How much does it cost to ship via rail - Trains Magazine

304live:

Ive googled this quite a few times but I just cant find any rough idea how much it costs to ship car loads via rail of any type.

I would guess that loads vary in price for all kinds of different reasons... type, distance, days it takes to unload, hazmat status, etc.

But are we talking 100's of dollars to ship something or 1000's of dollars? I wouldn't even have an idea what to guess... Can anybody help me out?

Be cautious looking at tariff rates -- they're the "walk-up" rate like you would pay if you ran up to the airline counter and said "Get me on the next flight, price no object!"  Almost no shipper pays a walk-up rate, but gains substantial discounts through volume committements, providing their own equipment, and so forth.

The average rate per ton-mile (one ton of freight moved one mile) is just above 3 cents at the present time on U.S. Class 1 railroads.  For the full year 2009, the average rate was 3.011 cents.  Bulk commodities are well below that average, at about 2 cents per ton-mile, and high-value, high-service intermodal freight well above that average, at about 5 cents per ton-mile (or even more in some cases).  The average length of haul (2009) was 918 miles, and the average tons per carload was 64.2 tons.  Thus, the average carload of freight cost the shipper $1,774.55.

RWM