Supply Chain Research

The U.S. rail freight network continues to be out of balance due to an earlier flood of imports during the peak shipping season. While Union Pacific has reportedly terminated its surcharges for carrying freight away from the ports of LA, Oakland and Seattle / Tacoma, BNSF is still suffering a shortage of chassis at St. Paul, MN and Chicago, IL. There are some signs that the pressure of traffic may be declining. U.S. seaborne imports to the west coast ports fell by 2.8% year over year in the first 10 days of January. Additionally the seasonality of trade means imports in March are typical...