The Surface Transportation Board (STB) published weekly service report updates for Class 1 railroads spanning data acquired through the end of Nov ’16. Overall, ethanol and grain transportation speeds remained above historical average levels while weekly held car results were mixed. Ethanol Transportation:

• Average train speeds for ethanol transportation finished higher on a YOY basis throughout the final four weeks of November. Dec 3rd ethanol train speeds of 24.4 MPH were 7.7% higher than the historical average grain train speeds and 1.5% higher YOY.

• Ethanol cars held 48-120 hours remained below average seasonal levels throughout much of the past four weeks, finishing 1.6% lower than the previous year figures.

• Ethanol cars held longer than 120 hours also remained below average seasonal levels, finishing 16.9% below the previous year throughout the past four weeks.

Grain Transportation:

• Average train speeds for grain transportation finished lower on a YOY basis over three of the past four weeks. Dec 3rd grain train speeds of 23.3 MPH finished 2.6% lower YOY but remained 3.3% higher than the historical average grain train speeds.

• Grain cars held 48-120 hours remained below average seasonal levels throughout much of the past four weeks, finishing 4.1% lower than the previous year figures.

• Grain cars held longer than 120 hours increased to above average seasonal levels, however, finishing 7.0% higher the previous year figures throughout the past four weeks.

Total Cars Online:

• Dec 3rd total cars online totaled 1.01 million, down 0.4% from the previous week and remaining 0.8% below last year’s figures. Dec 3rd total cars online finished 1.6% above the record low experienced during the week ending May 28th.

• Dec 3rd total cars online by railway were led by Union Pacific, followed by BNSF, CSX and Norfolk Southern.