For the past few years, the composite customer-satisfaction scores for standard rail service and intermodal had been chugging steadily upward, perhaps in response to the industry's own climb to improved stability. This year, however, scores derailed slightly in four out of the five attributes, and the overall rating dropped from 31.33 to 30.45. The good news is that the one category where scores increased across the board was customer service, with a score of 5.80 compared to 5.52 in 2002.

Logistics Management readers lauded three rail carriers this year. Wisconsin Central, a subsidiary of Canadian National, nabbed top berth for the second consecutive year, followed closely by CSX Transportation and Burlington Northern Santa Fe, which also have held high positions in recent Quest for Quality rankings.

Among intermodal service providers, Triple Crown Services and CSX Intermodal took the laurels for the third straight year. Although the average score in this category dwindled from 32.34 to 31.87, CSX bumped its own score up from last year, moving from 32.38 to 32.82, and both companies' scores were up slightly from two years ago. And again, they managed to please customers, with customer-service scores of 6.56 for Triple Crown and 6.40 for CSX Intermodal, well above the category average of 6.05.

Readers also kept some perennial favorites on the intermodal marketing company list. Matson Intermodal System rolled into first place with a commanding score of 35.06, a strong improvement over its fifth-place 32.59 last year. GST Corp., last year's big winner, took second with a score of 32.69 and C.H. Robinson took third with 32.23 points. Alliance Shippers returned for the first time since 1998 with 32.16, followed by Exel (32.14) and Pacer Global Logistics (31.91).

Here again, customer service made a hearty upward surge, hitting 6.31 compared to last year's 5.92. Unlike the other segments, however, intermodal marketers also received higher marks for equipment and operations, tallying 5.15 compared to 2002's 5.02.

More than half (54 percent) of respondents said they preferred to make bookings through intermodal marketing companies. When asked if they had encountered rail service disruptions during the past year, 54 percent said that they had experienced such problems.