That is quite an indictment of the AAR and assumes that Mr. Hamberger had a say on whether or not Huffington listed his credentials, that an Association’s public communication is not constructed in close consultation with the members and that the industry’s naughtiness has invited legislative reregulation. Railroads have significant fixed costs which much be covered regardless of traffic levels and while there have been recent examples of public-private partnerships, the industry has spent billions of dollars over the last few years on all those new locomotives, double tracking, double stack clearance programs, etc. While expressing disappointment that Warren Buffet’s company has received a dividend, how much did BNSF pay out to other shareholders prior to the acquisition?
Just prior to the recent economic decline the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials conducted a study forecasting significant increases in rail traffic in the next few years. While the timetable for this tidal wave of traffic increases may have been set back, if you begrudge industry profits, what will be the source of the billions of additional dollars necessary to increase capacity? Perhaps you’d prefer a Detroit-style “bailout?” If interested you can read about the report here:

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