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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 resolution that will make 2022 better than 2021. The best resolution for rail shippers to consider is to become much more proactive in rate negotiations with railroads. The reason for this resolution is that it will help reduce rail expenses by counteracting the substantial change railroads have made in how they develop rates for movements.

Railroads have changed how they develop rates which means that shippers need to change how they negotiate rates. This is why being more proactive in establishing the rate structure for movements is a great new year’s resolution for rail shippers in 2022.

Illustration 1 shows the impact of the change in railroads pricing practices on their revenue. This analysis was performed by Escalation Consultants for the Rail Customer Coalition in conjunction with the American Chemistry Council.

[Illustration 1]

Improving Results with Railroads 1

The graph shows that the total revenue from competitive rates (rates with RVC’s below 180%) was virtually unchanged over the last fifteen (15) years. However, revenue from rates generating monopoly level profits (rates with RVC’s greater than 180%) increased a whopping 231%. The graph shows that:

  • There has been a sea change in how railroads establish rates for movements; and,
  • Actions shippers are taking to control rail expenses have just not been very effective

The change in railroads rate making practices has resulted in revenue from rates generating monopoly profits being the norm and is no longer the exception.

[Illustration 2]
Improving Results with Railroads

Illustration 2 shows that in 2004 revenue from rates generating profits at monopoly levels represented 27% of all rail revenue. However, by 2019 monopoly profit revenue represented 50% of all revenue. Illustration 1 shows that the revenue railroads make from rates generating profits at monopoly levels continues to increase. It is unlikely that railroads will be satisfied with 50% of all revenue coming from monopoly profit rates. This is because two of the eight major commodities in the analysis had monopoly profit revenue, represent over 60% of all revenue. (Footnote 1)

To deal more effectively with the change in railroad pricing practices shippers need to be more proactive in establishing rates for their movements. A great new year’s resolution is therefore to be in the position to tell railroads:

  • The rates you need
  • Why you need them and
  • The Reasons a railroad should give these rates to you

There are many things that need to be considered in a comprehensive plan for reducing rail expenses. However, everything starts by understanding the rates you compete against in your markets.

As an example, Escalation Consultants is annually involved with more than a billion dollars in shippers rail spend. In reducing clients rail expenses, we look at numerous issues as well as the political environment at plants.(Footnote 2) However, we always start by understanding what our clients compete against in their primary markets. This allows us to be much more proactive in establishing reasonable rates with railroads.

There is a reason why Escalation Consultants is successful in reducing rail expenses for shippers that have never reduced cost before. The process for reducing rail expenses starts with a comprehensive strategy and includes:

  • Understanding and quantifying all your win/win opportunities
  • Understanding all your logistics options
  • A process for increasing your pricing options
  • Understanding all your sources of negotiation leverage
  • A process for making your movements more important to railroads
  • Having immediate access to market intelligence.

Not everyone can retain Escalation Consultants to assist in reducing rail expenses. However, everyone CAN use our Rail Cost Control Program (RCC) to become more proactive in rate negotiations with railroads. The RCC provides immediate access to rates you compete against in markets and identifies your primary competitors in markets.

The RCC does much more than determine reasonable rates for movements, it is a comprehensive database management system that offers shippers multiple valuable tools. These include: a bid evaluation tool that optimizes your rail spend. As well as an RFP generation tool that increases your pricing options and develops win/win opportunities that decrease your cost while increasing railroad profit and much, much more.

The change in railroad pricing practices demonstrates that shippers need the RCC program now more than ever. A good new year resolution is to know more about how the RCC will help you deal more effectively with the change in railroads pricing practices. This change is allowing railroads to obtain a significant increase in the number of rates generating monopoly level profit and the RCC is an effective tool for combatting this practice.

 

Footnote 1 – More detail on the analysis is included on the Rail Cost Control website under the blog titled “Impact of Consolidation on Freight Rail Rates.”

Footnote 2 – Several issues that need to be analyzed in an effective cost reduction strategy are included in Escalation Consultants Rail Negotiation Wheel which was shown in the blog titled “Obtaining the Rail Cost Reductions that Shippers’ Management Needs.” This blog is available on the Rail Cost Control website.

Negotiating Multiple Gateway Rule 11 Movements

Negotiating Multiple Gateway Rule 11 Moves

Negotiating Multiple Gateway Rule 11 Rates for Movements

Imagine you’re in the market for a brand new [insert large ticket item]. You think you have a good idea of the price range, but how do you know for sure? Next, you shop around to compare prices, availability, included perks, and interest rates. All these factors are critical elements to be considered before making your purchase. Sounds logical, right?

