00381864

Component

http://onlinepubs.trb.org...s/trr/1983/917/917-006.pdf

https://scholar.google.co...snan&publication_year=1983

Labor productivity is among the central economic issues in the railroad industry. Labor negotiations and federal price-control programs are examples of activities that have involved productivity considerations. Currently, the Interstate Commerce Commission is considering productivity adjustments in the rail cost recovery procedures that were mandated by the Staggers Rail Act of 1980. Historically, productivity has been measured as labor content per ton-mile. Such measures, however, typically have produced productivity gains that appear to be unreasonably large. This may be caused by the changing nature of the ton-mile itself as the railroads increasingly embrace new operating practices such as unit trains, larger freight cars, and so on. An allocation of rail labor inputs among several output measures, including train miles, car miles, and carloads, is proposed. It is shown that rail productivity gains have been modest, at best, and that there has been considerable variation in productivity gains among the major carriers.

Publication of this paper sponsored by Committee on Railroad Operations Management. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved

01420426

pp 29-34

1983

Transportation Research Record

0309035600

Print

Figures (9)

Carriers; Cost recovery; Freight trains; Interstate commerce; Labor; Productivity; Railroad transportation

Freight Transportation; Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Railroads

TRIS, TRB

Apr 30 1984 12:00AM

• CAR MANAGEMENT OPPORTUNITIES: ACTUAL RETURN MILEAGE VERSUS OPTIMAL RETURN MILEAGE
• IMPACT OF COAL TRAIN MOVEMENT ON STREET TRAFFIC FLOWS: A CASE STUDY
• MEASURING THE QUALITY OF FREIGHT SERVICE: ANALYSIS OF SHIPPER RECORDING PRACTICES WITH EMPHASIS ON RAILWAY USERS
• MINNESOTA'S RAILROAD INFORMATION SYSTEM
• POTENTIAL FOR NATIONWIDE POOLING OF VARIOUS TYPES OF RAILROAD CARS
• RAILROAD CAR DISTRIBUTION PERFORMANCE: CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND UNDERLYING MATHEMATICAL RELATIONSHIPS
• REVIEW AND ASSESSMENT OF TRAIN PERFORMANCE SIMULATION MODELS
• TRACS: ON-LINE TRACK ASSIGNMENT COMPUTER SYSTEM