Intermodal Service Scorecard : Spring 2024 September | 8
CHART 3A
III . Canadian National Railway ( CN )
The bottom line : CN received an average score of 3.2 out of 5 points , up from 3.0 points in the fall 2023 survey .
CHART 3B
Trailing the US railroads : CN trailed the four US Class I railroads in all KPIs , receiving scores that indicate “ average ” performance — i . e ., greater than 3 but less than 3.5 out of 5 points — ( Chart 3A ). CN received its lowest KPI scores in transit performance and customer service . Transit performance attempts to measure how consistent and reliable the trains are on a given route based on a low standard deviation rather than the published schedule . In the three surveys conducted to date , both Canadian railroads underperformed their US rivals on customer service . CN received a 3.1 out of 5 on customer service while all US railroads scored between 3.5 and 4.0 on this metric . CN received its best score on equipment availability , 3.4 out of 5 , but even in this category it trailed the four US railroads .
Service and pricing top challenges : In fall 2023 , 63.7 % said reliable service was a major concern and 54.5 % said value for the dollar was a major concern . In the latest survey , the two were reversed ( Chart 3B ) but remained the top two concerns among CN customers . The concern of value for the dollar isn ’ t surprising . The two Canadian railroads will raise intermodal rates annually regardless of market conditions , whereas in the US market there is a back-and-forth negotiation on pricing . Service is a major concern as 41.7 % of voters said CN ’ s performance was worse than six months ago , while 33 % said it was better . In comparison , a majority of voters ( more than 50 %) said service was better than six months ago for all US-based railroads .
CHART 3C
CSAT and NPS scores : CN received a customer satisfaction score of 41.7 % ( Chart 3C ), which was up from 28.6 % in the last survey , but still second worst among the railroads . CN ’ s net promoter score was -25 compared with -43 in the prior survey , and the average promoter score was 6.8 , up from 5.9 . It ’ s important to note , however , that the survey data was weighted toward US-based IMCs ; the Journal of Commerce aims to achieve greater balance between US and Canadabased IMCs in future Intermodal Service Scorecard surveys . Given the small sample size , the data should be viewed in general compared with the US railroads rather than down to the exact percentages . www . spglobal . com | www . joc . com © 2024 S & P Global