First of all, like most railroad companies, CSX owns irreplaceable assets.

The network of track that CSX has in place is virtually impossible to replicate. CSX spans the densely populated eastern United States, capturing about half of the rail volume in the region. Its rights of way and installed track form a nearly impenetrable barrier to competition from other railroads.

Shipping by rail is also less expensive than trucking for long distances. It is four times more fuel-efficient per ton-mile. Today's trains can move a ton of freight more than 430 miles on a gallon of diesel. Railroads can be notoriously expensive to maintain, but CSX has done a great job at keeping costs down. Capital expenditures amounted to about 20% of revenue in 2015.

And although railroads spend large amounts of money on their infrastructure, a dollar spent on railroad infrastructure has historically offered a more certain (and lower-risk) return than a dollar spent on infrastructure in other industries. Simply put, without rail operators like CSX, commerce would be much more expensive.