Norfolk Southern Railway and Union Pacific Railroad are having trouble getting containers to shippers, in part because their supply of 53-foot chassis is very low.
Intermodal Shipping
Intermodal Shipping
News, data and analysis of the various factors that are driving the continued expansion of intermodal shipping activity around the globe.
Steady growth in the number of road freight carriers is leading to greater traffic congestion and costly delays in the delivery of goods to end-users in business and consumer markets. Governments and regulatory bodies are introducing costly, stringent regulations to reduce vehicle emissions. Intermodal infrastructures are improving, along with other advances in technology for managing complex supply chains that operate across various modes of transportation.
All of those factors are compelling many companies to use an intermodal combination of sea, road and railways to transport their goods on longer routes, rather than depend on a single mode of transportation. The cost-reduction benefits are significant for shippers, buyers, freight forwarders and other stakeholders in the supply chain.
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News & Analysis
11 Jun 2021
Knight-Swift Transportation, one of the top five US domestic intermodal providers, will be leaving BNSF Railway on Jan. 1, 2022, to partner with Union Pacific Railroad in the western US.
07 Jun 2021
Top trucking and intermodal providers are raising penalties on shippers who do not promptly unload and return 53-foot trailers or containers.
03 Jun 2021
BNSF Railway and Union Pacific Railroad are looking for creative solutions to increase space to store containers in their Chicago terminals amid another spike in inland intermodal volume.
02 Jun 2021
Union Pacific has raised surcharges out of California for a second time in 2021, a sign it is concerned about having enough rail-owned 53-foot containers to supply core contract customers through the upcoming peak season.
01 Jun 2021
BNSF will adjust its free time calculations on June 7, tightening the window for shippers to pick up containers that are made available after 5:00 p.m., just two weeks after Norfolk Southern slashed its free time clock.
26 May 2021
After a rough six-week period following the paralyzing February snowstorm in Texas, intermodal terminals are operating with fewer delays in Dallas-Fort Worth, with chassis available and driver productivity bucking national trends.
06 May 2021
The JOC Intermodal Savings Index hit a new record in Q1, but rising spot intermodal rates and surcharges could reduce savings in Q2.
20 Apr 2021
A group of Memphis shippers and truckers want the US Surface Transportation Board to instruct railroads to stop charging storage fees until a chassis shortage is resolved.
19 Apr 2021
Intermodal service in Kansas City is a “complete mess,” according to three cargo owners, with an import surge causing chassis shortages and restrictions on what containers can be picked up or dropped off at rail terminals.
16 Apr 2021
J.B. Hunt will be adding 12,000 new containers in 2021, upping its original order announced in January based on increased shipper demand for intermodal service.
12 Apr 2021
Domestic intermodal shippers in California will be subject to a surcharge of $1,000 to $1,500 on excess contract cargo beginning Apr. 25, the first time Union Pacific has instituted such a peak-season fee before the summer.
09 Apr 2021
Digital marketplace Convoy is warning US shippers and trucking companies of the risks from what may be the sixth straight year of above-average hurricanes and storms.
08 Apr 2021
Shippers can save more money than ever before on intermodal, if they could find equipment and draymen to move their cargo to and from rail terminals amid scarce supply of both.
06 Apr 2021
Container shippers using Norfolk Southern’s service for inland rail moves have been seeing major delays from US East Coast ports.
24 Mar 2021
Union Pacific is co-developing the first intermodal terminal in Idaho which will connect the state’s ag shippers to the Pacific Northwest ports.
23 Mar 2021
Rapid e-commerce delivery requirements, as well as capacity shortages and equipment imbalances, are spurring the growth of transloading near US seaports, speakers at TPM21 said.
11 Mar 2021
US freight demand is “through the roof” after supply chains broke down during February’s winter storms, trucking companies say. More freight may be shifting from spot markets to contractual partners as networks are restored.
17 Feb 2021
Texas is the epicenter of supply-chain damage caused by Winter Storm Uri, but the disruption is being felt nationwide. Mexican imports by truck may be delayed for days.
16 Feb 2021
Union Pacific Railroad is shutting down virtually all business across its intermodal network for 72 hours because of snow and ice in the Pacific Northwest, Midwest, and even as far south as Texas.
03 Feb 2021
Shippers may see intermodal savings evaporate in the first quarter if rail contracts rise more than 10 percent and spot truck rates continue to cool off and pressure truck contracts.
15 Jan 2021
Rising industrial freight volumes will keep pressure on truckload capacity and pricing in 2021, even if demand for goods peaks, according to FTR Transport Intelligence analysts.
12 Jan 2021
Intermodal marketing company (IMC) executives say US intermodal rates charged to shippers will rise between 3 and 10 percent in major lanes and between 3 and 5 percent in secondary lanes this year.
30 Dec 2020
Truckers are taking longer to get through terminals in Chicago because of the surge in cargo and changes in stacking containers with some railroads.
15 Dec 2020
COVID-19 and the wave of imports reaching the US will keep pressure on transportation capacity and pricing, from ports to the last mile, shippers warned Tuesday.
11 Dec 2020
Pandemic-related LTL service issues that include long delays and missed deliveries have not gone away and may be resurfacing as COVID-19 surges and container volumes soar
07 Dec 2020
A tighter focus on transportation and technology following a corporate split will improve the service and experience XPO offers to shippers globally, the company and transportation analysts say
07 Dec 2020
Intermodal executives want to address the chronic congestion issues in 2020 with railroads and BCOs, but universally accepted solutions are hard to come by.
27 Nov 2020
Automation, self-invoicing bolster traditional third-party payment audit model
17 Nov 2020
Shippers will need to look not just at multiple transportation modes, but across modes, to secure capacity in 2021, digital broker Loadsmart said.
05 Nov 2020
An ‘insatiable demand’ for truck capacity and a US loan are helping LTL operator YRC Worldwide expand capacity and intermodal services in the Central-South.
23 Oct 2020
Union Pacific Railroad says service is now fluid on its intermodal network after the “bumpiness” experienced over the summer; intermodal marketing companies, however, dispute that.
21 Oct 2020
Union Pacific Railroad will raise the surcharge on small shippers to $1,000 on excess contract cargo beginning Oct. 25, a signal that rail-owned containers remain in short supply on the West Coast.
16 Oct 2020
J.B. Hunt said intermodal results were worse than anticipated because of major network congestion in rail terminals and shippers sitting on containers, which may not ease until 2021.
23 Sep 2020
Domestic intermodal volumes already elevated compared with a year ago and there are signs that international intermodal is on the upswing too.
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Commentary
Industry 4.0 — the next supply chain revolution