Company Reports

While peers—especially Canadian Pacific—have caught up over the years, Canadian National was long the Class I railroad with the highest margin (lowest operating ratio) because it was the precision scheduled railroading pioneer in the 2000s. PSR architect Hunter Harrison left CN in 2009 and ended up applying his playbook at CP and eventually CSX. Historically, CN bolstered its velocity by making greater use of distributed power and extending sidings at port staging areas. Running a precision scheduled railroad requires commitment to on-time train departures from employees and customers queuing cars for departure. We think PSR remains in CN's DNA, though we believe management was focused more on growth than margins between 2019 and 2021, before the 2022 leadership changes.

Canadian National's second-quarter revenue jumped 11% year over year—excluding foreign exchange—on higher carloads and strong all-in yield gains (surging fuel surcharges, positive core pricing). Adjusted margin fell this quarter mostly due to fuel noise.

While peers—especially Canadian Pacific—have caught up over the years, Canadian National was long the Class I railroad with the highest margin (lowest operating ratio) because it was the precision scheduled railroading pioneer in the 2000s. PSR architect Hunter Harrison left CN in 2009 and ended up applying his playbook at CP and eventually CSX. Historically, CN bolstered its velocity by making greater use of distributed power and extending sidings at port staging areas. Running a precision scheduled railroad requires commitment to on-time train departures from employees and customers queuing cars for departure. We think PSR remains in CN's DNA, though we believe management was focused more on growth than margins between 2019 and 2021, before the 2022 leadership changes.

Canadian National's first-quarter top line grew 2% year over year (excluding foreign exchange) on higher volumes. Total yield was flat as unfavorable mix and tough comps related to the elimination of the Canadian federal carbon tax offset healthy core pricing gains.

While peers—especially Canadian Pacific—have caught up over the years, Canadian National was long the Class I railroad with the highest margin (lowest operating ratio) because it was the precision scheduled railroading pioneer in the 2000s. PSR architect Hunter Harrison left CN in 2009 and ended up applying his playbook at CP and eventually CSX. Historically, CN bolstered its velocity by making greater use of distributed power and extending sidings at port staging areas. Running a precision scheduled railroad requires commitment to on-time train departures from employees and customers queuing cars for departure. We think PSR remains in CN's DNA, though we believe management was focused more on growth than margins between 2019 and 2021, before the 2022 leadership changes.

Canadian National's fourth-quarter top line increased 2% year over year on higher intermodal and grain volume. Total yield was flat, likely due to mix, as we suspect that core pricing on carload business remains positive. Consolidated profitability improved on network productivity management.

While peers—especially Canadian Pacific—have caught up over the years, Canadian National was long the Class I railroad with the highest margin (lowest operating ratio) because it was the precision scheduled railroading pioneer in the 2000s. PSR architect Hunter Harrison left CN in 2009 and ended up applying his playbook at CP and eventually CSX. Historically, CN bolstered its velocity by making greater use of distributed power and extending sidings at port staging areas. Running a precision scheduled railroad requires commitment to on-time train departures from employees and customers queuing cars for departure. We think PSR remains in CN's DNA, though we believe management was focused more on growth than margins between 2019 and 2021, before the 2022 leadership changes.

Canadian National's third-quarter top line increased 1% year over year on higher intermodal volume, partly offset by mix-related yield pressure (lower merchandise carloads, higher intermodal activity). Consolidated profitability improved on good network productivity management.

While peers—especially Canadian Pacific—have caught up over the years, Canadian National was long the Class I railroad with the highest margin (lowest operating ratio) because it was the precision scheduled railroading pioneer in the 2000s. PSR architect Hunter Harrison left CN in 2009 and ended up applying his playbook at CP and eventually CSX. Historically, CN bolstered its velocity by making greater use of distributed power and extending sidings at port staging areas. Running a precision scheduled railroad requires commitment to on-time train departures from employees and customers queuing cars for departure. We think PSR remains in CN's DNA, though we suspect management was focused more on growth than margins between 2019 and 2021, before the 2022 leadership changes.

Canadian National's second-quarter top line fell 1% year over year due to the onset of mix-related yield pressure (lower merchandise carloads) and lower fuel surcharges amid flattish volume trends. Profitability improved slightly.

While peers—especially Canadian Pacific—have caught up over the years, Canadian National was long the Class I railroad with the highest margin (lowest operating ratio) because it was the precision scheduled railroading pioneer in the 2000s. PSR architect Hunter Harrison left CN in 2009 and ended up applying his playbook at CP and eventually CSX. Historically, CN bolstered its velocity by making greater use of distributed-power and extending sidings at port staging areas. Running a precision scheduled railroad requires commitment to on-time train departures from employees and customers queuing cars for departure. We think PSR remains in CN's DNA, though we sense management was focused more on growth than margins between 2019 and 2021, before the 2022 leadership changes.

