North-American rail

If approved by regulators, the planned merger of Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern railways would offer cargo owners a single network straddling the largest global trade bloc.

UP will assess a first-ever March surcharge of $250 on “low-volume shippers” in California effective March 21, just days after an announcement that will kick more US shippers into that category.

A chassis shortage has slowed the supply chain since storms hit Texas nearly three weeks ago, and it could be another couple weeks before cargo slows return to normal.

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.

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.

Union Pacific Railroad’s decision to rescind record-breaking surcharges on the West Coast beginning Jan. 17 will lower prices for importers moving cargo through Los Angeles.

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.

DCLI ran out of chassis last week in Chicago, and cargo owners are frustrated because Union Pacific will not release their containers to draymen with trucker-owned chassis.

BNSF Railway is limiting the amount of containers its partners can bring into a terminal in Southern California and on certain Chicago lanes due to volumes that usually tail off after Thanksgiving but have stayed elevated this year.

Norfolk Southern has shut the gates on containers and trailers entering its 63rd Street terminal in Chicago to five Northeast locations due to a crush of volume, likely sending the loads to full truckload.

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.

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.

Agricultural shippers in North Dakota will have a new service to the ports of Seattle and Tacoma to export products overseas, which the state’s governor calls a game-changer.

As container volume has picked up, trucking and logistics executives say that CSX’s domestic intermodal service has become unreliable in two key southeast US rail ramps.

BNSF has named Kathryn Farmer, who has been with the western railroad for 28 years, as its new CEO effective Jan. 1, 2021. She will become the first female CEO of a North American Class I railroad.

The surge in domestic intermodal has spread from Los Angeles to Oakland-Lathrop and Union Pacific will raise surcharges on shippers to ensure equipment is available for core customers.

UP will raise surcharges again out of Los Angeles on all shippers, as previous rate increases have been ineffective in slowing volumes that threaten to overwhelm the railroad’s network.

Shippers will have to plan their supply chains more carefully in Denver and Chicago because Union Pacific Railroad will no longer accept containers more than two days before their scheduled departure due to an onslaught of intermodal volume.

Union Pacific Railroad will institute a $500 surcharge on excess cargo for all shippers in Seattle to divert as many assets to Los Angeles as possible amid record-breaking cargo spikes in Southern California.

For the third time this month, Union Pacific has increased spot rates and its peak season surcharge in Los Angeles, raising prices on small shippers to record levels and likely pushing excess cargo back to trucking.

Seeing the long-term decline in carload volumes tied to North American industrial activity, CN is trying to tie itself closer to supply chains feeding the retail and service industries.

A federal regulatory change will safely expedite the training process and address the pressing national need for more chassis mechanics, according to the Intermodal Association of North America.

The new $1,500 rate hike by UP is on top of a $500 increase announced earlier this month on California lanes, effectively raising intermodal spot rates above trucking pricing.

Despite optimism that BNSF Railway’s congestion may ease, intermodal marketing companies expect demand to be high and equipment dislocations to persist through October in California.

In expanding the surcharge to all shippers, UP cited “a significant increase in demand for container capacity across the system” that is expected to “increase further in the coming weeks.”

Small shippers will have to pay a $500 surcharge on excess cargo on Union Pacific, as both western US Class I railroads struggle to handle the surge in volume out of Los Angeles.

The US Surface Transportation Board is reviewing a petition for unconditional approval of CN’s purchase of 230 miles of track, known as the Massena Lines in upstate New York, from CSX Transportation.

Union Pacific Railroad blames volatile swings in volume for congestion in Los Angeles in June, but intermodal marketing companies say it remains difficult to find space on trains because of a surge in e-commerce business.

Spot rates have jumped more than 40 percent in the last four weeks for shippers using rail-owned boxes out of Los Angeles due to an equipment shortage in Southern California unseen since 2018.

BNSF Railway has unveiled a five-day per week train service between Seattle and CSX’s Ohio hub about an hour south of Toledo.

A refrigerated rail service sold by Union Pacific Railroad to shippers has shut down amid the COVID-19 downturn in volumes and competition from rival BNSF Railway and other large IMCs.

Norfolk Southern Railway insists that no matter how far truck rates fall, it will not chase the market down by providing unsustainable rates to shippers, but rather focus on innovative ideas such as mixed trains.

Intermodal volume last week was the weakest in a nearly a decade as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has wreaked havoc on the railroads, which an industry analyst believes could cost Class I railroads $9 billion dollars.

Railroads are more conciliatory in negotiating contract rates than a year ago, hungry to recapture freight lost to trucking. One logistics executive called the railroads’ stance “a complete 180 from last year.”

Just-in-time inventory pressures are creating more less-than-truckload shipments, giving Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Railway an opportunity to accelerate their domestic intermodal volume growth.

Amid weak intermodal volumes in 2019, the JOC Domestic Intermodal Savings Index shows spot and contract savings are lower than historical averages, although the year closed stronger for shipper savings on the spot market.

Union Pacific Railroad will resume service on nearly 60 previously eliminated lanes beginning Feb. 1, a move it linked to its precision scheduled railroading operation, but others said was designed to win back lost market share.

Union Pacific Railroad has been suffering technical issues with its gates at Chicago’s Global 4 terminal, causing major congestion and delays in cargo deliveries.

After an unprecedented volume decline in 2019, continued excess trucking capacity, further transitioning to precisions scheduled railroading, and slowing economic growth portends another difficult year for the US intermodal market.

Traffic problems that slowed trucks in BNSF’s Lot 16 outside of Chicago have been resolved through a partnership between the railroad and an Intermodal Cartage-owned yard operator.