Make a good thing better. Thats what CSX Corp. is aiming to do with the ONE Plan. Since the Class I rolled out the operational planning/execution software tool in second-half 2004, the railroad has reduced train starts about 6 percent, eliminated terminal handlings, increased car velocity and cut transit time between origins and destinations (O-D) for certain shipments.

Now, the One Plan which CSX has continued to tweak along the way is due for an overhaul to squeeze out a few more trains from the network, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Tony Ingram told me during a visit to the Class Is Jacksonville, Fla., headquarters last month.

We have a good model and a good handle on our traffic base, he said. We need to revamp the plan and reset it.

The changes will help CSX improve customer service and reduce operating costs by consolidating more trains, which will cut fuel usage; further minimize terminal handlings; and prevent train stops and transit delays.

The railroad currently is developing a new traffic forecasting strategy, and analyzing and refining data to work out impediments for O-D pairs, says Ingram.

Were trying to determine what traffic to use for the plan from the past 30 days or what is forecasted? he says.

CSX expects to have good, critical numbers by the end of the first quarter, says Ingram. For example, the revamped plan will enable the railroad to optimize traffic flows at a Cincinnati yard by programming the software to recognize the facility optimally can handle 4,000 cars while 5,000 would be too many.

The timing is right for the revision because traffic is lighter and the plan now can incorporate new federal rules governing hazardous materials shipments. In addition, the railroad has new resources (including locomotives), more capacity and historical traffic data thats been gathered since the plans roll out.

Plus, traffic managers are more educated about and comfortable with the plan than they were in 2004, says Ingram.

We better positioned now than we were four years ago, he says. We have better discipline in the field.

CSX also has a better-than-average chance of advancing its National Gateway double-stack corridor between three mid-Atlantic ports and the Midwest but for more on that, youll have to wait until mid-January, when my cover story on the subject comes out in the next issue. In the meantime, happy holidays.