A Ukrainian train with HIMARS missiles and uranium ammunition was destroyed in a night strike

A Ukrainian train with HIMARS missiles and uranium ammunition was destroyed in a night strike

2023-10-26

News

A Ukrainian train with HIMARS missiles and uranium ammunition was destroyed in a night strike

At night, a complex attack was carried out on military installations located in the Khmelnitsky region of Ukraine. One of the key targets affected was the 47th ammunition storage arsenal (military unit A1358).

At the time of the strike, new types of weapons provided to Ukraine by Western partners were being unloaded on the territory of the said arsenal. According to available information, among the destroyed weapons were missiles for the HIMARS MLRS, as well as tank rounds containing uranium.
Подробнее на: https://avia-pro.net/news/nochnym-udarom-unichtozhen-ukrainskiy-eshelon-s-raketami-himars-i-uranovymi-boepripasami

Read more & video 

 

Rail Line Collasping on West Coast

Rail line access collapsing along the West Coast, forcing desperate suppliers to ship products using more expensive truck freight instead

September 16, 2020 by IWB

 

by: Ethan Huff

(Natural News) The industrial rail lines that fan out from ports all along the West Coast to destinations throughout the rest of the United States are no longer able to accommodate normal demand for product shipments, according to new reports.

A logistics consultant from Northern California claims he was unable to book any shipping containers either through Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) or Union Pacific (UP) during the first week of September, a scenario that apparently has never happened before during his tenure.

“I have been working in the industry for 30 years and I have never seen anything like this,” he is quoted as saying after failing to get loads sent to and from West Coast ports and Midwest destinations. “It’s weird.”

This individual, who chose to remain anonymous, says it was the same story in Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland, and Seattle, all of which had “no rail cars” and “no chassis” available for shipping goods.

Because these two major rail lines appear to no longer be accepting shipments, some companies are now having to send their goods via truck freight, which is a whole lot more expensive.

“The railroads will not take any bookings right now and so all the containers going to and from the West Coast to places such as Chicago and Memphis must go by truck,” he indicated.

The situation is putting importers of low-value products such as tee shirts at an economic disadvantage since it will now cost them a whole lot more money to send their goods via America’s crumbling roadways.

A freight truck from Los Angeles or Long Beach to Chicago, for instance, costs about $7,000, while one from LA or LB to Nashville costs about $7,200. A shipment from the same origin all the way to Jacksonville, Florida, costs even more at $8,800 a pop.

While it used to cost about $2,000 to send a truck container from one coast to the other, “those days are gone,” the consultant maintains.

“In the good old days, you could ship a container from the West Coast to Chicago or Memphis by rail for $1,000,” he explains.

More train loads now passing through Canada because it’s cheaper

One exception was observed at the Port of Prince Rupert in British Columbia, where COSCO vessels can still ship goods internationally from Memphis, Tennessee while completely avoiding America’s West Coast ports. The only problem is that it takes an extra 21 days, the consultant noted.

Shipping through Canada in this manner is cheaper, however, which evidence suggests is contributing to a shift in the way some businesses send their goods overseas.

BNSF is also rejecting the notion that it lacks international railcar capacity, which a spokesman described as “inaccurate.”

“BNSF is open for business and ready to receive all freight from ocean carriers at the West Coast ports,” he added. “We have a railcar fleet in excess of demand and have sufficient locomotives, equipment and people across our network to handle current and additional volumes.”

“As always, we are in constant communication with our customers and remain focused on meeting their shipment needs.”

UP offered similar feedback, claiming that the company is continuing to align its resources to handle increased demand. An UP spokesman told AJOT that there is “positive momentum” happening, and a “surge” in “intermodal demand.”

The Surface Transportation Board (STB), however, sent identical letters to both companies expressing similar concerns as the consultant about a lack of adequate rail service, as well as available rail personnel to handle the transport freight.

More related news about America’s growing logistics problem can be found at Collapse.news.

Sources for this article include:

AJOT.com

NaturalNews.com

Blogger's note:  subterrnews.blogspot.com does not send cookies, or collect any information on those using the blog.  However, the blogspot is on google, and google may collect information, and send cookies.  Many of the links that  we connect to do not send out cookies or collect information, but some do.  You are keying in to this blog, and you have agreed to this.

The views expressed in the articles do not necessarily represent the opinions of this blog.  They are the views, and opinions of the author(s) of the article.

 

 

 

US Freight “Plummets,” Worst October since 2011, Trucking, Rail, All Of It.

Submitted by IWB, on November 12th, 2015

 

 

Wolf Richter wolfstreet.com, www.amazon.com/author/wolfrichter
Transportation is a gauge into how well the real economy is doing. And it just keeps getting worse.