If you were to replace the “large ticket item” with “Rail Rates,” does the same premise hold true? It should! Especially considering the monopolistic power that railroads have over rail shippers and their rates.

It is always good to get more pricing options from railroads. One of the best ways of doing this is to use Request for Proposals (RFP’s) that have railroads provide Rule 11 rates through multiple gateways. I know what you’re thinking: is the juice worth the squeeze? Is the potential savings enough to justify the time and effort needed to generate these RFPs and analyze the responses? Let alone rearrange the segments to complete the move? What if this was easy to do? What if the RFP and bid evaluation process could be done in less time? Then there would be no reason for NOT generating multiple gateway RFP’s. This type of RFP and bid evaluation process can be a game changer for shippers looking to reduce rail expenses. The barriers for doing this have been eliminated by the Rail Cost Control (RCC) program.

The illustration below provides a real-world example of the potential savings that can be generated for a captive movement by having railroads provide Rules 11 rates through multiple gateways. The total rate and mileage for this complete movement, through three different gateways, is shown below.

Mileage for the move ranges between 600 and 800 miles. The total rate using the existing gateway is $4,600, while the rate through the low bid gateway is $3,600.

Total Rate for a Captive Movement Through 3 Gateways

The difference between the rate through the existing gateway and the low bid gateway is $1000. This move is for 50 annual carloads, which represents a savings of $50,000 on this one move. The low bid move also travels a shorter distance [200 miles shorter] thus improving transit times. Applying the full effect of this process on all of a shipper’s moves can easily add up to millions of dollars saved.

If you don’t go out to your railroads with multiple-gateway RFPs, how do you know you are truly getting the best rates possible? However, there is a harsh reality to generating Rule 11 RFPs for multiple gateways … Shippers can’t generate, analyze, and optimize multi-gateway Rule 11 RFPs for ALL their movements in excel.

To generate and evaluate multiple-gateway Rule 11 rates you’ll need a robust program that automatically does the work for you. This is exactly what the RCC – Cost Optimizer program does for rail shippers.

This comprehensive program allows shippers to AUTOMATICALLY generate multiple-gateway Rule 11 RFPs for ALL their railroads, for ALL their movements. Then RCC analyzes, optimizes, and even generates counterproposals the very same day responses are received from the railroads. Too good to be true? It’s not!

The Cost Optimizer generates RFP’s, evaluates railroad responses, determines win/win opportunities for both the shipper and railroads, creates counter proposals, and tabulates savings for management. The Optimizer is a finely tuned program that seeks out and quantifies your best opportunities for reducing the cost of rail freight.

Generating multiple-gateway Rule 11 RFPs is just one of many functions that the RCC provides rail shippers. If you’d like to expand your rate options, reduce your rail spend, and obtain immediate access to all your current and historical rates with just one click, schedule a RCC demonstration.

There is a better way to deal more effectively with railroads in less time.

See for yourself! Click this link to schedule a demonstration of the RCC program today.

Registration is still available for the 2022 Rail Negotiation Seminar. Treat yourself and your team to the #1 recommended rail negotiation program in warm & sunny Tampa, Florida. Click the banner below for more information.

Rail Negotiation Seminar

Non-Competitive Pricing Practices

Non-Competitive Pricing – The New Norm?

Study shows that shippers need to be more proactive in rate negotiations with their railroads.

The analysis demonstrates that railroads have fundamentally changed how they establish rates for movements. The takeaway from the analysis is that in order to deal effectively with these changes shippers will need to change how they negotiate rates with railroads.

Escalation Consultants analysis of the 8 commodity groups listed below demonstrates a startling finding:

Rail moves with “non-competitive” pricing are no longer the exception. They have become the norm.

Preparing for Rapid Inflation

The study shows that between 2004 and 2019, railroad revenue generated from competitively priced movements has risen 24.3%. Meanwhile, rail revenue generated from non-competitively priced movements has risen a staggering 230.6%.

To put this into perspective, half (50%) of all rail revenue generated in 2019 was derived from non-competitive rates. Compared to just 27%, in 2004.

Non-competitive rail revenue going from 27% to 50% of rail revenue for commodities represents a dramatic shift in railroad pricing practices. The good news is that this is not a situation without a solution.

Escalation Consultants has found that in order to effectively deal with the changes in railroad pricing practices, you must be more proactive with rail rate negotiations. If not, your rates will likely increase each year, and most traffic will move under non-competitive rates. Being aware that railroad pricing practices have changed is an important first step in building a strong case for lower rail rates. However, shippers must then take corrective actions. To generate cost reductions:

Shippers need an effective plan for both determining and obtaining reasonable rates for their rail traffic.

