Roughly 140,000 miles of track. Around 600 railroads. Nearly 580 of them are shortlines. So why then does the industry still treat them like their kid brother?
In this episode, Harris + Sydney delve into what actually defines a shortline (hint: it’s annual revenue, not track miles), + why the smallest operators are so often the first to trial new technology. They also talk about the proximity advantage shortlines have – it doesn’t take thirty meetings + ten different committees when your shippers are close enough to quickly tell if your “good idea” worked or not.
Perhaps not unexpectedly, they also find a chance to touch on how shortlines are reacting to the merger news. And with over 500 different voices at the table, that’s a lot of opinions to digest – though you might just be surprised to hear where we think they land!