7.11 Rail Service During Supply Chain Disruptions

1.In recent years the supply chain has been greatly impacted by the global pandemic by changes in on consumer purchasing trends, worker preferences, and rapidly changing global and national economies.

2.As the middle link in the supply network, rail service is impacted by these not only directly in how the other supply chain members interact with it.

(#fig:Figure 7.10)Rail Service During Supply Chain Disruptions

Rail networks have been combatting these disruptions by the following:

1.Expanding network capacity Pulling equipment out of storage / activating their reserve fleets Scheduling car movements to minimize congestion Reopening of previously dormant terminals 2.Hiring, training, deploying and retaining train crews Hiring bonuses, financial payments to refer-a-friend and other incentives to entice potential employees Incentivizing through payments to move to high-demand regions of the network Quick response to bring idled locomotives back online 3.Closely collaborating with trucks Railroads and their trucking partners work to move shipments from intermodal terminals as quickly as possible
One railroad keeps a pool of truck chassis to help maximize truck hauling capacity while another railroad mounts intermodal containers on any chassis brought to it to help reduce truckers driving without any cargo