In 40+ years of assisting rail shippers across ALL industries, Escalation Consultants has helped achieve over $4 billion in cost savings.

If you’d like to learn how, we’re here to help!

Click to Schedule a Call

Registration for the 2022 Rail Negotiation Seminar is now open. This is the #1 recommended program for rail shippers and slots are limited. Click the link below for more information.

Rail Negotiation Seminar

Rail Cost Control Webinar Recording

CN & KCS Merger Webinar Recording

Developing Your Company’s Position on the KCS – CN Rail Merger

Rail shippers will soon need to determine the best position for their company to take on the KCS rail merger with CN. All rail shippers will take one of four primary positions, regarding the merger:

  • Fight the approval of the merger;
  • Stay uninvolved;
  • Support the merger; or,
  • Obtain economic concessions through flexibility with your merger position.

The positive and negative impact of these positions are covered in this webinar.

The focus of this webinar is to determine a realistic path forward for making educated decisions for your company on the merger.

Escalation Consultants, Inc. developed the Rail Cost Control (“RCC”) program to help shippers reduce rail expenses by managing costs and empowering negotiations. For more information about RCC and other related articles, visit the RCC Blog.

Benchmark to Reduce Rail Expenses

Benchmark to Reduce Rail Expenses

To reduce rail expenses and consistently improve performance, companies need to consistently benchmark. The reason for benchmarking is simple. If you do not benchmark, you will likely do things the same way next year as you did this year. This means the problems you have this year will not get corrected.

When negotiating with railroads that have monopoly power over your traffic it needs to be recognized that:

You will always tend to receive rate increases

IF

You do not know what reasonable rates are for your movements.

A comparison of railroad’s historical rate changes indicate that railroads are very active with rate benchmarking. The graph below provides an example of the results from railroad benchmarking. It shows the percent change in average rate per car for all Food Product (STCC 20) BNSF movements, versus UP.

Rail Rate Benchmarking Blog Illustration 1

The illustration shows that over the last five years the percent change in the average rate per car for all Food Product moves on BNSF are very similar to those of UP. The percent change in the average rate per car for BNSF and UP frequently separate, but they always tend to come back to the same type of rate change. The overall average rate change is similar for both railroads during most periods with the railroads exchanging places as to who has the highest rate increases from time to time.

Rail shippers should learn from the practices of railroads and use the data available to them to benchmark their rates against the rates of their competitors.

This is valuable information that will show whether a shipper is being put at a competitive disadvantage in its markets. This market intelligence helps shippers improve their competitive position in markets.

Benchmarking is just common sense. It is always important to find out how well you are doing in the market compared to other companies. To demonstrate, the chart below tracks Grain Mill Products (STCC 204) rates, for movements into the Dallas TX market from major origin locations. Rates are organized on the vertical axis and distance shipped on the horizontal axis.

Rail Rate Benchmarking Blog Illustration 2

The first thing to notice in this illustration is, that the miles for a movement do not necessarily determine the level of the rate for a movement.

For example, movements from Wichita, KS go the shortest distance to Dallas, TX (370 miles) and movements from Des Moines, IA go the longest distance to Dallas, TX (950 miles). However, many of the rates for both of these origins are similar even though Des Moines, IA moves go almost three times the distance. A similar relationship happens with moves from Kansas City, MO. All the rates from Kansas City, MO are similar to rates from Des Moines, IA even though Kansas City, MO moves go one half the distance to Dallas, TX. This shows that just because you have a geographic advantage in a market does not mean you have a competitive advantage in a market. This is important information for shippers marketing and sales departments to know.

When looking at this graph, assume a supplier to this market is located in Davenport, IA with shipments that travel 850 miles at a rate of $4,821per car, which is the average rate for all shippers from Davenport, IA into Dallas, TX. Some may say this shipper is getting the average rate from Davenport, IA and has nothing to complain about. But, from the shipper’s point of view:

  • Many competitors ship into Dallas, TX for considerably lower rates;

  • Most shippers from Des Moines, IA have significantly lower rates, while shipping a longer distance; and,

  • The average rate into the Dallas, TX market for all movements is $4,033 which is $775 less than this shipper’s rate.

If you are a Davenport, IA shipper with a $6,000 rate you would have even more important issues to discuss with your railroad. If you are a Des Moines, IA shipper with a $7,000 rate, then benchmarking will likely create substantial savings.

