US railroads may still be too short staffed to continue improving service, especially as volumes recover this year. In this Talking Transports podcast, the Surface Transportation Board (STB) Chairman Martin Oberman joins Lee Klaskow, Bloomberg Intelligence senior transportation & logistics analyst, to discuss the state of the railroad industry from the regulator’s perspective. Lower head counts from the transition to precision-scheduled railroading and furloughs in 2020 contributed to poor service and supply-chain dislocations during the pandemic, Oberman says. Improving service is imperative for railroads to win share back from trucks and also for the overall health of the economy. Oberman also discusses reciprocal switching, industry consolidation and his pending retirement from the STB.

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