In October, the number of freight shipments in North America fell from September, in line with the patterns of the past few years, but it fell more sharply than before. And year-over-year, shipments dropped 5.3% to hit the worst level for October since 2011, according to the Cass Freight Index, after having already plunged in the prior month to the worst level for a September since 2010.

Cass put it this way:

This month’s decline was much sharper than in recent years and can be directly correlated to falling imports and exports as well as decreased domestic manufacturing levels. Burdened by bloated inventories, and under the shadow of a possible interest rate increase by the Federal Reserve, businesses cut back on new orders placed in the last three or four months. This is resulting in lower import volumes, less freight to move, and faltering industrial production. With the dollar still strengthening, export growth decelerated in the third quarter.

With the exception of January and February, the index has been lower year-over-year every month, which makes for a very crummy year:

The index is broad. It tracks shipment data from all kinds of companies, no matter what mode of shipping they choose, including truck and rail. But it does not cover bulk commodities, such as oil, wheat, coal, etc. It’s based on “$26 billion in freight transactions processed by Cass annually on behalf of its client base of hundreds of large shippers,” as Cass explains. These shippers form a “broad sample” in all kinds of sectors, including consumer packaged goods, food, automotive, chemical, OEM, heavy equipment, and retail.
Ah, retail…. Retailers are already blaming the debacle on the weather.
Macy’s was the latest retailer to confirm why transportation is having a hard time: revenues dropped 5% as earnings plunged 46% in the quarter ended October 31. While at it, it lowered guidance for the year, with sales at stores open at least one year declining 1.8% to 2.2%.
“Spending by domestic customers remained tepid, especially in key apparel and accessory categories,” said CEO Terry Lundgren. He also blamed tourists that weren’t digging deeply enough into their pockets. Its shares plunged 14% on Wednesday and are down 44.6% from their high in July. Party over.
Companies across the US have been dogged by these sorts of unpleasant revenue declines. And where revenues are from selling merchandise, rather than services, the story involves transportation.
Commenting on my article a month ago about the freight debacle in September, “Harvie” supplied some boots-on-the-ground color:

I own a fleet of 15 trucks that go on the road delivering all kinds of freight, and I can tell you it’s extremely slow. This should be our busiest season for the 4th quarter but it feels like it’s January. With the price of diesel being low and low amounts of freight moving, the rates for all truck loads have dropped significantly. Meanwhile our insurance payments increase every year.
I’ve spoken to numerous freight brokers also, and they say the same.

This comes at the totally wrong time. Trucking had been booming in 2014. Capacity was squeezed. Rates were rising. Trucking companies went on a buying binge. Then came 2015 [read… And Now Trucking Is Suddenly Slowing Down].
But it’s not just in trucking. This is what Cass said about rail shipments – note the plunge in intermodal (containers):

The Association of American Railroads reports that October traffic was down 4.3% from 2014 levels. More importantly, though, is that carloads dropped 20.7% and intermodal fell 20.3% from the previous month.
Rail has been hit particularly hard by the rapid drop in industrial commodities caused by the steady decline in industrial production. Coal, petroleum, and ores were down, while grain was up. The reductions in energy production are being felt throughout the freight community as shipments of not only petroleum, but also pipe, water, sand, and other drilling materials have dropped off significantly.

Some commenters on my mid-October article added some granular details: “Also noticing CSX freight cars sitting idle again like was happening in 2009.” And “Tuba” observed: “I take an annual train trip to Reno, NV. One of the stops is Grand Junction Colorado. Normally this is a mostly abandoned very large train yard. This year I was surprised to see hundreds of idled Union Pacific locomotives as far as the eye could see.”
Declining shipments and “abundant capacity in the trucking sector” are pressuring spot rates all around, and so freight payments by shippers “plummeted,” as Cass said, 8.7% year-over-year and hit the lowest level for an October since 2011:

Cass finds that the lousy Q3 GDP growth “was indicative of the economic headwinds facing the economy.” Among them, the strong dollar, “the weakening world economy,” and this:

Inventory levels remain a looming problem as the Federal Reserve has been actively hinting that an interest rate hike is very possible in December. The combination of record inventory levels and an interest rate increase will cause a significant hike in inventory carrying costs. This will most likely drive a drawdown much like the one we saw in 2009 and 2010.

It’s unnerving how these references to the Great Recession keep cropping up at every twist and turn these days.
So who is going to pull the global economy out of its funk? No one knows. But it’s not going to be China. That’s what China’s trade fiasco is saying. Read…China Trade Swoons, Collapse of Containerized Freight Index Hits Worst Level Ever, Global Slowdown Worse than Forecast