Once you know how your rate stacks up against competitors in a market, you have a different negotiation with railroads. You also have different preparation for negotiations, especially if this is one of your more important markets. There are a number of questions the benchmarking exercise raises:

  1. Are there other opportunities to reduce the transportation cost through a forward storage site, or transload?

  2. Can a commodity swap with another supplier be negotiated in exchange for supplying one of their customers at another destination?

  3. Can your competitive carloads be bundled with captive carloads to obtain better rates on captive traffic?

  4. What is the impact on the railroad if you don’t serve this market?

Benchmarking rates into a market leads shippers to explore other alternatives for reducing and evaluating rates. The carrier will always say your rate is a market rate; but the carrier’s interpretation of a market rate will include the highest rate any other shipper pays, not necessarily the average rate and certainly not the lowest rate. As long as there is one other shipper with a higher rate, then your carrier’s interpretation will likely be that you have good rates.

Benchmarking helps you educate railroads on:

  • The rates you need;

  • Why you need them; and,

  • The reasons a railroad should give these rates to you.

It is important to benchmark rates with railroads that have monopoly or duopoly power over your traffic. It is important because, this is how you determine what rates are reasonable for your traffic. Without the knowledge obtained from benchmarking you will always tend to get rate increases. Companies benchmark to cut costs and improve performance. Railroads do this and so should shippers!

Escalation Consultants, Inc. developed the Rail Cost Control (“RCC”) program to help shippers reduce rail expenses by managing costs and empowering negotiations. For more information about RCC and other related articles, visit the RCC Blog.

Database Management System

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 rates for their traffic.  

Escalation Consultants, Inc. is in a unique position to see this, as many shippers use our databases to get better rates for their rail movements. The fact is: shippers who know more about their traffic do better in negotiating rates with their railroads.  

Shippers least cost leverage for obtaining better rates from railroads starts with benchmarking and costing rates for their movements.  

The following are examples of how rail shippers have used Escalation Consultants’ market intelligence database to their advantage:      

 1. A Captive shipper showed the railroad the impact its current rate structure has on reduced volumes into major markets. Market intelligence showed the rates needed to protect this business.  

Result – Shipper’s rates were reduced more than 10% to pertinent markets.  

2. A railroad proposed a large rate increase on captive movements. The railroad was shown that its rates were already in the upper profitability quartile for moves in certain markets. Additionally, the railroad was shown that its proposed rate increases are higher than the average increase they are receiving from all movements of this commodity.

Result –  Railroad pulled back its rate increases, reduced rates on priority movements and signed a multi-year contract. 

3. A shipper performed an analysis of the profit structure for a company’s movements on its primary railroad. The analysis showed that the railroad was pricing its movements above competitors on both captive and competitive traffic. A Rate Benchmark Analysis showed the rate structure needed to maintain and increase volumes in problem markets. 

Result – Rates were reduced in significant problem markets and the railroad increased the strike price for fuel surcharges without increasing the rates for movements.

4. The rates and the rail carriers’ profits on all movements from an important market area were analyzed. This determined the market price for the commodity and the impact of increased volumes and lower rates on railroads profit.

Result – Win/win opportunities associated with lower rates were put in place to the benefit of both the shipper and rail carrier. 

5. Rail rates for all coal movements originating in the PRB and terminating in a specific state were determined.  The range of rates being obtained by plants with and without competitive options was used to support the rates that were and were not reasonable for plants.

Result – Shipper obtained rates in line with its competitor’s plants.

6.The shipper determined competitors’ rates into markets to find out where its rail rates were putting it at a competitive disadvantage in markets.  

Result – Rates were reduced in primary markets to keep the shipper competitive.

7. Shipper determined the railroad’s cost and profit for movements and how its rates stacked up to others in major markets.   

Result – Rates in several primary markets were reduced to minimize the shipper’s competitive disadvantage in these markets. 

The common theme in these examples, is that the shipper was able to gather information on its markets.

This data allows shippers to clearly demonstrate a problem to the railroad and quantify the rate that provided an equitable solution. The point to be taken is that shippers who are well prepared for negotiations have better negotiations. They also get better rates than shippers that do not completely understand their markets. Rate benchmarking and the costing of rail movements provides ammunition that helps protect rail shippers from excessive rates charged by railroads. These resources are important to help counteract the monopoly or duopoly power railroads have over their customer’s traffic.

When railroads have monopoly power over movements it is up to the shipper to determine if the railroad is abusing this power. Thus, putting the shipper’s business at a competitive disadvantage.

Railroads are sensitive to hurting a companies’ ability to compete in markets. Therefore, benchmarking your rates against competitors is a productive exercise in preparing for rate negotiations. This can be the most productive and least costly option shippers have for obtaining competitive rates for their traffic. 

