East Coast Railroad Company transports commodities among three routes (city-pairs): Atlanta/Baltimore, Baltimore/Pittsburgh, and Pittsburgh/Atlanta. Significant costs, their cost behavior, and activity rates for April are as follows:

Cost	Amount	Cost Behavior	Activity Rate
Labor costs for loading and unloading railcars	$ 175,582	Variable	$46.00 per railcar
Fuel costs	460,226	Variable	12.40 per train-mile
Train crew labor costs	267,228	Variable	7.20 per train-mile
Switchyard labor costs	118,327	Variable	31.00 per railcar
Track and equipment depreciation	194,400	Fixed
Maintenance	129,600	Fixed
Total Amount	$1,345,363

Operating statistics from the management information system reveal the following for April:

	Atlanta/Baltimore	Baltimore/Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh/Atlanta	Total
Number of train miles	12,835	10,200	14,080	37,115
Number of railcars	425	2,160	1,232	3,817
Revenue per railcar	$600	$275	$440

Instructions

1. Prepare a contribution margin by route report for East Coast Railroad Company for the month of April. Compute the contribution margin ratio in whole percents, rounded to one decimal place.

2. Discuss the route performance of the railroad using the above report.