The grain handling and transportation system in North Dakota is experiencing tremendous infrastructural change. Multiple car grain rates, rail line abandonments, energy considerations and technological advances are corollary factors, among others, influencing this transition.

This paper presents an overview of the use and development of rail cost statistics in transportation and marketing analysis. The purpose of the paper is to provide transportation and marketing analysts with a general description of cost procedures and areas of application and use.

Since the passage of the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976, State governments have assumed an interest in maintaining and promoting adequate rail service within their boundaries. These activities, consisting of providing technical assistance to shippers, carriers, and communities...

The development and use of transportation databases is an essential prerequisite to transportation and marketing analysis. In few other disciplines are the databases so scattered and uncoordinated as in the field of transportation. Yet, there are few disciplines which are so data-dependent, particularly...

This analysis presents the results of a rail cost study for North Dakota grain. The purpose of the analysis is to describe the relative costs associated with various grain gathering alternatives. To that extent, four different levels of service have been analyzed: 1) 52-car single-origin; 2) 52-car two-origin...