Uncovering, and quantifying rate problems is a major function of effective transportation departments! Many transportation professionals have found that determining reasonable rates for traffic is the first step in obtaining better rates.

Escalation Consultants, Inc. developed the Rail Cost Control (“RCC”) program to help shippers reduce rail expenses by managing costs and empowering negotiations. For more information about RCC and other related articles, visit the RCC Blog.

 

Rail Cost Control

 

RCC Blog - Historical Data Shippers Need

Historical Data Shippers Need

There is little information available on policies and practices shippers rail transportation departments are using to control their cost of rail freight. As a result:  

There is little direction for shippers to follow on changes that can be made within the transportation department to obtain better results from railroads. 

The results of the survey taken at Escalation Consultants’s recent webinar, “Creating Opportunities to Reduce Rail Expenses” are therefore very informative as they provide:

  • Information on the current state of the art in shippers rail transportation departments and 
  • Food for thought on changes that can be made in transportation departments to obtain better rates from railroads

One of the most interesting results was: 83% of shippers said that better access to historical results for their moves would improve negotiations with railroads. It is difficult to get people to agree on 83% of anything, so this indicates a real need for better access to historical rate and volume information.  

A reason for shippers wanting better access to historical results is found in the response to the question: 

“Do you feel railroads know more about your historical rates and carloads than you do?” 

55% of shippers answered YES!

This indicates that railroads frequently know more about how shipper’s volumes and rates have changed than shippers do. This represents a big problem for shippers. Your railroad knows how your rates and volumes have changed.  If past large rates increases are not addressed in current rate negotiations, this indicates one of two things: 

  • You have forgotten about the large rate increases of the past; or, 
  • Large rate increases are not causing you a problem. 

Either situation can be detrimental to a shipper’s rates. Silence is Not Your Friend! It does not send the proper message to a railroad. 

historical changes in rates and volumes - poll 2

Another interesting result is that 55% of the shippers answered that they do not have access to historical data that summarizes all the historical changes in their movements. This means that it is difficult for these shippers to demonstrate the problems that past rate increases are having on their current business. This also provides some context for why 83% of the shippers answered that better access to historical rates and volumes would improve their negotiations with railroads. This is what the Rail Cost Control (RCC) program’s Database Management System provides to shippers!

The webinar provided examples of the impact that historical changes in rates and volumes can have on your rate negotiations with railroads. To gain access to a recording of the webinar contact EC.

Another interesting response: “Do you maintain historical bid rates for movements that did not win the award of carloads?”

Only 33% answered YES!

It can be very helpful to know how much a railroad missed the award by in the last bidding cycle. Railroads always say that their bid rates reflect the current market. It is good to be able to point out how their rates have been above market rates in the past. This provides shippers more credibility when discussing the rates needed for railroads to be successful in the current bid solicitation. This is especially relevant if you are going to be proactively establishing rates for your movements with railroads by providing:

– The Rates you need,
-The Reason why you need them,
-And the Reason the railroad should give them to you.

historical changes in rates and volumes - Poll

In Escalation Consultants’ experience, negotiations with railroads dramatically improve, when you establish an informed narrative. 

This narrative refers to: the Rates you need, the Reason you need them, and the Reason the railroads should give them to you. Knowing how your rates have changed in the past, directly impacts the quality of your story. Leveraging this data dramatically improves your likelihood of obtaining better rates in the future. 

The source of this data was the first in a series of three webinars that will address industry trends, strategic planning, and specifically designed tactics shippers can use to improve their rail negotiations and decrease rail expenses.   

We hope you will join us again for Webinar #2 in May. This webinar will cover: Optimizing Your Spend on Each Railroad to Significantly Reduce Your Rail Expenses. 

 

Escalation Consultants, Inc. developed Rail Cost Control (“RCC”)  to help shippers reduce rail expenses by managing costs and empowering negotiations. Furthermore, for more information about RCC and other related articles, visit the RCC Blog.

Database Management System

Database Manager System

Generate Maximum Savings Through Optimizing

The blog titled “Optimizing to Reduce Shippers Rail Expenses” showed the process shippers can use to reduce rail expenses by millions of dollars while, at the same time, increasing railroad profit by millions of dollars. This value is created by optimizing railroads rates during a shippers bid evaluation. Win/Win opportunities are created by understanding the relationship between: 

The Reduction in Spend a Shipper Receives from Reduced Rates 

in Relation to 

the Increase in Profit the Railroad can Receive from Obtaining Additional Volumes 

 

The question that needs to be answered is how does a shipper determine the maximum value it can create through the optimizing process? Determining maximum value from optimizing is important as it brings the rate level of captive movements into rail negotiations. To do this a shipper needs to know the Pivot Point for awarding competitive carloads on each railroad.     

