More than Just Running on Time: Precision scheduling could revolutionize rail freight--if it's allowed.

• Author: Brannon, Ike
• Position: TRANSPORTATION

In the 1960s, containerization completely transformed how goods are shipped globally and led to dramatically lower shipping costs around the world. In the 21st century, U.S. railroads are introducing a new practice called precision-scheduled railroading (PSR) that could transform their operations in a similar manner.

PSR creates a fixed, predictable timetable for freight shipments. This differs from traditional practice, where rail customers fill cars on their own schedule and then have the railroads move them. PSR would greatly simplify railroad logistics and could dramatically increase how much can be shipped by rail without the need to build more tracks or hire more engineers.

U.S. railroads have been using PSR in limited cases, with good results. But they may not have the chance to expand its usage because members of Congress, regulators, and rail unions have signaled their unease with it. These officials voice concerns about safety issues from longer trains and busier rail yards, but there also is worry that PSR would reduce railroad employment by improving system efficiency. If the government were to inhibit its further implementation, the few jobs that would be saved would be exceedingly costly, both for railroads and society. Forestalling PSR would make railroads less competitive in the global freight market and push more goods onto trucks, which would increase congestion on U.S. roads as well as tailpipe emissions, increasing smog and greenhouse gases.

THE ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF PSR

In addition to railroads having trains carry more goods, hewing to a fixed, predictable schedule greatly increases the potential capacity of a railroad, so that its tracks carry more freight in a given week or month. The predictability means fewer trains need to move to a siding to wait or make way for other trains, so trips generally take less time. PSR also allows for a substantial increase in the length of a train, boosting railroad capacity. One 100-car-length train occupies less track than four 25-car trains because it needs less space on the tracks between other trains than would four shorter trains.

Improving railroad efficiency will shift the transport of goods more toward rail and away from roads, increasing overall U.S. productivity (which economists define as output per worker-hour) in the logistics sector. Because it takes just two locomotives to move what would require 150 trailer trucks, the productivity gains can be significant. PSR improves productivity gains even more by lengthening trains, further reducing labor costs. Larger and more predictable train sizes also allow railroads to more precisely match the locomotive power assigned to each train, which further reduces transport costs as well...