OMAHA, Neb. — BNSF Railway’s second-quarter earnings slumped 24% as volume and average revenue per car both declined, the railroad’s corporate parent, Berkshire Hathaway, said on Saturday.
BNSF’s operating income fell 24%, to $1.6 billion, as revenue declined 11.6%, to $5.7 billion. The railway’s operating ratio increased five points, to 68.2%.
Overall volume was down 11.1% for the quarter, with all four of the railroad’s business segments reporting declines.
Consumer products volume — which includes intermodal and automotive — declined 16.1%, partly due to the impact of the loss of the Schneider intermodal contract to Union Pacific. “The volume decreases were primarily due to lower intermodal shipments resulting from lower west coast imports, the loss of an intermodal customer and competition from lower spot rates in the trucking market which has impacted our domestic intermodal demand. These decreases were partially offset by an increase in automotive volume from higher vehicle production,” Berkshire said.
Industrial products volume declined 3.3%. “The volume declines were primarily due to lower demand for chemicals, plastics and lumber, as well as lower shipments of petroleum products resulting from refinery outages,” Berkshire reported.
Agricultural products shipments declined 8.3% due to lower grain exports.
Coal volume was down by 3.5% for the quarter due to “moderating demand attributable to lower natural gas prices and weather-related impacts,” Berkshire said.
Share this article
