Railroad Bankruptcies and Mergers from Chicago West: 1975-2001

Railroad Bankruptcies and Mergers from Chicago West: 1975-2001
Author: Michael Conant
Publisher: JAI Press
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2004-02-12
Genre: Transportation
ISBN: 9780762310791

Two major U.S. Midwestern railroads, the Rock Island Lines and the Milwauke Road, filed for bankruptcy after 1975 and the Court ordered them dismembered. This study explains the economic factors causing financial failure such as total rail line excess capacity in the region leading to low density of freight traffic; in addition, labor union rules required unnecessary large train crews. The regulations of the Interstate Commerce Commission aggravated the economic problems by limiting rail line abandonments and mergers designed to improve efficiency. Congress passed the Staggers Act in 1980 to correct a large part of the regulatory limitations to efficient reorganization of the U.S. rail system, but it was too late to save the Rock Island and the Milwaukee Road. The later chapters are economic analyses of the more recent mergers of the large railroads from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Coast. A key saving resulted from the court ruling that segments of rail line could be sold to new short-line railroads without the selling carrier having to pay special compensation to rail workers who were discharged. The Illinois Central Railroad was a prime example of a carrier that sold almost all of its branch lines. Great efficiencies in operations were realized as the Union Pacific acquired the Missouri Pacific and the Southern Pacific. Comparable efficiencies were realized by the Burlington Northern acquisitions of the St. Louis-San Francisco and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe.

American Railroads

American Railroads
Author: Robert E. Gallamore
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 523
Release: 2014-06-17
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0674725646

Overregulated and displaced by barges, trucks, and jet aviation, railroads fell into decline. Their misfortune was measured in lost market share, abandoned track, bankruptcies, and unemployment. Today, rail transportation is reviving. American Railroads tells a riveting story about how this iconic industry managed to turn itself around.

The Iron Road in the Prairie State

The Iron Road in the Prairie State
Author: Simon Cordery
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Total Pages: 238
Release: 2016-01-20
Genre: Transportation
ISBN: 0253019125

In 1836, Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas agreed on one thing: Illinois needed railroads. Over the next fifty years, the state became the nation's railroad hub, with Chicago at its center. Speculators, greed, growth, and regulation followed as the railroad industry consumed unprecedented amounts of capital and labor. A nationwide market resulted, and the Windy City became the site of opportunities and challenges that remain to this day. In this first-of-its-kind history, full of entertaining anecdotes and colorful characters, Simon Cordery describes the explosive growth of Illinois railroads and its impact on America. Cordery shows how railroading in Illinois influenced railroad financing, the creation of a national economy, and government regulation of business. Cordery's masterful chronicle of rail development in Illinois from 1837 to 2010 reveals how the state's expanding railroads became the foundation of the nation's rail network.

Railroad Economics

Railroad Economics
Author: Scott Dennis
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 291
Release: 2007-07-09
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0080548938

Research in Transportation Economics is now available online at ScienceDirect — full-text online of volumes 6 onwards. Elsevier book series on ScienceDirect gives multiple users throughout an institution simultaneous online access to an important compliment to primary research. Digital delivery ensures users reliable, 24-hour access to the latest peer-reviewed content. The Elsevier book series are compiled and written by the most highly regarded authors in their fields and are selected from across the globe using Elsevier's extensive researcher network. For more information about the Elsevier Book Series on ScienceDirect Program, please visit:http://www.info.sciencedirect.com/bookseries/

Maritime Transport

Maritime Transport
Author: Athanasios A. Pallis
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 473
Release: 2007-08-29
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0762314494

Research in Transportation Economics is now available online at ScienceDirect - full-text online of volumes 6 onwards. Elsevier book series on ScienceDirect gives multiple users throughout an institution simultaneous online access to an important compliment to primary research. Digital delivery ensures users reliable, 24-hour access to the latest peer-reviewed content. The Elsevier book series are compiled and written by the most highly regarded authors in their fields and are selected from across the globe using Elsevier's extensive researcher network. For more information about the Elsevier Book Series on ScienceDirect Program, please visit: http://www.info.sciencedirect.com/bookseries/

Transportation Labor Issues and Regulatory Reform

Transportation Labor Issues and Regulatory Reform
Author: James Peoples
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 244
Release: 2004-11-08
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780762308910

Regulatory reform in the late 1970s and early 1980s vastly transformed the labor market for transportation workers. Most research in this area focuses on the effect of deregulation on the earnings of nonmanagement company workers in airline, trucking and rail. Deregulation of transportation industries, though, has had a broader effect on workers. For instance, deregulation also influences workers' hours worked per week, working conditions, worker safety, and a host of other labor issues. Deregulation might also influence the earnings of managers and self-employed workers in transportation industries. Examining these issues is valuable because such analysis provides a more complete assessment of labor market changes following the shift to a more market oriented business environment. Transportation Labor Issues and Regulatory Reform adds to the debate on deregulation's influence on transportation labor markets by presenting empirical evidence on an array of labor market outcomes in transportation industries. Contributions to this volume are categorized by their analysis on worker safety, working conditions and employment opportunities, and by their analysis on managerial and self-employed earnings

Devolution, Port Governance and Port Performance

Devolution, Port Governance and Port Performance
Author: Mary R Brooks
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 701
Release: 2006-11-13
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0080467075

