Freight Rail Advisory
Navigating Freight Complexity: Strategic Rail Solutions, Real-World Results
The North American freight rail landscape is economically vital and operationally complex, playing a crucial role in the regional and national supply chain. Success requires a deep understanding of operations, market dynamics, and the regulatory framework unique to the industry.
DB E.C.O. North America offers deep expertise in freight rail, with multiple employees having direct Class 1 railroad experience and a long history of advising a wide range of stakeholders. Railroads, shippers, port authorities and other stakeholders benefit from our comprehensive understanding of freight rail operations and our ability to inform our clients on motivations and goals of the parties on the ‘other side.’ Whether through strategic planning or improving operations via analytical analysis, DB E.C.O. North America is your trusted partner in navigating the complexities of the freight rail landscape.
Our Services
The Challenge
The North American freight industry consists of hundreds of unique railroads and thousands of shippers, but the industry is dominated by the Class 1 railroads – over 90% of all carloads are handled by at least one of the six major railroads. Given their unique market dominance, achieving favorable results in the industry almost always depends on building and maintaining a successful relationship with the Class 1 railroads. Because of the vast resources and experience of the Class 1s, it is critical that entities engaging in business with the major railroads understand the dynamics of the industry, as well as have realistic expectations about what can and cannot be controlled regarding the movement of their freight across the Class 1 network.
Our Service
We offer comprehensive support to enhance your rail supply chain. We assess the operational and financial feasibility of new business ventures, optimize existing operations, fleet, and infrastructure, and provide expert guidance on shipper and carrier relationship management and negotiation. All this analysis is done through the lens of roles and relationship that any existing or new freight service will ultimately depend on Class 1 partners. Our goal is to ensure your rail supply chain operates at robust productivity and cost-effectiveness while fostering strong, collaborative relationships with rail carriers, including any Class 1 partners.
Our Experience
Our team comprises experienced Class 1 veterans and skilled data analytics staff, bringing a wealth of expertise to our projects. We have successfully executed a variety of strategic projects for Class 1 partners, many of which are either currently under construction or have been completed.
The Challenge
The North American freight network is vast – with over 1.5 million freight cars and 200,000 miles of line in service. As the ability of businesses to collect, analyze and reach informed conclusions continues to evolve, our collective understanding of how the freight rail network works grows. Railroads, shippers and port authorities which harness the insights to be gained from these large data sets will be well positioned to address the challenges of the industry, including the classic challenge of grappling with the need for sustainable and long-term growth versus the significant capital cost that any growth would require. Today, many of these entities do not have proper tools for quantitative and qualitative analysis to understand how their operations compare to the rest of the industry. This gap makes it difficult to identify key areas for improvement, assess performance accurately, and implement data-driven strategies for growth and efficiency.
Our Service
We offer expertise in identifying opportunities for growth and efficiency, as well as recognizing potential barriers. Our approach includes identifying avenues for organic and inorganic carload growth, cost-saving measures, and opportunities to leverage public funds and grants, while also pinpointing infrastructure, operational, and institutional/commercial relationship challenges that might impede progress toward mid- and long-term goals. Our methodology combines quantitative and qualitative analysis to provide a comprehensive understanding of how your operations compare to industry standards, ensuring our recommendations are grounded in robust data and real-world insights, empowering you to make informed decisions and achieve sustainable success.
Our Experience
DB E.C.O. North America’s team of subject matter experts and data scientists emphasize objective quantitative and qualitative analysis, empowering our clients to compare their operations to industry standards and implement data-driven strategies for sustainable success. Our team is experienced in financial and operations modeling, software development, and statistical analysis, with over 20 academic papers published in Transportation Research Board (TRB) and INFORMS.
The Challenge
Freight railroads operate in a complex legal and regulatory environment. Resulting from the industry’s long, intricate history with the federal government and integral role in interstate commerce, railroads are governed by, but also benefit from, a unique collection of rules and regulations all derived with different intents. This nuanced reality of the rail space often results in some stakeholders entering litigation at a distinct disadvantage due to lack of understanding or insights in the industry.
Our Service
DB E.C.O. North America’s subject matter experts provide a wide range of clients in the rail space access to a deep understanding of not just the legal and regulatory environment in which the rail space operations, but all aspects of the industry, including operations, finances and strategic goals. This insight ‘levels the playing field’ in matters of litigation, by removing any intrinsic advantage one party may have in the matter based on industry experience and/or participation. In any litigation support engagement, DB E.C.O. North America ensure clients grasp the nuances of the topic, enabling them to make informed decisions and effectively communicate complex industry issues. This facilitates a clear understanding of our clients’ positions among all stakeholders. Furthermore, conducting rigorous analysis supports our clients’ arguments, demonstrating the validity of their positions with substantive evidence.
Our Experience
DB E.C.O. North America’s team of seasoned professionals have provided expert litigation support for Class 1 railroads, short line railroads, shippers and local stakeholders across numerous engagements. Our team is experienced in various legal and regulatory venues, including the U.S. Surface Transportation Board, Canadian Transportation Agencies, international arbitration and local, state and federal courts.
