Rail Traffic Depression: 292 Union Pacific Engines Are Sitting In The Arizona Desert Doing Nothing

TEC ^ | 05/08/2016 | Michael Snyder

[kearnyirish2]

They even gave up on that idea with our massive piles of empty containers here in NJ when the environmentalists wanted them all cleaned of paint (the cost would have been too high). FWIW, those piles have shrunk considerably; I suspect it is because Americans can buy less cheap junk now anyway. If you’ve seen the fleet of ships mothballed off Singapore, I suspect many of them used to empty their wares here...

[kearnyirish2]

My town just completed its first “dog park”; rather than a sign of economic health, it is more a reflection of the negative birthrate among Americans. A few hundred yards to the south of it, the “replacement Americans” anchor babies play soccer in their park. The users of the dog park are saddled with the public school bills of the users of the soccer fields; this won’t work out well.

The costs of live-in livestock are nothing compared to the costs of children (and I know vet bills can be expensive).

[Blue Collar Christian]

Yep! And with the help of this reckless media King Obama is still running around naked in his new clothes.

[The_Media_never_lie]

The coal industry is in a horrible condition and cannot compete with US natural gas at current prices. Coal-fired power plants are being retired. Demand for steam coal is plunging. Major US coal miners – even the largest one – are now bankrupt. So in April, carloads of coal plummeted 40% from the already beaten-down levels a year ago.

We have an administration (Obama's) that is very pleased with this destruction. Even though coal can be burned more cleanly, CO2, which feeds plants, has been deemed a pollutant. Many coal plants have been shut down years before their time.

[Rembrandt]

Her Thighness has promised to continue His Oneness’ policies!

[GoldwaterCountry]

It’s certainly booming in Washington DC. The biggest and greediest corporation (our government) is doing just fine!

[factoryrat]

A lot of those locomotives in storage are old units that we keep around in case they’re needed, or have been replaced by new tier 4 locomotives.

That being said, the article is right about volume. Thanks to nobama, we are getting killed with the loss of coal traffic, especially out of Colorado. Add in the resistance to built transship terminals for coal export on the west coast, and our coal traffic is only going to go down.

This affects all of the major railroads. CSX, NS, and BNSF are hurting also.

[factoryrat]

OTR truck traffic is declining also. Just not as much freight to move around as there was last year.

[Always A Marine]

The link below is showing that large truck sales is plummeting.

Funny you would mention that. There are many hundreds of semi-trailers parked in a huge side lot at Atlanta International Raceway. This out-of-the-way lot is surrounded by woods on three sides, but is clearly visible from the air just north of the northeast approach to Atlanta South Regional Airport (aka Tara Field). I wonder how many other unused trailers are tucked away in isolated lots around the country.

[Tilted Irish Kilt]

shelterguy :" We have had full blown propaganda from the news media since hussein was elected. And yet CBS states that they "are you most trusted news source"
It seems that the propaganda machine selling hussein's recovery is a figment only in his imagination
after all, nazi Pelousey says he is "the smartest guy in the room " and he doesnt even need to attend National Security meetings .
How's that Middle East thing going for ya ?

[onona]

Excellent point !

[Tilted Irish Kilt]

factoryrat:" OTR truck traffic is declining also.
Just not as much freight to move around as there was last year." The Baltic Dry Index is an indicator of how much industry and manufacturing has fallen off this year.
No freight train travel equals no productivity or goods sold = lower tax revenue
No OTR freight trucking equals no productivity or goods sold = no sales tax revenue, nor road taxes.
No OTR freight trucking equals no Federal tax revenue on fuel.
No wonder we are in hussein's year of recovery !
Less tax revenue , more unemployment , less money spent by consumers , but the "entitled ones" get more freebies,
especially if they are illegals !
What could go wrong ?

[TEXOKIE]

LOL!

[Brian Griffin]

I see a lot of buildings under construction.

The economy is doing fairly well.

However, the oil production part of the economy is under stress and in decline.

The locomotives that serve the oil patch areas are surplus to current demand.

[kearnyirish2]

Thanks; it is actually sad to watch unfold...

[niteowl77]

My town just completed its first “dog park”; rather than a sign of economic health, it is more a reflection of the negative birthrate among Americans. A few hundred yards to the south of it, the “replacement Americans” anchor babies play soccer in their park. The users of the dog park are saddled with the public school bills of the users of the soccer fields; this won’t work out well.

Iowa has a number of perpetually Democrat-controlled small cities that have been in decline since the 1970s. They are constantly spending tax money for things like bicycle paths to nowhere (used by nobody); post-modern "public art" including ludicrous and pointless sections of metal railings, limestone blocks, "native prairie grass," etc, and various other civic improvements of questionable value to the public, but which benefit any number of private individuals.

(Pointless terracing, berms, stone walls, faux-brick pavement, retro street lights and grotesque new bridges are like gold mines... for the right people.)

In the meantime, the hispanic populations increase along with the crime rate, and in many of them, the grandchildren of the people who used to live in fairly constrained "'hoods" continue to provide enough of their patented brand of mayhem to keep times interesting. It's all paid for by a disappearing demographic.

Mr. niteowl77

[Campion]

And the future benefits of “live-in livestock” to the culture and the economy are nil in comparison to those of children. Puppies don’t grow up to innovate, create, build, and pay taxes.

[Carthego delenda est]

“Wife and I drove past the line of engines just waiting as we passed through southern AZ last week. Somewhat visible from I10.”

Where was that?

[ptsal]

UCLA used to have a report that tracked retail sales of diesel fuel at the major truck stops. Seemed like that was spot-on for the here-and-now of economic activity.

For some "odd" reason, the time series is no longer available to the public.

Wonder why...

[Harpotoo]

U.S. Rail Traffic Declines in 2016 First Quarter
April 8th, 2016
The Association of American Railroads (AAR) has reported that U.S. rail traffic for the first quarter of 2016 declined 6.5 percent, or 451,658 carloads and intermodal units, from the first quarter of 2015.