An Exploratory Comparative Analysis of Northern Plains Grain Shippers’ Perspective on Whether Operational Performance Translates into Service Quality in Freight Rail Transportation

Abstract

The aim of this study is to assess whether railroad operational performance indictors translate into service quality. We achieved this by using the nonparametric Mann-Whitney test to compare grain shippers’ perceptions of rail service with a pooled cross-section of survey data between 2008 and 2018 in North Dakota, U.S., involving six service dimensions: marketing and sales, timely delivery of equipment, car ordering alternatives/process, condition of equipment, availability of order information, and access to marketing personnel. The analysis is undertaken with an underlying assumption that shippers’ expectations about rail service are low. Results indicate that differences in freight rail service quality can be better explained by differences between railroads compared to differences within railroads over time. Gaps exist between shippers’ expectations and perceptions of freight rail service. It appears that some freight railroads have been able to exceed shippers’ service expectations by providing higher freight service quality than would be expected. Results suggest that the service quality of a shortline freight railroad is affected by its affiliated Class I freight railroad when comparing service quality as perceived by shortline freight railroad shippers. Although operational performance indicators including dwell time and train speed are frequently used to reflect service quality because of the dearth of knowledge about rail freight service quality, these operational performance indicators do not necessarily reflect service quality. The quality of freight rail service should be based on shippers’ perception or the gap between shippers’ perceptions and expectations.