The Pivot Point represents the point where a railroad makes the maximum profit from reducing a shipper’s rates. 

Once the Pivot Point is reached, it becomes less attractive for a railroad to decrease rates to get the award of more competitive carloads. The Pivot Point shows when a rate reduction for the shipper is no longer offset by railroad profit obtained from an increase in carloads.

Illustration 1 demonstrates what goes into determining the Pivot Point. Illustration 1 shows that a 12% decrease in bid rates for a railroad’s competitive traffic is the Pivot Point. This decrease results in a 30% increase in the railroad’s profit resulting from a 20% increase in competitive carloads for the railroad. To get the most out of rail negotiations it is important for shippers to know the Pivot Point for rate reductions on each of their railroads. 

Rail Cost Control Pivot Point

Calculating the Pivot Point is an iterative process that continues to reduce rates on competitive movements for a railroad. With each rate reduction carloads are then re-award based on the lowest bids for competitive movements to determine the impact on both the railroad and the shipper. 

These changes are continually calculated until the Pivot Point is determined. Illustration 2 provides the results of this iterative process for the railroad used in our analysis. This graph shows the dollar savings for the shipper in relation to the change in rail profit for the railroad. These changes result from rate reductions of 1% to 18% in a railroad’s bid rates.

(Note to visually see the impact on rail profit and shipper savings, all dollar values are shown as positive amounts)

A 12% reduction in competitive rates represents the Pivot Point, as this generates the maximum amount of profit the railroad obtains from the award of more carloads. Railroad profit starts decreasing with rate reductions greater than 12%. Shipper’s savings continue to increase with rate reductions but by a 16% reduction the benefit to the shipper is greater than to the railroad. The source for Illustration 2 is the Rail Cost Control Program (RCC).

Rail Cost Control Pivot Point Optimized

Initially, the Pivot Point normally generates greater value for railroads than shippers.

This is because it represents the maximum increase in profit a railroad can get from reducing its rates. The table below demonstrates this as it summarizes the results for the rail bids used in this article.

 

Table 1

Summary Results for a 12% Rate Reduction on a Railroads Competitive Rates  

Shipper Savings 

$6.7 million 

Increase in Railroad Profit 

$12.5 million 

Increase in Railroad Revenue 

$23.0 million 

Increase in Railroad Carloads 

5,100 

**Table 1 Source: Output Table from the RCC – Cost Optimizer**

Table 1 shows that the railroad makes out much better than the shipper. The railroad makes $12.5 million in additional profit, while the shipper receives savings of $6.7 million. This difference brings rate reductions for captive movements into the optimizing process. Rates for captive movements become part of an iterative process that determines the best split of the benefits between the shipper and railroad through the optimizing process. The source for Table 1 is the Rail Cost Control Program.

Table 2 provides the results from optimizing after rate reductions for captive rates are included in the optimization process. This table shows the shippers expense is reduced by $9.6 million while the railroads profit is increased by $9.6 million. This is a good deal for the railroad as it makes $9.6 million more in profit and $20 million more in rail revenue than it would receive based on its initial bid rates. This is also a good deal for the shipper as its rail expenses are reduced by $9.6 million.

Table 2

Change from Bid Rates Summary Results After Captive Rates are Included in the Optimizing Process

Shipper Competitive Spend Saving

-$6,814,188

Shipper Captive Spend Savings

-$2,826,917

Shipper Total Savings

-$9,641,105

Railroad Competitive Profit

$12,556,031

Railroad Captive Profit

-$2,904,317

Increase in Total Railroad Profit

$9,651,714

Increase in Railroad Spend

$20,135,460

Increase in Railroad Carloads

$5,100

**Table 2 Source – Output Table from the RCC – Cost Optimizer**

When shippers are armed with opportunities created by optimizing rail expenses, they create value for themselves and their railroads. Shippers reduce the rate structure for their movements, while substantially improving profit and carloads for railroads.

The best negotiations are win/win negotiations and optimizing creates this type of negotiation. Therefore, the question is, why haven’t more shippers used optimization to reduce their rail expenses?  The answer is complexity and time constraints. This was the reason for the development of the Rail Cost Control (RCC) Program. The algorithms in the RCC’s Cost Optimizer automatically determine the Pivot Point for each railroad and the results to expect from the optimizing process, for both the shipper and railroad. This is a game changer for many companies.

