Supply Chain Optimization

JB Hunt + Addressing rail issues - T|WO

Written by Tom Moore | Apr 26, 2022 5:00:00 AM

JB Hunt quarterly report:

  • Intermodal (JBI) revenue grew 36%, driven by a 28% increase in revenue per load and complimented by a 7% increase in load volume.
  • Truckload (JBT) and Integrated Capacity Solutions™ (ICS) — aka brokerage — grew revenue by 77% and 29% year-over-year, respectively.
  • “Rail network velocity continued to govern our ability to capitalize on even greater intermodal demand.” Translation — the rails are slow and unreliable.

On this last point, regulators, in the form of the “Surface Transportation Board,” are issuing new rules compelling railroads to respond to shippers’ issues:

  • Enabling the STB to force a railroad to share its tracks with competitors.
  • Speed emergency relief — and the STB doesn’t even need to wait for shippers to complain.
  • Drops the requirement that a shipper must first get an agreement with a competing railroad.

People have been waiting in lines for hours to purchase the Ukrainian stamp that depicts soldiers suggesting the Russians should “go away” in terms I can’t write here. Maybe our post office could similarly raise revenue.