Freight railroads are using technology, service improvements and private investment to strengthen their competitive position in North American supply chains. In this Talking Transports podcast, Association of American Railroads President and CEO Ian Jefferies joins Bloomberg Intelligence’s senior transportation and logistics analyst Lee Klaskow to discuss how AI, predictive maintenance and automated inspection technologies are helping railroads achieve record safety levels while improving network efficiency. Jefferies explains why intermodal traffic is benefiting from tighter trucking capacity and how railroads are gaining share through improved service and lower transportation costs. He also discusses cross-border trade, regulatory modernization, autonomous rail operations and why rail remains well positioned to support future growth in manufacturing, chemicals, automotive production and housing-related demand.<br>See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Railroads Lean Into Technology and Growth

Talking Transports

# Full Transcript

**Podcast:** Talking Transports

## Participants

- **Lee Clasgow** (Bloomberg Intelligence)
- **Ian Jeffries** (Association of American Railroads)

## Transcript

Hi, I'm Tom Keen, inviting you to join me for the Bloomberg Surveillance Podcast. It's about making you smarter every business day. I'm Paul Sweeney. We bring you complete coverage of stocks, bonds, commodities, even crypto, all the information you need to excel in the markets. And I'm Alexis Christophorus. Listen to us for essential conversations with the smartest names in economics, finance, investment and international relations. That's the Bloomberg Surveillance Podcast. Subscribe today on Apple, Spotify or anywhere you listen.

Hi, everyone. This is Lee Clasgow and we're talking transports. Welcome to Bloomberg Intelligence Talking Transports Podcast. I'm your host, Lee Clasgow, Senior Freight Transportation and Logistics Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, Bloomberg's in-house research arm. Before we get started, a quick favor. If you enjoy the podcast, please subscribe, share it and leave a review and tell a friend. Your support helps us to continue bringing industry leaders and insightful conversations to you, our listeners.

And if you'd like to connect, you can find me on the Bloomberg Terminal, LinkedIn or on X at Logistics League. Today, we're joined by Ian Jeffries, President and CEO of the Association of American Railroads or AAR. Prior to assuming the role in January of 2019, Ian was the Senior Vice President of AAR's Government Affairs, where he led the development, promotion and implementation of legislative priorities.

Before joining AAR, he cultivated more than a decade of experience working within the government. Ian, welcome back to Talking Transports. Good morning, Lee. Thanks for having me. How are you doing today? I am doing great. It's a sunny day here in New Jersey, so the rain's gone, so that's all good news. So, you know, not everyone might not know what AAR does and who you and the organization.

So if you could provide us with a brief description of what you guys do. Yeah, of course. So, as you mentioned, AAR, the Association of American Railroads. We are the Rail Industries Trade Association here in Washington, D.C. And matter of fact, not too long ago, we celebrated our 90th anniversary. So we are where I'm assuming we're one of the oldest trade associations here in the city, which makes sense since railroads were the original,

the original federally regulated industry. But what we do, we represent, you know, the policy agenda of the railroads. Our members, primarily the Class 1 railroads, but also we have many of the larger short line holding companies. Amtrak is also a member. Other commuter rail lines are members as well. And, you know, our core functions, advocacy to the federal government.

So whether that's on the congressional relations side or whether that's on the administration side via regulatory activity, things along thos...

Railroads Lean Into Technology and Growth

Transcript

Built for investment professionals

Every day you wait, your competitors are finding
edge in conversations you're not hearing.

Railroads Lean Into Technology and Growth

Transcript

Built for investment professionals

Every day you wait, your competitors are findingedge in conversations you're not hearing.

Every day you wait, your competitors are finding
edge in conversations you're not hearing.