The relationship between ports and governments has changed profoundly over the past quarter of a century. Many governments have sought to extract themselves from the business of port operations and, in many cases, the provision of port services has devolved to local governments, communities or private management and administration. As such devolution implies a change in governance model, this trend raises questions about consequent performance. This issue examines the changed port management environment, focusing particularly on government policies such as devolution, regulatory reform and newly imposed governance models, all of which have exerted a significant influence over the nature of that changed environment. The issue is structured so as to first explore the devolution and port reform approaches for 14 countries or regions, before examining how ports are governed and what the choice of governance might mean for their performance. Part I introduces the issue, and provides a framework for defining the basic concepts involved in devolution; it paints a picture of the current port environment, its likely future evolution and the expected impact this will have on the functioning of ports. Part II examines the port industry in 14 countries or administrations, and presents the thinking behind any devolution programs that have been implemented. Part III focuses on port governance and devolution generally, and examines governance from both strategic management and economics perspectives, including topics such as governance models, supranational governance and stakeholder conflict. Part IV examines the measurement of port performance and closes by providing conclusions and a future research agenda. This issue will be of interest to port managers, government officials and academics alike.*Examines the relationship between ports and governments with a focus on devolution*Divided into sections that provide an overview, evaluate the port industry, disucss port governance, and suggest new measures of port performance*14 countries or regions are addressed

Measuring the Marginal Social Cost of Transport

Measuring the Marginal Social Cost of Transport
Author: Christopher Nash
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 351
Release: 2005-10-20
Genre: Transportation
ISBN: 0080456030

Many transport economists have for some time proposed marginal social cost as the principle on which prices in the transport sector should be based and, in recent years, their prescription has come to be taken more and more seriously by policy-makers. However, in order to properly test the possible implications of implementing pricing based on marginal social cost and, ultimately, to introduce such a system, it is necessary to actually measure the marginal social costs concerned, and how they vary according to mode, time and context. This book reviews the transport pricing policy debate and reports on the significant advances made in measuring the marginal social costs of transport, particularly through UNITE and other European research projects. We look in turn at infrastructure, operating costs, user costs (both of congestion and of charges in frequency of scheduled transport services) accidents and environmental costs, and how these estimates have been used to examine the impact of marginal cost pricing in transport. We finish by examining how the results of case studies might be generalised to obtain estimates of marginal social costs for all circumstances and, finally, presenting our conclusions.

Shipping Economics

Shipping Economics
Author: Kevin Cullinane
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 324
Release: 2005-06-15
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0080456804

Shipping is by far the most significant mode of transportation for the carriage of freight. In terms of volume alone, no other mode comes close. Its dominance is even more overwhelming when distances are accounted for. This book is concerned with the economics of this pivotal mode of transportation. It reveals that the influences on the development and current state of shipping economics research are extremely eclectic. The various chapters in the book represent areas that are of central concern to ongoing research in the field. As such, the book is useful to students, researchers, industrialists, policy makers and consultants. The authors of the contributed chapters are some of the leading names in the world of shipping economics, addressing a number of diverse areas: The econometric modeling of shipping markets; Shipping finance (a critical issue in such a capital intensive industry); Fiscal policy (and its impact on an international industry with great asset mobility) and Safety and security (aspects that have risen to prominence with increasing concerns over the environment and international terrorism). Ultimately, while shipping as a business depends upon trade, it is absolutely certain that the business of trade depends upon shipping. The final two chapters, therefore, incorporate aspects of network economics, welfare economics and international trade theory to analyze where and how shipping sits within the wider perspective of industrial supply chains.Professor Kevin Cullinane, BA BSc MSc PhD FCILT CNIProfessor Kevin Cullinane is Chair in Marine Transport and Management at the University of Newcastle in the U.K. He was previously Professor and Head of the Department of Shipping and Transport Logistics at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Head of the Centre for International Shipping and Transport at Plymouth University, Senior Partner in his own transport consultancy company and Research Fellow at the University of Oxford Transport Studies Unit. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport and has been a transport adviser to the governments of Hong Kong, Egypt, Chile and the U.K. He holds visiting Professorships at a number of institutions and an Honorary Professorship at the University of Hong Kong.

Port Economics

Port Economics
Author: Kevin Cullinane
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 259
Release: 2006-06-22
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0080460070

A port (or seaport) is a place that provides for the vessel transfer of cargo and passengers to and from waterways and shores. Port economics is concerned with the study of the economics of port services. Users of port services are those that utilize the port as part of the transportation process of moving cargo and passengers to and from origin and destination locations. Users include transportation carrriers such as shipping lines, railroads and trucking firms that perform these movements and shippers and individuals that provide the cargo and themselves as passengers to be transported. Port users demand port services, whereas port service providers such as the port terminal operator supply port services to port users. Port economics and shipping economics comprise the branch of economics known as maritime economics. This volume provides original contributions to the study of port economics: 1) the evolution of port economics; 2) economic theories of the port, port cost functions and port investment; and 3) empirical evidence on the relative efficiency of ports, the impact of ports on international maritime transport costs, the competitiveness of ports and the impact of deregulation on dockworker wages.*Provides original contributions to the study of port economics *Examines the evolution of port economics, economic theories of the port, and emprical evidence on the relative efficiency of ports, the impact of ports on transport costs, and the competitiveness of ports