Rail News

A confluence of factors, including vessel bunching at Asian load ports and a pre-Lunar New Year cargo surge, have combined to cause congestion at the port and reduce its railcar availability.

It’s important for railroads to prevent export containers from clogging their terminals because domestic and international intermodal cargo share terminal space.

Despite the kudos for railroads, some market players question the value of pandemic-era comparisons, suggesting that 2024’s peak season aligns more closely with pre-pandemic trends.

It’s difficult to imagine international intermodal growing much more, if at all, on the US West Coast in 2025.

The considerable intermodal ocean volumes that ordinarily would have moved in 2025 have likely been pulled forward into 2024, writes analyst Larry Gross.

With a prolonged peak season, some non-asset-based intermodal marketing companies are reporting difficulties securing rail-owned containers and slots on trains in Chicago, Portland and Oakland over the past month.

DCLI equipping domestic chassis with GPS fills an information gap on when shippers sit on cargo excessively.

The opening of a second span across the Laredo border will benefit CPKC trains to Atlanta and Chicago along with other transport providers such as Union Pacific Railroad and its customers.

A 30% increase in the total value of transportation and logistics acquisitions over the last six months signals a stronger market for M&A emerging in 2025, PwC says in a market report.

Rail executives assured investors that the availability of labor and other nearshoring opportunities in Mexico will keep North American trade strong, regardless of tariffs.

A dispute in Canada has all the hallmarks of a similar case in the US over what qualifies as a chassis made in China.

A host of factors can raise transit times on the 11,000-plus-kilometer rail network, undermining the trust of cargo owners that is a crucial selling point of the Asia-Europe connection.

Rising regional trade along the old Silk Road between China and Europe is driving up containerized rail volume on the middle corridor and the logistics infrastructure is struggling to keep up.

While some shippers say they are still facing a measure of disruption, CSX says it has recovered following a rough patch in keeping cargo flowing through central Florida after hurricanes Helene and Milton battered the state.

The new charges apply to both spot market business originating in Southern California and to contractual agreements when weekly limits are surpassed by shippers using rail-owned containers.

Shippers, brokers and trucking executives at a Traffic Club of Chicago forum all said the long freight downturn isn’t finished — but are hopeful it’s nearing an end.

While intermodal providers increased pricing in Southern California, truckload carriers also raised rates as demand grew with surging port volumes, negating any modal shifts based on budgetary concerns, the latest Journal of Commerce Intermodal Savings Index showed.

A second intermodal option is coming for shippers moving cargo between Mexico and the Southeast US beginning in December.

Despite multiple highly disruptive exterior events, from hurricanes to labor strikes, there has not been an intermodal service meltdown in North America, writes Larry Gross.

As US trade with Mexico grows, railroads see a chance to challenge the dominance of the Mexican trucking industry — if the railroads’ intermodal partners can lock in new business and deliver reliable service.

The gains suggest Hub benefited from an aggressive pricing posture in bids that went live earlier this year, reversing some of its market share loss in 2023 by offering attractive rates to shippers.

The completion of initial clearance improvements allows CSX to operate double-stack rail service on a temporary route from Baltimore along its network in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and into the Midwest.

Shippers and forwarders are reporting slowdowns at several inland gateways that are linked to seasonality, equipment placement, labor disruption and carrier behavior.

UP’s CEO Jim Vena, during the railroad’s Q3 earnings call, appeared to take a shot at ocean carriers for not informing landside stakeholders sooner about the heavy volumes that landed along the West Coast in recent months.

Frontloading of peak season cargo might have been a factor in why domestic intermodal volumes were higher than expected in the third quarter.

The Class I railroads are acquiring separate sections of a rail line in Alabama and Mississippi, allowing them to launch a new joint intermodal service between Mexico and the Southeast US.

A source with knowledge of Friday’s incident said the UP train was being interchanged to Norfolk Southern Railway, although it’s unclear why the train was stationary in a residential area.

The second-largest US intermodal provider believes a partnership with a large Mexican carrier will present an attractive option for cross-border shippers.

Figuring out why growth in intermodal volumes between Mexico and the US is significantly lagging that of trucking demand will be crucial to unlocking one of intermodal’s biggest growth opportunities, writes Journal of Commerce analyst Larry Gross.

While shippers and intermodal providers agree that rail cargo theft is a problem, there is no consensus about the right solution.

Intermodal providers believe shippers of time-sensitive cargo can rely on rail, but some potential customers need to see more evidence of consistent service, executives told the Journal of Commerce Inland Distribution Conference 2024 (Inland24).

Shipping executives say domestic intermodal rates are set for a rise as trucking pricing expands, but they’re not expecting significant increases.

The US economy will grow in 2025, but not by leaps and bounds, with consumer spending forecast to drop while freight rates rise, according to speakers at the Journal of Commerce Inland Distribution Conference 2024 (Inland24).

The increased fees are the latest sign that freight demand in California remains red hot in September, while other high-volume lanes are seeing minimal growth from 2023 levels.

Today’s dilemma is whether the new external realities of activist investors can coexist with an industry with long lead times to deploy assets that cannot be moved, writes Ted Prince.

Pacific Northwest ports and their terminal operators say they are positioned to handle an extended period of discretionary cargo diversions if a strike by ILA dockworkers begins next week.

The railroads say they can store some export containers after the Oct 1 strike deadline, but exporters will also shoulder the responsibility for holding their cargo if a possible work stoppage drags on.

CSX and NS might see some more West Coast cargo routed through Chicago to Michigan and Ohio if there is an East Coast port strike, but trucking is likely to be the main beneficiary for cargo owners booking true coast-to-coast hauls.

The railroad terminated Shaw’s employment after an internal investigation found he engaged in a relationship with the company’s chief legal officer in violation of NS policy.

Alone among the modes, the railroads are not able to say “no” to the demands of interior point intermodal (IPI), most recently seen in the surge of imports through the US Pacific Northwest and the congestion that followed, writes intermodal analyst Larry Gross.