Surface Transportation Board
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Danford L. Price
Assistant Vice President -
Service Measurements
August 11, 1999
Mr. Melvin F. Clemens, Jr.
Director, Office of Compliance and Enforcement
Surface Transportation Board
The Mercury Building
1925 K Street, N.W., Suite 780
Washington, DC 20423
Dear Mr. Clemens:
Enclosed with this transmittal letter are CSX Transportation’s operational monitoring reports to the Board for the week ending Friday, August 6.
The reports this week again show a continuation of normal operations from the previous week. Terminal dwell for the system remained steady at 29.9 hours, with last week reported at 29.7 hours. Total cars on line increased slightly by 1354 cars, or less than 1% from last week. Line-of-road velocity decreased slightly from 18.7 to 18.4 MPH. A special area of emphasis continues to be the Toledo Terminal, where the operating systems cut-over was completed this week. These changes now combine the entire Terminal under the CSXT operating system.
In examining the data CSXT provides the STB, Conrail Transaction Council, and the AAR, we would offer the following observations and interpretations:
Gateway Operations
Measurements of interchange timeliness with foreign carriers remain at much the same level week-to-week, and have not changed significantly since the beginning of the integration. The total percentage of trains On-Time to 2 hours late to connections improved to 33% over the previous week of 25%. This performance level has not created any reported problems for the Western gateway carriers.
Yards and Terminals
Yard and terminal measurements show a generally favorable trend. Cars-on-hand at Selkirk (Albany) and Buffalo (Frontier) have shown a decrease for the past four weeks. Dwell times at Cincinnati (Queensgate) increased this week but the average cars handled went down indicating that dwell time has not affected yard fluidity. Average cars handled at Cumberland, increased due to rerouted traffic and that impacted their dwell number a little more than 6 percentage points to 36.0. Dwell numbers this week also fell at Toledo (Walbridge) and Syracuse NY.
Cars on-hand have increased slightly at Blue Island and Willard, OH. Toledo (Stanley) and Detroit also reported an increase in yard dwell hours. These yards have been impacted by scheduled track maintenance now underway, and by the increase of traffic associated with coal and auto shipments returning to full volumes. Walbridge and Stanley, the two Toledo yards, should begin to improve with the implementation of common computer systems.
These fluctuations are all within normal operational control limits and CSXT will continue to drive toward improvement.
Corridor Performance
Performance over the six measured corridors declined slightly. This was due primarily to traffic level increases following automotive and coal mining vacation periods. Chicago-to-Baltimore, and East St. Louis-to-Baltimore showed the highest number of trains delayed. New Orleans-to-Carolinas performance decreased the last reporting week mainly due to track maintenance work as a result of a rail test program. July and August are the highest track maintenance work level of the year and all corridors have been affected.
Shared Areas
Daily on hand car counts decreased at Pavonia and North Yard for the third consecutive week. Oak Island on-hand volume remained steady, and while heavy is typical of the levels seen since Split Day. North Yard and Oak Island reported decreases in terminal dwell while Pavonia reported a marginal increase due to movement of cars to industry that had been held for prospective loading. All three locations displayed fluidity improvements at week’s end.
On-Time train origination improved 2% in the North Jersey SAA, 5% in the South Jersey SAA and 21% in the Detroit SAA or 6% composite for all three locations. Road train delays decreased over the prior week. Power availability was steady with 13 trains delayed, up one more from the prior week. Crew delays were reduced to 19 trains from 25 the prior week.
Additional Measurements
Cars Offered in Interchange were reduced drastically from a daily average of 185 the prior week to an average of 25 for the current reported week. Total Train Delay per the daily snapshot
increased from a weekly total of 23 the previous week to 44 for the current reported week.
The increase was seen in Congestion/Staging which was spread over the acquired territory and
not concentrated at any one or two locations. Blocked Sidings or Multiple Main Lines also saw an increase from a weekly total of 2 the previous week to 22 for the current reported week. The majority of these trains were holding out of Indianapolis (Avon). Locomotive Out of Service Ratio improved to 5.1% from 5.9% the previous week.
Our goal is to progress all of these measurements in a positive direction. These measurements do not suggest any significant negative trends. Nonetheless we recognize we need to continue our efforts to reach levels of service that will exceed customer expectations. We feel that our steady progress over the past weeks has positioned us for the fall peak period.