 

For more information on optimizing rail expenses, check out the Rail Cost Optimizer. 

Escalation Consultants, Inc. developed Rail Cost Control (“RCC”)  to help shippers reduce rail expenses by managing costs and empowering negotiations. Furthermore, for more information about RCC and other related articles, visit the RCC Blog.

Rail Rate Checker Banner

Rail Cost Control Cost Optimizer

Optimizing to Reduce Shippers Rail Expenses

The most productive rail negotiations are win/win negotiations where a shipper gets lower rates and the railroad makes greater profit. These type of win/win negotiations are easier to develop than many shippers realize. The best way to create this type of win/win outcome is by a shipper optimizing railroads rates when performing the bid evaluation.

Optimize Your Rail Spend

Millions of dollars in value are created for shippers and railroads through the optimizing process: 

        • The benefit to shippers is cost reductions of 5% to 15%; while, 
        • Railroads benefit from a substantial increase in revenue and profits.

This optimizing process starts by a shipper calculating the railroad’s long term Variable Cost (Cost). This Cost is calculated for ALL rates in a railroad’s bid. Shippers frequently calculate the railroad’s cost for a movement to show that a railroad is making too much profit from the movement. Unfortunately, this is frequently not very effective.

A more productive use of railroad costs is to better understand how a shipper can increase or decrease railroad’s profits with volumes it can add or takeaway in negotiations.

Calculating railroad’s cost for all of a shipper’s moves, opens opportunities to create greater value for both shippers and railroads. It is best for a shipper to use a macro processing program like the Rail Cost Control Program  (RCC) to calculate the cost of all rail moves at one time. Calculations are effortless, as rail costs are automatically calculated and maintained for use in RCC’s bid evaluation optimizing program.  

Once a shipper knows the railroad’s costs for moves, it has a much better understanding of the economic impact of adding, or taking away, moves from railroads in the bid evaluation. When a railroad’s rates are reduced it becomes the low bidder on more competitive traffic in the bid evaluation. As a railroad wins more competitive traffic, its carloads increase as well as the profit it makes from the shipper’s business.  

It is important to find win/win opportunities with your railroads. These opportunities come from understanding the relationship between reductions in spend a shipper receives from reduced rates versus the increase in profit the railroad receives from obtaining additional volumes. 

As an example, if competitive rates are reduced by 11% on a railroad resulting in $6 million in savings this looks like a great deal for the shipper. But is this a good deal for the railroad? The shipper needs to know the economic impact on the railroad. If the railroad is awarded an additional 3,100 carloads, because it is now the low bidder on more competitive carloads, the shipper needs to know how this impacts railroad profit. Table 1 provides a summary of the results for the 11% rate decrease.  

Table 1 

 Example of Summary Results for a 11% Rate Reduction on a Railroads Competitive Moves   
Shipper Savings
$6.0 million
Increase in Railroad Profit
$7.3 million
Increase in Railroad Revenue
$13.4 million
Increase in Railroad Carloads
3,100

Railroad Profit vs Shippers Rates

Table 1 shows that the 3,100 additional carloads represent a $7.3 million increase in the railroad’s profit. This is $7.3 million in profit and $13.4 million in revenue the railroad would not get with the rates in its original bid. Table 1 shows that the railroad makes out better than the shipper from the 11% rate decrease. The value to the railroad is $1.3 million greater ($7.3 million versus $6.0 million) than the value to the shipper. By optimizing, you then equalize the benefits from strategic decisions on rates and volumes.

Optimizing created $6 to $7 million in value for both the shipper and the railroad. 

Though the value created by the 11% rate decrease is significant, it may not be the best rate decrease for either the shipper or the railroad. The question that needs to be answered, is how do you know the rate decrease that creates the most value for the shipper and railroad? Would a larger 15% rate decrease generate greater value or would a lower 7% rate decrease work best. Answering this question, you’ll need to know the optimizing Pivot Point for rates in each railroad’s bids for competitive traffic.

Understanding each railroads Pivot Point is important as it: 

  1. Generates greater value from the optimizing process; and, 
  2. Brings captive rail movements rates into the optimizing process. 

Understanding the Pivot Point increases the value created from optimizing. As an example, the Pivot Point for the rail traffic used in this article increases the value created by optimizing by an additional 71% (more than a $5 million increase) . This is not an unusual Pivot Point optimizing result for mid to large rail shippers. Optimizing the rates in railroads bids creates a significant increase in value for the shipper and the railroad. 

It should be noted that though the calculations for optimizing are complex the process has become very easy to perform. For example, the Pivot Point is automatically calculated for the rates in each railroad’s bids in RCC’s: Cost Optimizer.   