Canadian National's first-quarter top line grew 3.5% year over year due to favorable foreign exchange, mix-related yield gains (longer lengths of haul), and higher core carload pricing. Total volume was down, partly because of winter weather disruption, though profitability improved slightly.

US President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs on all US imports. For the North American Class-I railroads, the key threat is tariffs' impact on macroeconomic growth in terms of US real goods spending (for intermodal volumes) and industrial production (for carload volumes).

While peers—especially Canadian Pacific—have caught up over the years, Canadian National was long the Class I railroad with the highest margin (lowest operating ratio) because it was the precision scheduled railroading pioneer in the 2000s. PSR architect Hunter Harrison left CN in 2009 and ended up applying his playbook at CP and eventually CSX. Historically, CN bolstered its velocity by making greater use of distributed-power and extending sidings at port staging areas. Running a precision scheduled railroad requires commitment to on-time train departures from employees and customers queuing cars for departure. We think PSR remains in CN's DNA, though we sense management was focused more on growth than margins between 2019 and 2021, before the 2022 leadership changes (albeit growth was tempered by external events like congestion, strikes, blockages, and tough weather).

While peers—especially Canadian Pacific—have caught up over the years, Canadian National was long the Class I railroad with the highest margin (lowest operating ratio) because it was the precision scheduled railroading pioneer in the 2000s. PSR architect Hunter Harrison left CN in 2009 and ended up applying his playbook at CP and eventually CSX. Historically, CN bolstered its velocity by making greater use of distributed-power and extending sidings at port staging areas. Running a precision scheduled railroad requires commitment to on-time train departures from employees and customers queuing cars for departure. We think PSR remains in CN's DNA, though we sense management was focused more on growth than margins between 2019 and 2021, before the 2022 leadership changes (albeit growth was tempered by external events like congestion, strikes, blockages, and tough weather).

Canadian National's fourth-quarter top line fell 2.5% year over year due to labor-related port disruption in Canada (strikes at Vancouver, Prince Rupert, and Montreal) and greater cold-weather operating restrictions. These factors also pressured margins during the quarter.

While peers—especially Canadian Pacific—have caught up over the years, Canadian National was long the Class I railroad with the highest margin (lowest operating ratio) because it was the precision scheduled railroading pioneer in the 2000s. PSR architect Hunter Harrison left CN in 2009 and ended up applying his playbook at CP and eventually CSX. Historically, CN bolstered its velocity by making greater use of distributed-power and extending sidings at port staging areas. Running a precision scheduled railroad requires commitment to on-time train departures from employees and customers queuing cars for departure. We think PSR remains in CN's DNA, though we sense management was focused more on growth than margins between 2019 and 2021, before the 2022 leadership changes (albeit growth was tempered by external events like congestion, strikes, blockages, and tough weather).

While peers—especially Canadian Pacific—have caught up over the years, Canadian National was long the Class I railroad with the highest margin (lowest operating ratio) because it was the precision scheduled railroading pioneer in the 2000s. PSR architect Hunter Harrison left CN in 2009 and ended up applying his playbook at CP and eventually CSX. Historically, CN bolstered its velocity by making greater use of distributed-power and extending sidings at port staging areas. Running a precision scheduled railroad requires commitment to on-time train departures from employees and customers queuing cars for departure. We think PSR remains in CN's DNA, though we sense management was focused more on growth than margins between 2019 and 2021, before the 2022 leadership changes (albeit growth was tempered by external events like congestion, strikes, blockages, and tough weather).

Canadian National's third-quarter revenue rose 3% year over year—in line with our expectations, which we revised downward following the Canadian railroad work stoppage in August.

While peers—especially Canadian Pacific—have caught up over the years, Canadian National was long the Class I railroad with the highest margin (lowest operating ratio) because it was the precision scheduled railroading pioneer in the 2000s. PSR architect Hunter Harrison left CN in 2009 and ended up applying his playbook at CP and eventually CSX. Historically, CN bolstered its velocity by making greater use of distributed-power locomotives and extending sidings at port staging areas. Running a precision scheduled railroad requires commitment to on-time train departures from employees and customers queuing cars for departure. We think PSR is still in CN's DNA, though we sense management was focused more on growth than margins between 2019 and 2021, before the 2022 leadership changes (albeit growth was tempered by external events like congestion, strikes, blockages, and tough weather).