Sincerely,
Danford L. Price
Assistant Vice President
Service Measurements
Yard Performance |
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(Composite of NS/CSX Traffic) |
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Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
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Location |
Measure |
8/2/99 |
8/3/99 |
8/4/99 |
8/5/99 |
8/6/99 |
|
Oak Island, NJ |
Fluid Capacity |
1200 |
1200 |
1200 |
1200 |
1200 |
|
Cars On Hand - Loaded |
683 |
500 |
710 |
679 |
678 |
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Cars On Hand - Empty |
575 |
468 |
760 |
813 |
795 |
||
Cars On Hand - Total |
1258 |
968 |
1470 |
1492 |
1473 |
||
Cars Handled |
693 |
560 |
638 |
661 |
493 |
||
Dwell Hours |
58.0 |
56.3 |
58.3 |
43.4 |
44.8 |
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|
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Pavonia, NJ |
Fluid Capacity |
900 |
900 |
900 |
900 |
900 |
|
Cars On Hand - Loaded |
386 |
215 |
272 |
224 |
224 |
||
Cars On Hand - Empty |
264 |
140 |
277 |
273 |
272 |
||
Cars On Hand - Total |
650 |
355 |
549 |
497 |
496 |
||
Cars Handled |
463 |
381 |
357 |
482 |
268 |
||
Dwell Hours |
67.5 |
40.4 |
64.7 |
45.0 |
24.9 |
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North Yard, MI |
Fluid Capacity |
850 |
850 |
850 |
850 |
850 |
|
Cars On Hand - Loaded |
165 |
187 |
184 |
203 |
203 |
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Cars On Hand - Empty |
139 |
176 |
155 |
111 |
106 |
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Cars On Hand - Total |
304 |
363 |
339 |
314 |
309 |
||
Cars Handled |
177 |
320 |
200 |
316 |
317 |
||
Dwell Hours |
96.7 |
46.1 |
49.6 |
29.9 |
29.0 |
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CSX Comments: |
Daily on hand car counts decreased at Pavonia and North Yard for the third |
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consecutive week. Oak Island on-hand volume remained steady, and while heavy |
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is well within the levels seen since Split Day. Terminal dwell reflects all cars handled |
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in those yards (excluding relay cars) irrespective of car status. Methodology for |
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capturing and reporting terminal dwell was changed this week. Terminal dwell |
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will now reflect a greater percentage of traffic. While overall elapsed time appeared |
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to have increased marginally from last week, overall terminal dwell time decreased |
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from 51.5 to 50.3 hours. North Yard and Oak Island reported decreases in terminal |
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dwell while Pavonia reported a marginal increase due to movement of cars to industry |
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that had been held for prospective loading. All three locations displayed fluidity |
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|
improvements at weeks end. |
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Train Originations |
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(Composite of NS/CSX Traffic) |
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Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
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Location |
Measure |
8/2/99 |
8/3/99 |
8/4/99 |
8/5/99 |
8/6/99 |
|
North Jersey SAA |
Number of Originations |
7 |
22 |
21 |
21 |
20 |
|
% Ontime |
86% |
45% |
38% |
43% |
60% |
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% Late 0-2 Hours |
14% |
23% |
33% |
38% |
20% |
||
% Late 2-4 Hours |
0% |
9% |
10% |
10% |
0% |
||
% Late 4-6 Hours |
0% |
5% |
10% |
10% |
10% |
||
% Late GT 6 Hours |
0% |
18% |
10% |
0% |
10% |
||
South Jersey SAA |
Number of Originations |
7 |
7 |
10 |
10 |
8 |
|
% Ontime |
29% |
0% |
40% |
20% |
38% |
|
|
% Late 0-2 Hours |
14% |
0% |
0% |
10% |
13% |
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% Late 2-4 Hours |
0% |
0% |
10% |
10% |
0% |
||
% Late 4-6 Hours |
14% |
0% |
20% |
20% |
13% |
||
% Late GT 6 Hours |
43% |
0% |
30% |
40% |
38% |
||
Detroit SAA |
Number of Originations |
4 |
5 |
7 |
7 |
7 |
|
% Ontime |
25% |
80% |
29% |
86% |
43% |
|
|
% Late 0-2 Hours |
25% |
0% |
14% |
14% |
14% |
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% Late 2-4 Hours |
0% |
0% |
14% |
0% |
43% |
||
% Late 4-6 Hours |
25% |
20% |
29% |
0% |
0% |
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% Late GT 6 Hours |
25% |
0% |
14% |
0% |
0% |
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CSX Comments: |
Road train delays decreased over the prior week. Power delays remained fairly steady |
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|
with 13 trains delayed up only 1 train from the prior week. Crew delays were reduced |
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to 19 trains from 25 the prior week. |
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CSXT Cars Offered in Interchange but not Accepted |
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(Snapshot at Midnight for Day Measured) |
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|
|
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
Daily |
Measure |
Railroad Offered To |
8/2/99 |
8/3/99 |
8/4/99 |
8/5/99 |
8/6/99 |
Average |
Cars Offered |
NS |
0 |
0 |
0 |
60 |
0 |
12 |
|
All Other |
58 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
13 |
|
|
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|
Total |
58 |
2 |
1 |
61 |
1 |
25 |
Measures all cars in offered interchange status on acquired Conrail territory only. Volumes are listed by cars offered |
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to NS (Norfolk Southern) and All Other Railroads. |
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CSXT Train Delay |
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(Snapshot at 14:30 for Day Measured) |
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Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
Weekly |
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Measure |
Cause of Delay |
8/2/99 |
8/3/99 |
8/4/99 |
8/5/99 |
8/6/99 |
Total |
Train Delay |
Crew |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Power |
4 |
7 |
0 |
6 |
5 |
22 |
|
Congestion/Staging |
3 |
3 |
6 |
7 |
3 |
22 |
|
Total |
7 |
10 |
6 |
13 |
8 |
44 |
|
Measures the number of scheduled road trains being held for crew, power, and congestion/staging on Conrail |
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acquired territory only (includes trains in Shared Assets Area for owner road). |
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CSXT Blocked Sidings or Multiple Main Lines |
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(Snapshot at 14:30 for Day Measured) |
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Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
Weekly |
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Measure |
Track Type |
8/2/99 |
8/3/99 |
8/4/99 |
8/5/99 |
8/6/99 |
Total |
Blocked |
Sidings |
0 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
5 |
Multiple Main Lines |
3 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
17 |
|
|
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Total |
3 |
3 |
6 |
7 |
3 |
22 |
|
Measures blocked sidings or multiple main lines with or without crews for other than normal operating purposes |
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on Conrail acquired territory only. |
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|
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CSXT Locomotive Out-of-Service Ratio |
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(Average of 3 Snapshots for Day Measured) |
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Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
Daily |
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Measure |
Locomotive |
8/2/99 |
8/3/99 |
8/4/99 |
8/5/99 |
8/6/99 |
Average |
Locomotive OOS |
OOS Ratio |
5.6 |
5.0 |
4.8 |
5.4 |
4.8 |
5.1 |
|
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Average of the 07:00, 15:00, and 23:00 out of service ratio snapshots for CSXT ownership locomotives. |