Rail News

As spot intermodal rates begin to save shippers more money than earlier in 2019, shippers are seeing reduced savings on contract business.

Europe’s largest inland port is about to become even bigger as it partners with an international consortium to develop a new terminal.

The third blockage this year of the main rail line into the Mexican Port of Lázaro Cárdenas, which is operated by Kansas City Southern of Mexico (KCSM) will likely add to shipper fears that moving cargo by rail is unreliable.

Forty-seven of the top 50 global transportation providers saw revenues rise in 2018, benefitting from a strong global economic growth and growing anticipation of reciprocal tariffs between the United States and China.

CSX Transportation and Union Pacific Railroad reported weak intermodal volume for the third quarter, but insisted their networks are lean, efficient, and ready to fully capitalize when the market rebounds.

Two refrigerated intermodal carriers, Marten Transport and KLLM Transport, have acquired 53-foot containers as US Class I railroads have been disincentivizing intermodal trailer use.

Despite weak intermodal volume in the third quarter, there is a glimmer of hope for rail shippers as a sequential bump in truckload spot rates have provided additional cost savings.

The US Surface Transportation Board is urging railroads to work closely with shippers to address concerns about demurrage practices.

Intermodal volumes did not recover in the third quarter, prompting questions of what railroads can do to win back shippers, other than waiting for a recovery in trucking.

The Dubai-based global port terminal operator is looking to position an existing inland freight terminal in Hyderabad as a regional multimodal distribution hub as part of a larger effort to offer integrated logistics services in India.

Hyundai Merchant Marine has set up weekly block train operations from India’s Bharat Mumbai Container Terminals to a key northern India hinterland point; the service launched this week with a 90-TEU railcar.

Freight volumes and rates in the US ocean, intermodal rail, and trucking sectors will see flat to low-single-digit percentage growth in the fourth quarter and into 2020 as retailers burn off inventories, according to speakers at IANA’s annual conference.

A conflict of interests among supply chain stakeholders involving how best to manage chassis usage at ports and rail hubs continues to harm productivity, with no immediate solution on the horizon.

BlackBerry Radar will provide a “near real-time” status reading for Matson Logistics’ entire fleet of domestic intermodal containers.

Trains began running again into the Mexican Port of Lazaro Cardenas Thursday, two days after protestors halted train traffic at the port, raising anew concerns of reliability of the country’s railroad system in moving freight.

Growth in container volumes and efficiency enhancements at key border crossings should contribute to a strong, but relatively smooth peak season for rail service between China and Europe.

The US intermodal industry is currently in the midst of a down cycle after volumes and rates surged in late 2017 and early 2018, but there are opportunities for railroads to accelerate the potential rebound if they are able to take advantage.

As part of the Port of New York and New Jersey’s effort to increase rail cargo efficiency, terminals are encouraging ocean carriers to place containers headed for a similar destination in one part of the vessel so they can be removed from the ship faster.

The Journal of Commerce has learned Amazon has acquired 53-foot containers, signaling an intention to tender intermodal volume directly to Class I railroads without an intermediary and marketing itself as an end-to-end supply chain solution for small retailers.

The intermodal sector in Mexico has room to grow, but that means overcoming several challenges.

Canadian National provides Evergreen has provided intermodal rail service to customers of Evergreen, the seventh-largest container line, for the last 27 years, with services connecting to the ports of Vancouver, Prince Rupert, and Halifax.

The partnership between Canadian National Railway and Cosco was instrumental in propelling Prince Rupert from a bulk port to a major Asian gateway for US and Canadian cargo owners and forwarders.

Union Pacific Railroad has dropped its plan to levy fines against trucking companies for canceling or missing ingate reservations to enter intermodal ramps in California, Oregon, and Washington.

The president of Mexico said work is continuing on a project to create a modern, efficient freight-moving operation by rail across the narrowest stretch of Mexico, which links ports on the Pacific and Gulf coasts.

Union Pacific Railroad and CSX Transportation, struggling to recover volume after service cuts, are reaching out to shippers and logistics providers about reinstating direct service to Philadelphia, Cincinnati, and Columbus, Ohio, sources tell JOC.com

JOC Associate Editor Ari Ashe explains why chassis shortages are such a problem in the international transportation space and why finding a solution is so difficult.

Intermodal’s grim first-half performance will improve as the fall peak arrives, but likely not enough to offset the losses experienced to date.

Canadian National Railway and CSX Transportation will launch a new international intermodal service linking Montreal and Toronto to New York.

Companies should have contingency plans in place for their inland European supply chains as low water levels on the rivers are posing a very real threat.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.