North-American rail

Union Pacific sent a 6,000-plus page application to US regulators Friday seeking formal approval for its closely watched merger proposal with Norfolk Southern that would create the country’s first transcontinental railroad.

The head of one opposition union says the job protection deals agreed to by other unions in exchange for their support of the merger have “loopholes big enough to traverse freight trains through.”

For the first time, US regulators can evaluate a rail merger not on assertions, but on what the data actually shows — and they can do it in hours, not months.

Jim Vena blamed the delay on a contractor that must revise material that will be included in what will be a nearly 4,000-page filing to federal regulators.

The National Association of Waterfront Employers said intermodal service from ports could degrade further unless service commitments are made in the proposed $85 billion deal.

The railroad says the appointment system will create more “predictable operations” by controlling the number of containers that are in-gated each day.

The job protection deal with the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers is significant because previous rail mergers have led to overlapping operations and the consolidation of terminals, resulting in workforce reductions.

The move represents the latest effort by the two railroads to jointly convince shippers to shift more truckload freight to rail by addressing intermodal’s slower transits.

The comments from Joe Hinrichs follow a report that CSX’s board of directors was displeased that UP allegedly contacted Hinrichs first about a potential UP-CSX combination and only turned to Norfolk Southern after receiving a tepid response.

Intermodal needs to put itself in a position where it can perform against trucking through all the stages of the economic cycle, writes analyst Larry Gross.

The new details clarify the role the two railroads will play in Schneider’s just-launched Fast Track product, which comes with a 95% on-time guarantee.

Whether for or against the UP-NS deal, a merged railroad would reshape the Chicago drayage market.

Daniel Elliott III told a webinar that the proposed $85 billion merger is “leaning more toward approval” because of the White House’s support.

While intermodal savings remain above 20%, according to the latest Intermodal Savings Index, there is not enough pressure yet in the trucking market to drive up rates across the US on intermodal rail.

The railroads will make a harder play to capture Dallas-to-East Coast freight after track upgrades come online along the Gulf Coast early next year.

Recent tensions involved CPKC’s opposition to the UP-NS merger, but the battle has morphed into a larger disagreement about poor service on a 300-mile stretch of track in Louisiana and Mississippi known as the Meridian Speedway.

The largest US intermodal provider’s relationships with competing eastern railroads Norfolk Southern and CSX are shifting and will continue evolving through 2026 as the proposed merger between NS and UP winds its way through the regulatory process.

Union Pacific’s application seeking federal approval to acquire Norfolk Southern will be 4,000 pages long and provide the first detailed look at how the railroads believe customers would benefit from the $85 billion deal.

One possible explanation for the gain is the softer volumes that were artificially suppressed and shifted in August and September of 2024 due to separate labor-related events, but clarity should come over the next week when market players report third-quarter earnings.

Carriers continue to struggle to raise rates on intermodal shippers, resulting in revenue gains or losses based solely on volume.

J.B. Hunt lowered its peak season surcharge because of disappointing volume on the West Coast.

The overhaul marks the latest in a series of network shakeups among North American railroads competing for international intermodal freight.

The start-and-stop nature of the Trump administration’s tariffs means changes are coming at a pace that exceeds the supply chains’ ability to react, writes Larry Gross.

But Union Pacific’s Jim Vena says the cooperation agreements that rival railroads are making to compete with a combined UP-NS don’t yield the same benefits as a merger.

The disruptions in the Howard Street Tunnel in Baltimore and Blue Ridge subdivision on the Tennessee-North Carolina border resulted in longer transits for intermodal shippers on CSX this year.

The proposed creation of a transcontinental railroad could allow West Coast ports to better compete for Asia cargo destined for markers east of Chicago, writes Executive Editor Mark Szakonyi.

The about-face from SMART-TD, which had initially opposed the $85 billion transaction over fears of job losses, makes regulatory approval of the merger far more likely.

The potential merger partners plan to replace drayage trucking legs with direct rail service as Class I railroads join to redraw North America’s intermodal map.

COFC Logistics joins a growing list of intermodal providers that see Mexico–US cross-border freight as a major growth engine going forward.

Completing the Howard Street Tunnel and Blue Ridge Subdivision projects will allow CSX to restore service — and better compete with trucking — on two major north-south corridors in the eastern US.

The two Class I railroads will collaborate on a service to replace the trucking leg for goods moving from CN’s Memphis terminal to the Music City.

Railroads are expanding services between Mexico and the US, while Canada–US intermodal container traffic is down by double-digit percentages, writes rail analyst Larry Gross.

Weather-related slowdowns were compounded by track work that typically wraps up in August but overlapped this year with an earlier-than-usual surge in international and domestic intermodal demand.

Robert Primus has been vocal in his opposition to consolidation in the rail industry, voting against the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger in 2023 and Canadian National Railway’s acquisition of Iowa Northern Railway earlier this year.

The opening of the first phase of the port’s new on-dock rail yard will be delayed until next year, while the project faces a 42% increase in budgeted costs.

CPKC’s opposition comes just two years after its acquisition of Kansas City Southern Railway was approved by US regulators.

The joint BNSF/CSX services come as rivals Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern have agreed to an $85 billion deal that would create the first transcontinental railroad, if approved by federal regulators.

The latest Intermodal Service Scorecard from the Journal of Commerce marks a major boost in confidence that railroads can deliver reliable intermodal service only a few years after historic disruption gridlocked rail networks across North America amid pandemic-linked chaos.

The new 335,000-square-foot facility will reduce border delays and maximize cargo capacity for shippers moving temperature-controlled loads between the US and Mexico.

The latest data from the Intermodal Association of North America shows how railroads have lost US business to over-the-road trucking, writes analyst Larry Gross.