Weekly service report updates for Class 1 railroads provided by the Surface Transportation Board (STB) were recently updated with values spanning through the end of Sep ’19. Overall, total cars online continued to rebound from the recent three year low levels but remained lower on a YOY basis for the 47^th consecutive week, while grain and ethanol rail transportation speeds remained higher on a YOY basis. Total Railcars Online:

• Oct 5^th week ending total railcars online totaled 1.012 million, finishing 0.2% above the previous week but remained lower on a YOY basis for the 47^th consecutive week, finishing down 3.0%. Total railcars online had declined to a three year low level during the week ending Sep 14^th, prior to rebounding slightly over more recent weeks of data.

Grain Rail Transportation:

• Oct 5^th week ending average train speeds for grain transportation finished higher on a YOY basis for the 30^th consecutive week. Oct 5^th week ending grain train speeds of 22.9 MPH finished 9.3% higher YOY and 2.6% above historical average grain train speeds.

Ethanol Rail Transportation:

• Oct 5^th week ending average train speeds for ethanol transportation finished higher on a YOY basis for the 41^st time in the past 43 weeks. Oct 5^th week ending ethanol train speeds of 22.9 MPH finished 1.7% higher YOY and 0.7% above historical average ethanol train speeds.