Conclusions (cont.)
Railroads do not have enough resources and an incentive to apply SCH (even FSS) for all traffic priorities; FSS may not provide good service for high priority traffic; FLX is only appropriate for low priority traffic
For high priority traffic such as auto and intermodal traffic, use SCH
For medium priority traffic such as general merchandise traffic, use FSS
For low priority traffic such as bulk (coal) unit trains, use FLX
Applying different operating strategies to different traffic priorities as a strategic tool to differentiate rail freight service
For railroads, customer service requirement, their willingness to pay for service, available resources, and capacity are driven factors determining which operating strategies are used