

Rail Contracts: Preparing for Rapid Inflation

Prepare for the Impact of Rapid Inflation on Rail Rates and Escalation…
Rail Carloads Rebound from Covid-19

Rail Carloads Rebound from COVID-19

COVID-19 has had a big impact on everything including rail traffic.…
Rail Cost Control Blog - Rail Rates

Rail Rates – When is Enough, Enough?

Carriers and shippers agree: railroads need to be profitable…
Rail Cost Control Webinar #2

RCC Webinar #2 – Using Competitor’s Rates to Reduce Your Rail Rates

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What: Creating Rail Rate Reduction Opportunities by Using…
Benchmark to Reduce Rail Expenses

Benchmark to Reduce Rail Expenses

To reduce rail expenses and consistently improve performance,…
RCC Blog - Why Some Rail Shippers Get Lower Rates

Why Some Rail Shippers Get Lower Rates

Rail shippers that are smarter about their movements get better…
RCC Blog - Uploads to STB's Carload Waybill Sample

Updates to STB’s Carload Waybill Sample

Big improvements Coming to the STB’s Carload Waybill Sample The…
RCC Blog - Historical Data Shippers Need

Historical Data Shippers Need

There is little information available on policies and practices shippers rail…
Database Manager System

Generate Maximum Savings Through Optimizing

The blog titled “Optimizing to Reduce Shippers Rail Expenses”…
Rail Cost Control Cost Optimizer

Optimizing to Reduce Shippers Rail Expenses

The most productive rail negotiations are win/win negotiations…
Rail Cost Control - Educate Railroads

Reduce Captive Rates by Educating Railroads

The March 17th blog titled “6 Ways to Make Railroads Compete…
Rail Cost Control- Competitive Traffic

6 Ways to Make Railroads Compete for Your Captive Movements 

Last week, Escalation Consultants' blog, “The Cost of Being…
Rail Cost Control Blog Article 11

The Cost of Being Captive to a Railroad

Traffic that’s captive to one major railroad is priced significantly…
Rail Rate Benchmarking

Use Competitor Rates to Reduce Your Rates

Railroads do not mind a shipper saying they have high rates.…
US Rail Station Captivity Map

Making Your Moves More Important to Railroads

The Rail Station Captivity Map A basic rule to follow in getting…
Track Rail Rate Increased Over Time

Use Past Rail Rate Increases to Reduce Current Rates

Would your position on a proposed rate increase of 3% for a rail…
Railroad Strategic Alliances

Creating Effective Alliances with Railroads

Develop Strategic Alliances to Create Greater Value for You and…
railroad car on sunny day at industrial plant

8 Ways to Improve Your Captive Rail Rates

Many rail shippers believe that if they are captive to a railroad…
Rail Negotiation Wheel

Obtaining the Rail Cost Reductions that Shippers’ Management Needs

"If YOU don’t change what YOU do, it will be difficult to get…
close up view of railroad tracks at dusk

Decrease Your Rail Rates by Increasing Your Pricing Options

Rail shippers all agree that it is better to have multiple rate…
rail yard at night under lights

Railroads Cost Decrease Significantly in 2020

Railroads Cost Decrease Significantly in 2020 - Far Reaching…
analytical data chart and graph

Most Rail Rates Increase Less Than 2% Annually

Longer term rail contracts are now the norm. The question is: What…

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