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The latest Rail News News & Analysis

JOC Research Note: US intermodal savings lowest in five years

Ari Ashe, Senior Editor |

In its inaugural US Domestic Intermodal Savings Index, JOC finds that intermodal rates are closer to trucking rates than at any time since 2014, so shippers should closely examine their modal choices.

Intermodal providers

Maersk ocean-rail service adds new wrinkle to Asia-Europe

Greg Knowler, Senior Europe Editor |

Maersk’s new ocean-rail service from Asia to Northern Europe is offering competitive transit times against more established all-rail routes.

TransX helps CN win domestic intermodal business

Mark Szakonyi, JOC Executive Editor |

Canadian National Railway said its enhanced competency to handle less-than-truckload volumes allowed it to provide a more sophisticated suite of services to Hudson’s Bay.

North-American rail

Norfolk Southern bullish on second half intermodal

Ari Ashe, Senior Editor |

Norfolk Southern Railway believes the intermodal market has hit bottom and expects shippers to move more containers in the second half of 2019.

North-American rail

Baltimore gets grant for tunnel project, but shortfall remains

Hugh R. Morley, Senior Editor |

Maryland and the Port of Baltimore will have to find $103 million in funds for the $466 million Howard Street Tunnel project after the federal government awarded only $125 million, just over half of the $228 million requested.

North American portsNorth-American rail

First equipment interchange to ease Mexico intermodal flow

Hugh R. Morley, Senior Editor |

Truckers in Mexico will soon be able to sign a single agreement that will set out common rules for equipment exchange with all signatory providers, creating a simpler, more reliable process.

North-American rail

US-Mexico shippers turn to intermodal amid truck delays

Hugh R. Morley, Senior Editor |

Kansas City Southern’s cross-border intermodal rail volumes increased in the second quarter amid truck delays, but the railroad’s intermodal business as a whole struggled to compete with a lower-priced trucking sector.

International rail

CSX says lower truck rates hurting intermodal

Ari Ashe, Senior Editor |

CSX Transportation lowered its guidance for 2019 after offering a grimmer view of the freight market than J.B. Hunt had a day earlier, warning investors that the second half of the year could be worse than the first.

North-American rail

Europe looks to subsidies for road to rail freight shift

Greg Knowler, Senior Europe Editor |

Attempts to increase rail’s market share in Europe are being hampered by added costs involved in the modal shift, which Belgium’s transport lobbies believe can be solved by government subsidies.

Rail NewsTrucking News

US railroad earnings to reveal intermodal drag

Ari Ashe, Senior Editor |

Analysts expect more of a negative outlook from railroads in second-quarter earnings calls, as shippers have not sent as much on intermodal as they have anticipated in 2019.

Intermodal providers

Modane mudslide exposes lack of Europe rail alternatives

Greg Knowler, Senior Europe Editor |

Finding rail freight routes around the closed section of the North Sea-Med Corridor is not easy, as the line is a key link between France and Italy.

Intermodal struggling to lure shippers: survey

Ari Ashe, Senior Editor |

Although intermodal service was better in the second quarter, according to shippers, a survey from Cowen & Co. finds fewer customers are converting freight to rail because trucks are cheap and available.

Intra-West Coast cargo shifts outpace coastal bleed

Larry Gross, president and founder, Gross Transportation Consulting |

While the current perception is that there is an ongoing shift of cargo occurring from the West Coast to the East and Gulf coasts, data shows that is not necessarily the case.

Intermodal providers

BNSF grapples with Elwood lot congestion

Ari Ashe, Senior Editor |

Truckers continue to battle turns of more than an hour at times in BNSF’s Lot 16 outside Chicago, where the railroad has instructed all empty containers to be returned. This means drivers complete fewer jobs per day and shippers have to wait longer for service.

North-American railDrayage

French mudslide test rail contingency plans

Greg Knowler, Senior Europe Editor |

All rail traffic along a busy route connecting the French city of Lyon and Turin in Italy has been suspended, forcing rail operators to re-route.

UP to penalize missed intermodal deliveries

Ari Ashe, Senior Editor |

Union Pacific Railroad will begin charging truckers and logistics providers for missed appointments for intermodal terminals and tighten free storage time for demurrage to 24 hours in all terminals beginning this autumn.

North-American railDrayage

Intermodal rail providers prep for smoother peak

Ari Ashe, Senior Editor |

The intermodal peak season is expected to be a manageable one with domestic volumes continuing to be weak and abundant container capacity, while international loads will increase at a slower pace than a year ago. Industry stakeholders believe intermodal service will be good in the peak season.

North-American rail

China-Europe rail services cut transit times

Greg Knowler, Senior Europe Editor |

Despite huge growth in container volume transported by rail between China and Europe, the journey time is decreasing as services become more efficient.

International rail

Schneider expands intermodal as truck competition heats up

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |

The eighth-largest US trucking operator adds an intermodal option in Indianapolis, making service between the US Midwest and Northeast more competitive with trucks.

Intermodal providers

CMA CGM ramps up block containerized rail

Bency Mathew, Special India Correspondent |

CMA CGM’s latest rail investment in India continues to tap into the country’s emerging inland market.