Our next blog will address determining the Pivot Point for each railroad and bringing captive rates into the optimizing process. 

 

 Escalation Consultants, Inc. developed Rail Cost Control (“RCC”)  to help shippers reduce rail expenses by managing costs and empowering negotiations. Furthermore, for more information about RCC and other related articles, visit the RCC Blog.

 

Rail Cost Optimizer

Rail Cost Control - Educate Railroads

Reduce Captive Rates by Educating Railroads

The March 17th blog titled “6 Ways to Make Railroads Compete for Your Captive Movements” stated that it is important to educate railroads. This is an important way to demonstrate why high captive rates are bad for both you and your railroads. Through this process, you educate railroads on the overall impact of high rates on your business. In addition, this process also shows how you can help improve the railroads business model for your commodities.  

The following are five examples of how educating railroads helps reduce rail expenses on captive movements.  

1. Capital Investment Plans to Increase or Maintain Production

Your railroad needs to be shown that investment will not be made at locations where you have high costs. The impact of how high captive rail rates impact your capital investment and production volumes is important for railroads to understand. Railroads have lost substantial business in the past by not listening to their customers. Educating railroads on the downside of high captive rates is a beneficial exercise for both you and your railroads.  

2. Your Competitors Can Be a Big Source of Leverage in Reducing Captive Rates 

There are several reasons for this. One important reason is the location of competitors to your existing and potential customers. When a competitor is close to a customer, this provides a reason for a railroad to provide you with lower rates for movements to that customer. Your competitor will have lower logistics cost, either from a short distance rail move, or by serving the customer by truck.  Either way, if you lose this customer, the railroad also loses all or a major part of the revenue it would get from you. It makes economic sense for both the shipper and the railroad to work together to maintain this business. 

3. Are You Competing Against Imports? 

If the answer is yes, then you and the railroad have the same objective – STOP THE BLEEDING. You both lose out when competing against imports and you will accomplish more by working together than against each other. High captive rates make little economic sense when the objective is to compete more effectively against imports. Reference Blog article “Creating Effective Alliances with Railroads.”

4. Are You a Short Distance from a Port Where Your Product can be Exported? 

If yes, then you have additional negotiation leverage. High captive rates can make it more economical to export than ship domestically. When a shipper makes the switch from primarily serving the domestic market to primarily serving the export market, this can have a large impact on a railroad’s revenue and volumes. This can provide effective leverage in captive rate negotiations.  

5. Understand Problems with Your Railroad’s Business Model for Your Commodities

Many shippers do not take advantage of information that railroads must provide to the STB. This information is provided due to the monopoly power railroad’s hold over a large amount of their traffic. This information can be valuable to shipper’s rail negotiations. One example is the railroad’s Quarterly Fright Commodity Statistics Reports (QCS). Railroad’s QCS reports show what is good and bad about a railroad’s business model for your commodities. This data provides direction for how you can help improve weaknesses in the railroad’s results for your commodities.  

The illustration below provides an example using results for Commodity Code 29114-Petroleum Lubricants on CSXT.

Rail Cost Control - Educate Railroads - Reduce Captive Rates

This illustration shows that CSXT receives more cars from connecting carriers than it originates on its lines. This means that there is not enough production capacity on the CSXT system to satisfy the demand for this commodity from customers on the CSXT system. As a result, few cars are delivered by CSXT to connecting carriers.  

To grow revenue CSXT needs to provide rates that encourage you to increase production. To incentivize this investment,  CSXT needs to, at a minimum, provide lower rates to gateways with other railroads. This would be good for both CSXT and the shipper. CSXT growth is limited without further investment from shippers on its system. High captive rates that stifle growth appear to limit CSXT and its customers revenue for this commodity. This is fertile ground for negotiations focused on reasonable rates for captive movements. 

Railroads current and historical QCS results are included in the Rail Rate Checker section of the Rail Cost Control Program. In addition to carloads, the QCS data in Rail Rate Checker includes the following information for each Class 1 Railroad: 

          • Average rate for moving the commodity 

          • Historical change in average rates  

          • Total revenue from movements of the commodity 

          • How railroads total commodity revenue has changed over time 

This data is available down to the five-digit commodity code level in the Commodities by Railroad section of Rail Rate Checker.  

 

Rail Cost Control (“RCC”) is a program developed by Escalation Consultants, Inc. to help shippers reduce rail expenses by managing costs and empowering negotiations. Furthermore, for more information about RCC and other related articles, visit the RCC Blog.

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