BNSF’s revenue slump
With over 20 billion U.S. dollars in operating revenue generated by BNSF Railway every year and more than 88 billion in total assets, the company hauls a range of products from consumer to coal, agricultural or industrial commodities. Its major share of freight revenue comes from the consumer products sector such as automotive, which make up almost 35 percent of its total earnings. In 2020, the railroad hauled 1.6 million carloads of industrial products and 1.4 million carloads of coal products. 2020 financial results have overall dipped compared to the previous fiscal year, with a loss of 11 percent of its operational income. This drop is attributed to the lower demand for consumer products, especially in the automotive sector, and increase in prices for natural gas brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.A global freight leader
BNSF Railway is often ranked among the best Class I freight rail companies. In 2019, it was also the only North American Class I freight company to rank among the 10 leading freight transportation companies worldwide. The Union Pacific Railroad Company is its main competitor in the NAFTA market. With Union Pacific’s freight revenue reaching over 18.2 billion U.S. dollars in 2020, the two companies held the majority of the market in terms of revenues. BNSF was also the leading North American railroad company based on carloads. With close to 9.5 billion carloads transported in 2020, it dwarfed its main competitor by over 1.7 billion.
