Rail Car Trip Transit Time and the Effects on Grain Trading Company Profits

Abstract

This examines the logistic process of a grain trading company, and how logistics affect profits. Trip transit time is the amount of times a shuttle train moves back and forth from an elevator and a destination. In the years prior to the 2013/ 2014 crop year, shuttles moved between elevators and destination nearly 3 times in a given month. When transit time dropped in 2013, this created a unique situation to be examined. It changed how grain trading companies needed to alter strategy to maintain a profit. The decrease in trip transit time affected how rail cars moved, but also altered the price paid for freight. In conclusion, this thesis discovered that strategies on rail cars altered between the years. The strategies created opportunities for grain trading companies to change the structure of profits. This thesis also creates new opportunities for future research.