First China-U.K. Freight Train Departs as Xi Seeks to Lift Trade

Re:First China-U.K. Freight Train Departs as Xi Seeks to Lif... by wastedhours on Wednesday January 04, 2017 @07:28AM (#13317679)

I don't claim to understand logistics - but will we see companies pay for slots on the trains as insurance, but not use them if everything's fine? Train company gets a deposit, shipper gets an insurance policy for semi-important payloads?

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Re:First China-U.K. Freight Train Departs as Xi Seeks to Lif... by arctangent on Wednesday January 04, 2017 @08:45AM (#13318158)

I'm fairly sure that such an approach plays a part in what would be a mixed strategy approach to mitigating risk.

Other ingredients to the mix would include insurance and complex financial trades (e.g. derivatives).

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Re:First China-U.K. Freight Train Departs as Xi Seeks to Lif... by wastedhours on Wednesday January 04, 2017 @08:57AM (#13318252)

Is there a second-market in freight spots already? As in, I'm guessing major manufacturers need to pre-buy to a certain degree and then might not use them all (or are the shipping companies so over the barrel at the moment that it's a non-issue?)

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