One shipper claims the efficiency of “Precision railroading” is “doing less with less and not charging less.” But there have been benefits: Norfolk Southern, using lean techniques, has reduced dwell time in its terminals by 20%, and Union Pacific claims that Precision railroading helped clear some gridlock earlier in the year. The stock market spoke angrily: shares of rail companies like NS and CSX fell significantly in mid-July…as freight volume declined.
Warehouses near cities have been a hot commodity…but overall warehouse construction is down 20%. At the same time, Amazon is leasing space to start another grocery channel that appears to be oriented towards prepared foods…and not directly in competition with its Whole Foods brand.
Maybe this will push some life into empty Toys R Us properties.