What Coal Did to Major US Railroads’ Revenues in Q1 2018
According to the AAR (Association of American Railroads), coal accounted for 32.2% of originated tonnage for Class I railroads (XTN) in the United States. In the previous year, the share was 31.6%, indicating that coal remains a dominant force among all the commodities hauled by these railroads. The association further revealed that coal’s share of their total operating revenues rose from 13.9% in 2016 to 14.8% in 2017, behind only intermodal revenues. Nearly 70% of the coal consumed by US coal-fired power plants is carried by railroads.