The Surface Transportation Board (STB) published weekly service report updates for Class 1 railroads spanning data acquired through the end of Jan ’17. Overall, ethanol and grain transportation speeds remained lower on a YOY basis while weekly held car results remained mostly above the previous year levels. Ethanol Transportation:

• Average train speeds for ethanol transportation finished lower on a YOY basis throughout Jan ’17. Jan 28th ethanol train speeds of 24.0 MPH remained 5.4% above historical average grain train speeds but finished 3.6% lower YOY.

• Ethanol cars held 48-120 hours remained higher on a YOY basis throughout the week ending Jan 28th, finishing up 25.3%. Total ethanol cars held 48-120 hours have finished higher on a YOY basis throughout the past nine weeks.

• Ethanol cars held longer than 120 hours finished lower on a YOY basis for the first time in four weeks during the week ending Jan 28th, declining by 15.5%.

Grain Transportation:

• Average train speeds for grain transportation also finished lower on a YOY basis throughout Jan ’17. Jan 28th grain train speeds of 22.1 MPH finished 8.1% lower YOY and 2.0% below the historical average grain train speeds.

• Grain cars held 48-120 hours remained higher on a YOY basis throughout the week ending Jan 28th, finishing up 17.1%. Total grain cars held 48-120 hours have finished higher on a YOY basis throughout the past nine weeks.

• Grain cars held longer than 120 hours also remained higher on a YOY basis, finishing 22.1% above the previous year figures during the week ending Jan 28th. Grain cars held longer than 120 hours have finished higher on a YOY basis throughout the past four weeks.

Total Cars Online:

• Jan 28th total cars online totaled 1.031 million, up 0.6% from the previous week and 1.4% above last year’s figures. Jan 28th total cars online finished at a 16 month high overall, up 3.6% from the record low experienced during the week ending May 28th.

• Jan 28th total cars online by railway were led by Union Pacific, followed by BNSF, CSX and Norfolk Southern.