This page shows visualizations of the Surface Transportation Board's (STB) weekly Rail Service Metrics, with a focus on agricultural service metrics. It includes visualizations showing train speeds, dwell times, unfilled grain car orders, and others.

The dataset contains weekly rail service metrics from the Surface Transportation Board (STB). The STB began collecting some service metrics from railroads in October 2014 and issued a final rulemaking in March 2017, ultimately collecting data on 11 different categories of rail service (listed below). The STB also collects Chicago-specific metrics that are not included in this dataset. The original STB source data can be found here: https://prod.stb.gov/reports-data/rail-service-data/.

This dataset is a compilation of all 11 categories in a single table. The single-table approach offers a convenient way to access all of the data at once, and it enables the use of the "global filter" feature in the Agricultural Rail Service Metrics dashboard found here: https://internal.agtransport.usda.gov/stories/s/jxpf-zf6y.

For those that wish to work with each category separately (or to view the metadata for each category), the 11 individual tables can be accessed at the following URLs:

Carloadings: https://agtransport.usda.gov/d/tb7q-kn5i.
Train Speeds: https://agtransport.usda.gov/d/2wy9-nmz4.
Origin Dwell Times: https://agtransport.usda.gov/d/34cn-rk65.
Terminal Dwell Times: https://agtransport.usda.gov/d/9z94-b4fw.
Cars On Line: https://agtransport.usda.gov/d/grdc-x6yk.
Manifest Grain Car Order Fulfillment: https://agtransport.usda.gov/d/57pa-stwn.
Railcars Not Moved: https://agtransport.usda.gov/d/fta3-xryx.
Trains Held Short: https://agtransport.usda.gov/d/iacs-9uck.
Grain Cars Loaded and Billed: https://agtransport.usda.gov/d/27k8-utc2.
Grain Shuttle Train Turns: https://agtransport.usda.gov/d/nwye-ushu.
Coal Unit Train Loadings: https://agtransport.usda.gov/d/5pbv-pd4d.

Weekly grain car orders (for manifest service) data from the Surface Transportation Board's (STB) Rail Service Metrics. As part of their submission to the STB, railroads provide data on the running totals of grain car orders placed versus grain car orders filled by State for cars moving in manifest service (as opposed to unit train service). In addition, STB requests the railroads report the number of unfilled orders that are 1-10 days overdue and 11+ days overdue, as measured from the due date for placement under the carrier’s governing tariff.

"Grain" includes the following Standard Transportation Commodity Codes (STCCs): 01131 (barley), 01132 (corn), 01133 (oats), 01135 (rye), 01136 (sorghum grains), 01137 (wheat), 01139 (grain, not elsewhere classified), 01144 (soybeans), 01341 (beans, dry), 01342 (peas, dry), and 01343 (cowpeas, lentils, or lupines).

Weekly train speeds data from the Surface Transportation Board's (STB) Rail Service Metrics. The STB began collecting service metrics from railroads in October 2014. As part of their submission to the STB, railroads provide data on the average speed of their trains (in miles per hour), broken out by commodity/type such as automotive, coal, crude oil, ethanol, grain, intermodal, manifest, etc. Railroads also report a “system average” train speed. According to the STB rulemaking, train speed should be measured for line-haul movements between terminals. The average speed for each train type should be calculated by dividing total train miles by total hours operated.

Query from the rail terminal dwell times dataset to include only the latest week of data. Additionally, this view also uses all years of the terminal dwell data, but only the current month of each year, to compute an average and standard deviation of terminal dwell time for each yard and provide a sense of seasonal normal levels.

This chart shows seasonal originated grain carloads. By default, the chart sums across railroads and includes the past 5 years, but it can be filtered to a different set of railroads, dates, and commodities, or to show received carloads.

Weekly carloads from the Surface Transportation Board’s (STB) Rail Service Metrics. Each week, the seven Class I railroads submit originated and received carloads by 23 major commodity groups, such as grain, grain mill, primary forest products, chemicals, coal, containers, trailers, etc.

While the STB began collecting some service metrics from railroads (e.g., trains speeds, origin dwell, and terminal dwell) in October 2014, it did not start collecting carload data until March 2017 through a new rulemaking.

This chart shows weekly unfilled grain car orders, grouped by whether the order has been unfilled for less than or equal to 10 days or greater than 10 days. By default, the chart sums across all railroads and states, and includes the past 5 years, but it can be filtered to a different set of railroads, dates, and States.

Weekly terminal dwell time data from the Surface Transportation Board’s (STB) Rail Service Metrics. The STB began collecting service metrics from railroads in October 2014. As part of their submission to the STB, railroads provide average terminal dwell time, measured in hours, excluding cars on runthrough trains (i.e., cars that arrive at, and depart from, a terminal on the same through train) for the carrier’s system and its 10 largest terminals in terms of railcars processed. (Terminal dwell is the average time a car resides at a specified terminal location expressed in hours.)

Weekly origin dwell time data from the Surface Transportation Board’s (STB) Rail Service Metrics. The STB began collecting service metrics from railroads in October 2014. As part of their submission to STB, railroads provide "weekly average dwell time at origin for loaded unit train shipments sorted by grain, coal, automotive, crude oil, ethanol, and all other unit trains. For the purposes of this data element, dwell time refers to the time period from release of a unit train at origin or interchange location until actual movement by the receiving carrier. The data is to be reported by the receiving carrier."