International rail

NY-NJ eyes near-port rail projects to boost cargo fluidity

Hugh R. Morley, Senior Editor |

With the final piece of a $1 billion plan to create rail terminals on the five largest terminals in the Port of New York and New Jersey recently completed, the port is now focusing on how to improve fluidity once the trains leave the terminal.

North American portsRail News

Concor-Cogoport pact advances India's supply chain digitization

Bency Mathew, Special India Correspondent |

The alliance between India’s containerized rail leader and digital startup could signal the future of supply chain logistics in the country.

Intermodal providers

Intermodal key to shippers despite current weakness

Ari Ashe, Senior Editor |

Despite a downturn in volume, freight shippers say intermodal remains a critical component of their supply chains even as technology is poised to lower truck costs.

Intermodal providers

India’s Concor looks to expand beyond rail

Special India Correspondent |

Concor looks to potentially expand its short-sea network, even beyond India. It has its eyes on the Bangladesh transshipment market.

International rail

Chicago truckers publishing rail turn times

Ari Ashe, Senior Editor |

The Illinois Trucking Association has begun to track truck turn times in Chicago rail yards to provide shippers a better understanding of how congestion disrupts the supply chain.

North-American rail

Chassis provider urges revamp of regional pools

Bill Mongelluzzo, Senior Editor |

There is consensus building in the intermodal industry that each port or rail hub should develop a regional pool of grey chassis managed by a single entity responsible for ensuring chassis quality and availability.

Intermodal providers

Samskip preps for Brexit cargo shifting to sea

Greg Knowler, Senior Europe Editor |

If the UK leaves the European Union without a deal, industry fears massive delays at ferry ports of Dover in the UK and Calais in France.

Intermodal providers

Railroads’ approach to intermodal shifts ‘inward’

Lawrence Gross, president, Gross Transportation Consulting |

Chasing volume at the expense of profitability is a “problematic recipe,” according to the author, pointing to ocean container carriers as an example.

Intermodal providers

Virginia terminal expansion to speed rail flow

Ari Ashe, Senior Editor |

The new expanded intermodal rail yard has reopened at the Port of Virginia, doubling capacity for CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern. The port says this means quicker transfers from ships to trains.

North American portsInternational rail

NS, UP interline revamp to require crosstown drays

Ari Ashe, Senior Editor |

Union Pacific Railroad and Norfolk Southern Railway announced a series of changes to cross-country service, which will require a crosstown drayage in Chicago for a number of international loads heading to and from ports.

North-American railDrayage

Hearing lays bare frayed US shipper-rail relations

Ari Ashe, Senior Editor |

Beer company MillerCoors alleges Norfolk Southern threatened to raise rates on captive lanes if the railroad lost business to CSX.

North-American rail

Rail demurrage stings US shippers without weekend warehousing

Ari Ashe, Senior Editor |

Although last week’s Surface Transportation Board hearing didn’t include intermodal, shippers complain about penalties assessed when their cargo arrives on a Friday night and their warehouses are closed until Monday.

Intermodal providers

DP World scales up India inland logistics offerings

India Special Correspondent |

The terminal operator’s acquisition of a majority stake in three large inland logistics centers in North India builds on services offered via Indian intermodal subsidiary Container Rail Road Services (CRRS).

Marine terminalsIntermodal providers

Shippers urged to revise contracts if free time is without chassis

Panel says shippers need to be proactive in negotiating different terms into their contracts to protect themselves when no chassis are available for final delivery.

Intermodal providers

Memphis chassis woes now part of rail demurrage probe

Ari Ashe, Senior Editor |

The Federal Maritime Commission briefed the STB this week about the efforts of Memphis shippers and truckers to establish a chassis pool to eliminate a common cause of rail demurrage penalties.

Intermodal providers

US regulators set sights on rail demurrage

Ari Ashe, Senior Editor |

The Surface Transportation Board put Class I railroads on the hot seat about demurrage and accessorial policies that rail shippers have described as unreasonable and revenue generators.

North-American rail

Grupo Mexico’s FEC fuels Mexico-Florida all-water services

Ari Ashe, Senior Editor |

Group Mexico’s purchase of Florida East Coast Railway has opened up new opportunities for Florida ports to court all-water service from Mexico to bypass the congestion of Texas border crossings.

North-American rail

Dual-rail entry into Mexico’s Veracruz ready by 2020

Hugh R. Morley, Senior Editor |

The massive expansion of Mexico’s second largest port will include a second rail line that will allow direct access for Kansas City Southern of Mexico in addition to Ferrosur at present.

International rail

Amazon, Walmart look to insource railroad deals

Ari Ashe, Senior Editor |

Retail giants Walmart and Amazon have entered into conversations directly with Class I railroads to enter in service agreements, bucking the historical structure in which shippers are required to use intermediaries to procure space.

Intermodal providers

Will domestic intermodal contract pricing hold?

Ari Ashe, Senior Editor |

BNSF Railway, Norfolk Southern, and CSX say domestic intermodal contract rates have risen by upper single-digit percentages in the first quarter, but some non-asset intermodal marketing companies tell quite a different story.

Intermodal providers

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