Tidbits, Railroads, USDA Layoffs, Crude Oil Breakeven 7/27/25
- Wright team
- Jul 27
- 5 min read
Tidbits
Of all the railroads, BNSF Railway (BNSF) originates the most grain carloads. Most of BNSF’s corn shipments are moved by shuttle trains (“shuttles”) made up of 110-120 hopper cars. Powered by a dedicated locomotive, each train moves as a single unit. BNSF’s shuttles are auctioned to shippers for yearlong contracts, during which shippers control where their shuttles load and unload.
BNSF’s shuttle program began shortly after the railroad’s founding in 1995. In 2000, BNSF served 69 origins (i.e., grain elevators able to load shuttles) and 28 destinations (i.e., grain elevators able to unload shuttles). By 2023, BNSF and its customers had expanded the number of origins to 263 and the number of destinations to 118, including 38 destinations in Mexico.
While the peak grain harvest transportation demand is nearly two months away, secondary market values for BNSF shuttle trips for October 2025 are currently around $763 per car, per trip. In October 2024, BNSF shuttle trips averaged about $1,400 per car, per trip in the secondary market.
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