“Assuming fuel prices remain relatively stable, this will likely represent a negative second half impact of around $0.50 per share.”

In context

“nd lumber remains soft. Additionally, the outlook for coal has weakened since the start of the year but with some near-term opportunities given the extreme heat. Although we still expect to outpace industrial production in certain markets, weak demand for consumer goods has pushed our full year volume outlook below current industrial production estimates, which are slightly positive. Unchanged is our expectation to generate pricing dollars in excess of inflation dollars. To date, we've made great progress repricing our business to reflect the impact of higher inflation, and that momentum will continue. As it relates to fuel prices, I should point out that the tailwind we've experienced these past 24 months is now expected to shift to a headwind both on the operating ratio and EPS front. Assuming fuel prices remain relatively stable, this will likely represent a negative second half impact of around $0.50 per share. Eric provided some great context on our labor agreements. And although they clearly come with some upfront cost, we see opportunities as well. Starting with the sick leave agreements. Our current forecast is that they will add roughly $50 million to labor expense in the second half of 2023, which is reflected in the cost per crew numbers I quoted earlier. We view these costs as added inflationary pressures that we will reflect in our pricing. For the brake person agreement, we've already seen the impact of that upfront payment. Our expected payback period is roughly two years as it allows us to redeploy crew personnel, save on costly borrow-out positions as well as reduce our current hiring needs. Implementation of the BLET work rest agreement will start over the next month or so with c”